Institute of Children's Literature - Learn to Write for Children

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" onload="FP_preloadImgs(/*url*/'images/buttonE.jpg',/*url*/'images/buttonD.jpg',/*url*/'images/button1A.jpg',/*url*/'images/button19.jpg')"> <i><font SIZE="4"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="0" src="images/full-story-header.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: -10px; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px" align="center"> <img border="0" src="images/WforCandT.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> If you’ve ever dreamed of writing for children, and creating stories and books that get published, here’s your best chance to learn what it takes to convert that writing dream into a bright reality.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> If you qualify, one of our nationally published writer/instructors will be your personal mentor on every assignment and teach you how to write the kinds of manuscripts that editors are looking for.  With first hand knowledge of editorial needs, your instructor develops a teaching plan that meets your individual needs and goals and then guides you with constructive encouragement every step of the way.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> For details on this celebrated home study training course from the Institute of Children’s Literature, review the topics below:</font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="61" align="left"> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <br> <b><font face="Verdana">Topics</font></b></td> <td valign="top" width="32">  </td> <td width="350" valign="top"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="325" bgcolor="#FFFFDF" cellspacing="15" height="263"> <tr> <td> <font SIZE="4"> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="#specialists"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">ICL, Specialists in Children's Literature</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="#Learn_at_your_own_pace_"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Learn at Your Own Pace</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="#You_are_a_class_of_one"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">You Are a Class of One</font></span></a></font></p> </font> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="#you_can_be_a_writer"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">You Can Be a Writer</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="#Writing_can_be_highly_rewarding"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Writing Can Be Highly Rewarding</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="#The_surprisingly_big_juvenile_market"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">The Surprisingly Big Juvenile Market</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="how_we_teach.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">How We Teach, How You Learn</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="how_we_teach.htm#teaching plan"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Your Instructor Is Your Personal Tutor</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="road_to_publication.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Here Is the Course That Guides You</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="getting_published.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Getting Your Writing Published</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="getting_published.htm#advantages"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">The Advantages of Time-Tested Instruction</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="getting_published.htm#importance"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">The Importance of Continuity in Instruction</font></span></a></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none"> <a href="instructors.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Our Exceptional Instructors</font></span></a></span></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none"> <font color="#000000"><a href="how_we_train_instructors.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">How We Select and Train Instructors</font></span></a></font></span></font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> <a href="how_we_train_instructors.htm#top-notch"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">What Makes an Instructor "Top-notch"?</font></span></a></font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: -15px; margin-left:25px">  <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="credits.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">How You Earn College Credits</font></span></a></font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px">  <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"><a href="aptitude.htm"> <span style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#000080">Next Step: See if You Qualify</font></span></a></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="540"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="115" cellpadding="6" bgcolor="#0033FF"> <tr> <td> <p align="center"><b> <font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#FFFFDF"> <a style="color: #FFFFFF" href="#The_pure_joy_of_writing_for_youngsters"> <span style="text-decoration: none">The Pure Joy of Writing for Youngsters</span></a></font></b></td> </tr> </table> </div> <div align="center">  </div> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="115" cellpadding="6" bgcolor="#0033FF"> <tr> <td> <p align="center"><b> <font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#FFFFDF"> <a style="color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: none" href="how_we_teach.htm">How Your Teaching Plan Is Tailored to Your Goals</a></font></b></td> </tr> </table> </div> <div align="center">  </div> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="115" cellpadding="6" bgcolor="#0033FF"> <tr> <td> <p align="center"><b> <font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#FFFFDF"> <a style="color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: none" href="getting_published.htm#seven opportunities">Seven Different Opportunities to Get Published</a></font></b></td> </tr> </table> </div>  </td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"><a name="specialists"></a></p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"><font color="#000080"><b><font face="Georgia" size="5"> Specialists in children</font><span style="font-family: Georgia"><font size="5">’</font></span><font face="Georgia" size="5">s <br> literature since 1969</font></b></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">The Institute was founded in 1969 to establish the finest course of instruction in how to write and how to market fiction and nonfiction for children and teenagers.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> Now, after more than 40 years of devotion to the juvenile market, the Institute has become the leading teacher and the primary source of new children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s writers in North America. We publish annual market directories and a monthly newsletter, as well as course materials and textbooks</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">all related exclusively to writing for children and teenagers.</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">As you read through this material, you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">ll meet our instructors. In total, our faculty has worked for more than 1,000 publishers and won more than 200 medals, prizes, and awards including the highest honors in children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s literature.