Try Again, Picturebooks

[Lauryn]

Great approach to this. Children's books are rumored to be a "tough" market but so what?
You're doing things according to your path and using your skills. Keep it pushing.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Great approach to this. Children's books are rumored to be a "tough" market but so what?
You're doing things according to your path and using your skills. Keep it pushing.

I agree it's a tough market, but I think this is part of why it can work.

The difficulty of making quality fixed format books is a barrier right now. Also there are quite a few big name books such as Dr. Seuss and others.

When you move into sub-categories such as children's books - Age 3-5 - literature & fiction - there's only like 7,000 books. For each age group 3, 4, and 5 it breaks down to a little over 2,000 books each, including big name authors. Many of the books including self-pub are selling, but a lot of the authors only have a few books published, so I don't think they're capitalizing on scale. I think they spend a lot of time making perfect illustrations and then on heavily promoting those few books.

I've figured out a way to take less than amazing graphics and turn them into engaging illustrations with the click of a button, so I should still be able to quickly add new material to the market, while adding a different level of quality. If all goes will I think this will start to pick up steam in a few months.

I definitely still have a lot of learning and and adjustments to make though.

Thanks for the encouragement. It really helps keep me going!



P.S. I think I just solved the "Look Inside" question.
- The children's ebooks that have "Look Inside" enabled appear to have a hard copy for sale as well. Fixed format doesn't allow "Look Inside" so I may need to do a workup on Createspace so people can easily sample the books.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

Here are some sample pages from the upcoming book.
The area below the text needs something but I'm not sure what. Maybe a small character or something.

The shading is taking a while and adding extra detail is slowing down the process, but the pages are starting to open up and I really like the way they look.

If I can figure it out I'll make the text a clickable pop-up so it can be enlarged by tapping it and will also try adding some dynamic features to make the book more interactive.





*Note: A little bit of the quality is lost here. The texture is much more visible on the Kindle, and when viewed at the appropriate size.

 

[evanwebb]

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.

I agree. I bought Monster Match. I thought it was okay, but not great. I like your illustrations, and the new ones you posted, I like even better, but the flow of writing was just a little off.

I was really interested in your project, because a couple of years ago, I wrote a Children's book that taught economics and entrepreneurship (a decidedly unchildlike topic). My skills and talents are more on crafting the words. If you want to send me your projects, I'd be happy to provide suggestions and feedback or rewrites. Writing rhyming books it tough stuff. If you want me to, I'll PM you a copy of my book. Or you can buy it on Amazon! Ha! Nah, I'd send it to you for free.

Tips from a parent of three:

I wouldn't say, "Warning Parents," I would say, "Attention Parents." Because it really isn't a warning, it is a "hey, look here and read this!"

Rather than saying, "Click Here to Download the Parent's Guide," pitch the benefit: "Click Here to Ensure Your Little One Get's the Most Out of This Book"

Also, for your target age, parent's don't really think about their kids "getting all they can out of life," at least not in the sense that the warning page presents it. They're just trying to get them to say, "yes, ma'am" and not hit their siblings or pull the dog's tail.

What are parent's looking for? How about:

"This is a very special and unique series of books that gently and carefully introduces your little ones to deep subconscious subjects that will help them actually want to share on their own, will enable them to overcome fear and sadness, and begin developing a strong mind that will serve them their entire lives."

Man, that sizzles! Sign me up for the boxed set!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I agree. I bought Monster Match. I thought it was okay, but not great. I like your illustrations, and the new ones you posted, I like even better, but the flow of writing was just a little off.

I was really interested in your project, because a couple of years ago, I wrote a Children's book that taught economics and entrepreneurship (a decidedly unchildlike topic). My skills and talents are more on crafting the words. If you want to send me your projects, I'd be happy to provide suggestions and feedback or rewrites. Writing rhyming books it tough stuff. If you want me to, I'll PM you a copy of my book. Or you can buy it on Amazon! Ha! Nah, I'd send it to you for free.

