Other sections : Books on Writing | Books on Illustrating | Books About Books | Reference Books
Key*: Essential resources--the basic books you are most likely to need N: New items--added since the 2nd edition was published R: Revised items--new editions or significant changes to my comments |
There are two links for each item in this section. One takes you to the magazine's website, if there is one. The "To subscribe" link takes you to Amazon.com to order a subscription.
* Booklist. The most consistently thoughtful and inclusive review magazine. Published monthly, aimed mainly at librarians. Booklist, PO Box 607, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-7564. Phone: 1-888-350-0949
Children's Book Insider. A helpful monthly magazine for writers, and the place where updates to Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market are published. Children's Book Insider, LLC, 901 Columbia Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525-1838. Phone: 1-800-807-1916
The Horn Book Magazine. (To subscribe) A literary review magazine for children's books, with in-depth feature articles and regular columns on subjects such as multicultural literature and young adult novels. Published bimonthly, with The Horn Book Guide (To subscribe) semi-annually. The Horn Book, Inc., 56 Roland Street, Suite 200, Boston MA 02129. Phone: 1-800-325-1170 or 617-628-0225
The Lion and the Unicorn. An academic journal on children's literature, and a good place to go for a different (sometimes difficult-to-understand) perspective. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Journals Division, 2715 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Phone: 1-800-548-1784
R Once Upon a Time. This quarterly magazine by and for writers has closed down.
* Publisher's Weekly. (To subscribe) The weekly news magazine of the publishing industry, with reviews aimed at the bookstore market. The semi-annual children's book issues are a must-see. Subscriptions are expensive, but much of the content gets posted on their web-site. Publishers Weekly, P.O. Box 16178, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6178. Phone: 800-278-2991
School Library Journal. Monthly, reviews the most books, but not always consistently. School Library Journal, PO Box 16388 North Hollywood, CA 91615-6388. Phone: 1-800-595-1066 (within the U.S.); 818-487-4566 (outside the U.S.)
Organizations
Association of Author's Representatives. To get the AAR's Canon of Ethics, suggested questions to ask of an agent, and member's list, visit their website.
The Author's Guild. This national organization is open to published authors for adults and for children. The contact information is:
330 W. 42nd Street 29th Floor
New York, NY 10036
212-563-5904
Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers. CANSCAIP publishes a newsletter and brings those concerned with children's literature together. To apply, contact them at:
CANSCAIP
35 Spadina Road
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2S9
416-515-1559
The Children's Book Council. The trade association for children's publishers creates a lot of useful publications. The best may be their list of their members (also available online), available for a 6 x 9-inch SASE with 3 oz. postage and a check for $2. Send these to:
The Children's Book Council
12 W. 37th Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018-7480
212-966-1990
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Get access to the SCBWI's newsletter, free publications, and reduced rates for conferences by joining. Get an application form from:
SCBWI
8271 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-782-1010
Society of Photographers and Artists Representatives. The professional organization for artist's agents. Find SPAR's member's lists and more online,
Websites
Articles
for Writers and Publishers
This is a lawyer's personal website, with dozens of helpful articles on various
contract issues and on copyright. Clearly, you are getting one person's point
of view, but this particular lawyer seems like a reasonable person.
CCBC
The Cooperative Children's Book Center publishes many useful lists of
recommended books.
The
Children's Literature Web Guide
Run by a librarian at the University of Calgary, this is the best place to
start to find information and other websites on children's books and children's
publishing.
The
Children's Writer's E-mail Group
This active and informed group discusses a wide range of topics relating to
the writing and illustrating of children's books.
R
Writing for Children's Magazines
Evelyn Christensen runs this excellent resource for anyone writing for children's
magazines. It's set up as an ezine, with archives.
The
Purple Crayon
Don't forget my website. Here you'll find articles, interviews, materials
from this book, and my personal selections of useful websites.
Raab
Associates
Susan Raab is a freelance marketer specializing in children's books. This
site promotes her business and also has a wonderful archive of the columns
on marketing that she writes for the SCBW-I newsletter.
Aaron
Shepard's World of Story
This is an author's personal site with useful articles based on his experiences.
It's also a striking example of what can be done to promote one's books by
developing and maintaining a personal site.
R
Cynthia
Leitich Smith's website
Another personal site, this one features an astonishingly comprehensive
and up-to-date collection of children's literature-related links.
The
Westing Game
This is a web exhibit of the multiple drafts of the manuscript and sample
pages from the page and jacket design process, all contributed to the Cooperative
Children's Book Center by the author of this Newbery Medal-winning novel.
Writing
World
Don't be put off by the heavy presence of advertising; you'll find plenty
of useful articles on a variety of topics, including writing children's books
and self-publishing.
This list is based on the Resource Guide in the Appendix of the third edition of my Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books. It has been enhanced with hyperlinks direct to web sites and book pages on Amazon.com (for purchase or just for information--if you prefer to buy elsewhere, I have created a page of suggested bookstores).