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">While our faculty has published more than 26,000 books, stories, and articles, our students and alumni have been well-published, too. We have received reports of more than 11,000 sales, and the rate of publication notices is now running at a rate of 1,000 per year.</span></p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="275"> <tr> <td> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="1" src="images/Building.gif" width="275" height="132"></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font color="#808080"><font face="Verdana" size="2">The Institute of Children</font><span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="2">’</font></span><font face="Verdana" size="2">s Literature, nestled deep in the woods of western Connecticut, was founded in 1969.</font></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <a name="Learn_at_your_own_pace_">Learn at your own pace </a> </b><br> <i>Writing for Children and Teenagers</i> was structured with maximum flexibility: Students learn at their own pace within their own schedules, and they work in the privacy of their own homes. </font> </p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">The cornerstone of this unique course, which has evolved through a series of refinements and enhancements since 1969, is its one-on-one method of teaching: Each student is assigned his or her own instructor</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">a published writer or experienced </font> <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">editor</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">and they work together to achieve the student's goals.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <a name="You_are_a_class_of_one">You are a class of one</a></b><br> Compare our </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">class of one</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> method of teaching with the traditional college or university classroom with one instructor for 20, 30, or even 50 students. Our pairing of a beginner with an accomplished instructor</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">the classic master-apprentice relationship</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">gives aspiring authors the finest, most personal training available anywhere. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b>Exclusive publishing data</b><br> One key to our students</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> extraordinary record of success is the Institute</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s research facility, which continuously monitors the editorial requirements of every publisher and every publication related to children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s literature. This data, published annually in the form of market directories, is available exclusively from the Institute.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b>The measures of success</b><br> For many students, publication is the yardstick of success. For others, it is the exhilaration they feel in being able to communicate in writing more effectively in their business or professional life. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">Whatever your writing objective may be, if you pass our Aptitude Test for Children’s Writing and enroll in <i>Writing for Children and Teenagers</i>, we will give you our promise: <i>You will complete at least one manuscript suitable to submit to an editor by the time you finish the course.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Finally, we are dedicated to your satisfaction. </font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#FFFFDF"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px" align="center"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: 700"> GUARANTEE</font></p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: 700">If you are not satisfied that you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; font-weight:700">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: 700">ve become a better writer and learned how to market your writing to publishers by the time you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; font-weight:700">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: 700">ve completed our program, you can obtain a full refund.</font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="0" src="images/grad-cap.gif" width="50" height="25"></td> <td> <hr color="#000000" size="1"> <p style="margin-top: -5px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Arial" style="font-size: 9pt">Writing for Children and Teenagers<i> course, offered by the Institute of Children's Literature, is recommended for college credits by the Connecticut Board for State Academic Awards and approved by the Connecticut Commissioner of Higher Education.</i></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"><a name="you_can_be_a_writer"></a></p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"><b><font face="Georgia" size="5" color="#000080"> You can be a writer</font></b></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">A traveling salesman from Chittenango, New York, returned home from his trips with fanciful stories he made up to delight his children. He failed as a businessman, but L. Frank Baum</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s <i>Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i>, published when he was 44, won him lasting fame and led to 13 more books about his enchanted land. </font> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">But most successful authors create their stories, at least in part, with material drawn from their personal experiences. Fantasy, imagination, hard facts, snippets of conversations, and personality quirks are all coin of the writer</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">s realm. </span></font> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <i><font face="Georgia"> <span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <img border="1" src="images/Charlotte's-Web.gif" width="100" height="150" align="right" hspace="10">Charlotte</span></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">s Web</span></font></i><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> was inspired by a cobweb in E. B. White</span></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s barn in West Brooklin, Maine, inhabited by a spider he endowed with endearing human qualities.</font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">While a spider in a web was only a point of departure for White, Mark Twain drew heavily on his boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri, to create the scenes and settings along the river as well as the characters and personalities that populate <i>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</i>, <i> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i>, and <i>Life on the Mississippi</i>. </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Louisa May Alcott went to work at age 15 as a governess and household servant to help support her family. At night, she wrote stories. She sent her manuscripts to a publisher who suggested that Miss Alcott write a story based on her childhood. The book captured the hearts of girls everywhere, and <i>Little Women</i> became one of the most successful children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s books ever published.