Nonfiction Children’s Books
Find your niche in the nonfiction children’s book market using these timely takeaways.
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Nonfiction Children’s Books Video Transcript
Hello, this is Mary Kole with Good Story Company. This video is all about nonfiction children's books.
Nonfiction children's books have been having a great couple of years because ever since we went into lockdown at the beginning of 2020, kind of March thereabouts, parents have been kind of going crazy trying to find resources, educational resources, homeschooling resources, anything nonfiction that they can give to their children in their efforts to support distance learning, all of this. These numbers have been double-digit growth for children's nonfiction, whether that's picture books, middle grade. Young adult is still more fiction-driven but everything from picture book to middle grade, kind of those intense school year times in a child's life, has exploded.
This is great news if you're writing nonfiction, but what are the things we want to pay attention to in the children's nonfiction market. I think specificity is key. It's number one. Just like in the adult nonfiction market, there, you're not gonna really get very far by writing a parenting book that covers all the topics of parenting.
I remember when I had my son, I bought the Mayo Clinic, like, A to Z of newborns, the guide to everything newborn, right, because I've never had a newborn before. I didn't know what to do with the thing. I didn't know how to see if he was sick or whatever. And so, there is a time and place for guides like that. But the nonfiction market, no matter the age category that you're writing to, they have gotten more and more specific. So it's not just the A to Z parenting guide anymore, it is the mindful parenting guide. It is the helicopter parenting guide on the two sides of the spectrum. It is the how to be a more compassionate parent, how to be a more strict parent, whatever the case may be. Everybody is picking a specific slice of the topic to focus on and that is the way that you make headway in this nonfiction market because nonfiction is huge. There are so many books published every year about every single topic, every single angle, and you really need to figure out how to make that angle yours.
Now, ideally, for picture book biography, for example, you want to find something that has not been done or at least not this angle of it. So everybody's done George Washington and the apple tree, right? He chops down the tree. He lies. That's the big lesson. But what if there was something really cool that George Washington did in his 20s that not a lot of people know about. I'm not a history buff so I wouldn't know what that is. But we don't need another, like, cradle to grave George Washington retrospective. That is too bad. We don't need another George Washington and the cherry tree because that is an anecdote that everybody knows or thinks they know. That's the other thing. If it's actually, I said apple tree earlier, didn't I? If he didn't actually chop down a tree, then you could sort of subvert somebody something that everybody thinks that they know or you can find something, an anecdote in his 20s to focus on. But basically, we don't need another George Washington book unless it is subversive, unless it is kind of the hidden history, unless it is something new that doesn't have any competition on the shelves already. So you need to find your angle.
In nonfiction, there is also this idea of who you are. So it's like what story are you telling? Is it unique enough? Is it specific enough? And then, why are you the person to tell it? You also have to sell yourself when you want to sell nonfiction. This could be something that you work on in a professional capacity. So whether you're an early American historian in your day job, whether you live in wherever George Washington grew up and you can lend some insight to the story that way, whether you're a descendant of somebody or Washington himself... Obviously, you cannot choose who you are a descendant of, but the more specific you can get, the more you can lend yourself authenticity and authority in a certain topic, the better.
So if you're casting around for an idea, ask yourself, "Is there anything about me, or my life experience, or my professional experience, or my ancestry that would lend itself well to a very specific nonfiction project?" Anthologies are really good for middle grade. You want to put together a slice of female CEOs to inspire up-and-coming women leaders, for example, for middle grade, would be a fantastic project because it's timely. Right now, we really want to empower kids in terms of authenticity, being themselves, diversity, whether it is, you know, showcasing non-neurotypical people and their successes, whether it's showcasing diverse people and their successes, whether it's showcasing women, whether it's showcasing people who were iconoclast in their time period, things like this that sort of inspire kids, no matter who they are, or where they come from, or what kind of background they have, to be their full, most amazing selves.
We are doing a lot in the children's nonfiction market with mindfulness, emotional health, mental well-being, all of these sort of issues that you see us touchpoints in the news, while the book market reflects sort of common interest that we have as a culture now, justice, individuality, diverse backgrounds. All of these things are not just buzzwords. Girls in STEM and STEAM is a huge one that you can take advantage of, just as long as it's not like girls in STEM, because that angle, that broad angle has been done. Now, we need to see very specific examples, things where women have led the way and not been recognized for it, for example. Things like that that you can really shine a light on that maybe haven't been covered as much yet. That is what people really want to see in nonfiction children's books right now.
And then, you have to have that personal connection in order to back it up and answer the question that's gonna invariably come of why you're the person to tell the story. So, you can start with your self or you can start with sort of a hidden history or uncovered topic or something that you really want to drill deeper into. That is kind of a hot topic in culture right now. But the lesson and the takeaway here, I think, is that these broad, nonfiction topics are no longer going to be as compelling for the children's nonfiction market. But that means, if you find something really interesting and you go and you are very specific about it, that could be a key to success and the market is growing.
My name is Mary Kole with Good Story Company. Here's to a good nonfiction story.
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