UPDATE: See the 2009 List of Picture Book Topics to Avoid
Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile pb submissions by category. Here are the top 12 picturebook topics that she received–thus, the top 12 to avoid!
It’s not that these topics are taboo. Instead, they are so common that you must really rise above the competition to be accepted. Good examples of these topics are given, because we need to know our competition.
12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid
- First Day at School 19 Girls and Me by Darcy Pattison. (Obviously–my book!)
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Related posts:
- Top 10 Picture Book Topics to Avoid
- Options for Picture Book Characters
- How to Write a Poetry Collection Picture Book
- Revise the Picture Book Text
- Write the Frist Draft of a Picture Book
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[...] kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular posting in the 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book [...]
[...] in Submitting a Picture Book What Kids Think Is Funny 10 Suggestions for Picture Book Titles 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid The Illustrator Doesn’t Tell YOU What to Do Picture Books: Folk Tales or Modern Stories? How [...]
I love your articles. Here are two suggestions for your topics to avoid book list.
4. Christmas/Halloween. “Annie Was Warned” by Jarrett J. Krosoczka ( http://www.amazon.com/Annie-Was-Warned-Jarrett-Krosoczka/dp/0375815678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238289596&sr=1-1 )
5. Wanting a pet. “DogFish” by Gillian Shields and Dan Taylor ( http://www.amazon.com/DogFish-Gillian-Shields/dp/1416971270/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238289502&sr=8-1 )