Introduction: Birth of a Children’s Book

Aviva’s new blog series, Birth of a Children’s Book will show you, based on her own personal experience, what writing and publishing children’s books is really like. (Read Chapter1: Edit Thyself?)

You can ask J.K. Rowling, author of the wildly successful Harry Potter series, one question about publishing your first children’s book. What would you ask?

Based on emails I’ve received and posts in LinkedIn writer’s groups, many would use this golden opportunity to ask whether to buy a block of ISBN numbers. Or whether to use CreateSpace or BookBaby. They might ask how to get their book illustrated for free.

This is embarrassing to admit: Those were my first questions, too.

In late 2012, I decided to self-publish two children’s books that I had written years ago. Soon after, I decided to start my own publishing company. To date, I have five books published in the Amazon Kindle library. Nine more are in production. Four are in development. Most of the books will also be offered in Spanish and bilingual versions.

Every other person I meet has written or has an idea for a children’s book. What do most have in common? They think it’s easy and that they will make lots of money doing it. I thought the same thing when I started this journey. I’ve learned a lot about self-publishing and learn more every day.

What can you learn from me? How to self-publish the best children’s book possible within a reasonable budget.

I’m not selling a system. I’m sharing my experiences to help you publish a high-quality children’s book in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.

Here’s the first question I would ask Ms. Rowling today: “Can you recommend a great editor?”

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Read Chapter 1: Edit Thyself?

Read Chapter 2: Editing: Your Voice, But Better

Here are some of the topics planned for the series. Real-life examples from Aviva Gittle eBooks will be used along the way.

1.    The editing process
2.    Hiring an illustrator
3.    eBooks vs. Print books
4.    Co-writing a book
5.    Managing a project
6.    Marketing (I’ll reveal the most expensive and, so far, least effective marketing I’ve done)
7.    Legal Issues (with the huge disclaimer that I’m not a lawyer and you may need one)
8.    ISBNs (Not the first thing you should worry about.)
9.    How much does it cost to publish an eBook?
10.    What’s the best use of your limited capital?
11.    More stuff that’s buried deep inside my brain