S Shekhar, Author at Blueberry Illustration

Connection between Children Stories and Animals

Nature has played an important role during the development of books for children. This started with an idea of educating the children about their world. In those days the books may or may not contain the story telling method, giving knowledge through books was the main idea. As the times changed, people would take their children to zoos and they came closer to animals. This really inspired many authors to write on the relation between animals and humans especially children. Try asking a little child about nature, and his first reply may be of a lion or some other animal or forest, that is how close are kids to animals.

There is a strong connection between animals and children’s literature. Kids find animals really interesting, there we see a lot of authors and publishing houses which put animals as important characters in picture books, children’s story books, in children’s novels, in non-fiction, in poetry, in fairy tales and in nursery rhymes and text books. You can find many books for babies which are rich in animals and are used to teach children animal names, alphabets and numbers. Try walking into a library and check the children’s literature section and you will find that almost half of the stories will be animal based.

Some of the most common animals found in children’s books are dogs, cats, pigs, lions, chickens, ducks, sheep, butterfly, caterpillar, rabbits, rats, horses, foxes, bears and more. The animals usually have a particular trait in them which the author make use of. For example, a fox is usually shown as clever, a lion is shown strong, if not shown strong the story ends making it realize its character, a sheep is generally shown the innocent one and so on. The kids are quickly able to relate to these characteristics of that animal and its easy for them to understand these stories for them rather than creating human characters with these characteristics. It is also less frightening for the kids to know that a fox was quite clever and evil rather than have a human portray such traits. Dressing the animals in clothes also help the children relate to them better. The children’s book illustrations with animals can look visually quite humorous and appealing. It’s easy for children to learn and absorb lessons from animals than from their parents or teachers.

It is much more interesting to understand the morals from such stories. Animals in children stories make the children more loving towards animals.

All About My Book Copyright

This is a very complex topic for all the authors who have just planned to publish their book. The fact of the matter is the author owns the copyright the moment the book is published even if you have not even looked at the copyright registration. But if you have written a book and somebody else has published the same story before you did it, copyright law does not apply to that. It is applicable only if your book is published and/or you have got your copyright registration done. It is as simple and easy as that.

We have tried to explain you various aspects here which would be covered under the copyright:

Once your book is published, no other printer or bookstore can copy the content and publish it again directly to its readers. This is covered under copyright law. Any reader needs to purchase the book from you or your distribution channel only. It cannot be sold, reproduced, distributed or translated without the permission from the copyright owner.
A list of facts is not actually a work of copyright. For example, you compile a phonebook or a list of monuments, that is not a copyright content.
The copyright does not just protect your text, but also the characters and the story line. Although names, short phrases, slogans, titles, expressions cannot be copyrighted.
Copyright Registration is totally voluntary. Although registering your copyright at the copyright office will give you advantage legally if someone uses your work. It’s a very easy 10 minutes work. Simply go to copyright.gov, register yourself, fill in the forms, make a payment of $85 towards the copyright and your manuscript is submitted to U.S. copyright office and your work is done. This website is under the Library of Congress.
Inserting a Copyright page in your book is very important. It needs a copyright symbol, year of publication, and the author name. It appears something like this: ©2020John Douglas. This page also generally includes the book edition number, publisher name, address and ISBN (very important).
Adding a disclaimer in your book: This again is very important as it is to protect you if any of your readers claims about any misinformation or copyright infringement they find in the characters. For example, you may need to add a disclaimer like this in your fiction story “The characters in this book are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.” Or if you have written a non-fiction book about “Sure ways to loose weight” but your reader is not able to loose weight and he then puts a claim about fraud statements in your book, you can indeed protect yourself using a simple disclaimer alert in some sentence like, at your own risk.
You do not need permission to use quotes in a book, but it’s important to mention the name of that person in front of it.
You might have seen the term “works of public domain”. This the set of works which is not covered under copyright and is free for use for anyone. For example, you can use Shakespeare story and create a movie, it will not be a copyright infringement. It generally is for works which are very old beyond the copyright law or after the author is end for many-many years. Each country’s public domain laws vary, so it’s better to research about that country before considering someone’s work as in public domain.
If your book is getting published with a traditional publisher, the publisher will generally get a contract signed by you stating that the work is your original and the publisher is waived off from any infringement and author will own the complete responsibility.

