Children’s books are always a big selling product. Children are entering into schools and libraries with big eyes and imaginations into the world of reading every year. So the need to stock up on new children’s books every year is always growing.
If you are wondering about the actual over-all facts and numbers on how much you can earn by publishing a children’s book Please go to Hannah Holt’s Website, where she did the research and published it on her page which will include graphs and tables, as she broke down the various types of publishing. In her research, she also included data for self-published Authors and the level of marketing they did for their book. The bottom line of her report shows that publishing children’s books are profitable, no matter how you decide to publish (either self-publishing or traditional publishing), and oddly enough, in the end, the Authors of both categories ended up making the same amount of money. This is good news for those trying to decide which is the better way to go. Because the only thing that may make a difference, in the long run, is “time” because for every day you are not selling books, you are not making a profit. In this case, the option to self publish is a plus, because you can be self-published in a few weeks if you already have a manuscript and your illustrations all ready to go. Where waiting on a traditional publisher to accept your manuscript can sometimes take years. Then, once they accept your manuscript, it could be another 6 months before you ever see your book on the market. In my calculations, using the data provided by Hannah Holt, that would earn the average self-published author, approximately $25,000.00 more in profits from their book.
Now, let’s talk about the steps to get you started if you are a first time Author.
Obviously, writing the story has to be the very first thing you do. Creating a lovable character, that children can relate to. And hopefully, even a lesson in the Golden Rule is somewhere in the story. (Books that have a good moral message for children tend to sell more).
The next step is finding a good illustrator that can bring your characters to life. This is not as easy as it sounds. There are thousands of illustrators you can choose from. They all charge different prices and they all work at a different pace. Some will want 2% of the Royalties and others to just be paid for their work. Whichever you choose, it is always a good idea to offer to put the Illustrators name on the cover, (either front or back) because they will sometimes be so grateful for the gesture they will go an extra mile for you,
When doing Self-Publishing, it is recommended to pay an illustrator rather than to offer Royalties. Because doing the monthly break down, or even if you do a quarterly breakdown, can be time-consuming. And you will always have them breathing down your neck for spreadsheets of book sales data.
If you are in the process of looking for an illustrator, you can search Facebook by typing in the search bar “Children’s Books Illustrator” a long list of options will come up and you will be able to review their portfolios that they have posted on their page. This is helpful because you will be able to tell by the illustrator’s style if it “fits” with your story, and has the look of what desire. Another way is to contact your local Children’s book publisher and ask if they have a list of illustrators.
*PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Many illustrators have a preference to draw either vertical or horizontal. You want to make sure and be clear to the illustrator the trim size of your book and if your book is vertical, horizontal or square. Because of how this will have to be formatted in the book may cause the picture to be cropped, and that is not always desirable.
After you have your completed manuscript with illustrations and a cover illustration, make sure you have written your Bio. It needs to be very short and sweet. This can be included in the very back of the book or even on the back cover under the synopsis. Oh! And yes, you must have the synopsis for the back cover ready to go as well.
Once you have all the above finished and ready to go, you are ready to be published!
You can contact your Author Representative for more questions.
If you do not have a personal Author Representative please contact AuthorRep on Facebook or call 702-292-4638
