Writing for the Education Market: How Does It Work?

If you write children’s books, your approach will differ depending on whether you write for the trade market or the education market.

You will approach trade and educational publishers differently. Your goal with your book will be different, too.

Trade vs. educational publishers

For trade publishers, you want your book to stand out.

When you write for a trade publisher, you write the book you want to write. You choose the age, the length, the topic, and the angle that will make your book stand out from other books on this topic. Then you try to sell your manuscript to a publisher.

Approaching educational publishers

When you write for the educational market, your approach is different. You don’t start with a manuscript. You try to land an assignment.

First, you identify publishers you want to work for. You approach them and try to convince them to hire you. You do this with an introductory packet that shows you are a professional who is capable of doing this type of work.

When you receive an assignment, you write the book that the publisher is asking for. Your editor will tell you the age, the length, the topic, and the angle.

Nailing the assignment

Most educational books are part of a series. Below you can see me holding a book called Siberian Tigers: Camouflaged Hunting Mammals. It was one of 8 books on mammals I wrote for a series called “Comparing Animal Traits.”

My job was to make those books fun to read and informative. But I also had to make them fit seamlessly into the series.

For educational publishers, you want your book to fit in. Your job is to follow the guidelines carefully. You want your book to be well-written, but you also want to make sure it blends seamlessly with the other books in the series.