Today’s post is by author and indie publisher Darcy Pattison (@FictionNotes). This post has been edited and adapted from a presentation delivered at the SCBWI’s Big Five-Oh! Virtual Conference.
Let’s talk about making money as a self-publisher of children’s books.
You are reading: How to make money selling children’s books
I bet you think I’ll start with something like running a kickstarter campaign. This year I actually did a campaign for the gingerbread house plan, but it was my first kickstarter campaign and it was a minor project for my company.
Instead, I’d like to walk you through some of the pitfalls of desktop publishing by looking at one of my books, nefertiti: the spidernaut, which was published on October 16, 2011.
during the summer of 2010, i listened to a radio interview with astronaut sunita williams, captain of the us. uu. marina about a live animal experiment on the international space station (ISS). she was the astronaut who dealt with nefertiti, a jumping spider that was sent into space.
Most spiders spin a web to catch food. But jumping spiders actively hunt, jumping to catch their prey. what happens when a jumping spider jumps in the microgravity of the iss? it will float away. would nefertiti be able to adapt and hunt? or will he die?
williams said, “it was a suspenseful story for me as it happened. I didn’t know if it would survive when I first unpacked it, or when I packed it up and sent it back to earth.”
I knew it would also be a suspenseful book for kids to read.
here’s the question, though: why self-publish this book?
help post a series
One of the reasons I decided to publish Nefertiti is that I already had the ingredients for a successful animal biography picture book series.
- Wisdom: The Midway Albatross won the Writer’s Digest Picture Book Self-Publishing Award, a $1,000 prize, and subsequently received a top weekly review from the editors.
- abayomi: the brazilian cougar was named a 2015 national science education association (nsta) outstanding science trade book.
Self-publishers know that publishing in a series makes a lot of sense. you don’t have to recreate the audience for every book. If a reader liked an earlier book in the series, they are more likely to like this one too.
so I decided to publish the book.
publish in multiple formats and distribute widely
Early on I decided to simultaneously publish hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook versions of each title. Since I use print-on-demand services, rather than offset printing, I made about the same profit on each version. I decided to let the client decide which format they preferred.
I also distribute widely and refuse to limit my books to any exclusive deals. readers can find books where they are used to buying, in the format that suits them.
I also submit books for reviews, just like any other publisher. Unfortunately, there is a lot of discrimination in the industry about self-publishing, but I ignore all of that, and my publisher ships books wherever the book belongs. however, submitting books for reviews is risky!
the school library newspaper gave nefertiti the worst review she has ever read: “skip this bland treatment and share the news clippings instead.”
I don’t know. perhaps the reviewer’s opinion really was that the writing was bland. maybe he just hated spiders. or maybe he knew it was a self-published book and he criticized it for that. who knows?
I was upset. but not too upset, yet. she knew the conversation wasn’t over.
live and die according to your opinion
See Also: 11 Books That Are Too Hot To Read In Public, Because Some Erotica Is Best Read Solo
Editors live and die by their opinions. I once spoke to a dial/penguin editor who said that for their fall slate of 25 titles, they knew half of them wouldn’t win. the problem? they just didn’t know which half would act? professionals, publishers with a long history of producing children’s books, didn’t know what would succeed and what would fail.
the editor said, “in this business, you live or die by your own mind.”
in my opinion, nefertiti was a great book. It was ultimately named a 2017 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. A judge later told me it was his favorite book of the year.
Now, this is what I know. had it been traditionally published, the book would never have won the prize. first, it probably would not have been accepted for publication. second, he would never have applied for that award. traditional publishers will only ship the main book of a season from their most popular authors. mine wouldn’t ship!
my book would have failed because it was ignored.
The only reason I received recognition from the nsta is because I care more about my work than anyone else. Present. and the book did its job.
connect your way to special sales
because nefertiti was named an nsta book, when i attended the arkansas reading association convention later that fall, i contacted the nsta rep to tell her i would be attending. I stopped by her booth and visited her. She recommended that I meet with Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry, who were working on picture-perfect science workbooks, which provided elementary teachers with lesson plans for teaching science using picture book texts.
A couple of weeks later, Emily and Karen showed up at a school district just an hour away, so I attended and stayed for dinner with them.
The result was that two of my books, Nefertiti (Space and Spiders) and Burn: Michael Faraday’s Candle (Light and Fire), were included in his next volume of Perfect Science Stem Lessons, Grades 3-5.
I was thrilled when the nsta decided to create a book pack with all the recommended books in the picture perfect series. they ordered thousands of copies of burn and nefertiti to include and sell to teachers and school districts in the book package.
Special orders are an important addition to a self-publisher’s income. these sales came from networking. (don’t you dare call it luck. I got online!), but you can also look for special offers. in fact, traditional publishers have entire departments dedicated to special sales.