Is Self-Publishing a Book Profitable?

You have written your book, and have made a choice between the two- traditional vs Self-publishing. Now, the bigger question, is Self-Publishing really profitable? The answer is not that simple. But just like any other business, YES, you can be successful and earn good money self-publishing your book. Look at the Amazon Bookstore alone, it has millions of books selling there, so you can be sure of it that the book-business is up and running for many-many years and will continue to do so.

Self-Publishing is more than just writing, it is like starting a new venture- being an entrepreneur. There are various aspects of this book industry, and each aspect is equally important-

-Book Compiling

-Book Printing

-Book Marketing & Distribution

Just like any business, before launching your book in the market and hoping for success there, you need to be sure that your book is good and worth every penny and time, of its readers. If your reader is happy, he will be your live book promoter. The key here is: “your book should be worth. “Just writing a good story does not mean it will turn out to be a good book. It needs to be

Professionally edited
Should have the right illustration vibes,
Should be systematically compiled and have a good professional cover design,
And last but not the least it should be directed using the right marketing and book promotion strategies.

These are the basics and they need to be right to make a good profitable book business. Now each of the above basic of book building will either need you to do a lot of research (especially if you are new) or you can look our for professional and experienced agencies who are there to guide you through each step and making your book reach its readers and thus aiding in sales.

You can earn from your book sales in two ways, either you will yourself print and distribute physically and make revenue or you the simpler way is to self-publish through amazon, ingramspark, barnes & noble etc and earn royalties. In both the cases, you really need to maintain your author presence through your website or other social networking platforms.

Its really important that you invest your time and money in your book marketing as well since mere launching a book will not invite the readers. It can get very difficult for an author to do all this research and understand the know abouts of book marketing. There are some good book promotion tools provided by Blueberry Illustrations which really work and have helped many authors in their book sales. Get complete set of marketing services to create your bestseller. Work with marketing experts to help you build your Author BRAND. Promote your book, sell more copies and get reviews from real readers. You can be everywhere with various promotion tools. Get an exclusive authors website with link to sell your book from your website. It is always advisable to take professional guidance or hire experts who can create the needed buzz for your book.

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: Which Is Better?

This question was the very first question amongst the authors who wanted to publish their books. But that’s a thing of the past. More than 90% of the authors are now clear that they want to self-publish their books. It’s only a little percentage of the author’s who still get caught in this question of whether to choose the traditional publishing or Self-Publishing. Making this choice is not very simple as it depends on numerous factors.

I will try to explain the difference between the two here in a very organized manner. I am sure this will help you gather a simple answer to your complex doubt about choosing one of either “Traditional publishing or Self-Publishing”.

