[elizabeth-fairchild Posts: 16 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

My  Grandma has been telling me stories about growing up on the frontier. I have written them all down but now am thinking more seriously about trying to get them published but am not sure if i should write them as one chapter book  or a series of picture books   . 

Thanks Guys

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,875 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

This is a hard decision. You'll have to try the format and see if it works. There may not be enough room for illustrations in each story to have it be a picture book. I've written a couple of my own grandmother's stories as short stories that I hope to sell to magazines.

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,618 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

Since you're not sure, why not play around and see what happens?  Maybe write the beginning in each genre and see which flows better.

Good luck! I hope the words flow.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,337 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

What a fun project! I've been writing a few family stories as well and the best way to discover what format works is to try it. I've sold a few to magazines. None were PB material--it really is a different animal. I'm finding that a collection of short stories is the best for the way I'm writing them (then again, I am a short story writer, so it's something I do well, thinking in vignettes). I know a few people who have written novelizations. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larsen comes to mind. Good luck!

[olmue Posts: 3,582 Status: Offline WWW]

Yes, I think it's best to try out a few different approaches and see what speaks to you. Who knows? Maybe you will get a novel out of one story, and a magazine short story out of another one. You never know.