Anatomy of Nonfiction

Dear Writer,

Out of every 100 new writers, 89 start out with their hearts set on fiction.

Yet, out of every 100 published for the first time, 84 published nonfiction.

So, you won’t be surprised that the sure path to publication I’m offering you is nonfiction, or, as we call it, “writing a true story.”

“This is a true story” is a compelling lead

Whether you’re sitting around a campfire, hanging out at the water cooler, or phoning a friend, people listen when you say, “This is a true story.” Because everyone loves to be amazed by facts.

While fiction works hard to simulate truth and make the story, characters, motivation, and plot believable, or at least plausible.

—nonfiction simply tells the true story of anything you can think of.

Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas are masters of the true story. Facklam, an instructor at the Institute for 12 years, has written 43 nonfiction books. Thomas, also an instructor, has written 17. A mother-daughter team, they pooled the secrets of their success to write Anatomy of Nonfiction: Writing True Stories for Children—the only step-by-step guide to the mind, soul, heart, and inner workings of children’s nonfiction you’ll ever need to get published.

As instructors, they know what you've learned about children's writing.
As authors, they know exactly what you need now to get published.

Just to be sure we all understand the depth and breadth of nonfiction and how it can almost cross the line into fiction, authors Facklam and Thomas explore definitions of nonfiction by John McPhee, Newbery winner Russell Freedman, Truman Capote, and other authors.

But the gem is John Wilson’s fulsome, wide-ranging definition: Nonfiction writing is a state of mind, a way of life, an extra set of eyes and ears. It’s a key that can open many doors, a passport to travel far and wide, an introduction to fascinating people, a guide to wonderful adventures, an excuse to ask any question you want, a reason to be curious and to learn, a way to reach out to readers and the world.

Anatomy of Nonfiction defines and discusses each of the major markets for nonfiction to help you find your area of interest and narrow your focus to individual markets.

In total, there are eight nonfiction markets for every one fiction market. Or, to put it another way, you’re eight times more likely to be published as a nonfiction writer than you are as a writer of fiction.

Children’s and young adult magazines, just one of the four major print markets, consume more than 1,000 nonfiction pieces every month.
Trade books, hardcover and paperback, are published by the thousands every year, and half of them are nonfiction.
Mass-market publishers, such as Ballantine, Golden Books, and a dozen more, typically produce 500 large-volume nonfiction titles every year.
The educational market, which hires thousands of nonfiction text writers, consists largely of the schools and libraries of North America.
The burgeoning electronic market includes traditional publishers as well as digital-only e-publishers. Last year, Amazon sold more e-books than hardcover books.

“Write what you know”—but check your facts first

The world of nonfiction is the whole world. But your world of nonfiction is that part of the world you make your own—through direct personal knowledge and experience, by research, and by being on “story alert” for ideas every day.

Anatomy of Nonfiction not only shows you how to generate ideas but it also gives you techniques for capturing them, ways to keep ideas until you need them, the five best places to hunt for ideas, and two never-fail sources for practical ideas in everyone’s backyard.

It also describes how some magazine editors keep close tabs on school curricula to make sure that the manuscripts they buy from freelance writers are appropriate in content and reading level to the magazine’s audience . . .

—and gives you a clear guide to first-, third-, fifth-, and eighth-grade curricula, the growing market for curricula fillers, tips on seasonal material for magazines, and sources for inside information on what editors are currently looking for, based on actual interviews . . .

—and follows it up with specific word-count requirements and subject areas for preschool (0-5), elementary (5 to 8), middle-grade (8-12), and young adult (12-18) readers—plus nine different ways to reach your readers.

With more than 600 quotations and references to books and articles that illustrate nonfiction techniques, Anatomy of Nonfiction uses the insights of 73 children’s writers, editors, publishers, and librarians. The book features professional instructions for the step-by-step development of nonfiction articles and books, including history, biography, science and nature, how-to, self-help, and more.

There’s plenty new under the sun in our Digital Age, but there’s a much larger market for fresh views of people, places, and things that are familiar to us (and editors), but brand new to children. Anatomy of Nonfiction shows you how to find an everlasting source of ideas by looking at old subjects with fresh eyes.

“Fresh eyes” also applies to work you’ve already published. A reworking of the same subject can be published again if you change your lead, change your target audience, narrow or expand your focus, or change your slant. George Washington, the surveyor, is one piece; George Washington’s false teeth (made by Paul Revere) is another; George Washington, the gardener, is yet another.

On top of showing you how to stretch your research into more articles on the same subject, Anatomy of Nonfiction shows you how to turn your accumulation of articles into a book!