Investment: With traditional publishers, there is no initial investment needed by the author, indeed usually you get some advance against royalties. But with Self-Publishing, authors need to plan with an advance budget to self publish their book and bring in the market for sale. They need to plan on investing in professional Editing service, Illustrations, Cover Design, Book inside Design and planned Book marketing. For a self published author, its very important to invest in a good creative team who would make your book professionally designed.
Royalty Rates: With traditional publishing, you do get an initial advance but that too is a part of your royalty only. The royalty rate with traditional publishers is only 6% to 20% of your book sale and that too will start after your advance has been fulfilled. Whereas with Self-Publishing, you get a 70% of the royalty when you put your book on amazon for sale. That’s a lot of difference the royalty price. But selling books is not that simple. You may need to research more on the marketing tools for your book promotion or may seek professional help for this service.
Print Distribution: The traditional publishers have a better edge at marketing and making your book reach the book shelves at local book stores and libraries. But with the internet, its best to capitalize the worldwide reader population. You do need more than just physical distribution of the books. And with self-publishing, you get to know each step of your book making process, and this way you understand the online distribution of your book better. Its normally print on demand and reaching a physical bookstore will not be that easy, unless you visit, create personal network etc. But your book will still be available on all major online book stores reaching a world wide audience.
Creative Control: I have seen traditional published authors, who are definitely talented with loads of creativity but they seem frustrated with the extra interference from traditional authors over the manuscript, story title, kind of illustrations, design, and even the book price and Book promotion methods they intend for the book. They are not just made to change the words but at times also change the story lines, the climax as per the Publisher’s preference. Whereas with Self-Publishing, you are the boss. You have the complete freedom to write the story, selection of words, time to publish, kind of illustrations you want. You actively participate in each step of the book publishing. You need to either learn these all yourself or better get a professional help with experts of self-publishing. There is much more learning in this process and quite a feeling of authority and empowerment.
Process Speed: Traditional publishing is quite a slow process. Getting your story selected by agents and then publishers itself will take more than a year. It can go up to 2 years or it can be a never ending/rejection/alteration cycle of your story. And even after your story is selected by the author, it will take a long time before they finalize the text and then design all the other aspects of the book. The publication time if also at publisher’s discretion. Whereas if you have a story ready, it can be completely compiled by a good self publishing agencies in 2-3 months, and your book will be available in next 24-72 hours on amazon. Isn’t that the best you can have.
Copyright: With traditional publishing, the book copyright belongs to the publisher. Whereas, with self-publishing you own the complete copyright which means you can sell your book in any format in any country any time without any permission etc. You can sell your characters to any movie, animation, school for any purpose. You can edit your book even after publishing it once and then republish it. It’s a complete free world of self-publishing.
With traditional publishing, many authors do get a feeling of validation, or approval that their work is selected and they are a good published write, no matter if their book sell well or not. Although if you self publish your book, and it is really well made and you are able to sell lots of copies, there are chances that your book catches the attention of publishers and literary agents. There are lot of examples of books which were self published, and later became a movie.

What Qualities Should A Good Children’s Book Cover Possess? Find Out

You cannot judge a book by its cover but surely cover is the first thing which attracts a reader. It’s the cover which communicates your first message to its audience. Your children book cover design gives the message, the idea of your story to your reader. If the reader does not find your cover design interesting enough to check what’s inside, it will not matter how well your story is written, how relevant and important the content of your book is. So, you cannot underrate the importance of a good catchy cover design. It’s the introduction to your book.

The Book Title

With our experience of illustration thousands of books and working on thousands of cover designs, we can guide you with a crisp list of essential which a good cover design must have.

The first and foremost thing is the title you choose for your book. The title must be easy to read and understand. It can have an irony but it should definitely spark an interest. It should be able to connect with the reader in some way. It should be relatable.

Professional Cover Text Design

The text used for the cover design should be simple and quite readable. The selection of fonts and colors should be such that it is not hidden by the artwork or the photograph used. The other contributors like author’s name and the illustrator’s name should not overpower the title. Everything needs to look like a perfect composition. There is a huge difference in a how an amateur cover design is composed and a professional cover design where all the elements are like bound together in some way which is perfect.

Back Cover Text

The first thing which the potential reader would read is the back cover text. Its vital to write the best on the back cover. It can be some good reviews for your book, or some really nice intercept from your book which can create interest in the readers. The back cover should also be designed aesthetically. You can give a glimpse of some other characters/objects/actions to bring in the readers interest.

The Cover Art

You may use some photograph as a cover or an illustration but it is very important that the Cover art is in line with the genre of the book. For example, if you book is a love story, a dark ghostly cover will never attract the right reader. Both the story and the art needs the perfect sync. Another very important thing, which many amateur cover designers ignore is how much crowded the cover art should be. In today’s age of ecommerce, even the thumbnail of the cover matters quite much. It should be good enough so that the potential reader clicks on it to know more. Follow the simple rule that the cover design should look good in a thumbnail size also. For example, if the illustration is too detailed and the title text etc is too small, nothing will show up in the thumbnail size and it will only look like some color scribbles and the potential reader may not even click that. And no author would want that.

