If you like children's literature, surely more than once you have invented stories for your children. Or maybe you have a drawer full of them ready to be published. But how to publish children's stories?
If you're also asking yourself that question and would like to know everything you can do to get them on the market and read by many other children, here are the answers you may be looking for.
What should you take into account before wanting to publish children's stories
Imagine that you already have a children's story that you want to launch on the market. However, you don't know what to do. Is it published and already? Is it sent to publishers? Is it sold privately? The truth is that you will have asked yourself all those questions, but are they really the first ones you should ask yourself? The truth is that no.
When publishing children's stories you should take into account the following:
The language used
You have to put yourself in a child's shoes and think about whether what you've written is truly in simple, easy language that children can understand. Sometimes you have to reconnect with your inner child to simplify your vocabulary and determine if the story is suitable for children or if there's anything that might cause problems.
This implies that you must review the entire text well. And even, if you can, let several children read it to the age at which you have focused to write that children's story. Only then will you know if they like it or not, or if they find it boring or difficult to understand.
The images
If you take a look at all the children's books on the market, almost all of them are full of illustrations, right? Well, if you want your story to be appealing, you might need illustrations too.
Now, this will depend a bit on whether you are going to publish it on your own or if you are going to trust a publisher (and this one provides you with the drawings, which it does not always do). If it is the first case, you will have to invest approximately 500 euros. But if it is the publisher, it is possible that they will cover the investment of the drawings.
How to publish children's stories
Once you've completed all of the above, it's time to take the plunge and learn how to publish children's stories. While it's incredibly exciting, and a process you should approach with great enthusiasm, it's not always as pleasant as it seems. That's why it's important to take the right steps to enjoy the experience and not see it as a burden you're eager to have over.
That being said, the steps are:
search publishers
The first thing we recommend when publishing children's stories is that you take a look at all the children's publishers that may exist in your country. But not just list them and get the contact to send the story. No.
Before that, it's necessary, and highly recommended, that you analyze it. Look at what kind of children's stories they publish, how often, how well they sell, and what opinions people have about the publisher.
It might also be worthwhile to contact them with information as a writer interested in the publishing house : how they work, whether they're open to receiving manuscripts, etc. And finally, if you can get in touch with an author at the publishing house, even better, although this is the most difficult. However, this way you'll get another perspective from someone on the inside.
Once you do that research you will have a good list of publishers to send your story to.
Or self-publish
If you're avoiding traditional publishers because you know they don't pay authors well, you could consider self-publishing. This is a more arduous task, and above all, it's harder to get noticed. Unless you have a large target audience or are very well-known, your book will most likely go unnoticed, and you'll only sell copies if it's a hit.
But keep in mind that the promotion, whether editorial or self-published, in most cases you will have to do it yourself.
Submit the manuscript
If you have the illustrations, send it too. Even layout, so that it has a better presentation and the person from the publishing house who receives that story has an idea of ​​how it would look and how well (or badly) it could work in the publishing house where they work.
We do not recommend going one by one. That is, send one, wait for them to respond and send another... The wait can sometimes be 6 months (from that date it is considered that they have not accepted it).
That's why it's best to send your manuscript to a good number of publishers at once and wait for some to respond. You'll need to be patient, but the good thing is that if several are interested, you'll have proposals to review and decide which publisher you want to work with.
promote yourself
Depending on the publisher you choose, or if you're going to self-publish, promotion will often be your responsibility. In other words, you'll have to build your reputation. And for that, we recommend:
- That you create an author web page.
- That you create a web of the book. Especially if it is a saga because that way the little ones will be able to look for you and follow you.
- Organize readings, workshops, etc. Any activity that makes you better known and that they can see the author and take the signed book. In this way you will invite them to buy from you much more easily.
- Propose it in schools as reading. Or even, facing book day, going to schools to give a talk, or to read the book, can be something interesting.
- Look for collaborations with stores in your city, or across the country, so that they sell your book: bookstores, stationery stores, toy libraries, etc.
As you can see, publishing children's stories is not difficult, but it is a long road that, in order to be successful, you have to go little by little and make yourself known. Don't be discouraged if your story is rejected by publishers; If you think it's good, keep insisting or self-publish it. If it is successful, it will be the publishers that will come to you afterwards. Do you dare to publish?