Whenever I talk about marketing or selling strategies for authors (and that’s quite often, let’s be frank – I go on about it all the time), one of the most common questions I get from authors is, “Will this work for [INSERT GENRE HERE]?” or, “I write [INSERT GENRE HERE] books, will this work for me?”.
Of course, this is a normal response. Whenever someone offers you advice that goes against what you’re already doing, the first thing you’ll ask yourself is “Will this work for me?”.
Now, my whole reason for existence is to help you build a career and sell more books. It’s like catnip for me (if I were a cat, anyway).
So, the short answer is “yes”, what I’m sharing with you will work.
BUT, like all things in life, I am teaching you the principles of building an author business. The authors who get the best results learn those principles and adapt them to their own circumstances.
Sometimes, more adaptations are needed than others. And one of the genres that illustrates this point best of all is children’s books.
After all, not only do you have to appeal to children, but you need to appeal to the adults who’ll actually be the ones buying your books. This can quickly change the tactics you’ll need to employ to make your marketing strategies work.
(Note: big difference between strategies and tactics).
So, how do we take the principles I talk about on this blog and apply them to a specific – and difficult to crack – genre, like Children’s books?
Talking to us today about some specific routes you can take is seven-time bestselling children’s author Y. Eevi Jones.
She’s sharing 11 powerful ways to market children’s books. And – good news – if you don’t write children’s books, you can take these principles and strategies and apply them to your own genre – and make them work for you.
And if you’d like to learn more about some of the strategies Eevi uses, come along to one of our on-demand workshops and learn the three-step process to grow your audience, exposure, and book sales – grab your seat right here.
by Eevi Jones
If you’re a parent of a little boy or girl, chances are you’ve at least thought about writing your own children’s book before.
Maybe you already sat down and wrote a story about those characters you came up with during those long nights you were trying to get your child to sleep. Maybe your story is already illustrated, and you are now ready to hit publish.
But now you’re unsure about how to go about promoting your completed book in order to share it with as many people as possible.
In this article, we’ll craft and plan an igniting and high-powered marketing strategy that will set you and your book up for success once it’s time to launch it into the world.
After you’ve read this article, you’ll be ready to release your beautifully crafted story book to the world, to your loved ones, and most importantly, to those special little ones in your life.
Many authors just want to write, and don’t want to market. In fact, most despise this aspect of being an author. And this holds true for writers of children’s books as well. It is, nonetheless, one of the key factors to your book’s success. Without promoting it, it will get lost in the sea of books. A book without marketing and promotion is like a rocket without fuel.
There are a lot of talented authors out there, but the most successful ones don’t depend on the book to find readers. Instead, they find them.
Authors of self-published children’s books, in particular, have their marketing work cut out for them, as promotions for these titles have to essentially appeal to two distinct groups:
The average buyer’s age of children’s books is between 30 and 44. Females make up more than 70% of these buyers.
It’s very important to keep demographics in mind when drafting a promotion plan, as it will help us decide what strategies to use in order to reach your target audience.
So here are the main marketing strategies I use that have helped me rake in royalties in the multiple-five-figure spectrum this past year with my children’s books.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” ~ Seth Godin
Great marketing starts with you and how you portray yourself. As an author, your name is your brand. As such, a well-drafted author profile is essential. It allows potential readers to feel like they know you. And getting to know someone is the first step in building trust.
And if we are to build a lasting relationship with potential readers, then this is the first step we need to take.
A well drafted author bio is so easy to put together, yet something so often overlooked. Your author bio is displayed in places such as
When polishing up your author profile, add a professional looking photograph of yourself (without your cat, perhaps), and a link to your website.
As a children’s book author, it’s okay to be a bit playful. Written in the third person, this little snippet gives you a chance to connect with your (potential) readers, and lets your personality shine through.
You can, of course, create multiple versions for different places and occasions. Here is one of my bios I’ve used before.
“Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” ~ Mike Volpe
Don’t be shy when it comes to promoting your book. It is important to let others know about it. Just remember that your friends and family want to support you. And creating a launch team can be a wonderful way for your loved ones to do just that.
Organizing all the people you think would be interested in your book is a great way to provide you with a set of initial book reviews. Let’s be honest; how many times have we looked at a book page, only to click away moments later, because it didn’t have any or very few reviews? I know I have. And that’s what a launch team is meant to prevent.
So send out an email to those you think might be interested in reading your book and post a friendly request in the social media channels you’re most active in.
