Creating Picture Books on a Budget

Book excerpt: Several years ago, I was a young librarian with a love of stories; one day I wrote a picture book. It was original, funny, and fun. I had spent several years reading kids stories and knew what they wanted in a good picture book. I went to workshops and conferences, and learned the publishing business. And then I tried to sell it and was in for a rude awakening: picture books are a ridiculously hard sell. I sent it to every picture book publisher I could find, and each one sent the impersonal rejection that writers dread. And so I filed it away, and didn’t think that much of it. Then publishing changed. Suddenly, authors could become publishers, and I began to feel hopeful about the book again. There were still two problems with the book that I faced: 1. Finding a good, professional artist on a budget2. Designing the book in a way that was non-technical and did not require me to learn new software This book will cover how to find illustrators, design both a print and digital version of your book, and as an added bonus, how to find translators as well—so you can sell your book in as many languages as possible. I’ll also show you a few strategies for marketing your book. If illustrations and book design are the only things that are holding you back from publishing a kid’s book, then let me show you how easy it is to be a published kid’s author!