[Auri Lynn Posts: 58 Status: Offline Author of The Wakening (YA Fantasy) WWW]

Any thoughts or advice on writing picture books about something that is already overdone (like fairies, mermaids or ponies).   

Obviously, it seems better to come up with something new and unique. But we started a series of stories to tell our kids. They can't seem to get enough of things like fairies and mermaids.    

[dinalapomy101 Posts: 1,851 Status: Offline Happy writing to all! WWW]

I don't know the agent/editor perspective on this, but I have kids asking for fairy picture books ALL THE TIME at my library. Horses/ponies, too! So I say write them, but I don't know how many publishers buy.

[Arona Posts: 449 Status: Offline The house didn't fall on me. It fell on my sister.]

Isn't it in the genes for kids to like those certain things?

I think you'll find people will say go for it but it make stand out from everything else out there.

Publishers may be sick of princess books, for example, but they keep pubbing them, parents keep buying them, and kids still love 'em.

[Schriscoe Posts: 1,803 Status: Offline www.sharonchriscoebooks.com WWW]

I totally agree with the others. There are certain types of books that will never go out of style and fairies, ponies, and mermaids are some of them.

Yep. Arona said it right. I think if you want to write it and be appealing to a publisher, the key is to take it to a unique level that has never been done before. Think outside the box. And 

[HDWestlund Posts: 1,003 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

Every year there are new books published with faeries, mermaids, ponies, dragons, and dinosaurs. And ninjas. And pirates... They sell. Of course, there are probably lots of people writing about them, too, so it's always good when you can take a popular theme and do something new with it. For example, DANGEROUSLY EVER AFTER is my all time favorite princess book about a princess who loves dangerous plants. You can even take traditional stories and turn them a little bit sideways, like with Mark Teague's THe THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF (he suffers from low blood sugar). Basically, there's still room out there for a good mermaid story, but you'll want to make sure it stands out from the crowd.