Fascinating question, Meghan! (and the child who came up with it)
When a short biography of Thomas Edison I wrote years ago didn't sell, I spent an inordinate amount of time doing it again and again. I couldn't even tell you how many times I rewrote that ms. Yes, it was funny, and I think kids would have liked it -- but editors didn't want to buy it and I should have accepted that fact and let it go.
Then I went on to write two more biographies of that length; neither of them sold either.People told me biographies of that length were hard to sell; I didn't listen. I thought of all the ones out there I liked -- which I now realize were written by people who are famous authors (like Alice Walker's biography of Langston Hughes) or can also illustrate them (like the near-perfect ME JANE!) or both. Thank goodness I'm writing a novel now. It may not get published either but if it doesn't, it it won't be because of the format/genre. Believe it or not, that's consoling!
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