Tips from a parent of three:

I wouldn't say, "Warning Parents," I would say, "Attention Parents." Because it really isn't a warning, it is a "hey, look here and read this!"

Rather than saying, "Click Here to Download the Parent's Guide," pitch the benefit: "Click Here to Ensure Your Little One Get's the Most Out of This Book"

Also, for your target age, parent's don't really think about their kids "getting all they can out of life," at least not in the sense that the warning page presents it. They're just trying to get them to say, "yes, ma'am" and not hit their siblings or pull the dog's tail.

What are parent's looking for? How about:

"This is a very special and unique series of books that gently and carefully introduces your little ones to deep subconscious subjects that will help them actually want to share on their own, will enable them to overcome fear and sadness, and begin developing a strong mind that will serve them their entire lives."

Man, that sizzles! Sign me up for the boxed set!

Thanks for the order evanwebb. Just now got a chance to sit down and reply!

I agree that rhyming is tough. In fact I'm finding it more difficult than just tossing big words on the screen. I started mimicking the flow of another author to get my own flow going. So far it seems to be working but I'm certain it will need refined before going live. Getting past the rhyme is only half the battle since the concepts need to be broken down into their simplest forms.

I thought about swapping "Warning" with "Attention" but I think I'm leaving it for now to test it out. Everything you said about what you're looking for as a parent is true for most parents, though I think moving outside the norm will be critical to the success of my creations.

These books aren't just for children. They're meant to teach anybody of any age in an easy to learn manner. Children definitely don't know what Neuro-Linguistic Programming is, but most adults don't either. I think this makes the warning important because it catches your attention. Once I have their attention I can then educate them about these special skills and if they actually try them, they will prove it works for their self. When it works for them, they'll believe it can work for their children, and a tribe will start to form that will make purchases later on.

Aside from that I've been reading Cashvertising and from what I understand my goal isn't to sell the benefits, but to sell a feeling which implies secondary benefits as a sort of bonus. I may need to rephrase the "get all they can out of life" part to suggest something more. For now I want something in place to direct customers to the newsletter page so there is at least a starting point to work from.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I really am considering your suggestions as I sift through this process and every little bit helps!


P.S. I'll definitely send you a copy of the next book. It's not a teaching book so much as an introduction to the character and the series concepts to follow. I would love a copy of your book too!

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

- Spent some time in town reading through children's books at local stores. This was much faster than looking for free books to download online and provided a lot of ideas for how to form my rhymes.

- Scrapped the original story for the new book and started a re-write. I think it's working much better now.

- Launched site updates that I think engage the viewer as soon as they enter. Users now see fading pictures from the books and have the option of opting in to the newsletter for a chance at a special opportunity. The site now requires an opt-in before giving access to the guides. I also created a "bookshelf" setup on the homepage so users can quickly scroll down and see the categories. I still need to add some text so Google shows something in searches and also have a few more pages to finish with descriptions of additional pictures and things.

- Updated all published books with the warning page and links to the new website pages.

- Uploaded customer photos to all published books since "Look Inside" doesn't work.

- Finally conquered several types of code which will make future books far more interactive. Text now pops up, doors open and close, lights turn off and on etc. This took most of my weekend but I'm glad to have it figured out because I haven't seen a lot of fixed format books utilizing these features.

- Made a few more sales. Nothing spectacular, but again I haven't done any marketing so it is what it is.

Goal for this week:

- Complete the rhymes and story.
- Finish at least half of the illustrations.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update

I finished the rough draft story & rhymes, didn't like it, and scrapped it. Started over from scratch and think things are much better now. I also completed a first round of illustrations, though I'll scrap a couple scenes and replace them with better material. This week I'll fine tune each page with shading, and small details along with some things to help draw the reader into the images.

I hit a small problem with the texture on the pages. Apparently it significantly increases the page size from around 150kb to over 3MB. I think I found a workaround so the texture should still be a go.

