The biggest single problem facing most writers is not style, voice, technique, ideas, or other aspects of writing, but marketing. Its importance cannot be overstated. Among unpublished writers, especially, it may be far greater than writing itself. 

By “marketing,” we mean the crucial process of targeting a manuscript to a specific editor, following that editor’s do’s and don’ts to the letter, and presenting your work to him or her in a clearly professional form. It’s the process that gets your words into print.

More than 11,000 of our students and graduates have been published across the entire spectrum of children’s and teenage literature because we are very successful in integrating marketing instruction with writing instruction. 

As a student, seven of your ten writing assignments will require you to study and identify a specific category of publication, if not a specific book or magazine publisher or editor, as your “target market”—before you begin to write. 

These assignments are “real” and designed for publication. Hundreds of our students and graduates have reworked these seven assignments, based on their instructor’s edits and critiques, and sold one or more of them.

You also study previous books or publications from your target market for content and “voice,” looking for flavor and style, among other things. We are in constant touch with all major editors and publishers to provide you with direct insights into their needs and preferences—including what topics to avoid, what subjects they want more of, word count requirements, and age ranges. 

We update and publish this valuable information every year in two comprehensive directories of children’s publishers—over 990 pages in total—and provide it to you as part of your course materials.

At the Institute of Children’s Literature, we place great emphasis on publication as the definition of success, and we do everything in our power to help you achieve that goal. That’s because  publication demonstrates true mastery, whether or not you decide to continue as a professional writer. 

Publication is our holy grail. And if your writing is published, you become part of that hallowed fellowship of men and women who share their stories and ideas with tens, hundreds, or thousands of readers.

We begin the process with a challenge: You must pass our Aptitude Test for Children’s Writing in order to enroll in our course. So, clearly, we begin with select students. Each of them has demonstrated the potential to produce publishable work.

You are then assigned to a nationally published children’s writer or editor who will be your one and only instructor for the duration of the course.  These are highly skilled professionals, not only as writers and teachers of the special techniques of children’s writing, but also in marketing. 

They know the current market for children’s writing, inside and out, from first-hand experience, and your instructor will share his or her valuable knowledge and experiences with you.

Our course integrates writing and marketing in seven of your assignments. You don’t write simply to hone your skills in these assignments; rather, you write for a specific category of publication, such as mystery, adventure, or how-to, or for a particular publication, such as Highlights for Children or another magazine. 

Your instructor will edit and critique these assignments from the viewpoint of the editor you’re targeting, and after you rework your manuscripts according to his or her guidance, you may be ready to submit them for publication. 

Your instructor is clearly the key factor in your writing success. It is he or she who will read every word you write and thoroughly edit and critique each of your manuscripts—not just from the viewpoint of a nationally-published writer or editor, but also as one skilled in marketing. 

You work together as a team, harnessing your instructor’s skills and experience to your drive and creativity to produce work worthy of consideration by the editor or publisher of your choice.

Because we accept only those students who demonstrate the potential to produce publishable work; because we have worked continuously to perfect our course since 1969; and because we have selected and trained the finest, most experienced teachers in the field of writing for children and teenagers, we make this promise to you:

If you pass our Aptitude Test for Children’s Writing and enroll in our course, by the time you finish your training you’ll complete at least one manuscript suitable to submit to editors; we’ll show you how to sell your work to them; and we’ll teach you how to continue on your own as a freelance writer.