Writing for yourself!
- Sonja McGiboney
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
I've been an indie children's book author for over eight years. I tried a few times to submit my work to agents, but never had the patience to wait it out and had no clue the work that went into that process..
I began 2025 with a goal to be traditionally published. For me, it would be a validation of my writing skills. I dug into the "traditional" trajectory of picture book writing and learned a lot of things.
Unless you've written the next NY Times best seller, and you know all the people you need to know in the industry, your book, if picked up by an agent or publisher, will not be produced in one year.
Writing with the hopes of being picked up and published by the big five - Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan - (and maybe add Scholastic in there,) means writing to the market but with your own voice and with something original. If the market is buying turkeys, you'll need to write the most unique turkey book around.
The trend these days in picture books is to make the "ah-ha" moment come from a child. Through the many critiques I've received, the most common remark is to either diminish the role of the parent figure or remove the parent all together.
Books for children that get picked up by today's agents, (2025) usually do one of these things: Validate a child's feelings or build some mental mindfulness, include diverse characters/cultures, teach environmental awareness, align with current science, tech, engineering, arts and math studies, or are humorous.
What started me writing this particular blog was a TikTok video that starts out with Greg saying, "Some of ya'll have not experienced emotional trauma through literature. Kids today are reading the magical bunny and how he learned to love himself or Sparkle the dragon's conflict free resolution journey ....page after page of affirmations.....See the complete video here:
While Greg is very funny, his diatribe on the subject hits home. Life isn't just a bunch of cute bunnies loving each other or dragons that have happy endings.
Most of the books that Greg refers to are middle-grade stories, but are we preparing youngsters to be able to deal with this, the real reality of life, or are we setting up expectations that the world is a magical kingdom where everyone is happy and making it harder for them later to deal with it all?
Is it wrong to show a parent's guiding voice in a picture book? Is leaving it up to the children to figure out always empowering to kids, or will some feel even more inadequate? Is showing that the dragon may not get his resolution and might have to settle for less, a message we might need to convey?
As an Indie author I can write whatever I want. But should I? Or should I maintain the status quo of market trends?
After you listen to his video, let me know what you think.
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