How much money can you make from a children's book?
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
- www.childrensbookcourses.co.uk
There are a lot of high-earner’s figures quoted when it comes to children’s books. but if you think that writing children's books is the easiest way to quit the day job, then you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. As with the music industry, you only ever hear about the hugely successful cases, and for every JK Rowling or Julia Donaldson, there are tens of thousands of authors who are writing for love rather than money.
So what’s the truth? While becoming a millionaire overnight might be as difficult as in any other profession, how easy is it to at least make a full-time living from writing or illustrating children’s books?
Whether you’re a writer, illustrator (or both!) you can learn the inside secrets, tips and tricks of how to create your own children’s picture book for fun or profit.
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This was wonderful!! I recently wrote, illustrated and self published my first 3 children's books and it is a great feeling of accomplishment even before the books start selling.. I went through kdp and I'm going to be trying the new Vella format for one of my books.. I don't write particularly for money.. I love writing stories that have meaning and an element of adventure, acceptance, and kindness... I get some but not a lot of support for my writing from family and friends because I think they see it as a little bit of a waste of time because it takes so long to be successful or prosperous, but I absolutely love writing.. This video gave me a feeling of support and encouragement and excitement for what the future can possibly hold for my books.. Thank you so much!! 💙✍️
You’re very welcome and thank you for the kind comments. It sounds like you’re well on your way and - more importantly - you’re having fun and finding a creative release. All the best and good luck with your books, Christyan
Never listen to slowlaners in your life and never feel ashamed to want money and the success you deserve!! These are crucial mental blocks to remove asap. Congrats on being awesome!
What’s the name of your books ?
@@ChuckAroundTheWorld Hi thanks for your interest... My books are Hiram Raccoon's Phenomenal Movie Adventure, Penny Petunia Opossum's Tail Tale, and Itty Bitty The Little Kitty Goes To Heaven.. My Vella series, which I will be adding to soon is called Kylewyn Gnomerstein's Magical Quest.. I have 16 episodes posted so far..
A publisher claimed that people RARELY find success with self publishing. Being someone who's never published anything yet but getting closer to finish my first book...
Your advice would be.....
?
🙏
Thank you! I’m 12 and I am wanting to be a children’s book writer, this helped me lots!
I am an aspiring children's author. I have a diploma in writing for children and teenagers. My manuscript was my final assignment for the course. I call my childhood memoir Mama's Little Helper. I just submitted it on June 9th for a critique through The Institute of Children's Lit.
That's great Ayesha, I hope you find a publisher and/or an Agent soon. All the best, Christyan
Wow! I loved this video. The last segment gave me chills of excitement! I recently wrote a children’s book just in the notes app on my phone as it all came to me. I’ve now read it to dozens of people who all say it’s so good I need to get it published but I have no idea where to begin! But what you said in the last part of your video tells me I’m in the right place because when I read my book out loud to my kids and all my nieces and nephews and siblings etc and saw their smiles and heard their laughter I got that feeling you described.
You're an underrated channel. Thanks for sharing valuable info!
This was both realistic and inspirational. Thank you!
So thankful to have stumbled across your content - THANK YOU! Looking forward to exploring your resources. -Amanda
Just found you Christyan! Thank you for your candid and very helpful information. I will be watching the rest of your videos and hopefully will take your author/illustrator course. Already wrote 2 picture books in a series but the actual logistics of making sure you have the correct page number, etc is new to me....I was just having fun. Thank you again!
Hi Carol, good to hear from you and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I’m working on more at the moment so watch out for the next batch. Glad you’ve made a start on your first stories, it’s only by ‘doing it for real’ that you really gain a perspective on the challenges involved. Good luck with your next steps, Christyan
Really enjoyed this video, honest, succinct and extremely informative. Thank you
I will be exploring your other resources as well, this was great thanks. So clear and much more than expected. Like going to a candy store and leaving with free samples 😁
This is so informative...thank you so much.
