Saturday, May 11, 2019

Writing #KidLit #Nonfiction with Chris Eboch

Here's the handout from my webinar:


Writing Nonfiction, with Chris Eboch

Trade Book Advances: $2000-$10,000 and up. May take several years to receive all payments. Difficult to control or predict sales.
Royalties: Passive income that can last for years. Requires a royalty agreement that earns out. May take years after the book sale.
Work-for-Hire Books: Flat fee (usually), quick turnaround time, assigned topics. Pays from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Can be steady work. Good for building a resume.
Electronic Databases: Schoolwide/Zing takes NF texts and pays royalties.
Self-Publishing: Upfront costs, but potentially passive income for years. A way to make use of unsold manuscripts. Very tough market. Try regional with strong curriculum ties.
Magazine Articles: Generally low pay for children’s magazines, but can be several hundred dollars. Make use of your research from other projects. Build a resume, show expertise.
Educational Test Passages/Assessment: Often decent pay for small jobs ($70-$400 for less than 1000 words). Requires ability to write a variety of genres, topics, and targeted grade levels. Mainly seasonal work. Writing test questions is complicated but pays well (~$12 per question).
School Visits: Pay varies greatly. Helps market your books. If you’re not a well-known author, focus on what you’ll teach kids – help them do better on tests, tie in to curriculum.

General Info on Nonfiction Writing for Children

NF for Kids Yahoo Group (largely inactive but you can browse old posts)https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NFforKids/info 
The SCBWI discussion boards have sections on work for hire, self-publishing, magazines, contracts, taxes, and more: http://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php
Kelly James-Enger on ghostwriting, articles, etc.: http://dollarsanddeadlines.blogspot.com    
Darcy Pattison on indie publishing: https://www.darcypattison.com/
From Self-Publishing to Blogging: 7 Solid Ways to Make Money Writing, by Blake Atwood (editing, teaching, freelance articles): https://thewritelife.com/7-ways-to-make-money-writing/
Freedom With Writing newsletter: writing jobs and articles to help you be a freelance writer: https://www.freedomwithwriting.com/

Trade Publishing Nonfiction

Editorial Anonymous’ Publishing Dictionary posts – definitions of royalties, advances, earning out and more: http://tinyurl.com/ajesxl

Nonfiction Educational/Work for Hire Books

Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Children’s Books, Get Them Published, and Build a Successful Writing Career, by Nancy Sanders
Writing Children’s Nonfiction Books for the Educational Market, by Laura Purdie Salas
Evelyn Christensen’s list of Educational Markets: http://evelynchristensen.com/markets.html 

Writing KidLit Magazine Articles

Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers, Book Markets for Children’s Writers and Children’s Writers and Illustrator’s Market list magazines. The SCBWI “Magazine Market Guide” is in The Book, included with membership. Get magazine samples at your library, school, or house of worship; requests sample copies from the publisher; publishers’ web sites may have online samples. List of mags w/links to websites: http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/kidsmags.html  and http://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/magazines-for-kids/

Self-Publishing Nonfiction

Indie publishing worksheet – are you ready/what you need: https://chriseboch.com/for-writers/
What Defines “Traditional” Publishing? Anne R. Allen: http://tinyurl.com/n35mofq 
Jane Friedman details different paths to publishing: http://tinyurl.com/k3ay9bw  
Go regional or tie to curriculum or both. Go for awards. List w/educational distributors. Resources and distributors: www.darcypattison.com/scbwi/

School Visits

School Visit Experts – advice on programs and biz tips: schoolvisitexperts.com

Grade Levels: ATOS or Lexile

Lexile: http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/
Lexile highlighting the more difficult words: http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/

How Lexile Relates to Grade: http://tinyurl.com/yaalxkqg
ATOS http://www.renlearn.com/atos/


How To Write A Non-Fiction Book Outline In Two Days, with Joanna Penn: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/04/26/how-to-write-a-non-fiction-book-outline-in-two-days/

Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages, with 60+ traditionally published books for children. Her novels for ages nine and up include Bandits Peak, a survival thriller; The Genie’s Gift; an Arabian fantasy, The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; and The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page.

Chris is the author of You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers and Advanced Plotting. Check out writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog. Sign up for her workshop newsletter for online classes and critique offers.

Chris also writes novels of suspense and romance for adults under the name Kris Bock; read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.

Sign up for a manuscript critique with Chris! Get detailed editorial comments to help you improve your story. Email chriseboch@gmail.com or see her website’s “for writers” page for details.

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