Should You, Could You Self-Publish Your Picture Book?
You've written a picture book manuscript and a professional cover letter. You study Writer's Market and try not to be discouraged by publishers saying "We regret that we are no longer able to accept unsolicited material." You focus on those publishing houses that are open to your story and send it off. Months later you have collected several form rejection letters and perhaps a letter that says "Sorry even though we liked this, we can not offer to publish it at this time." Well, you'll just try the next publisher, right? But as time passes, you wonder "Could I, should I, self-publish this book?"
So you begin researching self-publishing and discover that everyone refers to The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter and The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross. Both books are thorough and assume no prior knowledge of book publishing. For example Marilyn Ross explains that "a signature is the number of pages a press can print on both sides of the paper in one pass" and why to be economical to print, a picture book would therefore have 32 pages. I had thought all picture books were 32 pages because trade publishers lacked imagination, a fact that I consoled myself with whenever I received a rejection slip. But both Poytner and the Rosses recommend self-publishing non-fiction, preferably non-fiction for adults.
Does this mean you can't self-publish a picture book successfully? Absolutely not. As the producer of BookSamples.com, a children's bookstore that allows online book viewing, I became acquainted with several small publishers and self-publishers. I asked them about aspects of self-publishing that are unique to producing a children's picture book. Here are their suggestions.
Finding an illustrator
- Become one yourself.
- Join (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and network through a regional meeting or newsletter
- Search on the internet for illustrators. Yahoo has a list under Arts>Visual Arts>Illustration>Artists. Another enjoyable site, www.slantville.com has several portfolios online also.
- Jim Hunt illustrates self-published books (among other things). Samples of his work and how to get a quote can be found at JimHuntIllustration.com/authors.htm
Learning how much it costs to print a full-color picture book
The cost to produce a paperback picture book runs from almost $5 a book for printing 1000 copies, to approximately $1.40 if printing 5000 copies. A full-color glossy-page, large hardcover book can cost anywhere from $11 a book to print 1000 copies to a bit under $3 a book to print 10,000 copies. To learn exactly what it will cost to produce your book:
- Find a book that looks similar to what you want and take it to a local printer to learn about the kind of paper and cover. Have the local printer give you an estimate on printing 1000 - 10000 copies.
- Contact several printers to compare prices.
A list of printers can be found in:
- an appendix in The Self-Publishing Manual
- the special report Buying Book Printing available on Dan Poynter's web site www.parapub.com
- the Literary Marketplace (cost is almost $200, but can be found in libraries). If possible, call ahead to check if a printer prints books with 4 color text, before requesting an estimate.
What should you charge for the book and can you make a profit?
- Before setting a price, be sure to carefully read the chapters in the self-publishing guides on distribution and what a book is worth. With children's books as well as adult books, publishers only receive a fraction of the list price.
- Several self-publishers reported making a profit, but said it took a few years. Some, like Paul Piterski who self-published Like A Fish On A Bike view their first printing as simply a testing ground. He is content to lose money on a first printing of 1000 copies, but says "if the book is a winner, I will print 20,000."
How should I market a children's book?
- Get information from publishers' marketing associations, such as:
- Read 1001 Ways to Market Your Books : For Authors and Publishers by John Kremer
- Contact schools. In some cases the connection of the author/book to schools is obvious. Sandy Lynne Holman was a diversity consultant working with schools when she self-published Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad?. But The Ambitious Baker's Batter did not have any obvious school tie. Small publisher, Laura Cottam Sajbel hired a few teachers as consultants to develop a list of ways the book could be used in classrooms. She mailed these ideas with book information to curriculum developers for large school districts and received significant sales.
- Work hard to get your book into the hands of those who can enjoy it. What's the Recipe for Friends is about a child moving to a new home. The biggest sale came from contacting United Van Lines, which has support services for kids that move.
So could you and should you self-publish?
Deciding whether to self-publish a picture book or to continue looking for a real publisher who wants it, is a bit like trying to choose the best path through the mountains. Both paths are bound to be rocky with frightening precipices. Nancy Carol Willis, self-publisher of The Robins In Your Backyard commented that she would prefer to find an interested publisher for her next book, Raccoon Moon, so she could concentrate on writing and illustrating. But if not, she believes in the project enough to self-publish it.
The answer to 'could you self-publish' is yes. The answer to 'should you', is different for every author and book. I hope this article provides you with information that will help with your decision and I hope to see you all on the other side of "the mountains". I can be reached at: emerick@booksamples.com. Contact me for permission to reprint this article, or write and tell me your experiences with self-publishing children's books.
Sincerely,
Anne Emerick