Self-publishing gurus abound these days, but many of them don’t mention children’s books. Since it’s worth learning self-publishing skills no matter how we publish, I’ve collected the best resources I can find for children’s authors. If I’ve missed good ones, please feel free to mention them in the comments. Thanks!
- Does self-publishing children’s books make any sen$e?
U.S. sales and strategies from Daniel Kenney on Amazon’s kboards. “My latest milestone and what I’ve learned about Middle Grade Fiction.” (June 11, 2015) and the follow-up post “6 Weeks, 4,000 Print Books: What I’ve Learned” (December 13, 2015). More details are in his funny and inspiring post on Hugh Howey’s blog. He’s had better success with lower Middle Grade.
Sales in Germany. “Middle Grade Fiction Sales in Germany in 2015” by bilingual German writer and translator, Anja Bauermeister. (January 12, 2016) She’s also on Episode 136 of the Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast: “Self-Publishing in the German Market with Anja Bauermeister.”
Sales in the UK. UK author, Karen Inglis reports her sales numbers on her Self-Publishing Adventures blog. Here’s her post on marketing tips. She has lots of tips about formatting e-books in Word if that’s your thing. Scrivener’s done a great job for me creating e-book files, so I don’t do the Word conversion for Smashwords.
Or if it’s not all about the money, read this warm fuzzy story about a picture book published in Sri Lanka, “Why I Write and Self-Publish Children’s Books”. I love the cover.
- Where can I find a simple plan to see what’s involved?
Susan Kaye Quinn’s free e-book Quick-Start Guide to Self-publishing and the blog version of her Indie Author Survival Guide. She’s updating the Guide (3rd edition) on her blog. The first chapter is here. You can get her free e-book, Quick-Start Guide to Self-publishing, at the same link and sign up for her For Love or Money Facebook group.
Both Susan Kaye Quinn and Anja Bauermeister have rocket-science backgrounds. Self-publishing children’s books is an experimental world, so maybe that helps.
- How can I get involved in a community of self-published children’s book authors?
Sign up for Darcy Pattison’s Indie Kids Book Listserv (Yahoo discussion group) about self-publishing children’s books. The same page links to more posts about self-publishing children’s books and marketing picture books with Pinterest. Or listen to Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast’s Episode 48: Making a Living with Children’s Books with Darcy Pattison (May 22, 2014).
The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has a new moderated discussion forum on self-publishing on their Blueboard. You need to register(free) for the Blueboard or login as an SCBWI member to see the discussion forum.
Have you self-published a children’s book? What challenges did you face? Do you have tips to reach older middle grade readers? Please comment below.
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