</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <img border="1" src="images/MC-Higgins.gif" width="100" height="149" align="right" hspace="10">Writers of articles and other forms of nonfiction often make use of their hobbies, interests, and even their work experiences as the basis for interesting expositions. One of the outstanding examples of this kind of writing is <i>Science Experiments You Can Eat</i>, written by a junior high school science teacher. It has been a steady seller since 1962.</font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px">  </p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-weight: 700">You can take up writing for children <br> at any age, any time, and any place</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Whatever your age, education, and occupation</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">wherever and however you live</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">finding the best time and place to write is the student writer</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s first assignment. </font> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px">  <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Whether you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">re a </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">morning person</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> or a </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">night person</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> and whether you write on the kitchen table or at your own desk are much less important considerations than having your own time and place to write. That time and place then become your creative center and yours alone</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">a place of one</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s own.</font><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b>Opportunities for new writers </b></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px"> <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">More than 580 publishers of books and 670 publishers of magazines related to children buy manuscripts from freelance writers. Of course, all manuscripts must be </span> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">right on target</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> and written and presented according to the publishers</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> specifications if they are to be considered. </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia"> <i><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <font SIZE="4"> <img border="1" src="images/Highlights.gif" width="100" height="131" align="right" hspace="10"></font></span></i></font><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">While more than 10,000 </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia"> different titles for children and young adults are published every year, children's magazines consume <i>thousands of stories and articles every month!</i></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> Some have many subscribers. </span></font><i> <font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">Boys</span></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> Life</span></font></i><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> has 1,300,000; Scholastic</span></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s magazines total 25,000,000; and <i>Highlights for Children</i> goes into more than 2,500,000 homes every month! With their voracious appetites, magazines require a lot of writing to keep them well fed. Freelancers supply most of it. </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b>Where, when, and at what pace <br> you write is up to you</b></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">One of the most appealing aspects of writing is the extraordinary flexibility it offers; you can write anywhere, anytime you wish. All you need is some way to </font> <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">capture the words. </span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">One famous author (before she was famous) wrote in longhand on a board propped up on the steering wheel of her car</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">which was parked in her driveway, locked. It was the only way she could get away from the children, the pets, and the telephone. She bought a precious hour every day with this arrangement, and with it, Jean Kerr produced the best-selling novel </span></font><i> <font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">Please Don</span></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">t Eat the Daisies</span></font></i><font face="Georgia"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">. </span></font> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <img border="1" src="images/Last-Battle.gif" width="100" height="147" align="right" hspace="10">A record of success</b><br> No matter how or when you write, or what you write about, there</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s always a waiting market for good juvenile writing. See for yourself; go to your library and skim a dozen books and magazines for children and young adults. </font> </p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">Ask yourself: If I had individual instruction from a real professional, could I learn to write as well as that? If your answer is yes and if you have the necessary aptitude to qualify, you may wish to consider the Institute’s course, <i>Writing for Children and Teenagers</i>. Our students and alumni have already written and published more than 11,000 books, articles, and stories.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <a name="Writing_can_be_highly_rewarding">Writing can be highly rewarding</a></b><br> The rewards of writing begin with the recognition that you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">ve succeeded in expressing yourself on paper the way you want to be read</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">first, by you, and second, by your instructor. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <img border="1" src="images/Stinky-Cheese.gif" width="100" height="126" align="right" hspace="10">At the outset, those rewards may seem almost unattainable. But once you start satisfying your own standards</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">and your instructor</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">ll be ready to learn the next steps: how to find appropriate markets and how to offer these editors and publishers your work.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">That first sweet letter of acceptance from a publisher will never be rivaled by anything you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">re likely to get in the mail</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">except, possibly, your publisher</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s check. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">The last, and perhaps the greatest, of these early successes is seeing your name and your words in print. For most writers, this is the realization of a cherished dream, a confirmation of their faith in their ability, and the beginning of a life in writing. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <img border="1" src="images/Out-of-the-Dust-for-FS.gif" width="100" height="147" align="right">Karen Hesse, author of <i>Out of the Dust</i>, achieved a great triumph in 1998, eight years after graduating from the Institute, when she won the Newbery Medal, America</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s highest honor in children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s fiction. She has now written 20 children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s books.