Lots of appreciation Christyan ❤️
Loved this video! Well done! Thank you. I'm just about to put together many, many years of illustrations and book ideas. Kinda nervous! So, watching as many videos as I can.
Such a humble, grounded and respectful video. I can see how you've carved out a strong career. Thank you for the sage advice.
There is some very good information here! It sounds a lot like the record business with bands up to the late 80s where artists started to create their own studios and record companies to recoupe some of the royalties they were losing to the big recording companies. Sounds like the way to go would be to self-publish, sell merchandise, and get a good distributor.
Thank you for those tips!
I am an visual arts teacher, writing and illustrating a book with my nephews and nieces as characters, traveling the world and learning about Arts and Culture. Your vídeo really gave me good insights to start. Thank you for sharing!
Great video, realistic, encouraging.Thank you.
Thank you so much for your kind message. Your words really inspire me, and to stay faithful in the process as a beginner illustrator who is still learning the art fundamentals. 🙂
Christian thank you so much for such an insightful video. I’m thinking of changing my career and I have some ideas that I want to put to paper and you have inspired me to just start writing and see what happens!
This was quite giving. Thank you!
Impressive!...thank you so much for sharing your deep and honest insight...Best wishes!
Just came across your channel and loving the videos. This one especially!
Thank you for providing great information. Hope to see more videos in the future!
Thanks Aki, you're very welcome. A flood of post-lockdown-work has slowed down the video production but I'll post more asap. In the meantime take a look at what's available on the course: www.childrensbookcourses.co.uk All the best, Christyan
Thank you so much! This was excellent. I so appreciate the time you spent to do it.
not so often to watch a video which is so clear,honest and simple to understand. thank you so much!
Wonderful advice! Thank you!
Good for you.. I'm planning to write children's book too..
Thank you for this explanation!
This video was very insightful. Thank you very much for providing the information.
Thank you so much Chris :)
I just started writing my 1st children's book thank you for your advice...
This is a very comprehensive video, Christyan! Have forwarded on to a friend who's looking to publish her book.
Good to hear from you Arati - and I see you've illustrated a lot of book covers. Never considered illustrating a whole children's book yourself?
Thank you so much for sharing this invaluable and honest information with us! Your insights are incredibly relevant and have been truly eye-opening. It's so refreshing to see someone who is willing to speak truthfully and openly about this topic. Your contribution is greatly appreciated!
Excellent piece very helpful, thanks Christyan
I haven’t illustrated a book in a while. This was helpful to me as I have been asked to illustrate one now.
I’m in the US & need some advice plz. I fell into book illustration a few years ago as more of a hobby, but plan to continue into retirement from my day job. I don’t have a contract & don’t know where to start. I’ve posted art to Ingram-Spark, Amazon-KDP; currently working with a fledgling self-publisher (friend) who also doesn’t have a contract. She recently asked me to work on a new children’s book project - I jumped at the opportunity. I found out after starting the book illustrations, that she verbally quoted her friend (a day job coworker) a fee we’ve established in the past for a cover design only. This new book is 20-pages of custom art + covers. Turns out the client-author is only going to pay the price of the cover. All 3 of us are ignoring the elephant in the room - I’m working (almost) for free which has been a huge problem of mine. Where do I begin?? 😫
Thank you, I just started writing and illustrating in my language, your videos is so inspiring, thank you🙌 appreciate it
You're very welcome Ink Pirate, best of luck with your book(s)!
Nice - love the Snowy in the background and that's a quality tee-shirt.
Thank you for sharing your insight and experience; it is much appreciated!
Thank you, very helpful!
God bless you, Christyan Fox!
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. I'm a children's book illustrator from India and I've been working as freelance illustrator since one year now and absolutely loving what I do 🎉😄
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing
Thank you. That was very informative.
