How to Write a Children’s Book
Learning how to write a children’s book is much more than mere paper and words put together. And the moment when an author holds their Children’s book ready in print is a cherished moment indeed, as you transmit your knowledge, experience, thoughts, and ideas to the next generation. For the new-to-the-scene authors and writers, we have one piece of advice: writing and publishing a children’s book is not a simple task since it has to be short and still relatable.
The level of imagination you put in and the clarity of messages that you want to convey must be communicated through rich illustrations and images. A dilemma faced by authors often in deciding the style and mode of their books whether to go for a picture book or a novel. An easy solution is to first choose your target audience.
For example, a children’s book with lots of pictures and illustrations is suitable for those who are below 5 years of age. If you feel that this is your comfort zone, then you can visualize your story’s flow and characters accordingly. Choose and select settings, characters, and ideas that make your work unique.
The Right Illustrator
Creating a successful Children’s book highly relies on having captivating illustrations. If the illustrations are not interesting and engaging, your publishing objectives will be hard to fulfill. If you are planning to self-publish your Children’s book, it is essential to find a qualified illustrator who understands your needs and is experienced in working with children’s books.
Such an illustrator should have the expertise to shape your thoughts, creativity, and ideas.
The Process
Publishing a children’s book bye oneself is a time-consuming process. It takes time and a lot of it! Getting your illustrations perfectly done is just a tip of the iceberg. Other processes like editing your manuscript, designing the interior and exterior layout, proofreading and final publishing take mammoth chunks of time too.
As an author, you may have a question whether a children’s book does really need an editing stage. Yes, it needs to be edited and proofread. Leading children’s book authors and writers suggest and advice to follow an editing phase for your children’s book to make it successful.
With all these processes involved, children’s books are not cheap. You have to invest $10,000 to $15,000 to have engaging illustrations by industry experts, to have your books printed in color (which definitely costs more than black and white), publishing charges (based on number of books you print), and to market your books to the relevant audience.
Partnering with a leading publishing vendor like Izzard Ink who has immense experience in the publishing industry, maximizes your potentially chances of increased returns on investment over time. Make sure that you try to cut the costs but not the corners at any time.
Distribution
Managing the distribution process of your published books is another big hurdle self-publishers face. This is the phase where the book gets from the printer to the reader. You have to be very cautious and play wise in this phase since your purpose of self-publishing correlates directly with your choice of a distribution channel.
You have to choose whether you are going to hit the target audience through bookstores, word-of-mouth, or an author’s sales page. If you have a readership and well-established online presence, you can choose to publish & distribute it through your website or if you have a relaxed budget you can distribute your books through large and renowned retailers.
Marketing
Children’s book is the only type or kind of books where you don’t actually market your book to your target audience. Come to think of it, Children do not pay and buy their books. The target audience, in reality, is the adults who take control for their children’s lives. This is a challenge when it comes to publishing children’s books. You have to write, design, and publish books which attract children, and the books should reach their parents, relatives, and neighbors who would want to buy these. Thus, the writer must have a 360-degree planned approach to attract and create interest in both types of audience.
Izzard Ink can support you with the secret sauce of how to write a children’s book while helping you make educated decisions for your book’s distribution, marketing, and success. The seasoned veterans at Izzard Ink are ready to help self-publishers to plan their entire book publishing process which gives your books a fair chance to be on the bestseller’s list.
Are you one ready to take the proverbial leap of faith to see your story in print?
