New ways to promote your self-published children's book |Continue to market your children’s book

Many of the children’s book authors I’ve worked with aren’t in this for the money. Yes, we all want to make something from our efforts and at least recoup our costs, and children’s books tend to be pricier because of the need for high quality illustration and the margins are slimmer because of the premium quality of paper required for all that ink. It can feel like an uphill battle for authors who are just trying to help kids. Whether they are trying to teach about a sport, improve self-esteem, introduce money topics early, or whatever their mission is, many children’s book authors have one book or one short series in mind. Well once those books are out… then what?
For authors there are some great options that I want to go over with you today:
Add a coloring book - Curly Crow Series (Nicholas is a channel member) - www.curlycrow.com/ Nicholas is growing the book series his mother began before she passed. Since he has illustrations and kids like to color, he asked his illustrator to provide additional coloring book files. He plans to work with LuLu to print and distribute these along with each book in the series.
Activity book (Keith’s Puzzle Book Domination Course) - so this is a similar idea, an additional book to go along. But activity books and puzzle books can be great for furthering the point you are trying to teach with your books. Especially if your age group is a bit older. Keith Wheeler was on the channel last year and we talked about his course that goes into every detail of creating puzzle books and activity books. He recently revamped the course, you can check it out here: warriorplus.com/o2/a/qvb5zj/0
One-off activities- Rob from M is for Money, he was on the channel earlier this year and decided to do a one-off activity. Making a money box with Stash. www.misformoneybook.com/money... This contest is giving him the opportunity to continue to connect with readers and parents, collect emails for his newsletter, get social media content around his book, and get kids excited about money. This is an excellent example of how to continue engaging.
Wrapping paper add-on - for anyone selling their books directly, you can add on a wrapping paper with your characters. This can make any holiday promotions really special. Maybe you throw in the wrapping paper when someone buys the set. But first, make sure you know how much would be needed to actually cover the book. refer.zazzlereferral.com/1mkw...
Toys or Plushies - So I’ve seen people talk about this a lot more often and to be honest, this would be the most difficult to execute in my opinion. You’re learning a whole new industry. Maybe stick with something simple first then look into this one.
A few things to keep in mind:
-If you are going back to a book you published earlier this year, or last year, or even earlier check the agreement you signed with your illustrator. They may need to sign off on additional uses of the characters created for monetary purposes. Also, you’re probably going to need help with some aspects of these items.
-Don’t make it MORE difficult than it needs to be. Maybe you love the idea of an activity book or puzzle book, but you feel intimated by learning a whole new system. Okay, start with coloring books and then after you finish Keith’s course, give it a try with activity books.
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[@rudreshjayaram5608]

Thank you for the helpful insights.

[@1MKWilliams]

Happy to help!

[@LovelyLaurel17]

This was really helpful - thank you!!

[@1MKWilliams]

You're welcome!

[@user-lq3se1yy8o]

Great video and content M.K! 🙌

[@1MKWilliams]

Glad I can help

[@heartatworkcreations]

Love your energy and informational videos!

[@1MKWilliams]

So glad I can help!

[@patriciadanna7433]

Thanks for the great ideas. I'm hoping to do a coloring book to go along with my picture book....will definitely look into Keith's course.

[@1MKWilliams]

Excellent!! Glad you are already thinking ahead

[@EmmaBennetAuthor]

I love the colouring book idea!

[@1MKWilliams]

Me too! Simple to execute and fun for the kiddos!

[@charlie-george]

This is great. Very inspirational! Thanks, M.K.

[@1MKWilliams]

Glad I can help!

[@SDHuston]

A coloring book to go with the children's book? That is a smart idea! So many wonderful ideas here. I think making any type of toy from the story would be difficult and possibly not as lucrative? I don't write anything for children, so I don't have much to add. I am wondering about MG promotions, though. Not for myself, but for another Authortuber who is first pursuing a traditional publisher but possibly will self-publish if it's not picked up. Thanks for the video!

[@1MKWilliams]

Happy to share. For MG I would think other activities besides the coloring book could be fun. The author can be really creative with ways the kids can interact with the content and characters off the page while also keeping them engaged with the brand. As parents, we know that when our kid suddenly loves *insert random animal or topic here* they want so much more. Giving added activities and information is a great way to meet that need and give the kid and parent a great experience with the book.

[@ColorsofHopeCraftsASMR]

These are great ideas! My best friend and I are writing a children’s book series. We have already written the rough drafts of the first three books in the series. It’s about a kid with Hydrocephalus, which is the condition I was born with. Question for you: can you do a kickstarter to get the money to make the books?

[@1MKWilliams]

I did a whole series of videos about a kickstarter for children's books: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpmtaoKul66FbZo You CAN prefund everything with a kickstarter, but if there are no images yet it is hard to market/promote the kickstarter. I recommend fronting the costs, aiming to breakeven on the kickstarter and then any royalties afterwards are profit. However, with the kickstarter you also have to budget how much it will cost to fulfill the campaign with printed books, mailing costs, bookmarks, stickers, and other extras. This video series covers A TON of details.

[@ColorsofHopeCraftsASMR]

@@1MKWilliams Thanks! The problem is that neither of us have the money to cover the whole thing. I Can contribute some, but she’s a teacher and I’m trying to find a full-time job right now.

[@higherfurtherfaster90]

What's your opinion on kid's horror books? My first book was a musical adventure, but planning on going horror with second one using the same character.

[@1MKWilliams]

I guess it depends on the age range. I remember R.L. Stine and Goosebumps as a kid that was considered "scary" or horror for that market, I'm sure my parents would have rolled their eyes. As long as it is age appropriate there is a way to make it work.

[@higherfurtherfaster90]

@M.K. Williams yeah those are middle grade which is what I write. R.L Stine definitely made those work. I guess the trick is to make the books spooky instead of scary. Thanks!