How to Become a Children’s Book Author

Becoming a children’s book author is less about one great idea and more about habits: reading, writing, revising and showing your work to people who will tell you the truth. This guide covers the career side, from training and writing groups to income and your first year. For the writing itself, see how to write a children’s book, step by step. If you’d rather publish on your own terms, you can self publish a children’s book once the manuscript is ready.

What a children’s book author actually does

A children’s author spends much of the time on work that isn’t first drafts. For many picture book writers, revising takes longer than drafting, because every word is read aloud. The rest of the job:

• Revising, often across many drafts, with notes from readers, a critique group or an editor.
• Submitting, which means researching agents, writing query letters and waiting, or planning a self-published release.
• Working with others: an editor, and for picture books an illustrator, usually chosen by the publisher on the traditional route.
• Meeting readers through school and library visits, events and a website.

It’s often freelance work: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 65% of writers and authors as self-employed (as of 2025).

Do you need a degree or training?

No. Agents and publishers judge the manuscript in front of them, and children’s authors come from all kinds of backgrounds.

Training helps if you want structure. Options range from community classes and online courses to graduate programs such as the low-residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts or Hamline University. These are a choice, not a requirement. The BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as typical for writers and authors in general, but nothing requires one to sell a children’s book.

Learn the craft by reading your category

One of the best ways to learn is reading the books your readers read now. Pick your age group first, a picture book, early reader, chapter book or middle grade novel, then read recent titles from it in bulk. Your library is the cheapest place to start.

Read with a notebook. Note the word counts, how each book opens, where the page turns fall and how the ending lands. Award lists are a good shortcut to strong examples. The American Library Association’s Caldecott Medal goes to the artist of the year’s most distinguished American picture book, the Newbery Medal to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American children’s literature, and the Geisel Award to the most distinguished American book for beginning readers.

Our guide to what makes a good children’s book lists the qualities to look for as you read.

Join a writing community

Other children’s writers will find the problems in your manuscript that you can no longer see.

• SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, has about 20,000 members and close to 80 regions worldwide. Premium membership costs $99 for the first year, then $85 to renew, or $80 a year on auto-renew (as of October 2026). It runs conferences, including an in-person winter conference traditionally held in New York City, and offers awards and grants.
• A critique group, a small group of writers who swap manuscripts regularly. Look for one through your SCBWI region, your library or online writing communities, and choose people who write for the same age group.
• Conferences and workshops, where you can hear editors and agents explain what they look for.

No group nearby? A professional critique gives you an editor’s notes on one manuscript, from $249 for a picture book.

Build a body of work, not one manuscript

Write the second manuscript while the first one is out for feedback. Your first manuscript may turn out to be practice, and that’s easier to see once you’ve written a few more.

More than one finished manuscript also helps on either route. An agent who likes your work will want to know what else you have. A self-published author with a second book ready can keep readers coming back, and a series can help one book lead readers to the next. If you already have ideas waiting, our list of children’s book ideas by age can help you test them.

Choose your publishing route

Children’s authors publish through an agent and a traditional publisher, or on their own. Both are real careers.

Traditional. Many large publishers accept manuscripts only through literary agents; Penguin Random House, for example, says it doesn’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. An agent typically takes 15% of what you earn from US sales, and often 20% on foreign sales handled through a co-agent. The publisher usually pays for and chooses the illustrator, and Authors Guild guidance says contracts usually allow 12 to 18 months from acceptance to publication, and up to 24 months for illustrated children’s books. Start with query letters and agents.

Self-publishing. You hire the illustrator, pay for production, and keep your rights and a larger share of each sale per copy. Get the rights to the illustrations in writing. The book can be out in months rather than years. See every step of publishing a children’s book, and our comparison of Amazon KDP and IngramSpark for where to print.

Still deciding? The 5 decisions before you start include choosing a route and a budget.

Build an author presence

Parents, teachers and librarians may look you up before they buy your book or book a visit, so give them somewhere to land. Three basics cover it:

• A simple website with your books, a short bio and a contact page. Our author page with a newsletter signup costs $499, including year 1 hosting.
• A newsletter, so you can tell readers when the next book is out, without relying on social media.
• School and library visits. The Authors Guild describes school visits as a much-needed source of income for children’s authors, so plan a short talk or activity tied to your book. Our guide to marketing a children’s book has a school visit email you can copy.

You don’t need all of this before your first book is out. A one-page site and a signup form are enough to start.

What children’s book authors earn

Book income alone is modest for many authors. The Authors Guild’s 2023 survey, which covers authors of all kinds of books, found a median of $2,000 from books in 2022 across all authors, and $10,000 for full-time authors. Including talks, teaching and other author work, full-time authors had a median of $20,000.

On the traditional route, picture book royalties are usually split equally between the author and the illustrator, the Authors Guild says, with hardcover children’s royalties often starting at 10% of the list price and rising after a set number of copies. Self-published authors keep a larger share of each sale but pay for illustration and production first. See what authors earn on each route for the full comparison.

For a wider view, the BLS puts the median pay for writers and authors at $76,910 a year (May 2025), but that covers all kinds of writers, from technical to copywriting, not only book authors.

Your first 12 months as a children’s author

A simple plan for your first year, quarter by quarter. Adjust the pace to the time you have.

Career mistakes new children’s authors make

• Querying too early. Sending an agent a weak draft can cost you that agent’s attention for that manuscript, and many agents won’t look at the same manuscript twice unless they ask for a revision, so revise with outside feedback first.
• Betting everything on one book. Keep writing while you wait.
• Paying a company that takes your rights. A legitimate traditional publisher doesn’t charge you, so be wary of presses that ask for money to publish you. If you pay for help, keep your rights and your royalties, and buy the ISBN in your own name.
• Paying for illustrations before querying. Traditional publishers choose their own illustrator, unless you’re an author-illustrator. If you draw, see how to become a children’s book illustrator.
• Skipping your own age group’s shelf. Books from decades ago tell you what was published then, not what’s being bought now.

If you want one finished book more than a writing career, a children’s book ghostwriter can write and illustrate it for you, from $3,999. Every word written by a human writer.

How to become a children’s book author: common questions

How long does it take to become a published children’s book author?

It varies widely. Self-published authors can release a book within months of finishing the manuscript. On the traditional route, finding an agent and a publisher can take a year or more, and Authors Guild guidance says contracts usually allow 12 to 18 months from acceptance to publication, and up to 24 months for illustrated children’s books. It’s also common to write several manuscripts before one is ready.

Is joining SCBWI worth it?

It can be, if you take part. SCBWI’s Premium membership costs $99 for the first year and $85 to renew (as of October 2026), and gives you regional events, conferences, awards and grants, and other writers in your area. Join a regional event or a critique group rather than only reading the emails.

Can I write children’s books part time?

Yes, and many writers do. The Authors Guild’s 2023 survey found a median of $2,000 from books across all authors in 2022, so plan to fit writing around other work at first. A steady routine, even an hour a few times a week, adds up to finished manuscripts over a year.

Do I need an author website before my first book?

Not before, but it helps by launch. A simple page with your bio, your book and a newsletter signup gives parents, teachers and librarians somewhere to find you. Start small and add pages as your list of books grows.

Related reading

• How to write a children’s book
• What makes a good children’s book
• Picture book with no words: how to write a wordless one