Collect each interested party’s email and let your launch team members know when you’re launching your book, by sending out an email once it becomes available.
Be sure to include the direct link to your book, as you want to make it as easy as possible for your launch team members to find, download, and review your book.
Depending on how well you know your launch team members, you may want to ask them to download the book before the review. Doing so will have two added benefits:
Alternatively, you can gift each member a copy of your ebook version. This will yield the same benefits, as long as the launch team member redeems the gifted ebook within 24 hours of you sending it. In addition, you’ll also receive your royalties on these gifted copies.
Be organized. Keep track of who left a review. On average, only about 30% of your launch team is going to actually read and review your book. So follow up is key to getting as many reviews as possible.
Remember that people are busy. They may have the best intentions of supporting you, but might forget to post their review.
If a launch team member hasn’t posted a review after about a week of your initial launch, a simple and personalized message can refresh their memory and serve as a friendly reminder.
You could write something like this:
Be appreciative, sincere, and personal when drafting your message, and your launch team members will usually be more than happy to post their review.
A friendly follow up such as this has helped to significantly increase the review rate for two of my previous launches.
Once you’ve received a review, be sure to thank that launch team member individually! Don’t forget to also ask your launch team to publicly announce your book to the world by sharing on social media. To make it as easy as possible for your team members to spread the word, you could create images for them to share on their social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Make sure to publish your post and the image as “public” so it can be freely shared. Have a clear call to action either in the image itself or in the post accompanying it, so people looking at the image know exactly what to do next. And don’t forget to include the Amazon link to your book.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou
Chances are that you hired an illustrator to help you illustrate your children’s book. If that’s the case, let your book launch provide her with the opportunity to showcase her beautiful work.
Keep your illustrator up to date about your launch dates. You’d be surprised how willingly she may want to share it with her own network of professionals, friends, and followers, especially if you officially listed her as the book’s illustrator.
Including your illustrator will increase your initial contacts, which can have an exponential impact on your marketing efforts. After all, she’s worked very hard to create beautiful illustrations for your. She’ll want the book to do well, as this is something she can then add to her very own portfolio.
“Without promotion, something terrible happens… nothing!” ~ P.T. Barnum
To encourage people to download your book, you’ll have to set up a number of promotions. To find the best promotion sites for your price range, use Reedsy’s Promotion Finder Tool.
Be aware that some sites require you to offer your book for free in order for them to run your promotion.
There are many sites that allow you to post about your book promotions. Some require you to submit the promotional dates up to two weeks in advance, while others allow listings with less than 24 hours’ notice.
As you have to enter your book’s Amazon URL during the booking process, you can only do so after you have published it.
The goal is to set up a number of promotions right after you first launched your book, so that the sites can give you some momentum to trigger Amazon’s algorithm, launching you into the upper rankings of your category.
When searching the web for promotional sites, you’ll find that some are free, and some require a fee; some require your book to be free, and some allow a reduced price. You decide what best suits your budget. Also note that some of these sites require you to already have a certain
number of reviews before they promote your book another reason why having a launch team is so very important.
Alternatively (or additionally), you can set up book tours for your children’s book, such as those offered by KidsBuzz, which help you promote your book directly to readers and teachers, as well as to book clubs, booksellers and librarians.
“Social media is about the people. Not about you. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.” ~ Matt Goulard
Depending on which platforms you’re active on, you can announce your new children’s book on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and even LinkedIn.
It’s best to choose between 12 strategies to focus on, rather than trying to devote bits of time to multiple media channels. Find what works and appeals best to you, and stick with it.
Joining audience-specific Facebook groups is absolutely free and can be very beneficial. Facebook groups and pages are a great place to display and promote your newly published children’s book. You can inform members about your sales, giveaways, and other promotions
To find suitable groups, start typing “children’s books” into Facebook’s search bar and look at the individual pages that pop up.
This is the place where parents come to find the next read for their children and where authors support each other. Just make sure to be mindful of others and only post according to each group’s administrative rules.
Be sure to dig into the potential your book’s topic brings with it as well. If, for example, you have written a book about beautiful mermaids, go ahead and look for Facebook groups formed around this particular interest. Make sure to ask for the admin’s permission to post your book as a comment.
This can be a very powerful method, as every member of that group is potentially your target audience.
When visiting more general family and parenting pages, you as the author can engage parents and groups using the topics in your books to start or join relevant conversations. If parents are discussing ways to deal with bullying or making friends at a new school, for example, an author whose book addresses these topics can chime in.
