The Big WHY
Self-Publishing a Children’s Book
Things are coming together over here!
In the last week, I’ve:
-received initial book sketches from my illustrator (so exciting!)
-sent revisions for the sketches
-had an existential crisis and changed the ending of my book
-calmed down and went back to the original story
-sent the sketches to the book designer
-had another crisis, this time imposter syndrome (who do I think I am, publishing a book for kids?!?)
-received the full text layout with the sketches, and the imposter feeling completely disappeared (kids are going to love this book!)
-sent revisions for the text layout
-spent way too long researching copyright law
-applied for my Library of Congress Catalog Number (LCCN)
-received the initial draft ideas for the cover of BANANAS IN THE BATH!!
PHEW!
Here’s a brief look at my Checklist so far:
Step by step, this book is coming together! With all that happened this week, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on why I’m doing this.
But first… I need to announce the winner of last post’s GIVEAWAY!
I was absolutely blown away by all the supportive comments and emails after my last post, “Mullets, and Hybrids, and Books, Oh My!”. I’m so glad it was helpful, and thank you for all the topic requests for future posts! I’ll do my best to get to each of them either in today’s post or future posts.
The winner of the giveaway (a copy of my upcoming board book, BANANAS IN THE BATH!) is…
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STEPHANIE JACKSON!
Congratulations, Stephanie! I’ll reach out through email so you can claim your prize :)
Today will be less of a technical post, and more of an emotional pep talk.
Why? Exactly! We’re talking about…
The Big WHY
Why this book?
Why self-publish?
Why write a children’s book at all?
WHY WHY WHY
This has been an extra special week (see above). I received the initial sketches for BANANAS IN THE BATH!, and I’m blown away. Alexandra Elliot is so talented! I sent my requested changes, which she’s working on now, and I felt so good! But then imposter syndrome set in…
What in the world do I think I’m doing?
Many writers experience this roadblock, not-so-lovingly referred to as “imposter syndrome”. This feeling can hit even the most successful creatives. It’s the feeling that makes us question our place in the publishing world.
What do I think I’m doing?
and
Who do I think I am?
When we choose to self-publish, it can look like failure from the outside: why didn’t a traditional publisher want this book, hmm? It must be really bad!
But what I’ve learned from the self-publishing groups I’m in, is that most of the people self-publishing didn’t even try going the traditional route (*gasp*).
And that’s true for me, as well (for this book, at least). BANANAS IN THE BATH! was never sent out by my agent. In fact, she hadn’t even read the manuscript until after I approached her about self-publishing it!
In general, I’ve learned that self-published writers are deeply connected to their BIG WHY. The main reason they’re writing. Sometimes it’s to raise awareness to an issue, or medical diagnosis. Other times, it’s a desire to share something special about their lives or careers. Or maybe they’ve created a character they love and want to share with the world! Whatever their reason, these writers are laser focused.
Now, that’s not to say that those of us pursuing a traditional deal are not connected to our BIG WHY, but I do think that sometimes we become so focused on tailoring our manuscripts to what we think will sell to a publisher that we lose focus on why we started writing. That’s not true for everyone of course, but having my foot in both worlds really brought to life for me how focused the self-publishing world is on their “why” as opposed to pleasing a publisher. There are some downsides to this laser focus, though, which I’ll discuss in a future post!
And speaking of future… I do want to touch on one of the impacts (there are many) that AI has had within the creative writing community. With chatbots and AI websites that can create an entire story in seconds, it’s never been easier to question one’s place in the writing world. It’s disheartening. It’s demoralizing. It makes us question why we should even write if machines can do it for us? I get it.
But that’s why your WHY is so important, now more than ever. Your lived human experience is unique- no human or machine will tell the same story as you- even with the same prompt. If you ask AI to write a story about a hibernating bear that wakes up hungry, it will spit out story after story. But no matter how many stories that AI machine spits out, it will never be your exact words.
So remember your why, put your blinders on, and write.
You may be wondering what my WHY is. Why did I choose BANANAS IN THE BATH! to self-publish? Why did I write it? Why did I get into children’s book writing at all?
Let’s start with:
Why I chose to self-publish, instead of trying the traditional route. In a nutshell, I want to be able to read this book to my kids while they’re still young, and with traditional publishing it could be many years until I have the book in hand (and that’s assuming it sells!). Once that reality sank in, I realized I could do this. It was time. I’ve spent 4 years honing my picture book writing skills. I’ve studied hundreds of books. I’ve critiqued probably over a hundred manuscripts. I’ve attended dozens of webinars and classes, and I’ve read countless articles. I’ve spoken with authors, agents, and editors!
I knew I was ready to take on the mountain that is self-publishing.
As for why I wrote BANANAS IN THE BATH! specifically? There’s a (short and sweet) story there:
My then 3 year old son was getting into the bathtub, when he turned around and, matter-of-factly, asked for a banana.
I said, “A banana? In the bath?”
To which he nodded. “Yup! A banana in the bath.”
And you know what? I brought him a banana.
And I wrote the first draft of BANANAS IN THE BATH! while sitting on the toilet lid, next to my son in the bathtub, happily eating his banana.
Even now, a year after writing the first draft, this is still his favorite story of mine (and I’ve written TONS of stories). I submitted a revised version into a competition that was judged by kids, where it won an Honorable Mention. I revised and revised, and ended up with a sing-songy text that I hope gets absolutely stuck in everyone’s heads, long after they finish reading. Hah!
My overarching BIG WHY is that I adore the magic of childhood. I write for the kids, for the parents, the guardians, for storytime. That magical time where a kid chooses a book (maybe my book?), and they sit with an adult they love and trust. It’s almost selfish, in a way. I want to be a part of that connection! I want to foster that feeling of sitting down with a book. And the thought of a child connecting with my book so much that they choose it for storytime!? Gosh. That’s the dream.
So that’s my big WHY.
There’s no giveaway this time, but I do want to leave you with a bit of homework, if you so choose: Find your WHY. Write it down. You’re welcome to email it to me, if that helps! I’ll cheer you on! When you doubt yourself on this journey, go back to your why.
Why did you start writing?
Why this story?
Why you?
The road to publishing is long, no matter which route (traditional or self) you choose to take. If you find yourself doubting your journey, go back to your WHY. Keep it close! You’ve got this.
We’re nearing the end of today’s post, but I can’t leave you without some book highlights!
I’ve been so busy the last few weeks that I haven’t had time to read any long books, so I asked my kids to pick a favorite book to share with you all instead. Here’s what they said:
Some of my (kids) favorite recent reads:
Kid 1: A WAY WITH WORDS
by Stacy Burch and Lucy McLoughlin
Reason: “I really like the illustrations and what it’s about, and how the little girl doesn’t want to talk, so she just makes things with her words!”
Kid 2: NIBBLES THE BOOK MONSTER
By Emma Yarlett
Reason: “My favorite thing about Nibbles is, I like trying to catch Nibbles! That’s so fun to me!”
Kid 3: GIRAFFES CAN’T DANCE (board book edition)
Reason: highly chewable, must taste good, still uninterested in the story
Upcoming Posts:
-Finding an Illustrator (with AI and scammers all over, there will be a lot to cover!)
-My Favorite Resources for writers
-Top Mistakes I See from self-published children’s authors (from the perspective not necessarily of a writer, but as someone who runs the indie book section of my shop!)
Are there any specific topics you’d like me to cover? Let me know, either in the comments below, or send me a message HERE!
Happy writing!
Andi
