Lessons Learned Number 5 to 8 - Writing and Publishing an Interactive Book/CD For Children

I recently published a book and CD set with a target audience of ages 3 to 5, and an expanded audience of ages 3 to 16. Yes, older siblings enjoy reading the book to their younger counterpart, particularly because of the format, and a related e-book that encourages the older child to help the younger one draw illustrations, and upload them into an e-book. The e-book then reads the story while the child's pictures are displayed.

This project took three years from concept to completion. These are some of the lessons that I learned while writing and publishing it.

One of the best things you can do as a children's book writer is to read other children's books. As a writer, you will glean insights from other people's creativity, and those insights will inspire you to tell yourself something like, "That's interesting, but I can do better." When you hear that message, that's the time to write your story.
Convey at least one of your core values - Core values in my latest book include "The inherent worth and dignity of every person." and "the importance of working together to resolve problems." I never state these things in my book, but they are there, and I feel better knowing that this book encourages values in which I believe--values that can improve a child's life.
Have each main character grow - Children want to grow themselves. They don't want to be told how to grow, but they do want to learn by example. If they can see how a character has grown, and they identify with that process, they may use the same process. I love knowing that children are prospering because one of my characters growth has inspired them.
Read your writing out loud - It sounds different. It's too easy to gloss over mistakes on paper. When you read, you hear what you've written, not what you think you've written. Also, if it sounds boring -- cut, cut cut. If you don't like to read aloud, then try using a text-to-speech converter. You can download many of these for free. When the computer voice reads your work, you'll hear mistakes that you might have otherwise overlooked.

This is one of several articles that explain the lessons I have learned. If you found this article valuable, search for my other articles that start with the title "Lessons Learned Number . . . "

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