How To Publish A Children’s Book (And Is This Publisher For Real?)

“I’m so excited, Eevi! I’ve received an offer from a publisher, but I’m not sure if I can afford this. Please help!” – when it comes to how to publish a children’s book, this is something I get in my inbox all the time.  

And as soon as I read “I’m not sure if I can afford this,” my heart begins to sink and my alarm bells go off. All of them. Because the thing is, if this were an actually publisher, they wouldn’t cost you a dime…

You see, over the years, as it’s gotten more and more difficult to break into the traditional publishing world, something we in the author community call “Vanity Presses” have popped up all over the place. As more and more people were looking to have their manuscripts read and published, these institutions formed around people’s desire (and vanity) to call themselves “published” authors.  

As self-publishing still has a certain stigma attached to it, Vanity Presses present themselves as a branded alternative under which authors can publish their book. 

In a world where supply is driven by demand, there is nothing wrong with author services such as those offered by Vanity Presses. The problem, however, (and my personal vendetta) lies in the fact that these Vanity Presses (and to some extent Hybrid Presses) don’t make it at all clear to unsuspecting authors that they are NOT a traditional publishing house, and instead take advantage of the hopeful dreams of new authors.  

In fact, when it comes to different publishing options, it gets rather confusing as to what is what.

All the steps on how to publish a children’s book are laid out in my bestselling and award-winning book How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book. But if you’re also considering a more traditinoal publishing route, it is absolutely important to learn to identify these Hybrid and Vanity Presses, so you can tell them apart from legitimate publishing houses. So in this article you will learn:

• The DIFFERENCES between Traditional, Hybrid, and Vanity Publishing
• WHY and how this matters to you
• GUIDELINES that can save you lots of money and heartaches

NOTE 1: To me personally, Hybrid and Vanity Presses are somewhat the same. However, I’ve separated them here in this article, as many authors believe them to be different. 

NOTE 2: Vanity Presses don’t call themselves a “Vanity Press.” That’s just a term we use within the author community, highlighting the fact that they prey on aspiring authors’ desire to call themselves ‘published’ authors.

How to Publish A Children’s Book – DIFFERENCES:

To show you the main difference between Traditional, Hybrid, and Vanity Publishing, I’ve put together this table right here:

1. How To Publish A Children’s Book – TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING:

To highlight the different business practices, I thought it to be important to look at where each derives the majority of its income from, because in the end, that’s what decides and drives the way each of them does business. 

With Traditional Publishing, ALL of their money is made with actual book sales to readers. All the costs of producing your book are carried by the publisher, including costs for editing, cover design, formatting, and marketing.

That is a huge risk the publisher takes on, as the initial investment can only be recuperated if the book sells well. So it’s only understandable that traditional publishing houses are highly selective with what manuscripts they take on. 

As all costs are being carried by them, it’s the publisher that has all say, sets up your book to make it available for purchase, gets it onto shelves in bookstores, and retains the majority of what has been generated via the book sales. 

That’s why royalties are lowest with Traditional Publishing. Again, that’s mainly due to the fact that it is via book sales that they are recovering their initial costs. 

The rights usually go to the publishing house and your work is published under their label.

2. How To Publish a Children’s Book – HYBRID PUBLISHING:

With Hybrid Publishing, their money is made with actual book sales as well as via services offered to authors. Depending on what services or packages the Hybrid Publisher offers, the majority of the costs of producing your book are carried by you, the author, including costs for editing, cover design, formatting, and marketing. 

Because you are the one carrying most of the costs, Hybrid Publishers can afford to be less selective with what manuscripts they take on.  

As you carry most of the costs, both benefits and responsibilities are shared. That is, you have more of a say when it comes to the overall design of your book. But while a Hybrid Publisher certainly helps you set up your book in places such as Amazon, it may or may not get it into actual brick-and-mortar stores.   

The royalties you receive are quite a bit higher with Hybrid Publishing when compared to Traditional Publishing. And that’s due to the fact that your book’s initial costs were mainly carried by you, so there is less of a cost to be recovered by the Publisher.   

The rights may or may not stay with you, and your work is generally published under the publisher’s label.

3. How To Publish A Children’s Book – VANITY PUBLISHING:

With Vanity Publishing, their money is solely made via services offered to authors. All costs of producing your book are carried by you, the author, including costs for editing, cover design, formatting, and marketing. 

Because you are the one carrying all the costs, and because all their money is being made from services offered to authors, Vanity Publishers accept all manuscripts submitted to them. Additionally, Vanity Presses often scope out and approach aspiring authors, offering them a “publishing deal.”  

