Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books

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Summary: You'd Be An Idiot Not to Read This Book
Review: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books is the most comprehensive book on writing for children available. If you teach writing it is an invaluable resource. It breaks all the basics down to bite-sized chunks so any beginner can find the information he/she needs. If you have a question about writing, selling, or publishing for children-- this book is the place to start to find your answer. The index is great and the glossary is very useful. The sidebars and illustrations make the information easy to find. You'd have to complete the Institute for Children's Literature courses to find better information, and that is very costly in terms of time and money.

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Summary: Everything You Need to Know: Publishing Children's Books
Review: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books,
Second edition, by Harold D. Underdown

To write a succinct review of a book which so thoroughly covers all the aspects of Children's publishing from idea to book store events after it is published, is a monumental task.

Underdown begins with an over view of writing children's books in general and quickly moves into introducing you to the nitty-gritty of the publishing world. The book is divided into Five parts that each contains a complete plan. (...).

Each section moves you seamlessly along the path to publication and beyond with a plethora of examples, links and helpful guidance. In part three Underdown takes you on a guided tour of specific publishers explaining just how they chose their books and what their editors do. It gives you a new perspective into the very busy lives of the editors of these houses. It helps you to understand the reason it takes so long to get your acceptance or rejection and why many times a rejection can't be personalized.

The way ...Publishing Children's Books is written, be you writer or illustrator, you can pick and choose which chapters or sections interest you, each chapter is complete in itself, but I recommend reading from cover to cover. As an author of several published novels and other works, I still garnered important hints, tips and information from Underdown's well presented material.

Throughout Underdown has placed invaluable information as extras in side bars/boxes such as: Vocabulary, which explains the terms used. Class Rules which gives the reader warnings or cautions. Can you Keep A Secret, tips and resources as well as suggestions are found in these. Play Ground Stories give real life anecdotes from other children's authors. Besides all the extras in the sidebars, Underdown provides Appendixes that offer a Glossary, Resource Lists and samples of guidelines, cover letters, query letters and manuscript format.

This unique book is truly a one of a kind complete guide to the world of children's publishing. It's a book you will read through, but never loan out because you will refer back to it time and again. Harold Underdown, has posted sample chapters and many more links and guides as well on his personal web site, The Purple Crayon. I can't begin to recommend Publishing Children's Books highly enough. Beginner or pro you are bound to find it an extremely important book.

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Summary: A Must-Buy for Children's Writers
Review: The first edition of this book was fantastic. The second edition has given readers wonderful new additions. There is now more information included for budding illustrators. More in-depth insights into the pros and cons of using an agent have also been added. Overall, this is a fabulous resource for anyone in the field--from the inexperienced writers just starting out to the more experienced authors out there.

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Summary: Tells it like it is
Review: This amazing book, supplemented with cartoons and sidebars, is (...) full of information for budding children's book writers as well as published authors. Sure, I've been published but I still get rejection letters, and it's great to have a friend, or an author, remind me about persistence. I especially loved the section about school presentations. I've visited dozens of schools and libraries over the last six years, yet I found myself thinking, while I read this book, I never thought of that! This is a reference book I'll return to again and again.

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Summary: A Super Guide!
Review: This is just about the most readable and informative guide to children's book publlishing in existence. It's destined to become a classic in the field.

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Summary: Great book for beginners and pros
Review: This wonderful work is a great starting point for anyone interested in writing children's books. It's filled with practical information that will help you get started and avoid making the mistakes that will brand you a newbie. Anytime I asked "Who, What, Where, When, Why or How do I...?, I found the answers contained within its pages. As a newly published children's author ("Nonsense! He Yelled"), I also found it answered my marketing and publicity questions--areas you might not be concerned with at first but will need to know when your book is in the stores. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books is crammed with concise information that's put together in an easy to read format. I highly recommend it.