6 Valuable Lessons from Self-publishing My First Children’s Book

I had to gulp. Was self-publishing the way forward? (Image courtesy of worldofmiri.com)

How to turn a word document into an actual book

I’ve published my first book ‘Heroes of the Quest - An Impossible Team’! For details, click here: www.heroesofthequest.com

Writing the story was the quickest and easiest part. The story was beautiful and flowed well. The water-color illustrations were gorgeous. I had a book! Well, not quite. I had a word document and jpeg images of the illustrations.

How would I turn this into an actual book?

I decided to walk down the path of self-publishing. This decision took me a long time. I had always expected a publisher to arrive, sort of like a prince on a white horse, happily taking in my book because they had waited for it their entire life. They never came. I contacted a few publishers and agents, but I never heard back from anyone. They didn’t even acknowledge they’d received my submission. The whole industry seemed like a non-see-through-bubble, impossible for me to penetrate as a first-time author. Finally, I decided this was not the way forward.

What about self-publishing?

I had no clue where to go or what to do, so I did a web search. I was overwhelmed with the options in an instant.

• Did I want to do the typesetting myself or pay someone to do this?

• What format should my book have?

• Did I have a proper book cover?

• What kind of paper did I want?

• What colors did I need?

• And so on.

I gulped. I had believed the most difficult part of getting my book done was the writing and editing. Maybe not. Then, again, I was a first-timer and doing things for the first time is always more difficult than the second time around. I decided I needed help. I was an author, not a designer or publisher.

For the book cover, I posted the job on a website where world-wide designers submitted their ideas to my brief. I communicated with the designers to specify what I liked. This was fun! Every morning, during the two weeks of the contest, new ideas popped up on the screen. The whole family was involved and voted on their favourites. In the end, it was a close call between two options. I ended up purchasing both because I loved them so much.

Lessons learned:

The brief should contain all relevant information, such as:

• Title + name of author + name of illustrator (if relevant)

• End-version of blurb for back of book cover.

• The ISBN as an attachment. My publisher organised the ISBN for me.

• What images you want the designer to incorporate

• What specific colors you want to have used, if any

• The target group of the book. Children’s book covers look different than adult covers.

• Any descriptions, adjectives or emotions the book cover should transport (if relevant)

• Is this a book cover for a paperback version or an e-book or both?

• What size will the book cover be? This depends on the type of book. Each type of book comes with different standard formats.

• What size spine should the book spine have? This depends on the actual number of pages. I received the correct size information from the publisher. If you have your typesetting organized already, you should know the correct size of the book spine.

I organized my book cover before I had my publisher. The cover had to be altered after the design contest finished because relevant information, like the ISBN code or the size of the spine, wasn’t available at the time of posting the brief. In my case, the designer offered to make the alterations once I had the information. Another option would have been to make the alterations myself which would have required the software and the skill; I possessed none of these.

I chose to outsource the typesetting. I could have tried to work on the specifications myself, but I decided this would be potentially detrimental. Honestly, I was not prepared to dive in and risk the end result of the work not turning out great. I had poured so much time, energy, and love into my book-to-be, it felt foolish to skimp on a professional typesetting.

I checked a few self-publishing companies and read their reviews. One stood out. All the costumers emphasized how helpful the company was and how well they were advised. I asked for a quote. The company helped me maneuver the jungle of paper thickness, quality, and color-scheme by making suggestions matching the type of book I wanted to publish. I felt in good hands. I got my documents sorted and submitted.

Lessons learned:

• I’d taken photographs of the book illustrations and turned them into jpegs. It turned out the resolution was not sufficient. Again, it paid to get a professional. I collected the drawings from the artist and scanned them at a shop. Even better would have been to specify in what format (pdf, jpeg, etc.,) I needed the files. I had to return to the shop for a second time because the publisher couldn’t work with pdf. I learned it’s better to ask for precise instructions than to storm off to get the job done.

•  I revised the e-book files before the book was sent to printing. I dreaded finding a typo. We had re-read the book so many times I felt sure there shouldn’t be one. Well, I couldn’t find any. I was relieved. However, in my quest to focus on correct spelling, I didn’t notice the font changed throughout the text. To be fair, the two fonts used were so similar, it was almost impossible to notice on the screen. I noticed, however, when the two hundred paperback copies arrived a few weeks later. I learned it’s important to review the files with focus and dedication and with that I mean everything. A mistake won’t go away from simply “dreading to find it”. And a mistake might very well hide where you absolutely wouldn’t expect it.

P.S.: the font issue has been corrected and the first two hundred printed copies are now officially declared “special edition”!

•  Have everything ready, including synopsis, blurb, “about the author”, professional photo, and dedication.

•  Think about the price of the book (both e-book and paperback). Talk to friends, check bookstores, and do a web search on other books to get an idea. I learned it makes sense to start these thoughts early, not the moment when needing to fill in the paperwork.

•  Think about where you want to sell the book. I had set up my website six months earlier for my blogs. (insert link) Initially, I hadn’t planned on selling my books through my website, until a friend pointed out the books wouldn’t go anywhere from simply sitting in my wardrobe. I guess I was too afraid to actually take the leap! But, of course, she was right. Luckily, I have some tech savvy people in my family who helped me set up the shop. And it’s actually working!

When the printed books finally arrived, I felt anxious. Would I even like them? Would they look good? I ripped open the first package, took away the extra packaging, and held in my hands the very first printed copy of my very first finished book.

It looks amazing. I love it. I feel so happy and proud. This has been a long road and here I am, finally, holding my book.

It is time to celebrate!