While a Vanity Press certainly helps you set up your book in places such as Amazon, it usually does not get your book into bookstores.  

Services usually end once the book has been published, so royalties go to the author. Again, that’s due to the fact that your book’s initial costs were carried by you alone, so there is no cost to be recovered by the Publisher.   

The rights may or may not stay with you, and your work is generally published under the publisher’s label.

Difference between Hybrid & Vanity Presses:

There really is not much of a difference between Hybrid and Vanity Presses. In fact, I personally don’t distinguish between these two. Both offer services to be paid for by the author, and both operate under “publishing” labels that are meant to make authors believe they are dealing with a traditional publishing house. 

There are three main tell-tales to identify Hybrid and Vanity Presses:

As I receive quite a lot of emails about this, I set up a number of guidelines that are meant to help you identify whether or not you’re dealing with a Hybrid or Vanity Press, and whether or not it is worth considering.

GUIDELINES to Identify Hybrid & Vanity Presses

As you’re expected to pay for the publishing of your book with both Hybrid and Vanity Presses, your number one concern should be whether or not you’ll be able to recover your initial costs, as these services usually charge thousands of dollars.  

When asking themselves how to publish a children’s book, many authors decide to go with a “publisher,” as they hope to receive help with the marketing and promoting of their book. However, a book’s success lies mainly in the marketing efforts of the author him or herself. Even Traditional Publishers rely more and more upon the marketing efforts of their authors.  

So if marketing is a concern of yours, then I’d suggest you research the individual publishing houses and start asking some questions.  

For instance, you will want to ask:

• What specifically is the publisher going to do marketing wise (have them lay out their marketing strategy for you)?
• How are they going to promote your book?
• Are they going to run promotions?
• If so, which ones?   

I encourage you to dig even deeper by looking at some of their other children’s books and see how they are set up and how they are performing.  

Here are some of the things I look at when asked whether or not a publisher is worth it and if it would be a valuable investment for the author:

1. As a children’s book author, you want to make sure the publisher has published at least a couple books in your genre. If they have never published a children’s book, don’t try being their first.

2. Check out a number of their other books as well and see what year they were published. This will let you know if they keep their list updated and whether or not they have had recent clients. If it is an older date, then they either haven’t updated their list in a while, or they haven’t had any new clients in quite some time. If it is the former, then this is a missed opportunity to showcase and promote their own authors. And if it’s the latter, well, then that isn’t good either. 

3. See where the publisher’s books are being offered. If all books click directly to Amazon using a referral link, I would ask if you would get a cut from the referral fee they are earning here. Also, Traditional Publishers usually offer the books of their authors directly on their own site. Many Hybrid and Vanity Publishers, on the other hand, go directly through Amazon, as they are using Amazon’s publishing platform (or Ingram Spark), which you could do yourself (for free).

4. Pay attention to these books’ number and quality of reviews on Amazon. If they have a low number of reviews (meaning, below 20), it indicates a rather meager push to promote and market these books. This holds especially true if this book has been on the market for a while. 

5. On the book’s sales page on Amazon, scroll down and see how many categories the book has been enrolled in. Amazon allows up to three categories (and actually, if publishers and authors know what they are doing, they can enroll into up to 10!). If you’re relying on your publisher for the marketing and promoting of your book, then you definitely want a publisher that knows that. 

6. Check to see if the publisher’s authors have an author profile set up on their book’s Amazon page. Again, if this is missing, then that’s not a good sign, as they should have set this up for each of their authors. 

7. Pay attention to the books’ covers, especially those of children’s books. When comparing them to other covers directly on Amazon, how are they holding up? Do they look professional? If you were to scroll through Amazon, would these covers speak to you? And would they make you buy them over other books?  

8. Look at the book’s sales rank. Does it sell well? If not, than that might indicate poor or no marketing.

I’m so sad having to burst people’s bubbles sometimes when they tell me excitedly that they have been approached by a publisher about their book. There is nothing more thrilling and validating than having someone single you out based on your work.

With these types of publishers, however, authors aren’t being singled out and chosen based on their beautiful work, but because they are new, inexperienced, trustful and full of hope. 

And it’s that hope that makes them such an easy target.  

It’s because of things like this, that I try so hard to teach others how to publish a children’s book themselves, how to essentially do all these things themselves – be it the conversion of an ebook or the hiring of an illustrator. Because in the end, creating a beautiful children’s book shouldn’t have to cost a fortune.  

It is my genuine hope that with this article, you’re more aware and equipped, so that when faced with this kind of decision, you know exactly what to look for, and won’t ever be taken advantage of. 

xo

~ Eevi

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