The basic idea of marketing a book is pretty simple: find out who likes your book, find out where they “live”, then sell your book there and get them to buy it. And when you publish a children’s book, the principle is the same, with one exception.
In the children’s book market, the target audience is not children, but adults who buy their books. They could be parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, teachers, whoever. once you can tap into what they want in a children’s book, you’ll quickly realize you couldn’t ask for a better target consumer:
You are reading: How to sell children’s books
- have simple basic wishes: to get a book the child loves,
- children go through many titles, so they always need new books,
- a Once they find an author they like, they’ll read everything they’ve written, and
- it’s easy to find out where parents, teachers and others “live” online.
In this article, best-selling children’s book author yvonne jones shares tips for marketing children’s books from her own personal experience. With that in mind, we’ll look at four key ways you, as a children’s book author, can effectively target people who buy children’s books. But first, let’s answer the burning question: is all the marketing worth your eventual return on investment?
how much can you earn writing children’s books?
The simple answer is that it varies. If you choose to go the traditional route, publishers typically pay you a retainer that can range from $5,000 to $30,000, depending on your genre. Hannah Holt shares her finances (about $17,000 a year) writing children’s books in this blog post. (side note: if you’re interested in going down this route, check out our directory of top children’s book brokers to check out)
Self-publishing a children’s book, which earns you a much higher percentage of royalties, can also be a profitable endeavor. Holt conducted a survey of children’s book authors showing that 62% of freelance authors made some money from self-publishing. (Although this will also depend on a number of factors, including the specific niche, the quality of the book, and the author’s marketing savvy.)
That said, most children’s book authors reveal that the greatest reward comes from the intangible: the simple joy that comes from writing children’s books. In an article for Huffington Post, children’s book author Kate Klise shares:
I received a letter last week from a reader in oak park, illinois, who said that my series 43 old cemetery road had been “like a friend since second grade”. The letter writer, now in sixth grade, went on to say, “Even now that I’m reading slightly more advanced books (Moby Dick and Little Women), if I can’t sleep at night or can’t seem to calm down before bed, it’s one of your books that comes down and saves the day.” I’m clouding my eyes. so will you when you receive an email like this. but these priceless cards make me feel like what I do matters. And isn’t that what we all want from our work?
I finally wrote a book for adults called In the Bag. It sold well in Italy and Indonesia, but I rarely hear of anyone in this country reading it. Meanwhile, I get letters every week from young readers who have read my books, sometimes multiple times. my new friend in oak park said that she had memorized one of my books. (there are 136 pages).
With this return on investment in mind, let’s take an in-depth look at how to market your children’s books.
how to market children’s books
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Many self-published children’s book authors have succeeded simply by following the right marketing rules. Now, children’s book author Yvonne Jones recommends four key ways to market her children’s books.
1. visit social networks
blogs, instagram, facebook groups, twitter, reddit. These days, parents of young children are almost always millennials, and as a result, they’ll rely on the internet for just about any type of recommendation.
Search Facebook for children’s book groups or groups that might be interested in your book’s topic. If you’ve written a picture book about fire trucks, you can bet there’s a Facebook group of people who love fire trucks, and some of those people are going to have kids.
Share pictures from your book on instagram or twitter using relevant hashtags, that are about the theme of your book (#unicorns #fire trucks) or directly target your audience (#mommylifestyle #picturebooksaremyjam).
And have you claimed your books on goodreads? if not, do it right now. is the largest social network dedicated to book sharing – if you’re serious about marketing children’s books, ignore it at your peril.
2. take your book to the libraries
Libraries are a great opportunity. Most parents won’t buy every book for their children, and many will rely on titles borrowed from their local library. If you manage to get your book placed in the children’s section of a branch, then you will almost certainly get loans. And if those parents (and their kids) like your book, they’ll want to read whatever else you’ve written. and they may be willing to pay money for it this time.
However, to include your book in a library system, you need to convince librarians of its value and make it easy for them to request it. to do so, you must:
- make sure your book has a good stream of positive reviews,
- make it readily available through major wholesalers (such as ingram or baker & taylor) and
- introduce yourself.
That last point may seem daunting, but many libraries love hosting story hours with authors, according to Jones.
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“Most libraries already have weekly scheduled story times, with many children and parents in attendance. Call nearby libraries and let them know about your book. Be sure to bring a supply of paper copies on the day of the reading, so you can sell your signed book.”
and knowing your readers isn’t just limited to libraries…
3. plan school visits
“Many children’s book authors don’t realize that many schools set aside an annual budget for paid author visits,” says jones. And, in fact, there’s a chance you’ll eventually get paid for your appearances at school, a nice bonus when you’re marketing children’s books.
The trick here is to be organized. make sure you have a plan in place before contacting any school. tell them what age range the book is for, send them links, a cover image, a synopsis, and anything else they might want to know about your book.
then, as soon as the school agrees, send a summary of your planned visit. At this point, Jones would also make sure to secure sales with her parents, if applicable. (Remember who her target audience really is.)
jones ends his advice with this: “follow up the email with a phone call to let them know you’re visiting local schools for free, in exchange for the school sending slips home, offering the opportunity to purchase signed copies of the books.”
and there are many other tricks you can try to reach the guardians of the children. you can try creating a trailer, you can guest post on parenting blogs. As long as you focus and direct your efforts to find where children’s book buyers live, you won’t stray too far.
Pro Tip: Another way to reach your target audience is to request book promotion services like the Mom’s Choice Award.
4. make your amazon page correct
In 2021, amazon remains the top retailer for self-publishers. And since we’re in the age of the internet, where your Amazon product page is the equivalent of your storefront, you’ll want to make sure it’s as optimized as possible for potential readers.
With this in mind, consider rescanning:
- your author page (which you can edit with amazon author central). This is your public profile for interested readers. don’t pass it by as an opportunity to promote yourself! you’ve perfected your author bio, and don’t forget to include a link to your author’s website.
- Your book description. This key element of your product page should be designed to convert people from browsers to buyers. Above all, make sure your headline is catchy and your blurb is concise. You can head over to this post to learn more about writing a book description that sells.
- your amazon keywords. amazon uses its own algorithms to recommend books to readers. Mastering this is one of the best ways to increase your books’ visibility on Amazon, so readers can find your books in the first place. Instead we recommend taking this free 10-day course that teaches you all the secrets behind Amazon’s algorithms if you want to learn more.
Have you tried any of these tips before? How has your experience been in marketing your children’s book? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and we’ll get back to you right away.
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