Digital + printable planner for children's authors
The Ultimate Children's Book Writing Planner
Picture books, early readers, chapter books and middle grade
Choose your format
What you get with the Goodnotes & PDF edition
- 85-page digital planner with clickable tabs, contents and back links
- Two designs: Classic and the colourful Pop design
- Printable US Letter versions of both designs
- Recommended Resources for Authors PDF
A hyperlinked PDF for Goodnotes, Notability, Noteshelf and other PDF note apps on iPad or Android tablets. Tap the tabs and contents to jump between pages.
About this planner
Picture books, early readers, chapter books and middle grade. The Children's Book Writing Planner has 11 sections: idea, picture books, chapter books, plot, hero, cast, world, write, edit, pitch & blurb and publish.
It comes as Goodnotes & PDF, Microsoft Word, Notion template, Scrivener template, Plottr template and E-ink edition, or as a printed, spiral-bound planner, so you can plan in the app you already use.
Sample pages
Take a look inside
Real pages from the Children's Book Writing Planner, in both designs. Tap a page to see it bigger.
What's inside
11 sections, 85 pages in the PDF
Idea8 pages
- What if? & premise
- Format guide & genre
- Comps & title library
Picture Books5 pages
- The read-aloud
- Picture book spreads
- Words & pictures
Chapter Books5 pages
- Kid-sized stakes
- Age check
- Chapter planner
Plot10 pages
- Story structure
- Plot map, excitement graph
- Scene lists & scene cards
Hero5 pages
- Hero profile
- What makes them special
- Before & after arc
Cast5 pages
- Supporting cast list
- Six cast profiles
- Relationship web
World4 pages
- Setting: the big picture
- Specific locations
- Research list & notes
Write7 pages
- Plan of action
- Opening lines
- 100-day word tracker
Edit6 pages
- Children's book checklist
- Plot holes & scene changes
- Beta readers & editors
Pitch & Blurb7 pages
- Logline & elevator pitch
- Hooks & taglines
- Blurb workshop & drafts
Publish7 pages
- Book details & cover brief
- Amazon keywords
- Categories & checklist
Section and page counts are for the Goodnotes & PDF edition; the other formats hold the same planning pages, arranged to suit each app.
Highlights
Inside the Children's Book Writing Planner
Plan it spread by spread
- Spread planner for a standard 32-page picture book
- The read-aloud: refrain, rhythm and page-turn surprises
- Words and pictures: plan what each one tells
- Illustration notes for your illustrator, or yourself
Kid-sized stakes, big heart
- Kid-sized stakes your hero solves for themselves
- Age check for vocabulary, sentence length and themes
- Chapter planner with word counts and ending hooks
- Fun and heart, plus a series arc for the next adventure
A hero kids want as a friend
- A story structure for 500 words or 50,000
- Plot map and a chapter by chapter excitement graph
- What makes them special: superpower, weakness, catchphrase
- Six cast profiles, a relationship web and setting pages
Write, edit and publish
- Opening lines, daily word counts and a project tracker
- A Children's Book Checklist to revise against
- Blurb research, a workshop and two blurb drafts
- Cover brief, Amazon keywords and a pre-publish checklist
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