In the meantime I've started preparations for basic marketing and this time will submit the book to the free ebook sites while it's on a free promo for a few days. I'll also submit it to some other forums where I think I can get some early purchases/review. I've got a few more ideas for marketing that I haven't seen many authors using so I'll give them a shot as well and report back later. Oh and I also have a super secret idea that could turn into something big but that remains to be seen!

So far this book feels like a big step up from the other three. I've set it up as an introduction to the main character and her life and will advertise follow-on books at the end. The idea is to show readers the power Luna has over her world because she utilizes basic interpersonal, financial, and survival skills. The follow-on books will then explore each concept in detail one at a time and will branch out into other characters and concepts.

I really think this one could be big for a children's book, but I'm still figuring all this stuff out so who knows. I'll be happy if a single copy sells.

Here are a couple new sample images. These are unfinished rough drafts. I haven't added details and other things. No words because the words aren't attached to the images anymore. They're a separate layer now so they can pop up when clicked.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Book 2 is back on a free promo tomorrow. Please click the link below and get a free copy on 6-2-2014. You do not need a Kindle to view the book. It can be opened directly in Amazon.com. Your feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated.

When I Smile

 

[evanwebb]

I read monster match to my 2 1/2 year old and she liked it. She even started mimicking the monster too, so I think she kind of got the concept. One thing you might watch out for in the illustrations is too many faces per page. The extra characters distracted her from the story, especially the moon.

 

[DennisD]

I read monster match to my 2 1/2 year old and she liked it. She even started mimicking the monster too, so I think she kind of got the concept. One thing you might watch out for in the illustrations is too many faces per page. The extra characters distracted her from the story, especially the moon.

That is some BRILLIANT insight!

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I read monster match to my 2 1/2 year old and she liked it. She even started mimicking the monster too, so I think she kind of got the concept. One thing you might watch out for in the illustrations is too many faces per page. The extra characters distracted her from the story, especially the moon.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

At the time I felt like the scenes needed something more since they all take place in the same setting.

I'll definitely watch out for this in the future!


P.S. I'm not far from finishing the 4th book and will send you a free copy once it's finished if you still want it.

 

[evanwebb]

Thanks so much for the feedback!

At the time I felt like the scenes needed something more since they all take place in the same setting.

I'll definitely watch out for this in the future!


P.S. I'm not far from finishing the 4th book and will send you a free copy once it's finished if you still want it.

The more I thought about it, I think it was due to reading it on a Kindle. There are other children's books that have lots of characters in a scene, but the way it shows up on the screen, to a little one, every face looks like a main character. So she was very concerned about the minor characters because to her they looked like main characters so she wanted to know more about them, even though they weren't pivotal to the story.

For your rhyming stories try singing or rapping it out loud. Imagine a beat box going on and try to read your story to the beat box. I have a story that I'd been working on for a while and the other night re-wrote portions of it because I let it rest and didn't look at it for a while. Once it was cleared from my head, I looked at it anew and got my internal beat box running and read it through. It exposed room for improvement in the meter, timing, and sound of each word as part of each line.

I'd love to see your new stuff and the offer stands to take a look at it from a second opinion, editorial mindset if you want the input (it's something I wish I had more of when I did my first one).

Love the new illustrations by the way.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update
This book has been far more difficult than I ever imagined, but I'm still hammering away and the results are starting to show.

- I've finally finished the illustrations. (They can always be better but are definitely good enough for release).

- The shading was causing very large pages when combined with the texture so I opted to remove a lot of it (shading, not texture).

- Since there's less shading I added more detail to each page and they've turned out pretty well.

- The interactive text and pictures are now fully operational on all pages, though I'm still working through a small glitch that sometimes causes text & pictures to pop up on their own.

- The pictures I posted above don't show it, but there's now a big red button sitting in that empty blue space in the bottom right. It is the button that causes all pop-ups to appear except the text. Clicking the text makes it zoom separately.

- The story is complete, rhymes, and is far easier to read than the first 3 books.


Final thoughts...
I expect to finish the book by today or tomorrow, but don't know if I'll publish it yet. I may have a couple weeks of training coming up so I don't want to screw myself on initial marketing. This book is far superior to my others, and in my opinion is a lot more fun than most of the children's ebooks I've read.