Goodreads is an enormous social platform centered around books. It was acquired by Amazon a number of years ago. Users can add books to their personal bookshelves, rate and review books, and get suggestions for future reading choices based on their reviews of previously read books.
I recommend using this platform to host a giveaway I have done so with each of my books. You can list any of your pre-released or published books for a giveaway, regardless of publication date, and offer either a paperback or ebook.
While potentially gaining some reviews from the giveaway’s winners, the main reason we’re holding a giveaway is to increase our exposure.
To illustrate, my four most recent giveaways have had an average of 1439 entries. Each time a giveaway ended, I saw a spike in sales.
Meaning some of those people who entered but didn’t win ended up purchasing my book. So this is what we’re really trying to get out of this giveaway.
“Awards can give you a tremendous amount of encouragement to keep getting better, no matter how young or old you are.” ~ Alan Alda
An award-winning book will bring increased recognition and provides critical acclaim, helping you to make your marketing journey much easier.
There are numerous awards for self-published children’s books. Most charge an entry fee, ranging from $50 per title to $500+, but winning one of these competitions and being able to display the winning seal will help set your book apart.
Here are some of the most notable children’s book awards. Take a look and see which ones you believe are a good fit.
Be aware that some awards require you to send in one or more paperbacks of your book. And the earlier you enter your book, the more cost effective it will be, as most sites offer earlybird prices.
Book fairs are a great way to get the word out about your book, as they give you the chance to directly interact with your target audience. To find a book festival near you, check out the Library of Congress’ extensive list, organized by state.
Be sure to apply in advance. And a paperback version is a must for this promotional option.
“Speak to your audience in their language about what’s in their heart.” ~ Jonathan Lister
Guest posting (or guest blogging) means to write and publish an article on someone else’s website, blog, or in a magazine. Guest posting is a great strategy, as it directly targets your ideal audience.
It is, however, somewhat more time consuming, because you not only have to find the right blogs or magazines to approach, you also have to write a valuable and insightful article in order for it to attract new potential readers.
But guest blogging can help you
Here is an example an article I wrote for Kindlepreneur, a free source for authors to learn about book marketing. It was shared hundreds of times and helped reach many potential readers and clients.
When it comes to guest posting, be aware that your post can’t be a sales pitch. Your written piece will have to be about something relevant to that particular blog’s or magazine’s audience, tied to your book in a natural and non-pushy way.
When searching for a suitable blog or site to pitch a post to, start with what you know already. What family sites are you reading? What parenting/ mom blogs are you enjoying?
What sites are you subscribed to? Go to these sites and see if they welcome guest bloggers.
And if you want to expand your search, make use of the many lists that already exist online. For example, if you’re looking for familyrelated blogs, type “Best 100 Family Blogs” into your search engine. If your children’s book is about dogs, type in something like “Top 100 Dog Blogs.”
“You just need one person to listen, get your message and pass it on to someone else. And, you’ve doubled your audience.” ~ Robert Gerrish
Just like guest posting, podcasting can be a very powerful way to spread the word about your book far and wide. There are many family and kidsrelated podcasts that host interviews. You can use the same technique I introduced above, and search for “Top 100 Family Podcasts,” or any other topic that relates to your children’s book. In addition to a search on Google, you can use iTunes to find the best and most popular podcasts in any given category.
The beauty of podcasts is that you don’t just have to talk about your book. You can talk about your experience of writing the book and the story behind it. Why did you write this particular book? How did you go about it? These are all questions people ask me over and over again, so use your journey to becoming an author to pitch yourself to these podcast hosts.
“A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people.” ~ Andrew Carnegie
Many children’s book authors don’t realize that many schools set aside an annual budget for paid author visits. School visits can be either free or paid I suggest offering free visits for your first couple of times.
Send an email to your nearby schools and offer to do a reading of your book. Be sure to say what age range the book is aimed at, so that the administration can choose age-appropriate classes. Send an image of your cover, and include a short synopsis, links to your reviews on Amazon, and to your website (if you have one).
If the school agrees, be sure to have the school send slips home with the children, offering a chance to buy signed copies of your book.
On the day of the reading, be creative and bring fun props that relate to your book and that you think the kids might enjoy.
Libraries love hosting story hours with local authors. And most libraries have weekly scheduled story times already, with lots of children and parents attending. Larger libraries even offer multiple story times based on different age groups, making the targeting of your book’s audience even easier.
