Try Again, Picturebooks

[Lex DeVille]

Finished a total of 5 pages. The speed is picking up but I'm starting to think 5 books published by 5/15 may have been overzealous. Still, each new page becomes a sort of template of its own and slowly this rock is being chiseled into statue. I think by the time the first book is finished I'll be capable of completing 4 to 5 pages a day. As of now I'm guessing I can have 2 books published by 5/15 depending on my upcoming work schedule or unexpected delays.

 

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[R. Scot Johns]

Congrats on getting your children's book series underway! I'm pleased to hear my book and template have been of help. I wish you all the best in all your ambitions.

You mentioned in post #30 that you had an issue adding pages to the template. What type of issue was this, and is it something I can better clarify for you? I'm always trying to update and improve the book to make it as easy as possible for first time content creators to follow, since a great many are authors and illustrators rather than technophiles (if not technophobes).

By the way, you're completely right in using each new page as a template for later pages, and you will soon find that you have a bank of "page types" that you can use to quickly produce additional content, based on your current project and personal preferences. I have standard page templates for copyright page, table of contents, indices, chapter headers, promo pages, author info, etc., and these can just be slipped in and modified with each new project. This is particularly useful for a series, such as yours.

A promo page, for example, can be added to each volume, with an image of each cover in the series, so that you only need to swap out the current title's image for another, and update the external link to your sales page, if one is provided - which it should be, since that's the whole point of promotion! You'll find that marketing is 9/10th's of the challenge of succeeding in publishing, so put those links in anywhere you can! To do this, of course, you'll need to create a store with product pages, and/or create title listings on Amazon, etc. in order to procure the links in advance of publication. I mention this because it's during the content creation process that these things need to be addressed, rather than later when the book is "done".

Let me know if I may be of assistance. I'm always glad to help other entrepreneurs in this exciting field.

R. Scot Johns
Author of "How to Make Kindle Comics & Children's Books"

 

[Lex DeVille]

Thanks for the response, Its a drill weekend so I'm not making much progress with the book, but Ill be hitting it hard on Monday. When I get home Ill try to explain what I had trouble with.

 

[Lex DeVille]

The issue I was having mainly involved adding additional pages to the template from inside of 7-Zip. I couldn't figure out how to copy a page within the program. To fix it I ended up extracting all of the files to a folder on my desktop so copy/paste would be easier. This was written in the tutorial, so I don't think it needs to be fixed; just wanted to avoid extracting if possible.

I haven't messed with the external links yet, but will probably work on that next week. For some reason I thought they could be added at the end of the book so I'm glad you mentioned that they should be added during the creation process. My sole focus has been on getting all of the page images prepared and I figured everything else would fall into place (with a little bit of elbow grease) after that.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Finished another 2 pages even with having to work. Tomorrow I work but have 3 days off after that. Only 4 pages more and I'll be halfway to the finishline for book number 1. Sorry not much value in this post for everyone else, but it is helping me stay on track by posting frequently.

For anyone new to working with Layers like me, here is how mine are set up:

Top Layer
Text Layer
Shading Layer
Character Color
Character Outlines
Object Color
Object Outlines
Background Color
Base Layer

I've been starting with the base layer which consists of a single rectangle formatted to 1200 x 1920 to fit the largest resolution (Kindle HD 8.9 I think), then work up to each new level one by one. A few times I've had to re-arrange layers to get the colors to work properly. One thing I found useful was clicking the eyeball to hide layers that aren't being used, and clicking the lock button to make sure I don't accidentally edit the wrong layer because that slows me down a lot. I think this is similar in Photoshop.

 

[HardParked13]

Awesome illustrations. But I think comic sans screams a little too much "Windows 95".

With how much typefaces have grown in the past 5-10 years I'm sure you can find a more fitting font that complements your amazing art style

http://www.fonts.com/browse/classifications/kids-fonts#product_top

 

[Lex DeVille]

Thanks for the compliment HardParked13. From what I understand there are some issues with downloadable fonts when it comes to picture books depending on which hardware is used to view it. Some of the downloadable fonts apparently aren't well developed so when they're opened on certain devices they look all jacked up. For this first book I want to keep things as simple as possible just to have something published, but I agree that other fonts could accent the pictures a bit better.

 

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[PMN]

Rather than paying for templates, have you tried Kindle Comic Creator? It's Amazon's own tool for fixed layout graphic books and it's so easy to drop your illustrations on there.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1001103761
It's limited to the Windows platform though.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Hi PMN,

I considered using it but the guide mentioned the KCC being very limiting in what the author can and can't do with it. The templates came free with the guide and seem to allow for far more flexibility and control. As far as I can tell there will be a lot of new opportunities for adding audio and other things to Kindle picture books in the near future but not necessarily through KCC so I wanted to know how to build the books from the ground up to try and stay ahead of the curve.

