June 22, 2018

Who Is the Real Audience for Picture Books?

When writing a picture book, it's easy to believe your audience is an editor, literary agent, parent, teacher, or librarian. After all, those are often the people deciding whether your book gets published, purchased, or shared. But while many people influence a picture book's success, only one audience truly determines whether the story endures. The real audience for a picture book is the child experiencing it. A child may not buy the book, approve the manuscript, or negotiate the publishing contract. Yet they decide whether the story is remembered, requested again, or forgotten after a single reading. Understanding this distinction can dramatically improve your writing and help you create stories that resonate with young readers and listeners. This distinction is one of the most important lessons new picture book authors can learn.