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">In 2003, Karen Hesse was granted a $500,000 </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Genius</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <a name="The_pure_joy_of_writing_for_youngsters">The pure joy of writing for youngsters</a></b><br> There are special joys to be found in writing for children and teenagers that no other category of writing can offer you. The light your words bring to a child</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s face, the giggles and laughter your stories tickle out of a youngster</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s imagination</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">these are experiences you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">ll treasure forever.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="1" src="images/Where-the-Wild-things-Are.gif" width="130" height="112" align="right" hspace="10"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">And if your words succeed in reaching and touching a teenager, offering understanding in that often confusing world of adolescence, you</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">ll find gratification beyond measure.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <a name="The_surprisingly_big_juvenile_market">The surprisingly big juvenile market</a></b><br> Although for many years books and magazines for children and teenagers were the cinder maids of the publishing world, they have emerged in recent years as the Cinderellas:</font></p> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="0" src="images/pub-sales.gif" width="230" height="250"></p> <ul> <li> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Publishers</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> total sales of children</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s books have multiplied nearly 16 times since 1980</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">from $211 million to $3.4 <i>billion</i> in 2006. And publishers</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> sales of juvenile paperbacks rose from $336,000,000 in 1988 to nearly $900,000,000 in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2006</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">a 400% increase in 18 years.</font></li> <li> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Magazines for and about children have exploded from a handful just a generation ago to more than 670 today. </font></li> <li> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 25px"> <font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">While public school enrollments in grades preK-8 increased 15.8% from 1990 to 2007 (projected), the enrollment in grades 9-12 for the same period increased by 32.4%.</font></li> </ul> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> <img border="1" src="images/Boys'-Quest.gif" width="100" height="131" align="right" hspace="10">The reason for this dramatic growth is the population boom, or </font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">“</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">boomlet,</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">”</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"> produced by the baby boomers, as well as the positive attitudes they have developed, as parents, toward reading and education. The result has produced an eager audience with money to spend.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Publishers in the juvenile market have also reacted favorably, from a freelance writer</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia">’</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">s point of view, and they continue to be receptive to fresh, new material that meets their specifications.</font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">Of course, no matter who submits a manuscript for consideration</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">an established author or an unpublished writer</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">professional standards apply. These are the standards you learn at the Institute. </font></p> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><b> <img border="1" src="images/Cat-in-the-Hat.gif" width="105" height="145" align="right" hspace="10">Your best prospects for success </b><br> If you have the desire and the aptitude to write for children and young adults, we have a truly superior course of instruction and a highly qualified instructor to work with you one-on-one. </font> <p style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">We teach you how to write</font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Georgia; color: black">—</span><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt">and how to get your writing published. As a result, our course offers you the best prospects for success as a student and, later, as a freelance writer.</font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td><hr width="500" noshade color="#000000" size="1"> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Verdana" style="font-size: 9pt"><i>Sources: U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2008).</i></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p align="right" style="margin-left: 25px"><font face="Georgia" style="font-size: 11.5pt"><i> <a href="how_we_teach.htm">Continued</a></i> </font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"><a href="aptitude_test.htm"> <img border="0" id="img1" src="images/buttonC.jpg" height="20" width="150" alt="Writing Aptitude Test" fp-style="fp-btn: Embossed Capsule 1; fp-proportional: 0; fp-orig: 0" fp-title="Writing Aptitude Test" onmouseover="FP_swapImg(1,0,/*id*/'img1',/*url*/'images/buttonD.jpg')" onmouseout="FP_swapImg(0,0,/*id*/'img1',/*url*/'images/buttonC.jpg')" onmousedown="FP_swapImg(1,0,/*id*/'img1',/*url*/'images/buttonE.jpg')" onmouseup="FP_swapImg(0,0,/*id*/'img1',/*url*/'images/buttonD.jpg')"></a></td> <td> <p align="center" style="margin-left: 25px"><a href="sendinfo.htm"> <img border="0" id="img2" src="images/button18.jpg" height="20" width="150" alt="Send Me Full Info" fp-style="fp-btn: Embossed Capsule 1; fp-proportional: 0; fp-orig: 0" fp-title="Send Me Full Info" onmouseover="FP_swapImg(1,0,/*id*/'img2',/*url*/'images/button19.jpg')" onmouseout="FP_swapImg(0,0,/*id*/'img2',/*url*/'images/button18.jpg')" onmousedown="FP_swapImg(1,0,/*id*/'img2',/*url*/'images/button1A.jpg')" onmouseup="FP_swapImg(0,0,/*id*/'img2',/*url*/'images/button19.jpg')"></a></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> </p> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="500"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> <img border="0" src="images/grad-cap.gif" width="50" height="25"></td> <td> <hr color="#000000" size="1"> <p style="margin-top: -5px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left:25px"> <font face="Arial" style="font-size: 9pt">Writing for Children and Teenagers<i>, offered by the Institute of Children's Literature, is recommended for college credits by the Connecticut Board for State Academic Awards and approved by the Connecticut Commissioner of Higher Education.</i></font></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p style="margin-left: 25px"> </p> <div align="left"> </div> <?php include("footer_pp.htm")?> </body>