 

[Lex DeVille]

A little update...

First of all I just realized when I posted the word count above I made an error. I was looking at the number of characters and not the actual words. The book is actually sitting just under 300 words not 2000 quite a difference!

Second, I reformatted the sentences and some of them no longer have an entire page to their self. This means that instead of having about 12 pages left I only have 3 to 5 (I think I'm going to add one or two as filler)!

As it stands I still need to get the website online, update the add-on guide, do final reviews and editing, get the pages converted to Kindle format, and set everything up on Amazon, but with the next couple days off I think it can be published by the end of this week!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Update

- I thought some more about what HardParked13 said and realized there's no reason a different font can't work since all of the text will be part of the background, so I updated the text from Comic Sans to a custom font that meshes better with the design.

- All 24 pages are illustrated and edited with the exception of the cover.

- Right now I'm working on the template again. It's is fairly easy to work with, but Kindle Previewer is slowing me down with Java errors, so now I'm re-installing it.

Once Kindle Previewer is back online I think the rest will fall into place and I'm pretty sure the book will be published by tomorrow or Sunday at the latest!

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

Well I did it! My first picture book is officially published and live on KDP.

Later than originally planned but a few kinks had to be ironed out. The main one was that my fully converted ebook was originally 36 MB which would have cost $5.4 in delivery fees for each sale. That's on top of Amazon's cut if I chose the 70% royalty option. After trying about 10 different things I was able to reduce the file size to 4.4 MB which comes to .66 cents per sale.

The website with the downloadable add-on wasn't quite ready, but I launched anyway and left the site as basic as possible for now. Over the next few days I'll enhance it and make it look better.

I also signed up with mail-chimp and will work on setting it up in the morning.

One thing I noticed is that my cover looks a bit grainy in the store until you click on it at which time it becomes crisp. I'll have to figure that one out in the morning. Something else I notice is that it looks like it is angled slightly. I can't tell if this is an optical illusion or if it is actually crooked! I may have to switch a back-up cover in.

The price is set at $3.99, so we'll see what happens.

For anyone who may be curious you can check it out here.

Next Action Steps
- Finish editing book and profile info in Amazon
- Build character templates using current illustrations
- Begin book two
- Set up mail chimp
- Update website

I think things will move much faster now that I understand the process. Instead of spending a ton of time learning how the various programs work I can focus on character, book, and story design as well as a little bit of marketing.

I'm a total newbie to this stuff, so any feedback, suggestions, or criticism is very much welcome!

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

- Website is looking much better, but still nowhere near complete.
- Finished setting up Mail Chimp for future use.
- Edited book 1 cover page and made it look much better, but apparently Amazon requires up to 72 hours before shows up in the store.
- Built several character templates which is helping a lot.
- Finished 7 pages toward book 2.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

First book is sold!

I honestly thought there wouldn't be any sales until the cover is updated and even then not for some time but apparently I was wrong!

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update
1. Finished illustrations for Book 2 and cover for Book 2.
2. Book 2 will be ready to publish by Sunday!
2. Mostly fixed Book 1 cover. I got rid of most of the blurriness in the thumbnail img after about 10 re-publishes and a lot of reading.
3. Finished more of the website. It still won't be fully ready before Book 2 is released, but good enough for now.
4. I came across a few errors that need to be cleaned up in Book 1.

Now that the first book is published I feel like my creation process has speed up 10 fold. With a full day I am creating 6 to 8 pages and now that I know many of the errors and things to look out for I just take care of them right from the start.

Next Actions
1. Create Book 2 Add-on Guide
2. Publish by Sunday
3. Finish homepage of website
4. Begin book 3

 

[Lex DeVille]

A few hours ago I published Book 2. Im doing this one a little different since I'm starting to get the hang of it.

The price will be $2.99 but I'm running it on a 5 day free period starting tonight. I feel comfortable enough with the site and the material that it's time to see if these books can start drawing in some traffic.

As soon as the book officially publishes I'll post the free link so anyone who has the time too do so can check it out.

Posting from my phone at my job but not for long! So I'm out of here for now.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Free Book Here

I would have posted last night, but Amazon wouldn't start it until today. It's running for 5 days.

If anyone has a Kindle that isn't an HD 7 could you post a reply if you read and let me know how it looks. I only have an HD 7 and it looks pretty good there, though I may need to clean up a few black lines. Thanks!

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

I let the book run for 3 of the 5 days before stopping the promo. The 3rd book is almost finished so I want to use those 2 other days to promote the 3rd book once it's published. During the 3 days there were a little over 150 downloads.

Something I noticed today was that Amazon categorized both of my books in really weird places so I had to update the categories and republish. I think they're headed to the right place, but this could be a big part of why the first book hasn't sold much.

After the third book is published I'm going to start more in depth research to find better subcategories where my books might stand a chance.


