Pitch Writing for Non-fiction Picturebooks
A course by Isabel Thomas , Science Writer and Children's Book Author
Joined April 2021
Learn how to form a captivating idea for a picturebook and develop it into a professional book proposal that engages publishers
Learn how to form a captivating idea for a picturebook and develop it into a professional book proposal that engages publishers
Joined April 2021
When it comes to writing non-fiction books for children, the choice of topics is endless, and each of them can help young readers learn more about the world. Award-winning science writer and children's book author Isabel Thomas has written over 180 non-fiction titles, published in over 30 languages. The first step in her process? Writing a pitch that captures the attention of publishers.
In this course, she shows you step-by-step how to create an original non-fiction picturebook idea and craft it into a polished pitch. Explore strategies for ideation, storyboarding, writing a sample text, and more. The pitch is the first step on the bridge between your ideas and the moment your book is realized. Ready to write yours?
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 23 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (57)
- 1,231 students
- 20 lessons (4h 10m)
- 23 additional resources (10 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Develop a non-fiction picturebook idea into a professional proposal, ready to share with publishers and, eventually, young readers.
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone who wishes to share their ideas with young audiences through books.
Requirements and materials
No previous knowledge or experience is required.
In terms of materials, all you will need is something for making notes, such as pen and paper, and access to a device with a word processor to type up your pitch.
Reviews
A course by Isabel Thomas
Isabel Thomas is an award-winning science writer and children's book author based near Cambridge, UK. She studied engineering science, then human sciences at the University of Oxford, during which time she worked at the student newspaper and fell in love with journalism. After graduating, Isabel worked as a then-trainee editor at a local publishing house where she began writing short books for beginner readers and working on her passion for writing in her spare time.
Isabel has since published more than 180 books in over 30 languages. Her critically-acclaimed book Moth: An Evolution Story won the AAAS Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books 2020 and was named a book of the summer by the Financial Times. She has also been shortlisted for other prizes including the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize. As well as this Isabel writes features for children’s science magazines, creates non-fiction resources for organizations such as the BBC, and speaks at festivals, schools, and other events.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Developing Original Ideas
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Exploring Non-fiction Picture Books 1
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Exploring Non-fiction Picture Books 2
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Generating Ideas 1
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Generating Ideas 2
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Developing an Idea 1
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Developing an Idea 2
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U3
Creating a Professional Pitch
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What Is a Pitch?
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Planning the Physical Book 1
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Planning the Physical Book 2
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Researching and Planning Contents 1
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Researching and Planning Contents 2
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The Proposal 1
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The Proposal 2
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The Title and Overview 1
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The Title and Overview 2
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U4
Writing Sample Text and Sharing Your Pitch
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Finding Your Voice
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Writing Sample Text
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The Pitching Process
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FP
Final project
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Pitch Writing for Non-fiction Picturebooks
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
ceancean143
I love this course. She presents the content systematically building up our skillsby leading from one technique to the next. I would recommend this course to my friends who likethis genre
julieinca1
EXCELLENT teaching! Very knowledgeable and clear in her instructions. Easily copied step by step to achieve exactly what she suggests in her class description. Recommended highly~
staceywilliamson01
I really enjoyed Isabel's course and found it extremely helpful. Since starting her course I have written a pitch for my non-fiction picture book and have just sent it to the first agent on my list. Without the course I don't think I would have been confident enough to make a pitch document by myself. It's also helped with the planning of my book, making key aspects even clearer. Thanks so much Isabel!
cantaresdegesta
Muy buen curso, buena estructura y te deja muy preparado
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thadeusarte
Isabel is a person who likes to talk and does it well, with a lot of smile and humor. Thank you!