Many writers assume anything they've written under 1300 words is a picture book manuscript until proven otherwise. Book editors say often the picture book manuscripts that fill the slush pile are not picture books at all. Considering the long waits built into the submission process - wouldn't it be good to know what you've created before you begin marketing?

PICTURE BOOK OR MAGAZINE STORY

One very frequent question I'm asked at conferences is "If I sell a story to a magazine, can I later resell it to a book publisher?" No. You almost surely cannot. If a story works for a magazine, it's highly unlikely it would work for a picture book. In many ways picture books and magazine stories are totally different creatures.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A PICTURE BOOK

Whether the story rhymes or not, picture books have much in common with poetry. Like poetry, a picture book contains something buried inside. Something hidden, waiting to be unfolded. With poetry…what is hidden must usually be discovered by the reader by letting the poem blossom inside and show the reader things about himself or the world through the images in the poem. With picture book texts…what is hidden must be discovered by the illustrator by letting those hidden things blossom through the pictures. The images bring the hidden things to life for the reader. On a very cursory reading, both a straight picture book text and a poem can seem to be missing something or hiding something. Both need exploration to be understood completely.

Also like a poem, a picture book is built word by word. At a recent conference, one writer said she writes every line of her picture books ten times, ten different ways…just to see what options are available for conveying that thought, image or action. Often picture books that don't rhyme still uses meter (perhaps unconsciously) to create a singing rhythm to the text because the picture book is mostly a read-aloud form.

In a recent ICL chat, picture book author Dori Chaconnas described some of the process of digging deeply into the words themselves. "In GOODNIGHT, DEWBERRY BEAR, a little bear thinks he sees an alligator in his closet. Alligator was too mundane, so I changed it to something more colorful -- a rattle-gator. I want to 'color' the language, so a 'shadow' in his room was changed to "long, dark, monkey fingers." I want to make things SPECIFIC! A puddle became a 'rain water puddle," a stone became a 'stone marble.' -- Tape the word 'SPECIFIC' to the top of your computer. Specific details make the story become alive. Make the story fun, even if the message is a serious one."

But a picture book isn't exactly like a poem. It still must have story, just as a novel has story or magazine fiction has story. It needs a driving sense of forward momentum that is there in the text and can be mirrored in the illustrations. The illustrations aren't decorative, they must be a necessary part of the story telling and they must be very different. So a static piece with little change of scene might have a plot that would work fine for a magazine but it wouldn't offer enough different illustration possibilities for a picture book.

A picture book must also survive under repeat readings. If it has a twist ending - will the ending still be fun on the tenth reading? The fiftieth? The hundredth? If not, it may be a magazine story. And it must go beyond being surprising or silly and dig into something universal from childhood. That's one reason why so many picture books feature love, Love, LOVE…it's such an important aspect of childhood (and, of course, moms lap it up and buy the books). An interesting story about a clever child who comes up with a way to catch the mouse in the kitchen would be great reading and might have plenty of scene changes and action…but probably not universal in theme enough for that elusive picture book sale.

Also, the present tendency of the market is for short picture books for young children - so a story for school-aged children that runs 1000 words might simply be easier to place in a magazine because the market is making those kinds of pieces harder to sell. If you have such a picture book, you'll find a friendly reception at smaller publishers than at the larger houses.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MAGAZINE FICTION

Magazine fiction is a cousin of the novel. The story rules and it's told through showing. The more you make the scene and characters real for the reader through specific detail - the more readers will believe it. So if you find you're writing a lot of those showing details but your story is simple and resolves in 1300 words or less - you've probably got a magazine story. Magazine stories use language and images to show, because they won't have the support of 13+ illustrations.

A picture book manuscript, if read without showing the pictures, can seem flat or even a little confusing (especially if the illustrations are revealing important things unsaid…like overstatements and understatements in the text). A magazine story, on the other hand, doesn't need any illustrations. A magazine story uses the language to draw the reader in and paints the illustrations in the reader's mind.

School stories are probably magazine stories (unless, like Andrews Clemtents, you realize your school story picture book manuscript really needs to be expanded to a novel - as happened with Frindle. Book editors say they often see picture book submissions that seem like they would do better as chapter books). Stories that are funny and really only work well with one reading (because of a surprise or humorous twist) are probably magazine stories.

NOW EXAMINE YOURSELF

If you find yourself strongly resisting seeing your manuscript as a magazine story, even though editors may have scrawled "Perhaps a magazine story?" on the submission - the problem may be how much you want it to be a picture book. It's easy to want to be a picture book author. Picture books are beautiful. Picture books feel lasting with their hard covers and expensive production values. And being a picture book author definitely afford one more respect in the industry than being a magazine writer.

But ultimately magazine stories are important too. Many are read by thousands of children. And magazine writing comes to the child, in his or her home like a promise … a monthly gift. Many children look forward to their magazines and devour them. There are magazine stories I remember from my childhood and I am now middle-aged. They do make a difference. A magazine story can be brilliant, beautiful work.

And clutching a story, refusing to release it into children's lives because it's not turned out to be the genre you hoped only slows your career. If this one is a magazine story, be happy knowing it will quickly find its audience and delight them. And wait for the next story to come your way - you never know. It might really be a picture book.