Today is the 15th and I didn't finish 5 books, but I'm very happy with what I've done so far. I estimate that in another month I'll be able to create 8 to 10 books if I can avoid distractions. At some point these things will start being discovered!

 

[DennisD]

Any opt-in/email list activity?

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Nothing so far. I really thought there would be with three books out but I'm hearing crickets. There could be a lot of reasons for that though. I'm at Drill this weekend so can't start making changes until Monday. I'm running a 2 day promo on the third book and left it linked to the second book to see if the draws anyone in.

 

[Lex DeVille]

One thing that might help is if I make the email opt in a little easier to reach from the book. Right now to join the email list from the book you have to go to the webpage for the downloadable guide and then make your way to the homepage. I think maybe I should add a direct link to one of the first pages so they can find it right away.

I should note that more and more people are making their way to the website, so I think they are at least interested in the material enough that they might return.

 

[DennisD]

Can i see your optin page?
where's your CTA within the book? The last page?

 

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[Lex DeVille]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KDI2OGM/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

Thats the current free book. All the links are at the end.

The optin is on the homepage stormcloudbooks.com

It doesnt scream "kid's books" but I haven't spent much time on it. It's modeled after another forum member's page as a placeholder until I have time to work on it next week.

Sorry the poor post. I'm on my phone.

 

[DennisD]

You're onto something with the genre. I think it can catch-on in a big way. You can get on Opera, you can get on the Today show, youc an get on shark tank, you can kill on shark tank.

If you continue with these projects, you will make a lot of money and a huge impact.

That being said.
Your books need some MAJOR work.

I don't want to be a bad guy...
but I just think that they're not that great.
They're 'off

For a time, I worked with PBS and was immersed in children entertainment.
I've read a few books on kid-lit, I regularly listen to Kid-Lit podcasts.
I'm no expert, but I'm more informed than your average joe.

I've read both Monster Match and Dubble.
There's a LOT of copywriting you need to brush up on moving forward.
Make sure that instead of absolutely speeding through these books, that's you're using each one as an opportunity for yourself to learn something new.

What's your age range you're aiming for? Dubble was filled with sentences that are way too complex for children. The whole thing needs to be deconstructed and simplified to be understood by your target demo.

You need to "dumb it down" even further. You need to make each page a masterpiece.

MARKETING
Let's talk about your marketing efforts.

You should put your call to action at the BEGINNING of the book.
Something full page that says:
!WARNING PARENTS!
This isn't any ordinary picture book,
Only let your child read this if you want them to get all they can out of life.

Hidden in this book's words are powerful lessons that teach your child:

• Interpersonal communication
• Negotiation
• Responsibility
• Reciprocity
• Salesmanship

For a complete outline of the hidden messages in this book and what they teach children, download the Parent's Guide Here.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PARENTS GUIDE

Make it send them to a page where they have to Opt-In first before they get the guide. Then you send them to a download page that contains thumbnails of each book, plus a short description of the lessons learned inside. Similar in style to my most recent sales page: www.castleforgemedia.com/ultra-savings-package/

Your homepage already looks a bit like this, but it's not very skimmable, especially when you start releasing dozens of books. It needs to be organized differently.

How are you currently promoting your books?

 

[Lex DeVille]

You're onto something with the genre. I think it can catch-on in a big way. You can get on Opera, you can get on the Today show, youc an get on shark tank, you can kill on shark tank.

If you continue with these projects, you will make a lot of money and a huge impact.

That being said.
Your books need some MAJOR work.

I don't want to be a bad guy...
but I just think that they're not that great.
They're 'off

For a time, I worked with PBS and was immersed in children entertainment.
I've read a few books on kid-lit, I regularly listen to Kid-Lit podcasts.
I'm no expert, but I'm more informed than your average joe.

I've read both Monster Match and Dubble.
There's a LOT of copywriting you need to brush up on moving forward.
Make sure that instead of absolutely speeding through these books, that's you're using each one as an opportunity for yourself to learn something new.

What's your age range you're aiming for? Dubble was filled with sentences that are way too complex for children. The whole thing needs to be deconstructed and simplified to be understood by your target demo.

You need to "dumb it down" even further. You need to make each page a masterpiece.

MARKETING
Let's talk about your marketing efforts.

You should put your call to action at the BEGINNING of the book.
Something full page that says:
!WARNING PARENTS!
This isn't any ordinary picture book,
Only let your child read this if you want them to get all they can out of life.

Hidden in this book's words are powerful lessons that teach your child:

• Interpersonal communication
• Negotiation
• Responsibility
• Reciprocity
• Salesmanship

For a complete outline of the hidden messages in this book and what they teach children, download the Parent's Guide Here.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PARENTS GUIDE

Make it send them to a page where they have to Opt-In first before they get the guide. Then you send them to a download page that contains thumbnails of each book, plus a short description of the lessons learned inside. Similar in style to my most recent sales page: www.castleforgemedia.com/ultra-savings-package/

Your homepage already looks a bit like this, but it's not very skimmable, especially when you start releasing dozens of books. It needs to be organized differently.