Call nearby libraries and let them know about your book. Be sure to bring a number of paper copies on the day of the reading, so you can sell your signed book. You can even repurpose the props you prepared for your visits to book festivals.
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” ~ Tom Fishburne
Children are all over YouTube. Between 35% and 45% of UK children aged 4-7 visit YouTube each week, increasing to around 80% by age 11.
A Smarty Pants “brand popularity” survey of 6-12 year-olds in the USA found that YouTube beat the likes of Disney, Netflix for Kids, Nickelodeon, and Lego.
And that’s where the use of book trailers comes in.
Book trailers can be a wonderful addition to your marketing strategy. You can use them in places such as your newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon Author Page, YouTube, and your own website.
Below is the trailer for my book The Impatient Little Vacuum. It has been viewed 3000+ times, generated buzz in social networks, and engaged new audiences in an exciting way.
View the video at: https://youtu.be/SgCXBEfvg9o
“Nearly 40% of Twitter users say they’ve made a purchase as a direct result of a Tweet from an influencer.” ~ @Annalect
Influencers are individuals who have influence over potential buyers. Sometimes it makes sense to ask an influencer to provide an editorial review for you.
Receiving a review from an influencer can lend enormous credibility to your book. If he or she agrees to do a review, it’s very likely they will also promote or mention your book to their audience. This is an excellent promotional strategy and really works if done correctly. I’ve used this strategy on three of my books (one of them nonfiction):
Notice that my book’s topics were relevant to each influencer I approached.
It is important to be genuine about your interest in the influencer’s work. Only contact them if you have been following them for at least a little while, and only if you truly value their work. Don’t contact them purely for your own sake try to bring actual value to the influencers’ audiences as well. Ask yourself whether or not their audience would benefit from learning about your mission or your book, and only go forward if the answer is “yes.”
I’ve studied many children’s book authors over the years. What I have found is that most successful, selfpublished children’s book authors have more than one book, and maybe even a series or two.
Here are some of my favorite ones:
There is no one way to promote your book, but one of the very best strategies is to simply keep on writing. Start writing your next children’s book as soon as you possible can. Repeated publication builds your reputation, your momentum, and your following. So, promote your work, but don’t forget that your little readers are waiting for more!
There are many different ways to promote your newly published children’s book. But with limited time and a limited budget, it’s important to focus on those methods that bring the best results.
Having launched more than a dozen children’s books, I’ve tried all sorts of marketing methods, and today I shared those with you that worked the best for me.
I hope you derived tons of value on how to market and promote your children’s book. If you’d like to expand your knowledge on how to:
then check out my book How To SelfPublish A Children’s Book – Everything You Need To Know To Write, Illustrate, Publish, And Market Your Paperback And Ebook.
Y. Eevi Jones is a seventime #1 bestselling children’s book author who helps aspiring children’s book authors through coaching and courses to make their dream a reality. She has been featured in multiple media outlets, such as TEDx, Scary Mommy, Kindlepreneur, Huffington Post, EP Magazine, Military[.]com, and Stars & Stripes.
You can learn more about her work and download a free guide to writing your own children’s book at http://eevijones.com.
I love Eevi’s structured approach to marketing – and how she focuses on a selection of the key channels that bring her measurable results (instead of floundering around from one tactic to another).
One key takeaway for me, is that everything Eevi’s talked about today can be adapted to different genres. So, if you don’t write children’s books, you can adapt these principles to suit your own circumstances.
For example – giveaways, guest posts, podcasting, book trailers, launch teams, promo sites, team-ups, contacting influencers, social media, awards, library visits, and festivals / conferences are not genre specific routes. Anyone can try these (and we’ve written articles about these in previous posts).
For school visits, swap out “school” for something more relevant to you. Research your own audience (Eevi provides data for her buyers above). Find out what resonates with your readers. Take what Eevi’s shared with you and apply it to your genre.
And – of course – if you do write children’s books, definitely check out Eevi’s website for more free tips and a bonus guide right here on her site.
Today’s post is by author and indie publisher Darcy Pattison (@FictionNotes). This post has been edited and adapted from a presentation delivered at the SCBWI’s Big Five-Oh! Virtual Conference.
Let’s talk about making money as a self-publisher of children’s books.
I bet you think that I’ll start out with something like running a Kickstarter campaign. This year, I did indeed run a campaign for The Plan for the Gingerbread House, but it was my first Kickstarter campaign ever, and it was a minor project for my company.
