by Jill Esbaum, Author of If a T. Rex Crashes Your Birthday Party.
Tips for Writing a Picture Book from Jill Esbaum
While you’re submitting your picture book manuscript (your baby!) to publishers, so are thousands of other people.
Think editors or first readers have time to read every word of every submission?
Nuh-uh.
So your first job is to create an opening that dazzles.
And the rest of the story?
Yup, that has to deliver, too.
So here, in no particular order, are …
10 Ways to Make Your Picture Book Story Unputdownable
1. Don’t Preach.
Anything you want a reader to learn should come naturally, as a result of the main character’s choices and the consequences of them.
2. Get your character into trouble that seems insurmountable.
Everyone loves an underdog!
3. Use page turns to your story’s advantage.
They’re magic!
4. Show; don’t tell.
Pictures books are most often performance art.
Give the reader plenty to work with – drama, exaggeration, humor, action that goes up and down like a roller coaster.
5. Use vivid language and sensory details.
Strong, active verbs. Specificity. Original similes/metaphors.
6. Use a unique voice.
7. Create a flawed character readers will identify with – and fall for.
8. Include both humor and heart.
Making a reader laugh and cry in the same book…priceless.
9. Craft a story with “legs” (takeaway value), something readers will want to hear again and again.
10. Show them something they’ve never seen before.
If your story hits all these marks, you’re on your way to publication.
Best of luck!
About the Book
Title: If a T. Rex Crashes Your Birthday Party
Author: Jill Esbaum
Illustrator: Dasha Tolstikova
Age Range: 4 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 2
Publisher: Sterling Children’s Books (August 16, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1454915501
ISBN-13: 978-1454915508
Available at amazon.com
You never know what will happen when a T. Rex crashes your birthday party.
Sure, you’ll be super excited when he turns up at your door.
But then he’ll stomp.
He’ll ROAR.
He’ll look at you as if he’s wondering how you taste with a little mustard.
In the end, though, you just may find yourself asking him to come back next year!
This delightfully whimsical picture book has a fun twist kids will love.
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