What is Self Publishing and how is it different from Traditional Publishing

Self publishing in itself means the process by an author to publish the book by himself or herself. All the activities are funded by the author in which he/she may use various service providers or an agency which is qualified to carry out all the services.

The downside is that all the cost is paid by the author , prior to the publishing of the book but the good part is that all the royalty from book sales is gained by the author. However, in the traditional publishing, the story is published by the publisher and author has noting to pay at all. The publisher carries out all the activities needed to publish the book and once the book is published, the publisher is responsible to get the book in the market. The author receive a royalty from the publisher, based on the number of books sold and the percentage fixed between the two.

When we talk about self publishing, the process is no doubt quick and easy but requires an investment in the beginning. But if the story is good, the book has very high chances of doing well. If you choose a good agency that has good professionals like illustrators, editors, designers and publishing staff, then there are good chances that book will do well and the author will recover the investment quickly.

The market has changed and more than 50% of the books are already being self published because no one has the time to receive an approval from a publisher and be ready for multiple rejections. The author has nothing to worry because self publishing is an option.

The only thing that needs to be done properly is choosing a good agency which is not very expensive and understands the needs of the author. If self publishing becomes too expensive, it loses its purpose because self publishing must be seen as an alternative to traditional publishing. Its important to do a proper research before finalizing any agency.

Hardcover Publishing or Paperback Publishing

This is one topic which is asked by many aspiring authors, especially by those, who are contemplating self publishing in near future. There is no clear answer to this question, however, if we try to analyse the same question from two perspective, that is cost and sales, then we can get some meaningful answers.

When we are self publishing, we are already bearing all the cost before the book is produced. Every single dollar counts and we want that the cost of production should not be too high, yet, we are able to put the best product (with best story, design, illustrations, layout, cover etc.) into the market where it meets the target audience.

Now, the important question (regarding a hardcover or a paperback version) which arises here, in the mind is, does it make any difference to the audience when they buy the book. Is the potential audience really concerned about the format of the book (Hardcover or paperback) or is the audience only concerned about the worth of the story and overall feel of the book. Although there is no clear answer to this, but, with most of the book purchase happening online, the reader does not really see if the book is hardcover of paperback.

For example, consider a scenario where Michael, a potential book lover decides to buy a Children’s book for his six year old daughter. He log in to Amazon and decides to have a look in the children’s book category. What he sees there is the cover mage of the book and the reviews / ratings along with a couple of pages of inside view of the book. If he is convinced that this book is a good fit for his 6 years old daughter, he will go ahead and order the book, which will be delivered in 4-5 days. In this overall scenario, he may have been concerned about the book being a hardcover or paperback, but since the purchase is taking place online, the reader’s main concern is story, reviews and overall cover of the book.

There is no big difference in the sales figure of Hardcover or paperback books. Infact, due to low print cost associated as well low retail price of the book, the paperback certainly emerges as the winner.

As far as costing is concerned, the hardcover option is certainly costlier to print as well as its selling price is also higher. So, for first time authors with limited budget, i will always suggest to go for a paperback option. Moreover, adding the hardcover option is always possible.

The writer is S Shekhar, who is an expert in Children’s book and has helped hundreds of authors worldwide in getting published. He is a consultant and authors coach.

How to Choose Best Children’s Book Illustration Styles & Illustrator?

When an Author decides to choose an illustrator for his/her children’s book, the most important thing is the style of illustration which will be a part of the book. Usually an illustrator is having a particular style of illustration and at times one illustrator may have two or three different styles. In the process of choosing an illustrator the Author may have to look for many illustrators so that the desired style if illustration may be selected for the book. This is a very time consuming process and this is where the illustration agencies like the www.blueberryillustrations.com come in picture. This is the agencies where you find multiple styles of illustrations under one roof. In fact some of them also categories the illustrations in the various sub styles like realistic illustration style, semi realistic, whimsical, editorial etc. This makes the job of the Author very easy as he/she knows the category in which the story line falls and if the semi realistic or cartoon style will suit the story more.