Instead, I’d like to walk you through some of the issues of self-publishing by looking at one of my books, Nefertiti: The Spidernaut, which was published on October 16, 2011.
During the summer of 2010, I heard a radio interview with Astronaut Sunita Williams, Captain U.S. Navy about a live animal experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). She was the astronaut who dealt with Nefertiti, a jumping spider who was sent to space.
Most spiders spin a web to catch food. But jumping spiders actively hunt, leaping to catch their prey. What happens when a jumping spider jumps in the microgravity of the ISS? It’ll float away. Would Nefertiti be able to adapt and hunt? Or will it die?
Williams said, “It was a suspense story for me as it happened. I didn’t know if she would survive when I unpacked her for the first time, or when I packed her up and sent her back home to Earth.”
I knew it would make a suspenseful book for kids to read, too.
Here’s the question, though: why self-publish THIS book?
One reason I decided to publish Nefertiti is that I already had the makings of a successful picture book series of animal biographies.
Self-publishers know that publishing in a series makes a lot of sense. You don’t have to recreate the audience for each book. If a reader liked a previous book in the series, they are more likely to like this one, too.
So, I decided to publish the book.
I decided early on to simultaneously publish hardcover, paperback, ebook and audiobook versions of each title. Because I use print-on-demand services, instead of offset printing, I made about the same profit on each version. I decided to let the customer decide on the format they preferred.
I also distribute widely, refusing to limit my books to any exclusive agreement. Readers can find the books wherever they are accustomed to shopping, in whatever format suits them best.
I also send books for reviews, just like any other publisher. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of discrimination in the industry about self-publishing, but I ignore all that, and my publishing company submits books anywhere the book belongs. However, sending books out for reviews is risky!
School Library Journal gave Nefertiti the worst review I’ve ever read: “Skip this bland treatment and share the news clippings instead.”
I don’t know. Maybe the reviewer’s opinion really was that the writing was bland. Perhaps she just hated spiders. Or maybe she knew this was a self-published book and slammed it for that reason. Who knows?
I was upset. But not very upset—yet. I knew the conversation wasn’t over.
Publishers live and die by their opinions. I once talked with a Dial/Penguin editor who said that for their fall list of 25 titles, they knew that half of them wouldn’t earn out. The problem? They just didn’t know which half would perform? The professionals—the publishers with a long track record of producing children’s books—they didn’t know what would succeed and what would fail.
The editor said, “In this business, you live or die by your opinion.”
In my opinion, Nefertiti was a great book. Ultimately it was named a 2017 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. One judge told me later it was his favorite book of the year.
Now, here’s what I know. If I’d been traditionally published, the book would never have won the award. First, it likely wouldn’t have been accepted for publication. Second, it would never have been submitted for that award. Traditional publishers will only submit a season’s lead book from their most popular authors. Mine wouldn’t be submitted!
My book would’ve failed because it was ignored.
The only reason it received the NSTA recognition is because I care more about my work than anyone else. I submitted. And the book did its work.
Because Nefertiti was named an NSTA book, when I attended the Arkansas Reading Association convention later that fall, I contacted the NSTA representative to tell her I’d be attending. I stopped by her booth and visited. She recommended that I meet Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry, who were working on Picture Perfect Science workbooks, which provided elementary teachers with lesson plans for teaching science using picture book texts.
A couple weeks later, Emily and Karen were presenting at a school district just an hour away, so I attended and stayed to eat dinner with them.
The result was that two of my books, Nefertiti (space & spiders) and Burn: Michael Faraday’s Candle (light and fire), were included in their next volume of Picture Perfect Science STEM Lessons, Grades 3-5.
I was thrilled when the NSTA decided to create a book bundle of all the books recommended in the Picture Perfect series. They ordered thousands of copies of Burn and Nefertiti to include and sell to teachers and school districts in the book bundle.
Special orders are an important addition to a self-publisher’s income. These sales came from networking. (Don’t you dare call it luck. I networked!) But you can also go looking for special sales. In fact, traditional publishers have whole departments dedicated to special sales.
The key is to learn the basic business of the sales process from purchase orders to invoices, not something I can teach you here. But something to investigate and learn.
Nefertiti also caught the attention of the subscription box service Little Passports. A box service offers a monthly box filled with—in this case—children’s books about traveling the world. Their flagship box promised a tour of the world for kids. But they decided to add STEM boxes, too.
They contacted me first about CLANG! Ernst Chladni’s Sound Experiments because it was an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book, for a box about sound experiments. But they quickly became interested in Nefertiti as a fun way to talk about space.
