Keith Wheeler shares three rules for writing children's picture books: choose words carefully, skip rhyming at first, and don't copy big-name authors. He explains how to hire illustrators without damaging friendships and tells a story about an autistic reader who connected deeply with one of his characters.
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At Book Launchers, we only work with nonfiction authors. But as an avid consumer and fan of children's books, and because every single day someone asks me questions about how to write, publish and promote a children's book, I brought in an expert to help you out. So if you've got questions about publishing a children's book, this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the book broad from Book Launchers. We're your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers. And done right will also help you grow your brand, build your business, and make you money. The best part, you keep all rights and royalties. To all my YouTube friends who've asked me about publishing a children's book, I say let me know when your book is out. Because I'm always looking for something positive, fun and educational to read to my son. But I personally know nothing about the actual creation of children's books. So I decided to ask longtime book launcher's bestie, one of the original supporters of this channel, the guy behind the YouTube channel, Keith Wheeler Books, to share his tips. And you know what? I learned something I didn't know. He's published more than 250 books. I'm not kidding. And he's written an award winning children's book and been picked up by traditional publishers for his children's book. He self published as well. So much gold from this guy. So I'm feeling really grateful and excited I get to share his wisdom with you today. So I so please meet Keith Wheeler.
My pride and joys are my children's picture books. My books include a series of concept picture books in the My Buddy Knows series. This is the first book My Buddy Knows Letters and it has received awards and all that other good stuff. And I also have the Mimi's Adventure book which actually I self published but then I actually got picked up by traditional publishers. So that's super exciting.
So the first thing I asked Keith is what are the three tips you give every new children's book author? Here's what he had to say.
The three most important tips that I have for anybody who wants to start out in children picture books is number one, don't underestimate the writing. So many people think that writing a picture book is super easy because there's so few words. But it's actually the contrary because there are so few words. You need to make sure that each word is super powerful. My second tip is something that I try to suggest to all of my coaching students and as well as just anybody who wants to get into the children's picture book arena, is, at least for your first few books, try not to rhyme. I know that one of the initial things that you want to do if you're writing a picture book is you just hear your story and rhyme. And I really want to suggest to people to try to stay away from that. Rhyming is a lot harder to do than you think. Yes, it's easy to rhyme a word, but it's with that rhythmic pattern that you need to make sure that even though it sounds right to you, that when the reader picks up your book and they're going to read it in that exact same rhythmic pattern. Because if they don't, then there's going to be a disconnect and they're not really going to be as engaged in your story as you want them to be. There's a reason why Dr. Seuss made up so many words, because rhyming really isn't that easy. And number three, try not to compare yourself to anyone else. As much as you may look up to Dr. Seuss and you want that kind of popularity, don't try to make your book the next Dr. Seuss book. Because if people have the choice between a Dr. Seuss book and someone that they've never heard of before, they're always going to pick Dr. Seuss. Try to find a way to make you and your books unique and stand out in the marketplace.
Let me make sure I've got this straight. The first tip, and I won't exaggerate, is you must choose every single word with care. So few words mean extra room just isn't there. The second tip is avoid the temptation. Just don't even try to rhyme your whole book or you'll most likely cry. So, see, it's a problem. Rhyming words is not very easy. You'll end up saying silly things like, okay, lemon squeezy. The final tip was don't try to write green eggs and ham. Create your own style so you don't compete with Sam. I am. That really was hard. Good tip, Keith. Now, one of the most common questions I get is, where do I hire a writer? Or where do I hire an illustrator? Keith's advice on this and is really great.
Reach out to your fellow authors or your fellow illustrators, depending on what type of work you need done. So if you have your illustrations but you don't have that book written, you don't have the words to go along with it, then ask other illustrators that you know in the industry where they go to get those books ghostwritten for them. And conversely, if you have your manuscript written but you don't have the illustrations, reach out to other authors and see who they have, do their illustrations for them. Yes, we may be in the same genre, but there are enough readers out there that we're not really competing against each other. And if we help each other rise, then we all will benefit. Big suggestion I have is to try in any way, shape or form to avoid hiring family or friends to do illustrations or the writing for you. It just opens the door for so many issues and so much drama.
And if you don't know other authors, there are some great groups on Facebook, LinkedIn or through groups like the IBPA or the Ally Network. We're members and supporters of both groups, so I'll link to them below. And our friends Dale Roberts with Self Publishing with Dale has a great Facebook group as well, so I'll link to that below too. I wrapped up the video by asking Keith to share the biggest surprise or the coolest thing that's come from being a children's book author and he said the impact on his audience and shared this really cool story.
Quick story time. I actually received a video from a reader and it was a video of her with her son who has autism. And the video was her talking about how much he was enjoying not only learning his letters, but how much he enjoyed the character Buddy in the book. And then it came to the part where he actually was speaking directly to the camera, speaking directly to me, telling me how much he loved that character. That right there. There is no price to put on that.
Thank you so much for sharing this great advice with us, Keith. To connect with Keith you must go to his YouTube channel, Keith Wheeler Books and subscribe. And make sure you say hello on his latest Facebook. You can also find him on social media Wheelerbooks like this video. Please smash that thumbs up button as a thank you to Keith and go ahead and post your questions and comments below. Keith is a regular Book Launcher's bestie, so he'll be here to answer your questions. I just know it. And when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet book Launcher swag like this mug Keith is drinking from right here. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate have all been reported to taste better in it. I love that Keith. Thank you. New videos every Tuesday and Friday and when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be one step closer to being a YouTube bestie with me like Keith and some other fabulous folks like Erin Crowley, Sandra Rodriguez, Rachel Robertson, Kevin number one, the original Kevin McGuire and Kevin two. Thank you so much for your shares, likes and comments. You guys make my day. Now I would love to hang out some more. Shall we? YouTube really thinks you'll enjoy this video right here and this video over here. What is an Ark? It's a great video to help you understand how you'll use prelaunch copies of your book to generate reviews and early momentum for your marketing effort. Something every author, children's book or nonfiction author needs to know about. So go ahead, choose one of those two videos. I'm waiting for you with my mug.
