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Show Were looking for people to write childrens books proof of the pudding is that many of our students break into print even before they finish the Course. Kathleen Huber, New York, N.Y., writes: Regarding my sale to Highlights for Children for $125, it started out as a story assignment for the Institute, and Highlights was only the second magazine had sent it to. Certainly your Course made this sale possible. It may be the best investment I ever made. A.M. Hummel, Danville, Pa., writes When Highlights for Children accepted my short story Assignment 8 in the Course, and sent me a $65 check, I could hardly believe it! Then, within a week, I assigngot another check and a ment for a second piece. Writing for children is the perfect way to take up writing, says the author of 53 childrens books. Your ideas come right out of your own experience. And while its still a challenge, 1 its probably the straightest possible line between you and publication - if youre qualified to seek the success this rewarding field offers. I won first prize of for Course a $400 assignment! By Alvin Tresselt, Dean of Faculty want to write and get published, of a better way to do it than writing books and stories for children and teenagers. Ideas flow naturally right out of your own life experience While its still a challenge, the odds of getting that first unforgettable check from a juvenile publisher are better than they are from just about any other kind of publisher I know. Later on, you may get other checks from other publishers. But right now, the object is to begin to learn to break into print the feeling of writing and selling your work and seeing your name in type. After that, you can decide it you want your writing to take another direction. But after 30 years of editing, publishing, and teaching and 53 books of my own can tell you this: you'll go a long way before you discover anything as rewarding as writing for young readers. Your words will never sound as sweet as they do from the lips of a child reading your books and stories. And the joy of creating books and stories that young people really dig is an experience youll never have anywhere else. (In this age of boob tube illiteracy, convenient morality, and plastic values, do you know of a more important audience ?) But, thats not all. The financial rewards go far beyond most people's expectations because theres a surprisingly big market out there for writers who are trained to crack it More than 130 million young peoples books are purchased each year. Between 2,000 and 2,500 new titles appear annually and new authors account for as many as half of them. There are also 250 monthly magazines looking for material for young readers. You can imagine how much writing it takes just to keep them going! you Ifcan't think 1 Am I really qualified? Yet two big questions bedevil nearly evwriter: Am I really qualiery would-b- e fied?" and "How can I get started? Alvin Tresselt was Vice President and Executive Editor of Parents Magazine Press, the first editor of Humpty Dumpty's Magazine for Children, and has served on the board of the Authors Guild. His 53 books for young readers have sold over two million copies. This is our definition of a qualified person: Its someone with an aptitude for writing who can take constructive criticism, learn from it, and turn it into a professional performance. Thats the only kind of person we're looking for. The reasons are simple: our reputation is built on success, and if prospective students dont have the earmarks of success, we probably cant help them. And we tell them so. Its only fair to both of us. To help us spot potential authors, weve developed a revealing test for writing aptitude. Its free, and we dont charge for our evaluation. But no one gets into the Institute without passing it. Those who pass and enroll receive our promise: You will complete at least one manuscript ready to submit to a publisher by the time you finish the Course. When we teach, you learn Ive learned a lot about writing for children and love it. Now Im passing my knowledge on to my students so they can profit from it. When Im not writing my own childrens books I spend my time at The Institute of Childrens Literature, a workshop for writers that does only one thing and does it better than any other school or college or university of its kind: It trains qualified people to write for the young reader. This is the way I work with my students, all of whom and my fellow instructors work are experienced writers or editors more or less the same way. When youre ready at your own time and your own pace you send your assignment to me and I read it and reread it to get everything out of it youve put into it. Then I edit your assignment with a red pencil just the way a publishing house if he had the time. editor would return it along with a detailed letter explaining tell you what my editorial comments. your strong points are, what your weaknesses are, and just what you can do to improve. Its a matter of push and pull. You push and pull and between us both, you 1 1 I learn to write. The proof of the pudding method really works. I wouldnt spend five minutes at it if it didnt. The This Before taking your Course (which I checked out with the National Better Business Bureau), the short stories I scribbled for my two tiny tots never caught an editors fancy, writes Emily Burns of Salem, Oregon. My first sale, to National Catholic Weekly, was a Course assignment. Then I submitted another Course assignment in a creative writers competition and won first prize of $400! Free Writing Aptitude Test offered To find qualified men and women with an aptitude for writing, the Faculty and Consultants of the Institute have prepared a four-pagWriting Aptitude Test. It is offered free and will be professionally evaluated at no cost to you by our staff. Just mail the coupon below to receive e illustrated your free Test and e brochure which describes the Institute, our Course, Faculty, and the current market for childrens literature. If you demonstrate a true aptitude for writing, you will be eligible to enroll. But thats entirely up to you. There is no obligation. r The Institute of Childrens Literature Redding Ridge, Connecticut 06876 Att: Alvin Tresselt B-- Mr. Mr. Ms. Miss Please circle one and phnt name clearly Dear Mr. Tresselt: Street I am interested in your program to help new writers get started. Please have your free Writing Aptitude Test City and 24 page illustrated brochure I sent to me. understand that lam under no obligation whatsoever and State no salesman will visit. Approved by the Slate of Connecticut Zip Board of Education |
