Publishing…It’s Not As Easy As It Looks

There I was, preparing to write a Children’s Book. I was inspired to write a book that would help teach children the alphabet by identifying animals that begin with the same letter.  Easy, right!  Wrong!! 

You’d think,  a book about A-B-C, must be easy for me!

I figured rhyming letters and words shouldn’t take the months that it did. I found a good book can involve a lot of research.  Even my 24-page Children’s Book involved researching a variety of animals.  I can imagine how much time certain novels take to write, especially if you are trying to denote a specific time period.  You should do research so your book is more believable!

Once I had the text complete, then I had to think of what the pictures should portray.  I wanted to make the book fun!  When my children were younger, they liked to find hidden items; identifying letters, numbers, animals; and repeating out loud what they’ve spotted.  They were learning while having fun.  I am a firm advocate of having fun while learning, therefore, the pictures had to be fun too.

Text √   —   Illustrations √   —   Now for professional editing.  It’s always good to have an editor review your work no matter how large or small your book project may be. Another set of eyes helps to make it a better book.  These three steps are just the beginning, then it’s time to have it printed and bound.  There are a variety of decisions to make in this effort as well, such as hardback, soft cover, eBook; layout of text and illustrations; ISBN, copyright, barcode; and type of binding are a few choices on the list. 

After your book is completed, then another challenge — how do people know about your book and how to find it! 

More insights to come…….