Self-Publishing

IngramSpark will make your self-published book orderable by brick-and-mortar bookstores. It will not "put your books" into them, nor will it prepare your book for publication (formatting, illustration, design, etc.)

Before you do anything else, pleasepleaseplease research self-publishing extensively and especially how children's books can be self-published (short answer--not easily.) Companies that "do it all for you" generally turn out a very poor product and charge exorbitant fees for doing so, and love to take advantage of new authors who haven't taken the time to learn about how publishing works. And good luck!

What Marissa said.

All that applies to the promotion you expect to do as well -- promotion where, and for what? Libraries and bookstores will almost certainly not carry a self-published book (there are some exceptions to that but in general, best to assume, unless you live in the world's smallest town, that it's not happening).

People often buy picture books in print. So you'd probably be more likely to be selling copies individually to people or trying to get people to buy your ebook, and where and how would you do that? I'm not saying you shouldn't self-pub; if that's the road you want to take, it's a perfectly valid one, but you need to know what you're getting into (and what you're not getting) when you choose it.

What's been said. Get offline and go to the 808 section of the library and read books on how to self-publish.

Companies that do it all for you have a built in conflict of interest. They want your money and will do weasel-wording like "your book will be available in brick and mortar stores." That is too easily interpreted by the inexperienced to mean they have real distribution.

Why not try for commercial publication? They pay for all the costs and cut you an advance check. It's a win-win.

Right now, your worst enemy is impatience. Scam and borderline operations will take advantage of this, heaping on praise while processing your credit card payment.

You fix this by making time to become an expert in indie publishing. Absolute Write has a whole forum on it and kid books -- read the sticky notes. They will give you the grounding you need so you know what questions to ask and what to look out for. The more you know, the safer you are!

Kid books is a tough genre, but you already know that. For the sake of your potential, write another one while you research the business side of the finished one.

Be very aware that this is a business not a weekend garage sale. Learn how publishers work, but from the outside. Do not trust what they say about themselves on their websites. Check what others say about them. This is easily done by searching for the name of the places + "scam" or "ripoff."

If the place is new, hardly any books up, no real bios on the editorial staff, and/or geared toward selling their services and not their books, walk away. There are plenty of legit ones.

You can also go the full DIY path and publish yourself via Kindle and Createspace. The book will still be up on Amazon, both digital and hard copy. You have to learn how to format, but that's not rocket science, and some legit places will do it for you.

As for the art, plenty of artists are up on Deviant Art, no need to "settle" for one that might not be a good fit.

Now, how 'bout an introduction?

CeeMe29 said:

Hi Gilloughy, I did send some manuscripts out to traditional companies, only six, but as you know, they take months to answer and you don't make a lot of money in royalties, so I thought I'd try self-publishing. I know people who've done that and some made some decent bucks, others haven't. I know you can purchase an ISBN, set up your own publishing company and have to do your own publicity, marketing and such, so I thought I might try it. There's many illustrator sites, so I'll check out DA. I'm not going to settle. It's almost impossible to get reviews and to get even local stores to carry a self-published book, but...others have been successful. I have to say I'm a little stuck at this point and have thought of using Amazon to self-publish, but I'm not certain. I've done the editing and such, so the book is ready and I don't need a full service third party; just a reliable source to get the book out there. Thanks for your comments, though.

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I do wish you good luck, and responses can take months, but to me, the possibility of a non-refundable advance plus the chance of more down the road if the book sells as anticipated - and being free to write another book - is better than spending my own money (and time) on marketing, publicity etc., and worrying if that expenditure will be recouped.

Do you genuinely feel six submissions has exhausted your potential trade outlets? I'm assuming you sent the manuscript to all six at the same time.

One wee point to keep in mind. What if you self-publish and then receive a favourable reply from one of your six....?

You obviously have faith in the story and that's essential. Has anyone else seen it or offered you feedback?

CeeMe29 said:

Hi,
No, I don't feel six publishers is the limit and I did send them at the same time. Many people have read my story and most people liked it.
The time limit for the six I sent my story to, has expired, so I'm not worried about hearing from them.
Thanks.

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Are you sending to publishers or agents (for representation)?