New NLP book for Kids
I have been talking about my children’s book for some time now… It’s finished - my friend Rachel Baker has produced some stunning drawings and I’m delighted with the end result.
I’m confident that a publisher will snap it up, and I would like to find an agent to help me with the project because it think it could do really well. I’ve sent the synopsis to a few agents but none so far have shown interest. If anyone out there knows an agent that is prepared to have a look at the manuscript then please let me know…
The intention in the book is a light-hearted counter to the old adage , “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again….” I’m passionate about addressing this in a kids book for two reasons; firstly because the word ‘try’ carries with it more than a whiff of failure, and secondly because doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
The story is arranged in a ‘nested dependency’ (the same format as The Gruffalo) to make it deeply engaging. The central character is a small boy - Curious Joe. He ventures out and meets 3 characters who are all having some kind of difficulty; The Hatterjack toad (a natterjack in a big hat) The Pantelope (an antelope in a big pair of pants) and The Jama Llama (a llama in pyjamas). He then meets the wise ‘SpectacOwls’ (a pair of owls that share a pair of glasses). They provoke a discovery and with this new wisdom Joe meets the characters in reverse order and helps them to solve their own problems.
The story rhymes throughout, uses phonological ambiguity,onomatopoeia and alliteration.
Interested? Want to know more? Please comment:
Characters
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Daryll
I’m a big fan of this book - as you well know. When you get it published I’ll be ordering a few copies!
Kylie x
Sounds great Daryll. Would love to see the book on shelves out there. I am sure schools, nurseries and Mums would love a book such as that to share with children.
Chatting to my sis in the literary world.. she says agents don’t look at many kids books and recommends
“It’s often worth trying smaller, independant publishing houses first as they are more likely to be interested in the quirky and different. I’d try sending copy to the submissions editor at publishers like Little Tiger Press and Chicken House Publishing.
Bigger publishing houses that do a lot of children’s publishing include Harper Collins, Usbourne, Bloomsbury, Puffin (part of Penguin) and Random House. Hodder and Heinemman might be worth a go too, they like ‘educational’”
Don’t know if its helpful but I’d love to see the book published!
Daryll,
You’ve got me wondering backwards, forwards and sideways. What will happen on their M25? Two into one, in this case, probably goes which reminds me of a fairground ride I once took. Can’t wait to dive in when it’s out!
I teach NLP to children and I am very interested in buying your book.
Is it on the market?
Regards
Vicky
Hi Vicky: I don’t know yet - it’s with my new agent - I hope in the first half of 2010 - it will certainly be released before the end of next year.
Ideas and illustrations look great.
What age children is it aimed at. From the look of Curious Joe it seems to be for under 5’s.
Have you tested it? I would suppose that a publisher would be interested in the feedback from parents and children of a school in your area.
Possibly get permission from a large local bookshop, to put a large print of the cover of the book in the childrens section and notice what interest there is from both children and adults (who will most likely be the buyer).
Publishers will likely be concerned with units sold. May help to convince them that you will market the book through NLP training organisations to Parents trained in NLP, perhaps the most likely customer for such a book.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Chaz.