Mommy's High Heel Shoes: How to Self Publish a Children's Book

I have been getting so many questions about how to publish a children's book so I decided to post an article to make it easy for all of you to access.

1) The first thing I recommend is that you do a search for all other books with your title and then search for all books in your subject matter. Search Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, libraries & etc. You don't want to publish book that is already in a saturated subject matter or with the same title as another book. It is important to be different, unique, modern, current, kid appealing, and fresh (unless you are a celebrity or well known author and people will buy your book just because you are you!) If you don't have young kids, hang out in Barnes & Noble, Borders or small independent Children's bookstores to find out what sells.

2)Second, there is one book that you all need to get if you are thinking of self publishing. The book is called: Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual. This book is step by step guide on how to self- publish. It will give you an idea if self-publishing is right for you. (I also have more very helpful books on the slide show below.) This book will also help you figure out the differences between going with a major publisher, vanity publisher, print on demand and truly self publishing.

If you aren't willing to sell your book and put forth a ton of effort and time, you may want to stop reading here. If it is your dream to self publish a children's book, then I would suggest that you keep reading so you can make it happen! Note: if you have a "type-A" personality, self publishing will come easy to you. If you don't, you can still do it- the work involved may be just a bit more challenging.

3) The other important thing to do is to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Membership if fairly in-expensive and well worth it. This group will help you network with other writers and editors online and live/in person.

So the process of self-publishing goes like this...

Research and learn your market: What are parents buying? What do they need? What do kids want?
Hang out with Kids!
Write what you know and/or what you love. Your passion will shine through.
Join a children's writers group (if you are not already in one) The critiques of fellow writers are so very important. Edit your manuscript and have it professionally edited if the other writers in your group aren't particularly gifted in this area.
Read your book to kids! Read it aloud! Read it to parents of your target age group! Read it to teachers and to anybody who will listen and give you honest feedback.
Once you have decided to self-publish- Get a website domain! Try to get your book title and your name (for when you get famous). If your title is too long, pick something catchy and easy to remember. You need to start thinking about how to sell your book now. Your website will brand you. Go to www.GoDaddy.com to do this! Just start typing in possible domain names and find one you like. The help desk there is awesome if you decide to host your site there. Also, you can set up a free blog through google, wordpress or typepad. This blog is a blogger blog through google. It's easy to use and completely free. I point my domain name ($10/year-www.kristiefinnan.com) to this blogger address (www.mommyworkshop.blogger.com) I can also host my domain name here, but just haven't gone through that step yet as I know my blog will have to be down for a day or two.
Set yourself up as a publishing company. Decide whether you would like to become a Sole Proprietor or an LLC (I chose LLC for a few different reasons) I really had no idea what to do and a friend of mine recommended The Company Corporation- thank goodness! They were truly awesome. And since you are self publishing- you need to set yourself as a company so you get the many benefits of being a small business owner. At first, I tried to figure out how to do this on my own and wasted many valuable hours googling. The company corporation will walk you through every step and for under $500- they do everything and are awesome to work with. Here is a link:
If you are not an illustrator yourself, have 3 illustrators do samples for you and give you their estimates to do the job. I paid $50 a piece for each sample.
Choose your illustrator and have him/her begin the sketches. Make sure when choosing your artist, that he/she is somebody you think you can work well with. This is an important relationship! There needs to be great communication.
Show your illustrator examples of styles of art in other books that you like before she gets started. And if you have any ideas of what the pictures should look like in your head- include illustration notes. Also, it is helpful if you have your manuscript broken out into pages. Your artist may be able to do this for you or you can work on it together as well.
The most important part of your book is the COVER! Have your artist work on this first. First the artist will do some sketches. Then make any changes and any more changes until you love it. Put on your best pair of art director shoes. Once you love it, work with the artist to pick out eye catching colors and fonts for the title. Your book needs to pop out on a shelf and talk to buyers. This is the most important part of the book! Did I mention that?
Next you will start getting your sketches for your interior pages. As you receive the art, make notes on any of the pages that you would like altered. Once all of the sketches are way you like them, it's time to move on to the painting. Let your artist know if there are any particular colors you are fond of. Show her other books that you like as examples.
While your artist is painting or digitally coloring the artGet your ISBN #, bar-code, register with the library of congress (step by step instructions in Dan Poynter's book for this tedious task) Also, hire a website designer or you can go to several different hosting sites where you can set up a website with your registered domain name with a template yourself. If your budget is an issue, try www.freewebs.com.
Decide on whether you want a hardback or paperback book and on the size.
Research printers in the US and Oversees. Submit specifics (paper weight, size, binding) for quotes and ask free sample books. By doing this, you can touch and feel the paper and tug on the pages to see how well they are bound. You will be surprised in the difference in quality with different printers. I got one set of samples that wreaked of Moth Balls. I ruled them out right away for fear of receiving 3000 books that would stink up my whole house!
Hire a book designer. Ask around so you can get a few different quotes. The designer scans the original artwork into the computer, lays the artwork out in a design program, adds your words to the pages. The specifications are given to the designer from your printer. The designer will be in communication with the printer. Then the files are uploaded to the printer or sent on a CD.
Once the book is all together in a computer program like Adobe InDesign, it's time to print out the .pdf files and mark them up. If the text placement doesn't look right, have your designer move it. If the colors are off from the original art, have them adjusted.
Next, you will receive color proofs of your book from your printer. This usually happens a few weeks after the final files are approved by the printer. You will get to mark them up and make notes of things that need to be changed. Pay special attention to the colors. Make sure they are like your original art or that your are okay with the differences.