Writing Bestselling Children's Books: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Inspiring Young Readers - Tapa blanda

Some people think that writing for kids is easy - short books, no big words, non-existent attention spans and then fill in any gaps with pictures. But nothing could be further from the truth. Children are the harshest critics imaginable. Give a grown-up a copy of "Ulysses" to read and they'll pretend to like it just so they don't look stupid. Give a copy to a kid and they'll tell you straight up that it's no good. Writing for children is much harder than writing for adults because it's all about catching their attention and keeping it - whether for five pages or five hundred. And being restricted by theme, vocabulary, length and a wandering attention span makes things infinitely more complicated.But creating books for children is also one of the most rewarding activities any writer can experience. To kids, stories are everything - they fuel their imaginations and provide endless hours of entertainment. "Writing Bestselling Children's Books" isn't a magic book. Opening it won't instantly give you the ability to write a bestseller. But the hints, tips and exercises that Alexander has picked up over his years as a writer, and which got him his publishing deal with Faber, will help you free your imagination and create books that will capture children's hearts forever.

Alexander Gordon Smith has published more than 200 books, short stories and articles for kids. In 2005 his first children's novel, The Inventors, came second in Waterstones 'Wow Factor' competition and is being published by Faber in 2007, with a sequel due to follow in 2008. He also wrote the best-selling Inspired creative writing, also in the 52 Brilliant Ideas series. He has run workshops and information classes for all ages, helping numerous people into print, and has seen writing from the dark side as Managing Director of Egg Box Publishing, one of the country's most innovative independent publishing houses. He is also Chairman of the Storybox project - a centre for children's literature currently being developed in Norwich.