When you choose an illustration style from the portfolio, you will need to make sure if the illustrator is available to take up a new project or not. If yes, then what is the price and the time frame to finish the illustrations. The Author will also need to sign the contract with the illustrator and mention all the terms and conditions. It is also suggested to ask for a reference in the form of other published books in the same style chosen by you. Also, it is better to get a sample from the illustrator to make sure that the illustrator is really a good match for your book. It may be a paid sample and the Author must give a good description of the sample in order to avoid confusions later.

There is no guarantee that the Author will approve the sample created by the illustrator and so he/she may have to move ahead with some other illustrator. It is also important to measure the flexibility of the illustrator in terms of making changes when desired. There are many projects which are never complete because of the interpersonal conflicts between the Author and the illustrator. It is very important to mention all relevant points in the contract so that any inconvenience may be avoided later. Choosing an experienced illustrator is always an advantage and if the illustrator has done many books in the style of illustration, chosen by you, then it is an added advantage.

You must also make sure that the illustrator is interested in making illustrations for your story and that is when you will get the best from the illustrator otherwise it will just be a routine job for the illustrator which may not be in the best interest of the book.

15 Reasons to Choose Blueberry Illustrations for Children Book Illustrator

There are many reasons which makes blueberry illustrations the expert in children book illustrations and Self publishing. We are highlighting top 15 reasons because of which you must choose us.

Blueberry illustrations offers a large number of illustration styles to its author’s which is the maximum number of options offered by anyone else.
With an experience of more than 500 children’s books, we are clearly the leaders in the field of illustrations and self publishing for first time author’s as well as already published author’s.
Blueberry illustrations has got a satisfaction rate of over 90% for author’s, which includes not just the quality but also timely delivery and smooth communication.
The book design/Layout and cover design services are also offered at a discounted rate to those author’s who purchase our illustrations.
All our illustrators and designers are in house and we don’t outsource any of the work which is a common practice among other illustration agency and self publishers.
We offer unlimited number of revisions/ modifications to the illustrations and the designs created for cover design and book layout. In other words, till the time author is satisfied, we will make changes and there are no extra costs for revisions.
Blueberry illustrations offers most affordable services in the industry and that too with highest quality. Our illustrations start only at $70 per illustration. Cover design is offered at $149 and book layout is offered only at $299. We also offer self publishing only at $299.
With our self publishing the author not only gets a worldwide online distribution of the book but also gets print on demand service.
Our book promotion includes exclusive author’s website and online promotion of books using social media campaigns and that too at very affordable cost.
All the projects are looked after by our children’s book specialist Sean, who has helped hundreds of authors in illustrations and self publishing.
Blueberry illustrations has a support team and all the queries and issues are solved within 24 hours.
We offer exclusive services to working mothers who have the passion of writing and want to self publish their books.
Illustrators and book designers of blueberry illustrations are among the best in the industry and deliver the artwork and designs in time.
Blueberry illustrations provide a free contract/agreement copy to author’s and only after the agreement is signed the work starts. This only shown the professionalism and our commitment to authors.
We also offer new style of illustrations and design which may not be in our portfolio.
Blueberry illustrations also offers discount to those authors who purchase all services from us.

Why Blueberry Illustrations is Best in The Field of Children Book Illustrations and Book Designing

Blueberry illustrations is a leader in the Children book illustration and book designing of Children books. This is evident by the fact that so far more than 500 book have been illustrated and designed. Book design means designing the cover page as well as the inside pages of the children book. Most of the Author’s want Blueberry illustrations (BBI) to do their illustrations as well as book designing. BBI has more than 26 different illustration styles which is maximum offered by anyone. Most of the other agencies show the work of different illustrators but same styles are repeated. With BBI, the Author actually gets different styles of illustration.

All illustrators of blueberry illustrations and book designers are in house and any project is not outsourced. All other agencies outsource their work and thus a very little control is exercised over the illustrators and book designers. More than anything the record speaks for itself and with more than 275 satisfied Authors and many of them have got more than one book illustrated and designed by BBI. There are other agencies also who have tried to copy the processes of BBI but have not been successful because of various reasons. One important factor is Pricing, BBI has kept the price very affordable, here you can get the illustrations for $70 per illustration. Most other illustration agencies charge between $120-$150 per illustration. The designing prices are also very reasonable, with BBI you can get your book designed for $299 only and other agencies/designers will charge you between $499- $799 for the same service.

