Children’s Book Imprint – Do You Need One?

In my book “How To Self-Publish a Children’s Book” I mentioned that I’m using my own imprint whenever I’m publishing one of my own children’s books. I often receive follow-up questions regarding such an imprint. And that’s why today, I’d like to dive a bit deeper, so you too can make the best decision for your own children’s book.

In this article, I’m going to share:

1. What is an Imprint 
2. Imprint vs. Publisher (what’s the Difference?)
3. When you should create a Publishing Company
4. Why you should use an Imprint 
5. When to make the Decision
6. Minimum requirements to set up your Imprint 
7. What you should name your Imprint 
8. My Book Imprint, Your Imprint Design, + Other Fun Examples

What is an Imprint?

NOTE:

For whatever reason, it seems that in the Self-Publishing world, the words Publisher and Imprint are often used interchangeably. In Traditional Publishing, however, these two terms usually refer to two separate levels. Please keep this in mind as you are reading this article. 

An imprint in its simplest terms is the name under which we can publish our beautiful children’s books. It allows authors to establish a brand identity, especially if they have written (or plan on writing) more than one book. 

It is usually different from the author name and often covers books that fall under the same genre. The typical structure within the publishing world looks something like this:

PUBLISHER → IMPRINT → AUTHOR,

where we have the Publisher up top, followed by its different Imprints. Each Imprint usually relates to a different genre or category. The publisher Penguin Random House, for example, has nearly 275 Imprints, each publishing a certain type or book genre.

The Puffin Imprint in the graph below, for example, publishes children’s books.

Depending on their genre or category, authors then would fall into different Imprints.

Separating these three entities (Publisher, Imprint, Author Name) however, is NOT necessary. For self-published children’s authors like you and me, for example, all three of these could fall under your own personal name. 

If, however, you’re looking to establish yourself as a brand, you may want to consider creating an Imprint. 

The imprint I’m using for most of my own books, for example, is LHC Publishing.

Now you may be thinking: 

But Eevi, based on your definition above, shouldn’t LHC Publishing be considered a Publisher instead of an Imprint?

And yes, you are absolutely correct. But remember the NOTE I previously shared with you? In the Self-Publishing world, these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. To show you what I mean, I’ve added a screenshot of KDP’s book setup page. Here, we’re being asked to enter our Imprint, not our Publisher.

I believe KDP decided to set this up the way they did, because they didn’t want to overly complicate things for new authors. Because setting up an actual Publishing Company is far more complex, while creating an Imprint is fairly easy to do.

Now of course, this can get as complex as you want it to be. If, for example you decide to write books in different genres besides children’s books, you may want to create different Imprints for each: one for your children’s books, and one for your nonfiction, for example. But again, this is completely up to you.

When Should You Consider Creating Your Own Publishing Company?

As already discussed above, the Publisher or Publishing Company is the highest entity in a more traditional setup. This article won’t go too much into how to create an actual, legal Publishing Company, mainly because I personally don’t believe it’s necessary; certainly not for your very first children’s book. A few examples where setting up an actual Publishing Company would makes sense are if:

• You want to publish the work of other authors under your Publishing Company
• You are looking to establish a company for legal reasons 
• To allow for certain tax write-offs

Setting up an actual Publishing Company entails a whole set of legal actions, such as deciding on a business structure (Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC, etc.) and the registering of your business.

Creating your own Imprint, on the other hand, does not. 

But if you should decide to create your own Publishing Company, be sure to read this guide right here over on Kindlepreneur. Otherwise, be sure to keep reading.

But Why Should You Use a Book Imprint for Your Children’s Book?

But why, on the other hand, should you consider using an Imprint for your beautiful children’s book(s)? Here, it helps to look at a few examples where the name of such an Imprint would appear:

1. Your Book’s Copyright Page
2. The Backcover of your Book
3. Paperback Setup
4. Ebook Setup
5. Added during your ISBN Purchase

Let’s look at each a bit more:

1 & 2 – Copyright Page & Backcover

In this example below, we see Del Rey added as an imprint of Random House, both on the copyright page, as well as on the backcover of the book.

3 & 4 – Paperback & Ebook Setup

And here is an example of Amazon’s sales page. Here, we usually see the Imprint (or Publisher) shared in the product details section. On the right, we see what it would look like if we were to leave the Publisher / Imprint field empty during our book setup. 

If you don’t add a Publisher / Imprint during the setup process of your book (or if you use KDP’s provided ISBN), KDP will fill this field for you and will simply add a phrase like “Independently Published” or your author name. There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with this. But if you would like to groom your public appearance early on, adding your Imprint here would be a wonderful way to start branding yourself and your children’s books.