Each time I work on this it becomes more clear why most children's book authors aren't building interactive pages. It takes a lot of freaking time! I spent over 5 hours this morning just making minor adjustments and a few days ago I spent several hours just searching for an error in my html code (which turned out to be a SINGLE comma... FU comma!!!)

Those working 40 hours a week have a real disadvantage in this department, especially if they don't already understand basic CSS & HTML.

I've done my best to make every page unique and to create value. This book and potentially the series feels like it could be a winner, but only time will tell.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Weekly Update

Updating a little early this week because I may not be able to post again until the 29th.

- Several beta readers provided valuable feedback and I made several last minute adjustments.
- Picture book 4 is ready to publish but I may wait until I get back so I can promote it. Still undecided though.
- The pop-ups are working, but the glitch still pops up every once in a while though I don't think it's a huge problem any longer.
- I'm thinking about making this one permafree after two more books are released.

Side Project Update

I wasn't going to post about this but oh well. In addition to building the picture book I decided to write in another genre and see how it goes so here's a small update on that.

- It's a series consisting of 9 books, all short stories, and all connected.
- Closed out the first book with a little over 13,600 words.
- Still formatting the text, but so far it isn't bad.
- Created a cover that I'm satisfied with at the moment
- Added a call to action at the front and back of the book with a link to a mailing list.
- Converted to Kindle format for testing
- Found several beta readers (some have agreed to leave Amazon reviews)

Need to do:
- Re-read / Edit (maybe hire an editor)
- Make the first 10% more engaging
- Publish

 

[Lex DeVille]

Re-read the entire book last night (on the Kindle) and edited at the same time.

I chose to publish without hiring an editor for this title so I can see the response and rate my editing skills.

If it doesn't turn out well I'll opt for an editor on the next book.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Finally back from training and very glad it's over!

I was planning to do a few things from my phone despite being in the middle of nowhere in the woods, but accidentally dropped it in a porta potty on day 2. Then the days got really busy and by the time I was done at night I was exhausted and didn't bother writing. Thunderstorms later flooded our tents and soaked my notebook so I went into survival mode and just focused on making it through everything lol.

Anyway there are a couple of things I want to update before I jump back in and start the next children's book, so here it goes:

1. I had my first entire week of sales without skipping any days and overall sales have tripled from last month. These aren't big numbers but I'm happy to see the increase, especially since I wasn't promoting during those times.

2. My erotic fiction book didn't make any sales, go figure. I'll probably work with it this week, but my focus will be on the next children's book first.

3. I have several new ideas for both the children's books and adult books that probably wouldn't have been realized without my trip to the field.

One last thing I need to do is review the sales from the last two weeks and figure out what worked and what didn't work to hopefully improve in the future.

I'm out of here for now.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

SALE SALE SALE

Running my first .99 cent promotion today.

The Monster Match will be on sale for 7 days, down from the $3.99 price point.

I'm doing minimal promotion for this sale in order to gauge its effectiveness. The original plan was to do this a month ago, but there is a 30 day waiting period after changing a book's price point before the .99 promo can be started. Since mine had just changed it caused a huge delay.

Please show your support by ordering a copy if you can spare .99 cents.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

 

[Lex DeVille]

WARNING: This post contains an update as well as frustration, though I'll try not to whine.

I tend to favor optimism, so lets start with the good...
- Book 5 is well underway with about 1/3 of the illustrations complete.
- This book seems very focused compared the Book 4 and hones in on a single topic: safety in the sun.
- I haven't let anyone read the story yet, but the rhymes feel like they flow much better.
- I noticed this shift in rhyme flow shortly after reading a ton of Dr. Seuss books.
- I may have discovered a way to further reduce my file size to increase all book profits.
- The .99 promotion has brought a few sales
- Two of my books have breached top 100 ranks in their categories.
- I think I have a plan for increasing visibility in certain categories.
- I finally got another email subscriber.
- I started posting on the Kboards forums and started building my author profile.
- Brainstormed new marketing / audience building ideas.