Thank you for this very informative video. I started writing and illustrating my children's book series, Bop and Mo. I published my first book, "Bop & Mo Adventures together," a year ago on KDP and Barnes & Noble. Just today got Bop and Mo into two local book stores. One thing I've been very hesitant on, is making my books in ebook format. I've read that many ebooks are downloaded, then uploaded to various sites for free. But it sounds like ebooks may sell better, get noticed more, than traditional paperback or hardcover. Do you know if traditional publishing houses watch the sales of paperback books as well? I may have to entertain the idea of venturing into ebook sales.
Hi bopmo, good to hear from you and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Traditional publishing houses look at the overall sales figures of self-published books in both 'hard' copy and digital download format, so even if you've ordered copies yourself (to sell through your local bookstores) it still counts as a sale and would add to your tally. I don't think you need to worry too much about ebooks being passed on through other sites, if the book were to become successful either your name would still be on there (and therefore you'd generate publicity) or, if they've replaced your name with their own, you'd still have legal rights because you'd be able to prove that your version pre-dated yours. I hope that helps and there's lots more information on all aspects of writing, illustrating, publishing, agents and much else in the on-line courses (www.childrensbookcourses.co.uk). All the best, Christyan
I'm so happy to have your video pop up in my feed! I've been creating characters, writing stories and poems for years, I have so much to share! But I'm frustrated, I've been trying to finish my first one for two years because I'm not sure how to put it together to send to publishers. Do I have to figure out the page layout along with text? Do I print that all out like a dummy copy and send it? And if publishers only accept digital submissions, how do I submit? Just send images and the text is separate or do I lay it out in a publisher program? Please I hope you can give me some feedback, I subscribed but noticed your videos are from a year ago, I hope you are still doing them! This one was great!
Hi Mary, good to hear from you. Yes, I'm still going but don't get much time to make new videos. You might have noticed that the UA-cam videos are linked to my online courses (www.childrensbookcourses.co.uk) which will give you all the information you need. In your case you could just subscribe to the Illustrator's Course, but if you want a complete picture of the industry (and a better understanding of what it takes to construct a successful story) I'd recommend the combined option. The courses will answer all the questions you've asked and will take you up to the level of understanding how to present your work, identify the right publishers and give you advice about digital vs. hard-copy submissions... along with considering whether your book might be better-suited to self-publishing. I hope that helps and good luck with your books.
Hi. Great video, thankyou. What programs are you using for the illustrations and text at the moment please?
Thanks for those info🌸
Fabulous information❣️💯
Thank you for your time and energy🙏💛
Thanks for the in sight. That was more than I realized.
Thank you so much for such informative and honest advice.
Wow! I feel inspired. I'm just starting out. I always knew that I would one day, I would write a children's book. It just took me 200 years lol to get here.😅
Thank you so much for your video it was most informative. God bless...
Thank you for sharing❤🙏
Thanks I published my 1st book & now it’s the #1 new released on Amazon insane
Lee Lee adventures “oh no”! Thanks for the info!
Thank you Christyan, most informative and has led me to evaluate what I am doing at present and seriously look at going into publishing on Amazon. Do you happen to know if rhyming books are more popular when it comes to sales in childrens books? All the best! James
That's an interesting question James and I don't have an accurate answer to give you because I'm a writer/illustrator, not a publisher. What I do know is that the children's picture book market today is international, which makes translation of rhyming books very difficult. In turn that means that a successful rhyming book in English might only be sold in English-speaking markets, which of course limits its sales potential in comparison with a book that can be translated and sold worldwide. I hope that helps,
Christyan
I could live a $3000 a month us happily enough with my books in my peace and quiet. I’m on the autism spectrum and I don’t like the idea of a lifetime of going into the office. There are people there.
Thank you for this video.
thanks this is very valuable information
Thank you.
Wonderful information, thank you :)
Can't wait for the lessons from you, Mr. Fox 🙏
Hello Mimbar, are you signed-up for the Chelsea UAL course in August or are you talking about the on-line course?
