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Publishing a childrens book help

rocksolid

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I am thinking of writing a children's book. I already have an illustrator and I will do the story of course. Has anybody done this before? I want to do it myself and see if I can keep the cost as low as possible. The only thing I would like to pay for is the actual printing of the book. Is there a site where I can layout the pages and they can bind it for me?
 
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Toao

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You should have a look on books on demand. You get an ISBN number, can set up a price and can start with very few books as a test. If they sell you can easily print more of them and dive into it. Best of luck :)
 

yahdmon

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This is great advice.

You should have a look on books on demand. You get an ISBN number, can set up a price and can start with very few books as a test. If they sell you can easily print more of them and dive into it. Best of luck :)

In fact this is the game changer in this area. No longer does one have to publish 1000 books or more in order to get a competitive price and make a profit on each one sold. Persons I use will allow orders as low as 25 and that works for me. You have to find out what works for you. Also, no matter who prints the books you want to maintain ownership of the product. There are some entities who want to hold onto your work and lock you into having to order/print future books from them.

You do not have to do this. There are options.

All the best...
 

Alex Barboza

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Can I suggest the KIndle marketplace? There are people making big money there. Try it out and if your book is a winner then publish it in physical format.
 
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Alana

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Have you taken a look at the books recommended on this site regarding self publishing? Click on Books and then on Writing/Self Publishing.

Also, this is a website I've come across (I've been thinking about having some of my children stories published too):

Self-Publishing Your Children's Book

Best to you!
 

DennisD

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Is this a children's book?
Is it a picture book?

Self publishing's a pretty big task and I'm only marginally familiar with it. I'm a little bit MORE familiar with childrens books... but not much. My girlfriend and I have written and are in the middle of illustrating Happy Monster Party, and The Apple Book, two picture books we intend for release on the kindle.

Check out Welcome! I she's published (not self published... note) about a dozen kidlit books, she has a podcast where she interviews with prominent kidlit names and gives marketing tips to kidlit wannabes, and now she's putting together a course on using video to promote yourself as a kidlit author.

I can't seem to find my notes on all the big conventions and such... but I'm sure googling around mixed with Katie Davis will teach you a lot.
 

Jake

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I published a book on Kindle

$25 for editing
$5 for the cover artwork
$5 for formatting

$35 total to become a published Author :coolgleamA:
 
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rocksolid

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I need to get my children's book in a fixed-layout. I looked on fiver to have somebody do it and nobody seems to know how to. Any suggestions. I tried to figure it out and it's just over my head.
 

larrymclean

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I am thinking of writing a children's book. I already have an illustrator and I will do the story of course. Has anybody done this before? I want to do it myself and see if I can keep the cost as low as possible. The only thing I would like to pay for is the actual printing of the book. Is there a site where I can layout the pages and they can bind it for me?

I am in the process of writing an illustrated Diver's guide to the shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon. My project has now blossomed into a series of three books.

I desktop published a similar (private in-house) guide while working for the S. S. Thorfinn live-aboard in Truk Lagoon in the early 1990s. My 1993 work is alive an well on the internet today. The 1993 illustrations have been copied by another author and are currently in use as dive briefing laminates by one of two island dive centers.

I have a great illustrator and I am well into the project. I am now at the point where I need to learn about my options for self-publishing. I am working on a plan for getting my first book of the series into print.
 

Cat Lady

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Let me know if you have specific questions. I ran a kickstarter that made >$20,000 and self-published my book, printing overseas because I needed things that digital printing POD couldn't provide. I loved my printer. Feel free to PM with any questions.
 
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Cat Lady

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I need to get my children's book in a fixed-layout. I looked on fiver to have somebody do it and nobody seems to know how to. Any suggestions. I tried to figure it out and it's just over my head.

Why do you need a fixed layout? For kindle you need a reflowable EPUB (to be converted to MOBI).

If you're looking for print publication other than kindle POD then you do need fixed layout, search for "indesign" on fiverr or upwork (I'd go for upwork.) There are services that also turn your ebook word files into kindle files.

I know indesign so I did the layout for my own book, which is image-heavy, but I used a person with knowledge of MOBI format to get it from indesign > EPUB > MOBI. Was about $300 for her labor but my book is 216 pages and has a lot of worksheets, etc, so it was complicated.

Let me know in PM if you need any of the services, etc.
 

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