To a nonfiction writer, a good resource is like money in the bank. If the source is rich enough, it could lead to more than one article, even a book. Either way, it’s there to draw on when you return to the same subject with a different slant.

Anatomy of Nonfiction not only gives you 12 primary resources but also describes the ways six prominent authors organize their research to make it quickly retrievable when they need it.

One way is with a computer, the indispensable research tool, and you’ll learn three important new ways to use it. Also, you’ll learn about the best way to use your local library, interlibrary loans, the Library of Congress, museums and historical societies, how to gain access to private libraries, specialty museums, both paid and free websites, as well as a list of seven especially useful reference websites.

But not all data is reliable data, so Facklam and Thomas give you the clues you need to tell the difference. These tips and warnings could save you countless hours in pursuit of worthless sources, and even more important, they could save your manuscript from a professionally damaging error.

You’ll also get reliable pointers on photo research along with six proven photo research sources, how to build a bibliography, and how to list bibliographical sources in a professional format.

An interview adds an authoritative or colorful voice to your own, and enriches your writing. But how do you find people to interview? Anatomy of Nonfiction gives you nine solid resources for experts and adds . . .

—six valuable tips on setting up an interview,

—seven rules to follow in conducting the interview,

—the etiquette and law involved in using a recording device and quotes.

In addition to “bookwork” and interviews, Facklam and Thomas feature personal hands-on research as the best research of all—even if it means helping to clean up after a tornado, if nature’s capacity for destruction is your subject.

You’ll also learn how the scene you set becomes another “character,” how to use all of your senses to create sensory detail, how quotes can frame character, act as dialogue, and make a strong point, how to write with your ear, and how you can find your “voice.”

Above all, Facklam and Thomas urge, “Be yourself.” They show you that E. B. White’s voice was the same in Charlotte’s Web as it was in his New Yorker pieces. Then they show you how you can find your own voice and your passion for your subject—and how to fold them into the story you’re telling.

Your story’s title has a distinct job to do, and inventing it might best be left until last, and the same may be true for your crucial first sentence—and even your key first paragraph. Facklam and Thomas tell you why, and when you get ready to fine-tune these key elements, they tell you how to hook your reader—“make 'em laff”—and make them say “Oh, wow!”

As in every section of Anatomy of Nonfiction, you’ll find dozens of examples, quotations, and references. In this section, you’ll find intriguing titles, riveting first sentences, astonishing first paragraphs, informative sidebars (and what to pack into them), and happy (and other) endings.

After the ending, you’ll explore the elements of “back matter,” including an Index, Glossary, Time Line, Bibliography (and how to format it), For Further Reading, and Author’s Notes.

You’ll also learn how to structure a book series, and what kinds of guidelines and special conditions apply to “work made for hire.”

Start your how-to with a kid-friendly topic—something they’re already interested in—something they can get excited about and want to try themselves. Anatomy of Nonfiction gives you 10 concrete examples of winning topics, and defines the four traditional steps of the how-to formula.

There are many ways to break into this market, and you’ll find 11 sure bets here, as well as wise strategies to follow in developing other topics, including: the careful match of projects with age interests, their relationships to current curricula, the special requirements of how-to’s for boys, and the key to building a series of how-to’s into a book.

Closely related are self-help articles and books. The key to this category of step-by-step writing is authority. Anatomy of Nonfiction shows you how to be authoritative without having a Ph.D., shows you a surefire way to advise without sounding like a preacher, and a sensitive yet effective way to obtain information about therapy for children in treatment while protecting everyone involved.

In biography, the subject’s character already exists; in fiction, it’s invented. Either way, it’s storytelling. The nonfiction writer’s challenge is to find some little-known aspect of the subject’s character, some seminal event in his youth, or some pivotal experience in his later life that helped to shape and define his character.

Famous historical personages studied in school are the most frequent subjects of biographies published for children, and that’s the challenge: For example, how does a writer bring something new to a biography of Abe Lincoln? Anatomy of Nonfiction shows you with the openings of four different, and successful, Lincoln biographies . . .

—and gives you 61 examples, quotations, excerpts, and references to show you how to hook your reader, how to gain a new perspective on an old subject, how to deal with your subject’s negative characteristics, and how to relate a distant historical figure to a child’s world today.

You’ll also learn the pitfalls of writing a biography of a living person, the key to collective biographies, how to tightly focus a picture book biography, and about the big market for short biographies, or “profiles.”

Your science and nature writing for children must be simple, clear, engaging, scientifically accurate, and the human element must be prominent. If you’re cooking up an experiment, for example, try to make it one you can eat, or at least one that’s stinky, gooey, or (the kids’ favorite), “gross,” to engage your readers.