BBI has been serving its Author’s for almost 7 years now and they have the expertise and know how about working with First time Author’s. Out of 275 odd books, most of the Author’s were first timers and BBI helped them out with every information related to illustrations, book designing and self publishing. Many Author’s have given very high rating to BBI because they have delivered every promise which was made in the beginning of the project. Every Author’s book is taken very seriously and relevant recommendations are made from time to time in terms of “how to improve the story line or what steps must be take n to make the book more market ready”.

BBI has also helped many Author’s self publish their book and also promote the books using Online branding of the books. BBI has grown step by step , starting with just illustrations, now providing end to end solution from illustrations to designing, self publishing to Book marketing. BBI is truly the market leader in Children books and with our low pricing and excellent delivery record, the company expects to reach the number of 1000 Children’s book very shortly.

What are important things to keep in mind while designing the book cover?

Book cover designer designs the cover of the book which is very important. Getting the right book cover is like winning half the battle. Your story may be about any subject in this world and it may be the best story but if its book cover does not excite the onlookers in the book store or internet, then there is no point. The only thing a new reader will notice about your book is the book cover. If he/she likes it, then the person will bother to open it further.

What are important things to keep in mind while designing the book cover? The most important thing is, no matter what, it should be very good looking. Other important factors are that it should be closely related to the theme of the book and there must be a connect between the story and the cover page. The designer must be able to understand what kind of book cover designing is required. The illustration/cover page illustration/picture used should be one of the scenes from the story and should be presented in such a fashion that it generates a lot of interest.

As an Author, you must convey your priorities to the illustrator /designer. Your idea must be conveyed very clearly and you should be open to new suggestions from the illustrator who is creating the cover page illustration. You should show the rough draft to your close friends who have an eye for details or you can also show it to random people for their ideas and suggestions. It really helps as you get very true feedback. If the need be, ask the book cover designer to change it completely or make suitable changes.

One more suggestion is to look for a variety of book covers available on the internet and understand various types of covers that have need created. After that, finalize the ones that you think will suit your story because you will find a lot of concepts available. Once you have taken an idea, you can ask your book cover designer to come up with something like that.

The designing part/the text part is something which must complement the illustration and the overall feel of the book cover should be enhanced. It’s very important to choose the right font and text size. Again, looking for various fonts on the internet will be a good idea and share your ideas with the designer/illustrator.

Once you are sure that you have got a good cover, next stage would be to start the promotion of the book because book cover is as good as the book itself for online promotion or presentation.

Steps we cover in book layout & inside book designing

Every book which is written goes through various phases, there has to be a story to begin with. Once the story is written, you must refine it further and check for possible errors and various levels of editing may be required. After that you start to find your publisher and in case you are not able to find one, you may decide to self publish. In case you decide to self publish, you must have the illustrations. You can find a suitable illustrator who can illustrate your story. After the illustrations are complete, you need to get the book designing, in many cases, many self publishing houses will offer this service and will claim to make your journey hassle free. Although, you can let them do the job for you but you must know what is the process and how it works so that you are in a better position to negotiate or get the best service from them.

First of all the book cover designing is done, which includes the front cover as well as the back cover , this will have an illustration and the text or the title of the story written in a font which looks good and is legible and yet stylish. This will have the Author’s name and illustrator’s name, usually in case of Children books . The back cover includes reviews about the book as well as the barcode. It may or may not have an illustration. The text and the font are of great importance and the illustration can be one of the inside illustration or a new illustration, but it must be one of the best illustrations which speaks about the story and should be very attractive.