The Rant:

I know, I know, I've been told several times that children's e-books aren't profitable, and every author, blogger, and forum out there is quick to remind me. Every one seems to say "Forget it, children's e-books will never sell." and all past statistical data shows children's e-books at the bottom of the pile. All of this is extremely discouraging, especially for the amount of time and effort I'm spending figuring it all out. The negativity surrounding picture books is so heavy that some days I feel I'm wasting my time. Some days I feel like quitting.

I wish I knew if this was so, because something deep inside of me keeps screaming out that everyone else is wrong. This something is the only thing keeping me going. It says "Forget the data of the past, and look to the trends of the future." In my heart and mind I can see how quickly technology is influencing our way of life. I can see that more and more people are using tablets and ereaders daily. I can see the number of children using technology is growing, and eventually, I know that this will be a huge market and the author with an enormous list of high quality books is going to explode.

Still, I could be wrong, and I hate this constant internal struggle. Wondering whether I'm a bum or an undiscovered success. Will I be that author that takes off? Will my books be good enough? They aren't great yet, but in my heart of hearts I know the answer.

Perhaps the real struggle is simply acknowledging that this is part of the process. A long, difficult journey that someday ends in success. I've made my first dollar, and I'm completely committed to making this work, though I would really prefer if it worked a little faster.

 

[leveragehacker]

Really inspiring seeing you slog this out and reap the rewards (no matter how small!). Keep it up

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Really inspiring seeing you slog this out and reap the rewards (no matter how small!). Keep it up

Thanks for the reply. It's really helpful when others pop in and remind me I'm not just talking to myself!

The progress here is much slower than the traditional novel route, but each day I get a little more accomplished, or learn something new.

Today is only the fourth day of the month and with two more sales I'll reach the same number as my total sales for last month.

Slow but steady. I think this is the key for success in the long-run.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Thanks to LisaK for the motivational nudge to move forward with createspace. I'll try to figure it all out this week. It looks like I just need to move my finished images into a PDF document in order to upload as a book. There will be formatting issues to work out, but after learning the rest of this stuff a little more should be a breeze.

Some other thoughts:

The Luna Lingua series is taking up a lot of time (in my opinion). The stories are taking two to three weeks mainly because of formatting issues, and coming up with illustrations. Right now I think I can put out two books a month, but I'm wondering if that is too many for this series. Instead I'm thinking about dropping down to one LL book a month and using the rest of the time to create less interactive books that translate easier to createspace.

I have an idea for a second series that targets a slightly different audience than LL, but covers similar material. My goal for both of these series is to dominate multiple categories in the children's section so that in time they pick up steam and receive more views / purchases. This new series won't need the level of interactivity that LL has since it may have other ways to hold the reader's interest.

Somewhere in between all of this I'll attempt a second EF book though I don't really want to shift my focus at this point. Many picture book authors have failed, but my books are selling, and from what I can tell they aren't doing too bad compared to others. I suspect the experience gained from continuing when others quit will eventually be my greatest asset.

 

[Michael Raphael]

Been reading your progress. Keep it up. I would promote it on facebook, perhaps go to forums (use Alexa) and promote this book on a couple. Spend a full day or two to just post. Hopefully in one day you can get 50 sales. That would pay off in the long-run!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Michael, thanks for the suggestions. I've been promoting a little on FB but hadn't heard of Alexa before so I'll check it out this week.
Updates:

Website Redesign
- Made Parent Guides accessible again instead of requiring mailing list sign up.
- Added a free downloadable coloring book. Must sign up for mailing list to access it.
- Redesigned the book pages on the site to make flow easier.
- Designed layout to work with mobile devices.
- Updated main scrolling imgs to reflect currently published books and added links to their corresponding Amazon pages.
- Added a "FREE NLP Report Special Report" to help parents understand more about this subject. It requires their email for list purposes.
- Still need to make the FREE NLP Special Report... I'll get it done, just haven't had time yet.