As you know, you’re about halfway home when you finish your first draft. That’s when you really begin to write. As master teacher-author Sandy Asher puts it, “All writing is rewriting,” and I’ll add, all published writing has been rewritten at least once.

You may revise as you write, revise later, or do both. However you do it, there may be more steps in the process than you can remember, so Anatomy of Nonfiction spells out each of them, giving you six essentials to review, six different ways to look at the “big picture,” four points to consider in checking your prose for audience-appropriateness, and 10 things to keep in mind as you review your storytelling and structure in detail.

Line editing and reading your work aloud will put a fine edge on it, and you’ll need three essential tools at your fingertips to cover all five steps. At that point, you’re ready for a second opinion, and you'll find writer's groups among your options.

Facklam and Thomas give you valuable tips on finding an appropriate group, how to critique others’ work, how to use critiques of your own, plus three reliable resources to help you find established online critique groups.

Despite its reputation as a mysterious world, marketing is a very straightforward process . . . if you know the rules, and follow them.

The fundamental rule is: Be professional in every respect. That includes such details as the format of your submission, type font, margins, line spacing, paragraphing, and everything else that identifies you as a professional.

Your market guides should always be current, and you should follow publication and editorial requirements explicitly. Editors and publishers release this information to help you succeed in producing work they can buy. If you ignore it, they may ignore you.

A cover letter should always accompany your manuscript. Its job is to set up the sale by including four key pieces of information . . . and at least one of four optional supplements . . . but it must be short and pithy.

Many book and magazine editors require a query letter before you submit a manuscript. Here, too, brevity is key, but your letter must contain five basic elements. Thomas has pulled actual cover and query letters from her personal files to show you letters that worked.

Some editors may also ask you to submit a resume. What you include (and exclude) depends on your writing and teaching credits, your academic background, and your interests. You'll get useful advice on the “always” and “never” strategies of writing your resume to professional standards.

You’ll also get a crystal clear example of a proposal for a chapter book, because Facklam and Thomas include the actual proposal and outline for this book, Anatomy of Nonfiction, including an outline of the first three chapters!

As a backup on marketing questions, you’ll find six reliable websites for getting answers to your questions; plus a list of 11 professional reference books, including specific advice and suggested strategies on selling your book or article; negotiating the terms of sale and payment; the ownership of rights; when royalties apply; work-for-hire contracts; and advances.

You’re the star player on your publishing team. Your teammates’ jobs are designed to support you in putting the best manuscript you can produce in print or online. Your key contact in making this happen is your editor, who may pose a seemingly endless number of questions, comments, suggestions, and challenges, but who is likely to become a trusted friend.

Your editor is supported by a copy editor to check “the nuts and bolts,” a fact checker, an art director, and a proofreader.

Facklam has gone through this process 43 times; Thomas, 17. They’ve poured everything they know about writing and publishing nonfiction into Anatomy of Nonfiction, and they’ve tapped the experience and opinions of 73 other children’s writers, editors, teachers, publishers, and librarians to give you a variety of inside views . . . all aimed at getting your writing published.

Anatomy of Nonfiction is a working guide you’ll never part with. You’ll rely on it for everything from creating a working title to completing your end papers, and each of the eight steps in between, whether you’re writing biography, how-to, self-help, or science and nature pieces. What you already know about writing—plus this hands-on guide—will lead you straight to publication.

ENJOY AND USE Anatomy of Nonfiction FREE for 30 days.

READ IT COVER TO COVER and see how this step-by-step guide takes you straight to your publisher’s door.

EXPERIMENT with any of the dozens of insider techniques Facklam and Thomas describe in detail. Test them—risk-free!

Anatomy of Nonfiction: Writing True Stories for Children holds the key to your next sale, but if you're not 100% convinced, simply return the book at our expense within 30 days and that will be that.

No questions asked. No hassles. Guaranteed.

So if you want to give Anatomy of Nonfiction a FREE, no-risk, 30-day trial, simply click on order now.

I believe you’ll see why Jim Giblin, noted editor and award-winning author wrote to us to say, “I met Marge when we were both on the faculty of the Highlights for Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. When I sat in on one of her sessions, I was surprised that she not only filled it with immensely usuable tips on how to write better nonfiction articles and books, but also with many amusing anecdotes about her own writing experiences. These gave her presentation a warm, personal touch. The same qualities mark Anatomy of Nonfiction, the book she has written in collaboration with her daughter and fellow nonfiction writer, Peggy Thomas. They make it a special sort of how-to book, one that will be valuable both to aspiring writers and to those with numerous publishing credits.”