After the front and back cover is complete, then the next step that comes is the inside book design and this process involves the designing of pages like the Title Page ,Dedication Page , Copyright Page (it also includes the ISBN number) and table of contents (in case of chapter books). The last page can be Credit Page (credit to the illustrator). The inside book design also includes the text layout with illustration layout and the overall setting should be such that it looks good and not clustered or unorganized. The text and illustration layout may have various design elements like the border around the text and borders to make the margins look good. This will depend upon the size of the book, amount of text and the illustrations. You may ask yourself publisher/designer to share various design options with you.

Once the designing is complete, you will get a Pdf file or the soft copy of the final design and you will be able to see the book as it will appear in the hard copy. In case you want some changes, it can be easily implemented at this stage and the designer/self publisher should easily be able to update and send you the revised file for final review. You can review the file once more and after this phase is complete you need to decide of you want to take a print of the book or if you want to create an e-book. You can do either of the two or both, depending upon your choice.

How long does it take to publish a book?

This is not one of those questions which can be answered with guarantee. Usually it depends upon the speed of the illustrator and also at times, on the deadline of the Author, who wants to publish a book by a certain month of that year. I have generally seen that if the Author and the illustrator are at the same frequency, then everything remains good and the book is illustrated in time but at times when there is communication gap or there is a gap between the illustrator’s abilities and desired quality,the things can be very challenging.

The Author must spend time in selecting the illustration style / styles which he/she wants for the book and ask the illustrator to provide a paid sample in order to be sure of the capability of the illustrator. Following your feelings without actually checking children book artists work may damage your plans of getting a great book.

Children’s book success is result of a typical trio , the story line, illustrations and the marketing effort. If there is anything which is lacking, it must be improved upon and rectified in time. If you get a feel that illustrations are not coming out nicely, please talk to the illustrator and solve the issue before the book is completed. If you make the same effort after the book is complete then you will end up wasting that much more extra time. In the same manner, the story line should be such that it can hold a child’s attention through out the story, it may be simple, yet exciting to a child. It should not be something which a child is not able to enjoy. For this, get your story reviewed by others, may be friends, other authors from some authors community etc. Marketing effort should be planned well in advance and all the effort which is required must be made here and if possible, also get an e-book version of the book because parents and kids are preferring to buy ebook now a days more than the printed books.

Any children book from its inception of the idea to publishing can be done in 8-10 months, if the Author is well planned and may take 3-5 years If things are allowed to move at its own pace. There is nothing wrong in taking more time for publishing, the only point is that if we can save time, we must do that.

Does a website promote a children book

If you are a children book Author and wondering if you need a website where you can show your book for an online presence,then the answer to it is a Yes. You must work hard on your website and the home page must be creatively made where the book cover of your book must be displayed. In case if you are an author who has written a book series, then it becomes even more relevant. You can just keep adding every book which is published and also mention the new and upcoming books.

Put some animation and flash items which will draw the attention of its audience, put a link to Amazon from where the readers can buy the book or have your own payment gateway which can be used to purchase children story books directly from our website.

You must make best efforts to be present on google for some important search keywords like Children book, interesting children book, fairytale books, Kids books, kids education books, kids manner books etc. Please also optimize your website for the category of topic, for example, Manners, child abuse, disability, Animals , environment etc.

Hire a web designer who is experienced in children’s author website designing and knows how to create SEO friendly websites which will do well on all important search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Also putting right keywords in codes is important, so you must work out as a Children book author, the right set of search keywords which will help you connect with the right audience.

Generally audience search for “ children books”,” famous children books” , “ bed time stories for kids” etc, so be aware of the search pattern of the audience and also what content you are offering. This must be done exclusively by the author and not the web designer. The web designer can’t do this for you, as the Author , you must decide the keywords which the web designer or the SEO consultant can work upon.

Keeping the E-book version of your book on the website can also be a very good idea, people tend to buy E-books more because it can be read on a PC, mobile phones, tablets etc. The e-books are usually cheaper also, making it even more affordable to its readers.

Is writing a children Book profitable?

I come across this question on various occasions by author’s aspiring to write children’s story books. I always tell them that you should write a children book for the love of it and not thinking of it can be profitable or not.

