As a new self-published children’s picture book author, I wanted to share some insights on what I did right, wrong, and what I wish I had done. This should make your self-publishing journey a little easier. These tips will hopefully save you time, money, and frustration. I will share my biggest tips to date. But keep in mind, I am learning and we need to learn and grow every single day.
Well the good news is there are many ways to become a profitable self published children’s picture book author. The barrier to entry is low, so writing and publishing your book is easier then ever. However, making a profit and running a successful self publishing business takes time and business knowledge. Do your research. There are many options to self publish, but some are much better and more profitable than others.
The most profitable way to self publish is to print your books off a full color press. This was my choice. However, this requires an upfront investment. Publishing this way will give you the best quality book for the best price. Other authors choose to do print on demand through Amazon KDP. The print quality is not as good but it saves you upfront costs because you only pay for the books you sell. Spend time to carefully consider these options. Self publishing your book is a big investment in your time and money. Take the time to do your research and see which options are right for your book and business.
Whatever you do, DO NOT publish through a vanity press. They are presses that promise you everything and all they end up doing is charging you high rates to print your book, leave no room for profit, and no marketing help. So, do your research. Network with other authors to find out about costs and quality. Resist the urge to get your name on a book quickly without doing your homework. It could leave you broke and very upset.
Do Not Rush The Process
This is the biggest tip I can offer. Nobody wants to hear this but rushing a children’s picture book just to get it out is a terrible idea. I promise you there is so much to learn as authors. It is a never-ending process. Do your research beforehand and set yourself up for success. Join writers groups and learn about the business of self publishing. Writing your book is the easiest part. Sales and marketing takes a good amount of time and knowledge to do it well.
You will need to learn so much about sales and marketing, running ads, websites, mailing programs, possibly Kickstarter, and all aspects of running a small business. If you rush your book and do not put out a high quality one, it will not sell, and you will be extremely disappointed.
Competition is high in the children’s picture book market. Millions of titles are out in which you will be competing with. So, take the time and invest upfront in a high-quality graphic design, a functioning website, email program, and social media following. No sense launching a book and not already have a market or at least a good number of customers to sell them to. This all takes time and a lot of effort.
I know everyone with a children’s book inside of them is chomping at the bit to get their ideas and inspiration out into the world. I encourage you to do it, but do it the right way. Ultimately you will need to create a high-quality book and have a reasonable working knowledge on how to sell and market your books to be successful. I will expand upon all these points in greater detail.
HIRE A HIGH-QUALITY GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR
I must reiterate, if you expect to sell a good number of books you must have a high quality design and illustrations. You are competing with the best books in the world. Once your book is created you will not get a second chance to make a first impression. So, create a great book, visually appealing, and story parents and children will want to read over and over.
Since I am a professional wildlife and dog photographer I only needed to hire a graphic designer. I used my photos for the illustrations. I hired Karen McDiarmid, https://karenmcdiarmiddesign.com/ to design my book Buddy’s Magic Window. She is a NY Times and Ben Franklin award winning graphic designer. I just gave her my basic ideas and she ran with the design flawlessly. By doing so, I can now compete with the best designed children’s picture books in the world. Hiring an experienced designer will also help alleviate a ton of stress and will free you up the time to do the million other things you will need to do in preparing for your book launch.
We live in a visual world. We are bombarded with visual content on all social media platforms. Scroll through Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Notice that it now takes exceptional artwork or photos and illustrations to make you stop for more than a second to take a look. This is why it is a must to have great illustrations. Children’s picture books tend to be driven by the “Pictures” In which you will need to have a great story. You will be judged quickly by your cover and illustrations. It will be the first impression a potential buyer will have of your book. So hire a high quality illustrator. It will give you a competitive advantage. It is getting tougher to impress the public with ordinary pictures and illustrations.
