Tip #1: Develop a great Book idea…
When developing the story of your book, you will need to ensure that it stands out, not only the idea but also the overall design and the character illustrations, because this is also very important.
Break the story down, some writers like to start at the end and fill in the rest of the story line, while other start with the characters, so it is always best to use a style that suits you.
Tip #2: Define your story’s Target Audience
The reader is a children’s book authors most important and highly valuable critique, after all they are who you are writing the book for. Narrow your target market down to the specifics such as the age group that your book intended for, their interests, the genre etc.
Tip #3: Set the Title of your book
When thinking about what to name your book, you must also consider getting into the first set of results within Google, and other search engines. You do not want to use a title that has the same name as your book or something similar that has been used time and time again. Because by doing so you are creating unnecessary competition for yourself.
Tip #4: Create your book’s front and back covers
Now that you are on your way to becoming a children’s book author, it is important that you hire an illustrator for your children’s characters. You will notice that upon hiring a professional illustrator that they will be able to help bring your characters and the storyline to life.
Tip #5: How to Self Publish
Now that you have a finished book and it has been well-edited and thoroughly proofread, you will need to look into the best distribution options for you as a self publishing children’s book author.
You may wish to apply for an ISBN, copyright, and other book-related information that is required when publishing a book on your own. Most bookstores, retailers, and libraries use ISBNs to identify books. However whilst some online retailers require your eBook to have an ISBN such as Apple and KOBO, Amazon does not.
So it is always best to do your research and familiarise yourself with each companies, terms and conditions, as well as royalty payouts and other charges and fees, for example Kindle’s terms state that the author keeps up 70 percent of gross sales, which is very good when compared with the typical 10 percent to 15 percent earned by most traditionally published authors.
You must remember that self publishing takes up a lot of time and requires both drive and your initiative. You are bound to come across a number of obstacles and frustrations along the way, however the reassurance of knowing that you have become a self-published children’s book author, is an exciting and very adventurous one, and if done correctly you can also earn quite a bit of profit.
