PUBLISHING
You’ve written a book and you are sure it will be a hit, so you decide to give publishing a go. Hooray! But then you learn about editing, proofreading, ISBN numbers and everything else and now the process sounds complicated... there are so many choices... where do you start?
It doesn’t have to be difficult. We are a team of professionals who have over 18 years in the children’s book industry and we have a specialist in every field, from illustrating to publishing to getting your book out there when it’s done. Let’s start by explaining what publishing is. There are two main options for publishing;
Traditional Publishing
You sign your book to a mainstream publisher to handle the creative process and distribution of your book. Traditional publishing typically pays an advance and royalties, but you lose the control over final decisions and the publisher may change character names, plots, or other details to make sure your book sells. In short, they are buying the rights to your book. It is incredibly rare to get a traditional publishing contract. Less than 2% of scripts are accepted and they typically take 2 years before going to print. Once they do however, they are often guaranteed to be in bookstores.
Royalty rate - between 7% - 25%
Self Publishing
With self publishing, you (or someone you hire, like us!) do all of the work yourself and publish through a platform like Amazon or Ingram Spark. While you have to pay out upfront for the illustrations, editing, cover design and so on, you are in charge of all the decisions, retain your copyright and keep 100% of the profit when the book sells.
Vanity Publishing
There is also a third choice you might hear called ‘Vanity’ publishing, but we don’t consider this an option as it is more of a scam. This is when someone claims to be a publishing house and offer to publish your book in exchange for an amount of money, usually a substantial one. They will make you feel as if you’ve been one of the special 2% and been accepted, but the reality is they accept everybody. If a traditional publisher asks you for money, instead of offering you money, you can be sure it is a Vanity publisher.
OUR PRE-MADE PACKAGES
If you decide to self publish, and you need help preparing your book, our team are ready to meet you! Take a look at our pre-made packages, or get in touch if you want something custom just for you.