All the best, Christyan
@@christyanfox189I'm talking about online or video course, Mr. Fox. Thank you for your response on my comment. Best regard.
Very helpful thank you. The Amazon KDP route I gather is terrible so I’ll avoid it at all costs if I pursue this idea.
I've known a few people do it and the results they showed me were pretty good, but there are certainly other options out there these days. It pays to shop around and see who's offering the best quality and has the best results.
great book ideas for kids
Oh sorry I love your channel!!!
Thank you
My question is do it hurt to go from faith-based Romance to Children's books? I've always wanted to write a children's book and the older I get, the shorter the book, lol. I don't see changing the website or using a pen name just for this. The books can get their own Facebook page?
Thank you for this thorough and very helpful analysis. Question which I can't find an answer to: is there such a thing as any industry of illustrators in the business of accepting submissions from writers of picture book texts? I submit my texts to literary agents, of course, and will always continue trying. But are there also perhaps established illustrators who accept submissions of texts from writers, with a view to (if they find a really good one) collaboration in pursuing publication of a joint work?
Hi @voiceofvoiced, being an illustrator (who doesn't write) is standard practice for many and something I did for perhaps the first ten years of my career. The process is that you submit your portfolio to publishers, they keep copies of your work on file and if a suitable text comes along that they think would be a good fit they match you up with the text.
Publishers prefer to make the decision about which texts work well with which illustrators, so it often doesn't work if you collaborate with an author beforehand and submit your work... that's not to say it doesn't happen, but generally you'd be better (as an illustrator) taking the former approach - there's more work that way and you're guaranteed a payment rather than trying to sell a book you've already completed the work for.
@@christyanfox189 that's a really helpful analysis and explanation, thank you very much! All makes sense.
Yes you can
Brilliant!
Fascinating fascinating post. Very inspiring. New subscriber too.
Thanks Maxwell, much appreciated!
I tried searching online but could not find a straightforward answer. How many picture books does the average picture-book author write in a career?
Very informative, Christyan. I have a question. What's your view on the viability of writing in rhyme? I know mainstream publishers don't generally like rhyme (though they love Julia Donaldson $$$$), but I'm only interested in self-publishing unless some publisher wants to throw wads of cash my way. I've ghostwritten a couple of hundred books in rhyme for other people and gotten rave reviews. Is it worth pursuing for myself, in your opinion?
Hello Noggin, good to hear from you. Writing in rhyme is liked by children, adults and teachers… the only problem for publishers is the translation issue, which restricts markets in which the book can be sold. If you’re self-publishing and not seeking translation, then absolutely go for it. All the best, Christyan
@@christyanfox189 Thanks very much. One other question, if you don't mind. What is your feeling about illustrating self-published books with licensed graphics? I know you're an illustrator, so that's probably an anathema, but obviously, it's much cheaper if you have the editing skills, which I do. I've done it a few times for clients, and they were quite happy with the results. I'm wondering whether to go the same route with the first book of my own.
@@nogginnogg1788 If you're not an illustrator and you're self-publishing then I don't see a problem with what you've proposed. I'd check that the license you've purchased covers you for commercial resale - if so, you should be fine. If you submit to a mainstream publisher they won't want to use anything like that: just submit the writing and they'll commission their own illustrator. Good luck with it, Christyan
@@christyanfox189 Many thanks again.
Beautiful work
I'm working on mine..
I like the way you sound. ⭐
How very flattering, thank you!
I'm currently writing a children's book in memory of my son who was born premature at 17 weeks. I'm not exactly looking to make tons of money from it but I do want it to have the best chance of being read. What is the best publishing option for that?
