How to Self-Publish a Children’s Book from People Who’ve Done it
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Have you been thinking about self-publishing your children’s book? This is something I thought about for a long time and if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably considered it, too. But how do you self-publish a children’s book?
Besides a lot of work, there are 4 main things that go into self-publishing books. Below, I’ll explain what those are, plus give you an opportunity to go even deeper! This month, you’ll be able to learn from 15 other indie authors who’ve already done it. Read all about it here. 👇
4 Keys to Help You Self Publish a Children’s Book:
At the end of 2019, I decided to self-publish my first picture book. I didn’t know a lot about it, but I dove in anyway and hoped to learn as I went. As you can imagine, there were a few mistakes along the way. (Including a delayed launch and only earning 7 cents per online book sale! 🙈)
Despite all these struggles and learning curves, I’m beyond grateful I decided to move forward and publish my books myself. And I decided to do it again and again. By the end of 2020, I’ll have 3 published books out with BiblioKid Publishing.
Going through this experience, I’ve learned there are 4 things you need to be able to know and understand before you publish your own books!
1 – How to Write a Good Story?
Obviously, this is important no matter what publishing route you choose to take. However, when you self-publish a children’s book, you have all the control over your story, which means you get to decide when your story is good enough.
As the publisher, I strongly encourage you to use editors and beta readers to help you create your book. They’ll help ensure you have a strong story that’s ready to send into the world.
2 – Who’s Going to Illustrate Your Book?
As children’s book writers, our stories will almost always have illustrations. That art can really make or break a story. This is something that is super important to spend time on before you decide to move forward with an illustrator.
When you’re thinking about the art for your book, consider the mood, style, and theme you’re trying to convey. Look at other illustrations for inspiration and find something that you think will go well with your words. This will help you know what to look for when you decide to move forward with the illustrations.
3 – What Printer is Going to be Best for Your Story?
There are so many printing options available to self-publishers! You can choose Amazon’s KDP, IngramSpark’s Print-on-Demand, Book Baby, Off-Set Printers, etc. And it’s all up to you to decide which option is going to be best for you.
The way you decide this is based on the number of books you want on hand right away and the style of book you’re hoping to create. Some of these printers only allow you to do a paperback version or a hardcover, so you’ll need to think about what the final product will look like.
4 – How will You Market Your Book?
This is important for EVERY children’s book author to think about, but more important for self-publishers. Since you’re the main person who will be responsible for selling your book, you need to think about how you can get it out to as many readers as possible.
If you need some help coming up with your marketing strategy, this article is a great starter guide to marketing or you can also get the marketing launch kit.
If you’re reading this thinking, “Yes! I can’t wait to learn all the things about self-publishing” or even “Wow! I’d love to learn more”, I have some great news. There’s a free summit just for children’s book writers!
The KidLit Indie Publishing Summit is a week long event for you to learn about how to self-publish a children’s book from other indie authors who’ve done it. For four days, they’re going to focus on these 4 points in-depth to help you understand from experience.
Learn more about the summit and sign-up for free here.
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