Here's the handout from my webinar:
General Info on
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
Curriculum tie-ins: Next Generation Science Standards, National
Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, Curriculum:
National and State Standards | Education World
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/
Chris on Magazine Market
Research, Analyze
Magazines for Content and Style,
and Writing
for Magazines: Start Small and Focused
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
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
Skype An Author Network for online visits: http://skypeanauthor.wikifoundry.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/Writing Well
Chris on Six Ways To Brainstorm Story Ideas, How To Find Story
Ideas, You Can Find Story
Ideas, How To Find
Story Ideas And Get Started Writing,
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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