USE A MAILING PROGRAM
I use Mailchimp. https://mailchimp.com/ Other authors use Mailer Lite or Constant Contact. These programs have free versions and trials, so see which program makes sense to you. I chose MailChimp because it had extra marketing functions built right into it. It integrated with my website and I just found it intuitive to use. But pick whatever fits your needs. Take your time with this one and explore all the costs and features. Try to gauge what your future needs will be, so you do not end up having to switch and learn a whole new program.
Build Your Mailing List
Your mailing list is your lifeline and direct access to your clients. As Social media platforms are constantly changing, you will need to collect e-mails so you can reach your buyers. If you sell on amazon you do not get customers e-mails, which is a big disadvantage. By having a customers e-mail, you can market future books and products to them.
RUN A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
I was able to raise $10,700 in a 30-day campaign. This allowed me to print 2,500 books for my initial print run. I had already paid for the graphic design out of pocket. Yes, self-publishing is a business and there will be a lot of business costs. You can run a Kickstarter campaign, http://Kickstarter.com for any amount of money, but stick to a number you actually need and think you can achieve.
To help me succeed with my campaign I hired Lisa Ferland, http://lisaferland.com as a consulting coach. I highly recommend her if you need to raise over $5,000. I would shoot for a minimum initial print run of at least 1,000 books so the cost per book stays reasonable and you can make a profit to re-invest in future print runs.
Looking back I wish I would have run a shorter campaign. Perhaps 14-21 days. It is stressful, and the middle 2 weeks are not so productive.
CREATE A QUALITY WEBSITE
I am a professional wildlife and dog photographer. I needed a combination of author and photo website. I needed a high quality yet very functional design. I initially tried to build my own website. I quickly got frustrated and hired a professional. http://helenharveydesigns.com This was a great decision. It saved me so much time and aggravation. I now pay her a monthly fee to do updates on my website. I can e-mail her with any changes I need and her responses are quick. This takes away a lot of stress and frees up my time to write and market my books.
Business advice. Do what you do best and hire out the rest. Time is money. Spend your time on things you like and that you can do productively.
I use http://Bluhost.com as my web host. I use http://wordpress.org as my website. I use http://Woocommerce.com for my webstore. I use Mailchimp.com for my e-mail program. I use Braintree by PayPal, ://www.braintreepayments.com/features/paypal for my payment services. I chose these options because I needed a high quality website with photo galleries, webstore, blog, integrated mailing program, and payment system. There a thousands of apps I can integrate. There is room to expand and grow. I personally like this combination. You can see how this integrates smoothly at http://dennisglennon.com
Other authors are using Shopify and are very happy. Some find that program easy to do their own changes with. Do your research when choosing your web set up and see what you think will work for you.
PRINT HIGH QUALITY BOOKS
I use the https://dg.iapcbooks.com/ to print my books. My initial print run was 2,500 books which kept the cost per book down so I can sell books at a good profit. If I sell direct to public then the profit is particularly good, by printing in bulk I can still sell to other retailers and make a reasonable profit. I have not listed on Amazon yet, but even there I can still make a decent profit. (For full transparency I not only print and store my books with the IAPC, I am also an affiliate.)
Printing with an offset printer in bulk gives me the best quality for the best price. The production quality off the press the IAPC uses will match the best printers in the world. By doing things this way my book will compete with the best books in the world. To me, this is what is needed to be done to compete and thrive in the book world. You can e get book printing quotes from their website They can also send you paper and print sample. Or, you can order my book which is a 48 page full color book which really shows off the beauty of printing from a press. http://Dennisglennon.com
SHIPPING
I integrated Shipstaion, http://Shipstation.com with my website. Other authors have used Pirateship. This was a game changer. I got a DYMO LableWriter 4XL label printer. This was a great decision. The time it saves me is lifesaving. With just a click, orders from my website print out and I can have books packed and ready to go in seconds. It helps keep everything organized and I can track all the orders. You can set up accounts with all the major carriers including : UPS, Fed Ex, USPS and use USPS Media Mail. Using USPS media mail will make your shipping cost efficient. I even created presets so with one click I can print out labels to ship up to 5 books.
