Thirty-five aspiring children's authors attended Dr. Gay Toltl Kinman's "Writing for Children & Young Adults" workshop at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank on Aug. 23.

They sat with notebooks ready and pens poised as Dr. Kinman began her lecture then flooded her with questions whenever she paused for breath.

From the hand-outs she supplied, Dr. Kinman first reviewed the genres of children's fiction and non-fiction books with age levels, page numbers and word counts, beginning with board books, through various picture books, readers, young adult and romance.

She demonstrated a clever way to see if their stories fit the typical 32-page picture-book format.

"Buy used children's books from the library," she advised, "then cut and paste your manuscript words under the pictures. It doesn't matter if they don't match. You simply want to see if your total lines line up with those in the published book."

Dr. Kinman recommended that authors of middle-grade readers and higher put the age of their protagonist in the story.

"Kids want to know it. And write from their perspective and about their interests," she said.

Other advice included using short sentences, avoiding "ands" and "commas" and choosing a snappy title "to grab them."

"Most publishers are doing middle readers," she said, then told her listeners to try their skills in writing non-fiction. "It's easier to sell."

Other hand-outs covered story flow, age-level word lists, how to make a mock-up, a selection of guidebooks for writing, illustrating and selling children's books, and a generous list of book publishers, agents and magazine markets.

Dr. Kinman also recommended joining the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators because of the help and literature it supplies, and to purchase the Children's Writers & Illustrators Market book.

"Being a successful author means one-third writing, one-third revising, and one-third business. Keeping track of submissions, attending conferences, joining clubs and critique groups are all a part of the business of writing," she said.

While discussing copyrighting materials, Dr. Kinman stated that she personally never does it. Her audience was shocked. "What if someone steals your ideas?" Her amazing (and enviable) answer was, "Oh, I don't worry about someone stealing my ideas ... I have so many others!"

Dr. Kinman writes cozy mysteries, short stories, short plays, children's, young adult and adult novels. Her books for young people include "Mystery of the Missing Miniature Books," "Mystery of the Octagon House" and "Wolf Castle."

For more information, visit www.gaykinman.com.

This event was a part of the Burbank Public Library's ongoing series of free workshops for aspiring authors.

Next up is "Poetry - Writing & Publishing" on Sept. 17 (Central Library) and "Beginnings, Middles, Endings & Arias" on Nov. 8 (Buena Vista Branch).

See www.BurbankLibrary.com to confirm dates and times.