Self publishing, worth the effort?

[Anonymous]

I've written and illustrated a children's book. Is it worth it for me to publish it, or I'll never make back the money I put into it?

[Anonymous]

I would let others read it and give you feedback. Avoid friends as they will say nice things just to be nice. How about a librarian or a teacher? If the feedback is really good then consider self publishing. While doing that I’d find out what it costs to self publish and if I can afford to do it with little return I’d push ahead.

[Anonymous]

It's impossible to know whether you'll get your money back. Are you the next Beatrix Potter? Then yes, it would be worth it. But most likely you won't earn it back. That's why the term "vanity press" is used, because self-publishing is generally a vanity project.

[Anonymous]

You'll (most likely) never make the money back that you put into it.

A very good friend of mine self published a children's book with her husband. She's an amazing artist, and her husband was the author. They said it cost a lot of time and money. I bought a copy to support them, and it's on Amazon, but they will never get that money back. It's a project of love for most self published authors.

[Anonymous]

Children's books are marketing projects, not literature and art projects. Are you an excellent marketer?

[Anonymous]

Have you shipped it to agents who could get you in with an actual publisher?

[Anonymous]

Does Amazon charge to publish through them? I was under the impression they just took a cut of your sales, but I don’t really know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would let others read it and give you feedback. Avoid friends as they will say nice things just to be nice. How about a librarian or a teacher? If the feedback is really good then consider self publishing. While doing that I’d find out what it costs to self publish and if I can afford to do it with little return I’d push ahead.

I have good feedback. I can spend time but not money formatting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's impossible to know whether you'll get your money back. Are you the next Beatrix Potter? Then yes, it would be worth it. But most likely you won't earn it back. That's why the term "vanity press" is used, because self-publishing is generally a vanity project.

Before posting, I didn't realize publishing on KDP is free.

It's definitely a vanity project. And to the other poster, I wouldn't do any marketing. Or minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Amazon charge to publish through them? I was under the impression they just took a cut of your sales, but I don’t really know.

You are correct. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

A relative of mine self published a book several decades ago. It was very specific to her work field, so was never going to sell a lot of copies. The usefulness to her was that it allowed her to call herself a published author, which helped her to get invitations to speak at conferences in her field.

Also, she worked with an advisor from the company that printed the book who helped her come up with a “punny” title for the book so as to attract more attention. The subject was rather dry, but the title maybe helped to give it a little more pizazz and be more memorable at her conferences, where she would have a table set up to sell signed copies.

[Anonymous]

You won't make money. But if you want to publish it to give to grandchildren etc, go for it.

[Anonymous]

The only reason to self-publish is just so you can have the book. You won't be able to sell it except perhaps in local stores like a kids' clothing boutique, if they want to support locals. You can sell online so friends can buy. Pulblic libraries, who buy a lot of children's books, do not buy self-published books. They might take a local author's book as a donation and add to the collection but in general do not buy books that are not distributed by the large book distributors, Baker and Taylor, Ingram and Brodart and they need to have been reviewed by a credible professional source (these reviews are used for book challenges). There are thousands of books
published each year from mainstream publishers. Self-published books are not taken seriously. So if you just want it for yourself, then do it. Otherwise, you're better off trying to publish it with a mainstream press. There are small presses that also publish and may be easier to crack (but if they talk about being a subsidy press or are in a "partnership" with the writer, that means you are giving them money so it's still a vanity press/self-publishing.) Lots of people want to write children's books: it's a very competitive market.

[Anonymous]

I'd say "worth the effort" really depends on what you hope to get out of this.

If it's to see your book in print, then sure - worth the effort.

If it's to land on the Today Show and sell a million books - you had better really be good at marketing and have a big platform.

If it's to avoid having to jump through the hoops and hurdles of traditional publishing - sure, worth the effort.

If it's for the prestige of having a book in print - self-publishing probably won't get you that. People can be snobby about self-published books.

If it's to tell a story you are passionate about and you feel will connect with a readership, and you really don't want to look for an agent, then go through the process of trying to sell the book to a trad publisher - then yes, it can be worth the effort.

If it's to have a book you can give to kids who are in the hospital, because you have a story you think will matter to them - yes, it can be worth it.

What is your goal? That's teh only way to know.

[Anonymous]

Friend did this in hopes of getting some attention on it to sell a sequel. Which is in process.