I get my shipping supplies from http://uline.com I use weather resistant white bubble mailers for up to 3 books. I use cardboard mailers for larger orders. The bubble mailers are tough and look professional. Other authors prefer shipping in cardboard mailers for all quanties. Cardboard mailers are twice the price. I do not find it worth the extra expense. I pay around 50 cents for each mailer. The cardboard ones seem to run around $1.00 each. That cost will add up quickly. I only had one complaint about the shipping over the holiday season where shipping is at its worst. So if you figure the cost of the cardboard mailer might have protected that one book it does not make sense to me to pay the extra money. Take the savings and invest in a bigger print run, advertising, or courses on marketing.
If you absolutely do not want to do the shipping yourself then you can look into having a company fulfill your orders. I warehouse around 1,000 books at the IAPC warehouse. They do fulfillment. While I fulfill the majority of orders myself, they are available to fulfill my orders when I get back to travelling and can not fulfill the orders myself. I can easily store about 1,500 books at my house, but do not want to clutter up my space. So I like having the option of a warehouse that can also fulfill orders when needed or if I just get too busy or am travelling.
WHAT I WISH I WOULD HAVE DONE PRE LAUNCH
I have a decent social media following but I wish I would have built up my social media platforms, especially my Instagram account better and more strategically.
I wish I would have organized a list of influencers, media contacts, and celebrities and had established relationships with them.
It would have been strategic to have this set up pre-launch so once I had physical copies of my book I could have shipped them out immediately, in hopes of creating mass publicity, social media buzz, and better sales. Looking back, I would have organized all this info in an excel sheet.
I wish I would have set aside more money for marketing.
WHAT I AM DOING NOW.
I am now putting together a list of media contacts, celebrities, and other influencers who I will send a copy of my book. I am writing personalized letters to each of them. This will be an ongoing process and just a few hits could really garner a lot of attention and lead to significant sales.
I am learning how to create pintables and free downloads to get followers to my website. I am incorporating marketing to schools and libraries into my sales and marketing plan. My initial plan was to sell direct to the public and do school visits and talks. Covid wiped out these options. When things open up, I will do art and craft shows, school visits, and speaking engagements. Speaking is where I thrive. I love the personal interactions and it is easy to set up some publicity around events.
Reaching out to different media outlets looking for book reviews and sending query letters for articles they might publish.. I am available for pod casts, interviews, and writing on topic, timely articles for each outlet.
Commiting to creating high quality blog posts. I hope these posts are picked up by bloggers with much bigger accounts and I will approach them to guest blog.
Weighing the pros and cons of Amazon Seller Central. I am currently only selling books from my website.
It is certainly a learning curve to see what works. Follow me on my website as I will be blogging and writing much more detailed articles about all things self publishing. Successes, failures, and lessons learned. http://Dennisglennon.com
THE GOOD NEWS- YES!!! THIS CAN ALL BE DONE
Well the good news is that this can all be done. So join writers groups, especially ones that focus on sales and marketing. Those are the biggest skills you will need to develop. I am learning new things everyday.
Do not rush the process. Chances are that unless you have a massive social media following or incredible marketing skills, it is going to take much longer than you think to get your books sold. So invest time and research all of this. Set yourself up for success right from the start.
Keep pushing forward. It is a marathon not a sprint. Plan for the long term. So, be patient with yourself.
Consider hiring a mentor or experienced coach. Take some webinars. Read and subscribe to Publishers Weekly and join IBPA. Independent Book Publishers Association. https://www.ibpa-online.org/ Listen to podcasts. Get educated on all aspects of running a small business. Enjoy the process. You are creating something wonderful to share with the world. Do not lose sight of that. Give yourself time to succeed.
About Dennis Glennon
Dennis Glennon is a professional wildlife, landscape, and dog photographer. He is the author of the children’s picture book Buddy’s Magic Window.
To learn more about his book, view his photo galleries, subscribe to his blog, and follow him on social media go to http://Dennisglennon.com.