5 – Added During Your ISBN Purchase

I always tell my clients and students to be sure to purchase their own ISBN instead of using the free one provided by KDP. I’ve shared all the details (including an ISBN CHEAT SHEET) in this article right here. When purchasing our ISBN over on Bowker, we’re asked to enter the Publisher under which the purchased ISBN will be used. This is where you would enter your chosen Imprint name. 

This Imprint name you put down on Bowker will have to match the Imprint name you later enter when you are setting up your children’s book on KDP. That’s important, because before approving your book to be published, KDP will check with Bowker, to ensure you are indeed the owner of that ISBN. 

Now, if you have already purchased your ISBN and have not entered your Imprint name during the time of purchase, don’t worry. You can still request changes. In fact, that’s something I had to do before as well.

Bowker acts fairly quickly when you ask them to adjust your records. Simply email PAD@bowker.com and let them know what Imprint you would like your ISBN be assigned to.

When Should You Make the Decision Whether Or Not To Use a Book Imprint?

When exactly should you decide whether or not to create and use your own Imprint? 

Because the Imprint can potentially be displayed in so many different areas, it would be easiest and best to make this decision as early as possible. That way, you don’t have to re-design your Copyright page and backcover of your book.  

And you can also enter the correct Imprint right away when purchasing your ISBN. That way, you won’t have to request any such changes later on. 

So the sooner you make this decision, the better. 

But what does the creation of an Imprint entail? That’s what we will look at next.

What are the Requirements to Set Up Your Book Imprint?

I’m often asked if the setup of an Imprint requires the establishment of a company or the filing of a DBA name (Doing Business As).

The short answer is no.

However, if you wish to accept payments under the name of your Imprint, you may need to file a DBA. You should also file a DBA, if you want to conduct business under that Imprint name, instead of your own legal name.

If you should decide that you need to file a DBA, know that the filing process may vary, depending on the state you live in. You may have to file through a local, county or state agency.

Please remember however, that I’m not an attorney or CPA. So be sure to consult with your lawyer for any binding legal advice.

What Should You Name Your Imprint?

When it comes to the naming of your Imprint, you have multiple options. Imprints often have words like these as part of their name:

• Press
• Media
• Publishing
• Book(s)

Before getting your heart set on a specific name though, be sure to check and see if the name you’re looking to use isn’t already in use and/ or hasn’t already been trademarked. Here are some simply ways you can use to see if this name is already being used as a Publishing name or Imprint:

1. GOOGLE: A simple Google search takes about 5 seconds, so be sure to perform a quick check via your search engine.  
2. AMAZON: Because Amazon also indexes the books it sells under the Publisher name, we can use Amazon’s search engine to see if your Imprint name is already in use.
3. LITERARY MARKET PLACE: This is a comprehensive directory of the American book publishing industry. You can do a name search right here.
4. FEDERAL & STATE TRADEMARK OFFICES: Even if you’re not planning to file or register a trademark, the U.S. registered trademark database is a great way to ensure your chosen Imprint isn’t already in use. You don’t want to accidentally infringe on someone else’s trademark. You can also perform the same search on a state-level via your state’s trademark database.

Should You Trademark Your Imprint? 

Whether or not you trademark your imprint is of course entirely up to you. Just know that you actually own a common-law trademark as soon as you start selling books under your Publisher or Imprint name. Going through the actual process is also rather pricey with no guarantees that the trademark application will be accepted. But as already mentioned above, please consult a legal professional for advice.

Your Imprint Design & A Few Imprint Examples

Back when I was looking to design a logo for my Imprint, I actually ran a contest over on Freelancer.com, just to see what some of the designers would come up with.  

My Imprint’s name is LHC Publishing, where LHC stands for LöwenHerz-Creative (Lionheart Creative), which is the name of my motion graphics studio. So I knew I wanted to have a lion in my logo, as well as the letters LHC. 

I altered it slightly, but this was essentially the winning design: Two lions, representing bookends to the left and right of the letters LHC, which represent books on a shelf, the shelf being the word Publishing.

But now it’s your turn! To get YOUR creative juices flowing, I’ve added a few Imprints from some of the biggest Publishing Houses for you below.

There are so many fun Imprint names out there. The sky and your creativity are the limit. If you should decide to use an Imprint for your children’s book, I’d love to hear all about it. I cannot wait to see what you come up with. 

I remember being so confused about this when I first published my very first book. So I really hope this article helped to demystify this process, and that you see the value in creating an Imprint for your own Children’s Books.

xo
~ Eevi

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