They asked if it was possible to change the trim size from 8.5” square to 8” square, and they wanted to co-brand the books. That is, they wanted their logo on the book cover’s corner. That meant I couldn’t sell these books anywhere else. Apparently, some traditional publishers stumbled over that request, but it made sense to me. I was glad to accommodate them. I negotiated a reasonable price, did offset printing for the special orders, and received a nice profit on each book. In return, I’ve sold tens of thousands of copies of both books to Little Passports.
Bulk or volume sales is thinking like a publisher. An author says, “I want to do school visits and sell books to kids afterward.” There’s nothing wrong with that idea in the early years. In the first few years of your business, do anything you must to stay afloat. But eventually, you’ll learn that you can’t scale up author visits. Your time is too limited. You may sell a couple thousand books in a year that way. If you really travel and work it, it could be very lucrative.
But that meant you weren’t home writing the next book. And eventually, you run out of days in the year to present. After a certain point, you can’t scale up.
Instead, think like a publisher. I want to wholesale the books to someone like Little Passports because they work to acquire the end customer, not me.
So far, the Another Extraordinary Animal series hasn’t received any solid offers for international translation deals. I’ve done well with the Moments in Science series, which sold a four-book deal to Dandelion Children’s Books in China, and a six-book deal to Dabom Publishing in Korea.
The feedback, however, on Another Extraordinary Animal has been that the series is too focused on American animals. Calaveras County, California holds an annual frog jumping contest based on Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Over 30 years ago, Rosie the Ribeter set the world-record for the longest triple-jump, a record that still stands. Yes, it’s an American story.
But next year, I’ll add a new title to the series, Diego: The Galapagos Giant Tortoise. This is the amazing true story of saving a species from extinction. Sixty years ago, scientists thought the tortoises from Española Island were extinct. They only found 14 individuals, 2 males and 12 females. And then, they found one more in the San Diego Zoo, whom they named Diego. For 60 years, the scientist worked on a breeding program, figuring out what the tortoises needed in a breeding ground, protecting the hatchlings until they were big enough to survive on their own, and eventually reintroducing the tortoises to their home island.
In 2020, they declared the breeding program a success, with over 2,500 tortoises now on Española Island. And in June 2020, they loaded up the original 15 tortoises and returned them to the island of their birth. After being gone for about 100 years, Diego came home.
I am hopeful that this book will expand the series into a stronger international focus and will find interest in other markets. In other words, Nefertiti remains part of that series has a bright future!
As a self-publisher, I know the value of my copyright. Each right (hardcover, audiobook, merchandising, etc.) has potential for income. I didn’t sign away all my rights in a single contract.
A website that teaches reading to kids needed some solid nonfiction texts. They licensed the right to display on their website Nefertiti and another book, Pollen. Both contracts were for text-only and for a five-year period. After that, they would have to come back and negotiate a new contract.
Traditional publishers’ contracts ask for all rights, which limits my ability to make money on a project. As a self-published publisher, I can extend my income by marketing each right separately.
Nefertiti has sold successfully in these formats.
What formats will sell in the future?
OK, some of these are far-fetched. I’m not sure who would buy a plush toy of Nefertiti. But you never know!
One main reason my income has topped $100,000 is that I now have 55+ books out. Each book needs to contribute something to my income. But this year, the highest grossing book may be Nefertiti and next year, it might be When Kittens Go Viral. On average, each book needs to pull in less $2,000 per year for me to earn $100,000. That’s vastly different from having only two books out and each book would need to contribute $50,000. The math tells you, publish more books!
With such a strong backlist, it’s also easier to be found. There are 55 chances for my publishing company to be noticed, instead of just two. Once a reader visits my website, will they purchase other books? Some will!
I never apologize for the business decision to bring a book to market yourself.
My goal for the future? Watch me!
I’m going to win a Newbery or a Siebert. Or both.
Children’s book author and indie publisher Darcy Pattison writes award-winning fiction and non-fiction books for children. Her works have received starred PW, Kirkus, and BCCB reviews. Awards include the Irma Black Honor award, five NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books, Eureka! Nonfiction Honor book, two Junior Library Guild selections, two NCTE Notable Children’s Book in Language Arts, and a 2021 Notable Social Studies Trade Books. She’s the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist for her work in children’s literature. She blogs about self-publishing children’s books at IndieKidBooks.com. Find her books at MimsHouse.com
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