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I come across this question on various occasions by author’s aspiring to write children’s story books. I always tell them that you should write a children book for the love of it and not thinking of it can be profitable or not.
If a children book is written well and is complemented with great illustrations then children will definitely love it and the purpose is served. But of course the journey does not stop just there, you get a lot of royalties if you have been able to find a children book publisher and the book is doing well. Even if you have self-published and the book is selling well on Amazon or other places, then also you end up making good profit.
Writing for children can be a profitable venture if you are writing well and with the understanding of what a child would love. Generally people make mistake here and they write and then think that the kids will love their writing but it does not happen. It is strongly recommended that you read children story books, the ones which have done exceptionally well and then do self thinking, why some books do so well? It will help you understand, what do children love. It’s not always the content, its how you present the content and of course the illustrations play a major role in that.
Make great efforts in selecting the right illustrator as he/she can make your journey 50% easy because it usually half the contribution which you get through illustrations, specially in children books. Discuss various illustrations styles with the illustrator and also search through various children story books series, to find out a good illustration styles/style from them and see if your illustrator could draw that .
Just keep in mind the fact that the taste of children also shifts with time, today’s child may have developed a taste for more digitally oriented illustrations as they resemble the animations which the kids are watching on the televisions. This is just to open your thoughts, so the point is to think form all angles and then conclude the final route which you will take.
There’s one burning question when you start the journey toward indie-publishing children’s books: will it be profitable?
It depends.
Yes. I am earning a six-figure income with my children’s publishing program and after eight years, I have published 60+ books. It’s my career and passion.
No. If you only want to publish one book, um, it’s hard, if not impossible to be profitable.
Some people approach this question casually, coming to the genre of children’s books thinking it’s easy because, after all, it’s only for kids. Oh, you won’t be profitable.
A one-off book is incredibly hard to pull off because there are so many ways it can go wrong: poorly written story, poor illustrations, poor layout and design, poor launch strategy, poor understanding of your audience of teachers, parents, and kids. Did you notice the repetition of the word, “poor”? It is used deliberately to emphasize that children’s books aren’t going to earn a profit unless it’s approached respectfully and with great thought and effort.
Let’s go through some elements of a successful children’s picture book to see what’s needed.
WRITING. Children’s picture books are usually 32-pages and can be written for ages 0-12. It’s important to know the target age range so the writing will be appropriate. One important consideration is word count.
Preschool, ages 0-5. Word count is zero to 500 words, and shorter is better.
K-2nd, ages 5-8. Word count is zero to 600 words, and shorter is better.
3rd - 5th, ages 7-12. Word count is zero to 1000 words, and shorter is better.
In those few words you must tell a compelling story with a beginning, middle, and end which introduces a larger-than-life character. Seldom will a beloved pet—no matter how wonderful they are/were—become a good picture book character.
The story must read aloud easily. One mistake is to think that a children’s book must be poetry, because seldom does the poetry work. If you don’t know what “an iambic pentameter line” means, you shouldn’t be writing poetry. Instead, the story must contain language appropriate to the story that is easy or even fun for adults to read and reread. Learn more about writing a children’s picture book here.
ART. Children’s picture books are illustrated, which means there’s an image or piece of art on every page. If you aren’t an artist, don’t even attempt it! Don’t ask your neighbor or your niece or any family member to attempt it, because they aren’t professional artists either. Don’t shortcut this and grab art from an online market such as Fiverr.com, because the art is mediocre, at best.
The bane of self-published children’s books—and this directly affects profitability—is mediocre digital art.
If you attempt publishing a children’s books, you need an appreciation for great art and the ability to recognize art that tells a story well. While digital art is often cheaper to acquire, in the hands of a mediocre artist, it has a distinctive look that cheapens a children’s book. Look for great art, whether it’s digital or not. Be prepared to pay a reasonable fee (there’s a balance between paying too little and too much!) for art, and you’ll increase your chances of profitability. Read this for more on contacting an illustrator.
There are clear paths to profitability for children’s books, and the Indie Kids Books blog is devoted to discussing options for becoming profitable with children’s books.
Here’s some posts to get you started. For each, there’s a short synopsis and a link to Read More.
Questions or Comments? Glad to discuss!
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