Self-publishing your own children’s book can be a long and sometimes difficult journey. Thrilling as it is to hold the final product in your hand at last, you soon realise that there is another mountain to climb! How can you market your new children’s book? After all, if children never see it, only half your job has been done! Here are Goldcrest Gallery’s suggestions for 12 Ways to Market Your Children’s Book…
1. Listing your title
Your book will probably already be listed on Nielsen. If not, this is an important thing to do. Once registered, your title will appear on a range of websites, including Amazon. You can register for free with Nielsen Title Editor. It is worth making your entry as attractive as possible, with thumbnail images and good product descriptions. Putting your title with Gardners is the next wise move. When you are listed with them, retailers such as Waterstones will be able to put your book onto their system – either with their online catalogue, or in their shops.
2. Try large booksellers
Major bookstore chains, including Waterstones and Blackwells, occupy a disproportionate number of high street bookshops. So it makes sense to see if they are willing to stock your book. The main problem here is that these companies require a discount of up to 50% on the price of your book. Unless you have had at least 1,000 books printed very cheaply, your profits could be severely dented by this discount. However, the prestige and publicity benefits of having your book in, for example, Waterstones, are so advantageous that many self-publishers feel it is worth only making a minimal profit. Sometimes authors even accept a small loss in exchange for a little kudos.
3. Being a ‘Local Author’
One way to get your toe in the door of bookstore chains is to approach their nearest outlet in your area as a ‘Local Author’. Stocking your book will be at the discretion of the particular bookshop manager. They may purchase copies of your title, or offer terms of ‘Sale or Return’. Make sure that you have put your book on Gardners first. Once one of the chain’s outlets has accepted your book, you can then approach some of their other shops within a slightly wider radius. They are much more likely to give you a chance if they know that other chain members have accepted it.
4. Independent bookshops
Fortunately, there are still many independent bookshops surviving on the high street. Taking your book in to show them is, frankly, the most likely way to get it into a bookstore. And it is also your best chance of actually sharing some of the profit, because independent bookshops usually offer more reasonable terms. Sale or Return presents an independent shop owner with the most attractive, low-risk proposition. Being able to mention that your book has been in Waterstones, even if it is only on the online catalogue, is a big plus! It will encourage confidence in your product.
5. Offer promotional materials
If you can, offer an independent bookshop the opportunity to display some of your promotional materials. This can include an A4 or A3 poster of your cover. Or you may have some postcards printed featuring the cover illustration, or one or two of the other illustrations in your book. Don’t give away too much of the story, though – you want customers to look at your book to learn about the plot and the ending!
6. Do a book signing
Sometimes a bookshop might offer you the chance to do a promotional book-signing event. Have some business cards printed, with your website details and a thumbnail bio. You can then offer these to anyone looking at your book, even if they don’t make a purchase at the time.
7. Try other shops
Other shops besides booksellers may be interested in stocking copies of your children’s book. Start with your local corner shop or village store! As a local author, your work is likely to be valued by their customers. If you live in a town, you could approach the local toyshop or any of the independent gift shops and cafés, offering Sale or Return copies of your children’s story. Sometimes garden centres are interested in an unusual, individually produced children’s book.
8. Fairs and fêtes
Keep your eyes open for local fêtes and fundraising fairs, perhaps in schools, churches or care homes in your area. The staff may consider placing a children’s book by a local author where parents and grandparents will see it, in return for a discount. Craft fairs and markets are another very good option for selling a children’s book. A friend may be happy to include your book on their stall, and you can make a donation to the cost of the table space.
9. Reading with local schools
Offering to read your children’s book to a group of primary school children at your local school, with some signed copies available for parents, could be accepted with enthusiasm! It helps if you can produce an activity sheet to accompany your book. For example, if you have illustrated the book yourself, photocopy some of your line drawings as a colouring sheet. Or you can trace the main character onto greaseproof paper bags to make a hand-puppet.
10. Promote online
You may be able to supplement your marketing efforts with an online presence. If you have a website, include your children’s book, with several well-chosen illustrations from the story. Be careful to watermark or copyright these images. Describe the text and illustrations, but remember not to reveal too many pictures or give away the whole plot. “No costumes front of house” is a good maxim – you don’t want to spoil the surprise!
11. Etsy and Ebay
If you don’t have your own website, try putting your children’s book on Etsy and Ebay. They will take a percentage, but it should still be well worthwhile to have your product with them. You can add any other items you may want to offer, such as handmade promotional characters, badges, or postcards relating to your children’s book. Consider having a few A4 fine art prints or posters made of the illustrations in your children’s story. These can be put on sale framed or unframed, alongside the books themselves. The extra investment will repay you by increasing attention from potential customers.
12. Profile positive feedback
The final tip for our 12 Ways to Market Your Children’s Book, is always to keep a record of any positive comments or remarks which people may make as they discover your children’s book. Children themselves come out with such interesting takes on the stories they encounter! Treasure up all the positive feedback from customers and shop-owners, and publish these as reviews with your product pages, on your website, Etsy or Ebay.
12 Ways to Market Your Children’s Book…
It may take time to sell your children’s books. Remember, though, that slow sales are better than no sales, and as the price of most books goes up, your children’s story will be all the more attractive in the future. Most self-published authors have to accept a long-ish lead time in selling the bulk of their books. Hopefully, though, this collection of 12 Ways to Market Your Children’s Book will give you some places to start. If you are patient enough to take a long term view, as you market your children’s book you will find it very rewarding and enjoyable! And who knows, you may be encouraged enough to write another book!
See Goldcrest Gallery’s selection of original children’s books in the Children’s Corner. Published by LRM Books.