Done in days!
The decision made
I've always loved to create children's books. When I was in primary school, I never spoke to anyone.
I had just changed schools in first grade and was super bored with the idea of learning to speak French. So I would sit at my desk, take out a manilla paper notebook that I got from the whole stack on my teacher's desk - they were for the kids anyway, she just hadn't given them out yet - and draw Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog comics.
They were advanced, witty humour; not the gross-out kind, most six year old kids find funny. The kind of humour that was ... book material. I wish I could still find them.
When I wouldn't talk in school, I would come home and start running while screaming down the place. Yep, problems from early on. My mom couldn't believe why the school board thought I was mute.
Art was my outlet. The year was 2003 and my mom told me I need to get a children's book out there. Fast-forward 13 odd years - and oh, things have changed.
Amazon.com
Amazon.com! Amazon's kindle store, iBooks, Barnes and Noble ...
There is an enterprise of publishers available with a click! Once you've written a Word manuscript of your book - with a title, table of contents, pagination, chapter headings and page breaks at every chapter - you're done the work! Let's break it down, briefly.
Know your audience!
Since a topic is equally, if not more important than any of the content you're going to write - this is the tough part; but unless you do this, you may as write write the book for yourself.
Really, know your target group! Meet them where they hang around and speak with them! If you're writing a book for children, ask your children's friends your friends' children what they like to read!
I chose puppies, my own actually!
Unless it's a topic where you need to do a lot of research like business or fitness, avoid taking an "interview" approach with people. You're just talking with them, not drilling them with questions they may feel pressured to answer and most likely, in a way they think you want them to. This is not good.
The title is like a nice outfit
You don't look at the price until after. You just know you like it, want to know how it fits and what it will do for you. This happens in your brain really, really fast - almost automatically. That's exactly what a title's like - a job title, movie title, book title; it's the point of judgement for all.It may be a cliche, but keep it short and simple, no more than five words - 3-4 is the target here. I didn't say keep it boring! Keep it to-the-point, yet catchy and descriptive. Using an alliteration helps like "Build a Body" or "Your Success Starts Now" (you could also have a title like "To Your Success" but don't overdo it like "Starting Success Stories" - besides it sucks.) Keep it memorable.
I had to go through several iterations of my children's book title. It started as "My Prissy Pocket Puppy Chloe". Five words and too much alliteration. I wasn't even satisfied with that as a placeholder.
Then I went for "My Prissy Pocket Puppy" which I didn't like, as I only omitted one word - the title character! Chloe is a tiny Yorkie and the best description for her is "prissy, highbrow or snooty" so I had to find away to work that information into the title; so I got rid of most of the words and my title became "Prissy Little Chloe".
Let's turn it all into a book
Okay one sentence or less, per step. Your table of contents needs to list all your clever chapter headings you came up with like the name of your book.
After the table of contents, you could add an "acknowledgements" section. Page numbers can be inserted by clicking on the option, in your word processor.
Next, add a dedication page, if you choose. Then, click the "chapter headings" button for every chapter name you type - clicking on the page break button, once per chapter. That was two in a sentence, I feel accomplished.
If you're creating a children's book, click "insert" and add whatever illustrations you want; you could outsource this job on fiverr.com, get an artist friend to or draw them yourself if you'd like.
The starting page of each chapter needs to be typed into your table of contents, when you're done writing your book; and that's it for formatting!
Next do a web search for a file conversion site, that will automatically convert your book to a PDF if you want a print version and MOBI file format for your Kindle eBook.
If you're a photoshop whiz, then go ahead and design your own book cover, you don't need me telling you about color schemes and everything.
But if you don't know exactly how you want your cover to look, working with a professional designer is the way to get a beautiful cover, no crumpled paper. Or in virtual terms I guess it would be scrapped documents or trashed computers.
Having it made
After creating and Amazon account sign into KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), read through the Terms and Conditions to make sure you understand before you accept.
Upload your book file and cover, write a book description, select two categories your book fits best into and choose seven keywords - this is important. Do your research on the best keywords for your genre, so your book can be easily found on Amazon.Plucking the tree
There is a "delivery fee" if you opt-in for 70% royalties - 15 cents per MB of your book file.
For a children's book author like me, that means we make less - because with illustrations, our books have a larger file size, so that means there's a bigger fee - sometimes to the point where opting for the 35% makes more sense. That's what happened with me.
For everyone else set up you payment information (physical cheques or direct electronic deposit) and go for 70% IF you set your book in the $2.99 to $9.99 range - that's the second catch. Either way, you'll make more.
But if you're not sure, there are estimated royalty charts on the page, which should make this process very simple for you. You can even set the price for each of the international markets you have access to, if you own the book rights (as a self-published author).
You're officially established as an author now!
Next go over to Amazon Author Central and register as an author by going through the on-screen prompts and information boxes. Read through the Terms and Conditions to make sure you understand before you accept (sorry standard protocol - have to cover this clearly!)
After you add your biography on your Author Page, add some photos, videos and your Twitter and/or blog feed to make it your own!
No replacing the printed page
If you're set on a print counterpart for your book, you can download a pre-formatted template over at Createspace.com for upload!
You need to get your designer to create a back cover and spine for your book though - or else that space on the paperback will be blank.
Then add your book information like its title, description and chosen categories; choose a price and then set up your payment information.
24
In about 24 hours your book will be live! Post the link everywhere and let everyone know your a genuine, certified author with a great product at a price they can't refuse, especially with an offer like a free audiobook (you can easily record it yourself, find an actor at fiverr.com or email me at jadenambertaylor@gmail.com as I do voice over as well!)
To see my children's book "Prissy Little Chloe" and how I set it up on Amazon, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019VBUKQ2?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660 - to see my Kindle edition
https://www.createspace.com/5963541 - to see my print version
amazon.com/author/jadentaylor - to see my Author Page
http://jaden28.wix.com/plcaudiobookfree - and here's my website in action
I recommend setting one up, to give fans more on your book(s)!
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