How are you currently promoting your books?[/quote

Wow thank you for this incredibly informative post! Im taking off most of the next two weeks off to make the site user friendly and work on fixing some of these issues with the first 3 books.

Age group is 3 to 8 but I think Ill narrow it to 3 to 5. For that age I see books doing well with a female lead character, rhymes, and they focus on one main character for multiple books. Several of them were set up very similar to what you described above.

I know almost nothing about copywriting but did pick up some of the books mentioned on the forum, and will watch some videos this week to get a feel for the basics.

As for promoting... I haven't done any at all other than free days.

I really like your suggestions and will start implementing them immediately.

Thanks again, this was very helpful.

 

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[ChickenHawk]

I notice that the "look inside" feature isn't available for any of your books. I e-pubbed a few kids books within the last year and found it made a significant difference, sales-wise, when customers could look inside first. Maybe it isn't possible in your case since they're pure picture books, but it's something to consider.

Also, I tried to download your free book, and Amazon gave me an error-type message that indicated I couldn't get it for my kindle. I'm guessing because my kindle is kind of on the older side, so maybe your book is formatted for the newer ones. All this to say, you might be able to make just a few tweaks and see better results. I wonder how many people are like me, with older kindles. (Mine might be the paper-white variety.)

Your books look interesting! It would be nice to see them really catch on. On a sobering note, my kids' books showed some initial promise, but then seemed to fizzle. That might be a challenging genre. But of course, some people are making money on it, and let's hope you quickly join the successful ranks!

 

[Lex DeVille]

I notice that the "look inside" feature isn't available for any of your books. I e-pubbed a few kids books within the last year and found it made a significant difference, sales-wise, when customers could look inside first. Maybe it isn't possible in your case since they're pure picture books, but it's something to consider.

Also, I tried to download your free book, and Amazon gave me an error-type message that indicated I couldn't get it for my kindle. I'm guessing because my kindle is kind of on the older side, so maybe your book is formatted for the newer ones. All this to say, you might be able to make just a few tweaks and see better results. I wonder how many people are like me, with older kindles. (Mine might be the paper-white variety.)

Your books look interesting! It would be nice to see them really catch on. On a sobering note, my kids' books showed some initial promise, but then seemed to fizzle. That might be a challenging genre. But of course, some people are making money on it, and let's hope you quickly join the successful ranks!

I have no idea why the look inside feature isn't working. I thought it would start after the first week but it's not there. There is a sample option to click on that sends a preview to your kindle device and it worked well on mine. Ill check into the error and try to find out why it isn't working for the earlier devices. But if you have the paper white I'm thinking it may not be an option.

 

[ChickenHawk]

I have no idea why the look inside feature isn't working.

For one of my kids' books, it took forever for the "look inside" feature to show up, maybe a couple of weeks. And funny, of all my kids' books, this was the one that never quite took off. It made me wonder if there was some connection -- like if you don't get sales right out of the gate, you're forever at a disadvantage with that particular title. Hard to say.

Ill check into the error and try to find out why it isn't working for the earlier devices.

In case it helps, here's more info on the error it gave me.
"We did not find a Kindle device or reading app registered toyour Amazon account for which this content is available"

It goes on to suggest this...
Register a free Kindle reading app and try your purchase again:
Get Kindle for iPad
Get Kindle for Android

I'm betting your book is too graphic intense for my older kindle.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Update

Just a small one tonight. I started reading Cashvertising and took the entire day to work on a landing page for the newsletter / Parent's Guides and also made a warning page that I'm getting ready to add to the front of the books.

Here is the sample warning page:



And here is the landing page where it leads.

Most of the design is finished. Still needs metadata though. I also need to make sure it looks similar across browsers. It was made in Chrome because Firefox was being weird.

For tomorrow I'll begin updating the other pages.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

- I've started the 4th book which will be the 1st in a new series.
- Lead character is a girl with more detail, shading etc.
- Pages are being formatted into landscape to allow for a variety of angled images.
- Story is being told through simple catchy rhymes and the pages should invoke imagination and draw the reader deep into the story.
- I discovered a secret trick that gives the pages an added flair. I haven't seen this in any other children's book on Amazon, so it might be just what the doctor ordered to set the pages over the edge.
- Lastly, I'm giving myself 2 weeks for total design so there will be plenty of time to do it right.

I haven't finished the main page of the website, but that's mostly because I'm not going to be advertising the first 3 books there and I need to make several new images for the new look. This will take a few more days, but will ensure the site focuses almost entirely on the new character / books.