Can I self publish a childrens book to market it to a publisher?

hurricanehanni · Feb 18, 2008

I have written a series of children's books, including all the illustrations and cover artwork. Unfortunately the publisher's want to use their own illustrators which would hurt the idea of my book series. The books are set up to keep the series going and are very colorful and educational. My question is if the books are as "great as I say they are," is it possible that a publisher could want them after it has already been self published?
Ryan

Claudia Gray · Feb 18, 2008

It isn't impossible for a publisher to take on a self-published work, no. However, why are you opposed to the professional illustrators? (I'm assuming that a publisher has already voiced this concern to you -- if not, you should try to shop it as is and see what they say.) A good illustrator would be able to work with your themes.

IceCreamEmpress · Feb 18, 2008

Publishers want to use their own illustrators except when the same person is both author and illustrator.

Seriously, don't worry about this. Send your manuscript out and see what feedback you get.

hurricanehanni · Feb 18, 2008

thanks, but...

ClaudiaGray said:
It isn't impossible for a publisher to take on a self-published work, no. However, why are you opposed to the professional illustrators? (I'm assuming that a publisher has already voiced this concern to you -- if not, you should try to shop it as is and see what they say.) A good illustrator would be able to work with your thosed at all,

Hi, the problem is the illustrations are about 50% of our story line and without them, the words would not make sense. Also, our illustrator has been with us since the inception of the series and has had a lot to do with the development of the stories. We also don't want to wait 1-2 years to get these books out there. By then we will have 50 books completed.
The books will really sell themselves and that is why we are considering self-publishing them.

IceCreamEmpress · Feb 18, 2008

hurricanehanni said:
Also, our illustrator has been with us since the inception of the series and has had a lot to do with the development of the stories. We also don't want to wait 1-2 years to get these books out there. By then we will have 50 books completed.
The books will really sell themselves and that is why we are considering self-publishing them.

Well, it sounds like self-publishing might be the right answer for you (especially if you want to do 50+ books)! Be ready to invest a lot of money and time up-front, both in production and marketing.

Anybody who tells you that they can do this for you on the cheap is not going to deliver. Self-publishing can be a commercial success for some people (if they have the right match of skills, network or platform, and a targeted market); vanity/subsidy/co-op publishing is never a commercial success, though it does work for some people who simply want to see their work in print and share it with family, friends, or colleagues.

Nickie · Feb 18, 2008

I can just agree with the comments above. Welcome to our communtiy!

Nickie

JennaGlatzer · Feb 18, 2008

I'm porting this over to the Self-Publishing board, as it's not a newbie intro. You may get more answers there, Ryan.

Can I self publish a childrens book to market it to a publisher?

hurricanehanni

Where Is Ziggy?

Claudia Gray

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

hurricanehanni

Where Is Ziggy?

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

Nickie

Not too old to learn

JennaGlatzer

wishes you happiness