The key is to learn the basic business of the sales process, from purchase orders to invoices, something I can’t teach you here. but something to investigate and learn.
more ways to special sales
nefertiti also caught the attention of the subscription box service passports. a box service offers a monthly box full of, in this case, children’s books about world travel. its flagship box set promised a world tour for children. but they also decided to add stem boxes.
I was first contacted about clang! ernst chladni’s sound experiments because it was not a leading science book, but a sidebar on sound experiments. but they quickly became interested in nefertiti as a fun way to talk about space.
asked if it was possible to change the size of the molding from 8.5″ square to 8″ square and wanted to share the brand of books. that is, they wanted their logo in the corner of the book cover. that meant he couldn’t sell these books anywhere else. apparently some traditional publishers stumbled upon that request, but it made sense to me. I was glad to accommodate them. I negotiated a reasonable price, did offset printing for the special orders, and made a good profit on each book. in return, I have sold tens of thousands of copies of both books to small passports.
Think like an editor, not an author
wholesale or volume is thinking like a publisher. an author says: “I want to do school visits and sell books to the children afterwards”. there is nothing wrong with that idea in the early years. In the early years of your business, do whatever it takes to stay afloat. But eventually, you’ll learn that you can’t increase author views. your time is too limited. you can sell a couple of thousand books in a year that way. if you really travel and work it, it could be very lucrative.
but that meant you weren’t home writing the next book. and finally, you run out of days of the year to present. after a certain point, it cannot be extended.
See Also: How Does The Series Of Unfortunate Events Books End 2022?
Instead, think like an editor. I want to wholesale the books to someone like little passports because they work to acquire the end customer, not me.
search international sales
So far, the other extraordinary animal series has not received any solid offers for international translation deals. I’ve done well with the moments in science series, which sold a four-book deal to dandelion children’s books in china and a six-book deal to dabom publishing in korea.
The feedback, however, on Another Extraordinary Animal has been that the series is too focused on American animals. Calaveras County, California holds an annual frog jumping contest based on Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Over 30 years ago, Rosie the Ribeter set the world-record for the longest triple-jump, a record that still stands. Yes, it’s an American story.
But next year, I’ll add a new title to the series, Diego: The Galapagos Giant Tortoise. This is the amazing true story of saving a species from extinction. Sixty years ago, scientists thought the tortoises from Española Island were extinct. They only found 14 individuals, 2 males and 12 females. And then, they found one more in the San Diego Zoo, whom they named Diego. For 60 years, the scientist worked on a breeding program, figuring out what the tortoises needed in a breeding ground, protecting the hatchlings until they were big enough to survive on their own, and eventually reintroducing the tortoises to their home island.
In 2020, they declared the breeding program a success, with over 2,500 tortoises now on the Spanish island. and in June 2020 they loaded the original 15 turtles and returned them to their home island. after being away for about 100 years, diego came home.
It is my hope that this book will expand the series towards a stronger international focus and find interest in other markets. In other words, Nefertiti is still part of that series that has a bright future!
assess your copyright: rights and licenses
As a self-publisher, I know the value of my copyright. each entitlement (hardcover, audiobook, merch, etc.) has earning potential. I didn’t give up all my rights in one contract.
A website that teaches children to read needed some solid non-fiction text. They licensed the right to display Nefertiti and another book, Pollen, on their website. both contracts were text only and for a period of five years. after that, they would have to go back and negotiate a new contract.
Traditional publisher contracts ask for full rights, which limits my ability to make money on a project. As a self-published publisher, I can expand my income by marketing each right separately.
nefertiti has successfully sold these formats.
- hardcover
- paperback
- ebook
- audiobook
- nsta book pack
- subscription checkout service
- text only to a website that teaches reading
what formats will be sold in the future?
- foreign rights
- t-shirts
- stuffed animal
well, some of these are exaggerated. not sure who would buy a nefertiti stuffed animal. but you never know!
your backlist is gold
A main reason my income has exceeded $100,000 is that I now have over 55 published books. each book needs to contribute something to my income. but this year, the highest grossing book may be nefertiti and next year, it could be when kittens go viral. On average, each book needs to generate at least $2,000 per year for me to earn $100,000. that’s very different from having just two books and each book would need to contribute $50,000. the math tells you, publish more books!
With such a strong backlist, it’s also easier to be found. There are 55 chances for my publishing company to be noticed, instead of just two. Once a reader visits my website, will they purchase other books? Some will!
a final reflection
I never apologize for the business decision to market a book yourself.
my goal for the future? look at me!
I’m going to win a newbery or a siebert. or both.
See Also: 21 Must-Read Data Visualization Books, According to Experts | Built In