Hi Kyle, apologies for not getting back to you sooner. It's very difficult to convince a mainstream publisher to accept such a project because of its lack of commercial potential (sad but true... it's a money-making business for them). I've had other students in a similar position as you who want to produce books on worthwhile causes, bereavement, charities, disability and other issues and the best way is to self-publish. Amazon is one of the leading platforms but there are others you can investigate online. One of the most successful self-published children's picture books (The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep by Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin) was actually on an issue that mainstream publishers deemed to be uncommercial, but went on to sell millions - so you never can tell. I talk more about self publishing vs. mainstream in my online video courses. Good luck and all the best, Christyan
Thank you! I am creating an online course in spanish that teaches how to create childrens books, thanks!
Great content! What happens of we first go with KDP’s ISBN.. are we forever doomed from doing external contracts and owned by amazon forever???
I have the same question.
An ISBN is only for that one book, so you can produce other books and other characters, or even other books based on the same characters, with a traditional publisher. Contract law can be quite a minefield so check carefully before signing: often with self-publishing contracts you need to be careful of those offering the largest royalties as they're more restrictive about what you can and can't publish subsequently.
Which was your best selling book?
Hi Matty, that would be The Cat, the Dog, Little Red (etc.)... it made back it's advance on pre-sales and I think it outsold all our other books by around 15:1
Loved your Video .... Did you write them books in the back ??how many books have u written?
Hi, and yes, they’re all our books. I think we’ve written around 20 or so but I’ve illustrated a lot more that have been written by other authors so the published total is around 54. All the best, Christyan
@@christyanfox189 Wow You illustrated them Books. Wow amazing Job !! Definitely Works of Art ! Congrats on your success ! Wish u much more Success ..God bless u and your family .Thanks For response .Much Respect Brother
@@christyanfox189 do u sign other authors?
great
christyan fox looks like the type of guy to write children's books
I am interested in and have an idea for a children's book series however I have no illustration experience...or talent. Lol Any ideas or suggestion?
Hi ejoy, well the simple answer is to take one or both of our courses in writing or illustration which will teach you everything you need to know about constructing a children’s picture book story, creating characters and compositions, structure, presentation, how to identify the best publishers for your work and submit your book. All the best, Christyan
Are all the books behind you your make? If yes congrats amazing!
They are Suzanne! In all I've illustrated around 54 books at the last count and we've written around half of those. In some of the other videos you can also see an entire shelf of books produced by my students... something of which I'm particularly proud. Good luck with your own writing or illustration efforts and all the best, Christyan
Could self-publishing and/or Amazon sales jeopardize a potential traditional publishing deal? I would imagine that a traditional publisher might look at Amazon sales as a subtraction from the total potential book sales.
No, often the opposite is true. As I mention in the videos publishers like to keep their eye on any self-published projects to see if there's something they can monetise themselves. At the end of the day it's a business, if they can make money out of your book by offering a higher-quality product, they'll offer you a deal.
How does a writer, looking to self-publish a children’s picture book, hire an illustrator and draw up a contract? What is the going rate for an illustrator and is it generally expected that an illustrator gets paid a fee upfront, or does the writer split the profits with the illustrator? Many thanks for your helpful and easy-to-listen videos.
Hello Zeather, there are various ways to have your book illustrated for self-publishing. 'Persuading' a friend or family member to do it for you is the most common, though commissioning an illustrator from the Far East is now the cheapest and easiest route - there's more about this on the paid courses, along with resources material examples from students who've done exactly this. There's no 'set' going rate because it depends on too many variables (world location of the illustrator, length of book, illustration style, whether you want them to do the graphic design, etc.). If you're commissioning an illustrator for self-publishing then usually the writer would pay a flat fee and there would be no subsequent royalties - but things are different if the book goes into mainstream publishing. Again, lots more on this subject and more in the online courses - link at the top of the page. Good luck with everything, Christyan
@@christyanfox189 Thank you Christyan!
Hi, new subscriber here. I am a published author of horror novellas. I want to write a children's book series about a friendly monster. Children's book writing is new to me and I found this video to be very helpful. Can you recommend any good children's book agents/publishers?
