Why I decided to self-publish my first children's book

We are living in a time when it’s possible for anyone to publish a book. Purists might say this floods the market with unvetted stories, but the great thing about the book market is that we can choose to read whatever we want! If we pick up a book and hate it, we can just stop reading it. There have been plenty of award-winning novels and best sellers that I didn’t enjoy, so I don’t believe that having an editor, agent and publisher guarantees a great story. Of course, having that support behind you does give you a leg up in sales and marketing, but even that isn’t a given.

When I decided to write a children’s book, I started thinking about how I would bring it to the market. Fortunately, a teacher in my kids’ school had published a book a couple of years earlier, so I asked if I could buy her a coffee and pick her brain.

She shared a lot of great insights with me, but what made the most impact was her publishing journey. She told me that she sent her manuscript out to agents and publishers and got rejection after rejection, so rather than wait for someone else to pick up her book, she decided she would just publish on her own. She knew someone who could illustrate the book, so she set off on her self-publishing path.

I sat with that for a while. From a marketing perspective, she had so much more to offer than I did. She had a story premise that could be expanded to future books, her main character was relatable and attractive to kids (read: merchandise!), and she’s a Kindergarten teacher, which means she has the educational background to know what kids need and the hands-on experience to know what kids respond to. If she couldn’t get an agent or attract the interest of a publisher, there was no way I was going to succeed.

Rather than waste valuable time researching publishers and agents and writing query letters, I decided to spend my time trying to understand self-publishing.

I looked into traditional publishing and how it worked, so I had something to compare self-publishing to. I looked for children’s book author organizations and explored articles about where the genre was going. I found a children’s book authors and illustrators group on Facebook and joined the discussion. I listened to podcasts about children’s book authors and their publishing processes. I researched the tools that were available to help self-published authors. And I found that there’s a complete world of self-published authors and independent publishers that create their own rules.

Before I started, I didn’t realize that self-publishing had come so far, but there’s a lot of great work out there that wasn’t supported by a publishing company, and that gave me hope. I wanted to pick my own illustrator and tell my own story, and self-publishing allowed me to do that. I was able to bring my vision to life in the way I saw it in my mind, and that made the finished product that much better.

Being a self-published author is a lot of hard work, but from what I can tell, so is being a traditionally-published author. The rise of social media influencing has changed the landscape, and publishers are looking for names that sell. If I have to sell my books either way, I’d rather sell something that I created on my own.

There are other options besides self-publishing and traditional publishing. There are many smaller, independent publishers out there that often accept unsolicited manuscripts and don’t require agent representation. Many of these focus on a specific area, like children’s books or romance or non-fiction. If this is a path you’re interested in, I recommend searching for indie publishers in your local area and see if there’s one that fits with your style. Being able to meet with your team in person is sorely underrated in our WFH world, and if there’s an option to choose a publisher in your city or state, I highly recommend it. Just be sure to do your research so you know the publisher is legit (more on that in a future post).

To cut this story short: if you’ve got a book idea, write it! There are so many ways to get it out into the world, and there’s really no reason not to do it.

Have more questions about my decision to self-publish? Or do you have a children’s story and want to publish it? Send ma a note and let me know!

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