Is my children's book any good?

First of all – congratulations on finishing your book! This is a great achievement as very few people who start a book actually complete it. Celebrate the moment in some way: buy yourself a book, phone a friend to tell them, or do a happy dance in your kitchen.

Often the advice is now to put the story away for a while. This is soooo hard to do. It’s probably months of blood, sweat and tears; it’s your baby and you want to stay in the amazing world that you have created. But you do need to do this to give yourself some distance and perspective. When you come back to it later, you’ll be more likely to see what needs to change to make your story sparkle. In the meantime, spend time reading lots of children’s books in the same genre to absorb ideas from those who are more experienced … or start planning your next story.

Now that time has passed, read your book like it's new to you. Read it as a reader would; channel your inner 10 year old or whoever your target market is. Some key questions to keep in mind:

· Does the opening scene grab you with lots of action and emotion?

· Are there any parts that you’re skipping over? If so, your reader probably will too, so cut them out.

· Do your chapters end with cliffhangers to keep the reader wanting more?

· Are things getting harder and harder for your main character? Sorry, but you have to put your beloved protagonist through tough times!

· Is your villain horrible enough to make the reader want to shout at them to stop?

· Is the ending satisfying? Has your main character achieved their goal and overcome all the difficulties?

Once you’ve answered the above questions and made alterations, the next step is to be very brave. Take a deep breath, wish your characters good luck and ask someone you trust to read it. It might well be a close friend or family member. They are bound to tell you that it's wonderful – and it is wonderful in many ways. However, to properly make your story the best that it can be, you need someone to read it who will be more impartial. My advice here would be to try to find a group of likeminded writers to swap work with. You can find other writers through asking on social media or try joining SCBWI (the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), where you’ll find loads of support.

Reading other writers' work is a great way to learn how to improve your writing. You’re much more likely to spot issues and amazingly good bits in other’s work, which you can then apply to your own stories.

Of course, there are lots of brilliant courses that you can take on how to write and how to edit your work. From personal experience, I can recommend The Golden Egg Academy and Write Mentor, but there are lots out there.

Competitions sometimes give feedback and are a great way to see if your story is working.

Using an editor, like me, can help you in lots of ways depending upon what you need. I particularly love helping writers to get the structure of their story right. Do get in touch.

Happy writing!

Rae