Sorry, no, that’s beyond my area of expertise. I can only teach you what’s acceptable in writing and illustration, how to present your book and how to identify which publishers to approach. See the courses for more details. All the best, Christyan
Hi, I can't recommend any specific agents or publishers - it's very much a process of doing some research and seeing who's publishing (or representing) similar material and might be open to your ideas. Hope that helps, Christyan
:') Thank You
I am curious how to work with a stuffed animal manufacturer to have the book and a stuffed animal to boost the book sales. If you have contacts and agencies that can represent a writer for the US and UK
Hi @omonroy, the process with any linked merchandise doesn’t usually work this way around. Usually what happens is you sell the book idea to a publisher and if they want to include merchandise they link up with a manufacturer (usually in China), the additional royalties (after they subtract costs) coming to you, with everything set out in the initial contract. There are other complications such as the additional soft toy taking up valuable shelf space and making the book more difficult to display, transport, package, safety liability, etc, etc. I leave all this kind of thing to a publisher.
Christyan
How does someone go about starting their own publishing company?
You’d have to ask a publisher I’m afraid - I’m an illustrator and writer so it’s a different field
@@christyanfox189 How do I decide the dimensions of my children’s book and how do I choose a main stream publisher?
Hi cactus, that’s beyond my area of expertise I’m afraid - I concentrate on creating the books and leave the headache of publishing to others. All the best, Christyan
Royalties are 5% of gross profit or 5% of gross sales revenue?
Most publishers pay royalties based on the retail price of the book (that might be more or less than 5%, it's whatever you negotiate in your contract). Occasionally publishers pay royalties on net sales, because publishers sell the book at different prices to different retail outlets (e.g. they offer big discounts to Amazon), so royalties on net sales are calculated after factoring in all those price discounts. Generally it's better for authors to receive retail royalties because that's the highest price the book sells for.
❤
A point of clarification: is it possible to illustrate a childrens book even if you don’t have previous technical knowledge but have all the scenes in your head.
Yes and no… it’s possible to illustrate a book with a very naive style (something like David Shrigley or Purple Ronnie) but it’s unusual. You can certainly do it, the challenge is in finding a publisher to take it. There’s lots more on this subject in the illustration course. Good luck with your book, Christyan
Hi Joseph. Yes, there's a market for so-called naïve illustration, which can be very appealing to a child precisely because of the lack of technical expertise. Of course, finding a publisher to accept your work might be more of a challenge (or you can always self-publish) because they'd have to see a special quality in your work that they felt would appeal to the market - but I've seen that exact quality in many of my students. Hope that helps, Christyan
I find it odd to just produce 5 books in a year. Don't consider myself a writer yet but I have tons of ideas. I'ma graphic designer, illustrator and web developer. If this was my full time job I could put out a book every two weeks, make designs for appeal and sell it through my own website with print on demand.
Unless the writing takes so long, i can illustrate a whole children's book in two weeks from manga, to comic book style to full colored picture books. I don't get how if you work 40 hrs a week it takes months to do one book.
I can even do the whole layout in InDesign since I worked in press shops and know printing.
I'm guessing that what takes long is the writing... What else could it be? Not the illustrating unless you are really slow or illustrating very stylistic realisti.
Hi @pochonieves, the illustration itself is often the quickest part, and if you only have yourself to satisfy there's no impediment to turning out quickly. The writing - or at least coming up with a fresh idea that will appeal to a publisher - is not an easy task. Then there's preparing your pitch for the book, touting it around the publishing houses, waiting for an acceptance. Once you score a publishing deal the editor will want changes. They might change the characters or the scenes or something else that's fundamental to every single illustration in the book, so some or all will need re-doing. Once you have a book dummy the publisher will parade it around various book shows in order to make advance sales on translation issues. Once you get the final go-ahead you produce the final version (which might be very similar to the dummy, or they might want more changes). As you can see, it's the bureaucracy that's generally holding up the process - I try to have two or three projects overlapping.