Books- Still working on illustrations for book 5.
- Ordered a cover for book 4 on Fiverr. (See it below)
- Rebuilt book 1 in reflowable format which should allow it to be read on the Kindle Cloud Reader, and should also make it a lot easier to move to Createspace.
- Finished designing the first two characters of a second series.

Left = My Design //// Right = Fiverr Design

 

[Michael Raphael]

The right one is more professional looking. But the fact you actually drew the main part is pretty impressive!

 

[LisaK]

Oh my gosh you are getting so much done. I like the Fiverr bookcover. Let me know when the cloud reader version is available.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Oh my gosh you are getting so much done. I like the Fiverr bookcover. Let me know when the cloud reader version is available.

Slowly but surely!

I contacted the guy who built the template I used for formatting the interactive book and he took a look.

He said that he did have the option to open it in the Cloud Reader, so he tried it and it worked, though the text had a formatting issue.

He said Amazon only gave him the option when he used the Chrome browser.

As for the other book, I uploaded it to Createspace and it's publishing as I type. It appears making the reflowable format specifically for Kindle uploading wasn't necessary since once you upload to Createspace you have the option to publish to KDP anyway. This was a fairly complex process just as everything has been with pictures added, but I think it will be a great resource in the future. Hopefully it will hurry up and finish soon so I can order a proof!

 

[LisaK]

Slowly but surely!

I contacted the guy who built the template I used for formatting the interactive book and he took a look.

He said that he did have the option to open it in the Cloud Reader, so he tried it and it worked, though the text had a formatting issue.

He said Amazon only gave him the option when he used the Chrome browser.

As for the other book, I uploaded it to Createspace and it's publishing as I type. It appears making the reflowable format specifically for Kindle uploading wasn't necessary since once you upload to Createspace you have the option to publish to KDP anyway. This was a fairly complex process just as everything has been with pictures added, but I think it will be a great resource in the future. Hopefully it will hurry up and finish soon so I can order a proof!

Yes I published through Kindle first then went to createspace and saw you could publish from there. However, I heard it may take longer for it to publish over to Kindle...I'm not sure if that is true or not. So what I am doing now is writing my book in the Createspace template I have and then I will try to publish it directly to Kindle rather than go through Createspace. Or I don't know...maybe I should try it. I'm afraid that the Createspace format will have weird format stuff when loading to Kindle. I wanted to be able to load it to Kindle and check out the image viewer and make sure it formats ok. Maybe it still gives you that option, I don't know since I haven't tried.

I got my 3rd proof for Createspace today. I know it has errors as I had the book re-edited while waiting for it...so Createspace has been create headache for me but it is exciting to get a hard copy of your book. I kind of got a little giddy inside. I'm glad you are adding the pdf option, with as much trouble as I had getting the book opened...I just feel like you might lose readers if the run into the same problem. That said, I'm not a big user of my smart phone for reading...so I may just be behind. Still, I think you still have people who want to have the paper book option.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Just curious, how long did it take before you could order proofs?


***EDIT*** -

Nevermind, just got the online proof and ordered a physical copy. Yay! Should be here in a vew days.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

UPDATE

OMG!!! YES!!!

Finally, I've figured out why my books weren't working in the Kindle Cloud Reader and also on the Ipad app!

It was an html coding error on my part. Oops!

Fixed one of the four books.

Working on the other 3 today!

 

[MayaMagpie]

This is a great thread and I wish you the best of luck!
I wrote a few kindle books myself (full length Young Adult novels) and toyed with the idea of making picture books, but then gave up because I can't actually draw... It's great to see your progress!

Did you do marketing other than your 99 ct promotions?
I imagine it might be worthwhile getting your books reviewed by relevant blogs and websites. Mums buy what other mums recommend... and there are tons of mummybloggers out there. Back in the days, I got my books reviewed by some bloggers and it drove a few sales. Although the free promotion days worked fine, too, especially when you submit your book to the websites that alert people of free downloads.
Do you do pinterest as well?

By the way, I like your NLP angle. I think it has good potential.