Wondering

So, as I said before, I've found a couple of useful web sources on publishing. But I was thinking about publishing, from a kid's perspective. If I were a student interested in writing and publishing, or if I were a teacher and wanted my class to write a book, either as a whole, or in groups, how would I get started? Would I let the students form their own groups according to what they are interested in writing about? There are a few things to consider as well. Art--do I allow some students to do the writing and some to draw pictures to go along with the story? What about time requirements? How long should I allow the students to spend on this project? I know I've spent many hours writing a few pages and then many more hours revising that work. After the project is finished, there's the submission process. Do the students participate in this as well? Students should be aware at the start of the process that then end result is publication so a certain rubric would need to be defined and followed so the students are presenting their best work for publication.