If a children book is written well and is complemented with great illustrations then children will definitely love it and the purpose is served. But of course the journey does not stop just there, you get a lot of royalties if you have been able to find a children book publisher and the book is doing well. Even if you have self-published and the book is selling well on Amazon or other places, then also you end up making good profit.

Writing for children can be a profitable venture if you are writing well and with the understanding of what a child would love. Generally people make mistake here and they write and then think that the kids will love their writing but it does not happen. It is strongly recommended that you read children story books, the ones which have done exceptionally well and then do self thinking, why some books do so well? It will help you understand, what do children love. It’s not always the content, its how you present the content and of course the illustrations play a major role in that.

Make great efforts in selecting the right illustrator as he/she can make your journey 50% easy because it usually half the contribution which you get through illustrations, specially in children books. Discuss various illustrations styles with the illustrator and also search through various children story books series, to find out a good illustration styles/style from them and see if your illustrator could draw that .

Just keep in mind the fact that the taste of children also shifts with time, today’s child may have developed a taste for more digitally oriented illustrations as they resemble the animations which the kids are watching on the televisions. This is just to open your thoughts, so the point is to think form all angles and then conclude the final route which you will take.

Pros And Cons of Publishing Vs Self Publishing

This may be one of the difficult questions to answer but this certainly is a very important question. The difference between publishing and self publishing is a very clear one and very well known. When you decide to publish your book with a traditional publisher, you need to send you manuscript to various desks and many don’t even accept Unsolicited manuscripts. In this case the waiting time may vary from a few months to a few years unless your manuscript is liked by a publisher who offers to publish it. Again, while sending the manuscripts, you must follow various unsaid rules of the industry like informing the publishing house if you are also sending your manuscripts to other publishers. Likewise, don’t follow up with phone calls every week, as they are really busy and don’t have enough time to satisfy your follow up calls on the phone.

The key here is waiting patiently and thinking about other projects also, in case you want to write more or have other stories in your mind. The children book publisher will usually give you an upfront payment and then will sign you with a contract for sharing the royalty. You can usually find these details on the website or you can also speak with them once the story is finalized. It can be a profitable thing if all goes well.

But if things don’t go as per the plan, then you may need to take the route of children’s book self publishing books which is an extremely easy alternative and your book still gets published. It can still reach your target audience but the only issue is the distribution channels. The self publisher will only make your book print ready or even print it on demand but taking it to your target audience is something which you will have to do. For this purpose, there are various marketing packages which many self publishers offer, like the website creation, and giving your good ranking on google for books search in your category. They might even give you the offer to showcase your book at one of the international nook fairs like the Bologna book fair or the farnkfurt book fair, this will come at a cost.

The fact of the matter is that the self published books are also doing well and in some cases, the self published books have even been republished by the Traditional publishers when they started to do well. So, having faith in your writing capabilities is the key here and publishing or self publishing or Self publishing for kids books can be decided depending upon the situation. The effort must be made on making the manuscript as sellable as possible or as perfect as desirable. You must get it reviewed from your friends or find an authors community where they will do it and give you good suggestions. You might even consider finding an agent who can help you with finding a children book publisher . In Case of children’s book self publishing books, all you need to do is to pay the self publisher and decide the publishing package which suits your pocket and also look for a good marketing option which can promote your book.

Local Children Book Illustrator Vs Any Illustrator

One of the major issues which an author of a children’s book faces is that weather he should hire a Local children book illustrator or any illustrator who can do the job. Although there is no clear answer to this question because the whole issue depends upon the benefit which the illustrations will bring to the sales of the book. Ultimately the book has to sell and illustrations play a major role in determining that.

Any illustration, manual or digital can be transferred online and all publishers are accepting the scanned version of illustrations, given that it meets the basic specifications like 300 dpi and may be other formatting issues like the cmyk format etc. These details may be taken by the printer and it hardly makes any difficulty as the illustrations may be converted to any of the formats. So, the Local children book illustrator factor is over. I have seen the Author and illustrator from different locations, or even different continents working together and making great picture books.

The most important criteria is selection of the illustrator, which largely depends upon the script or the story and in case a Local children book illustrator is available but not suitable for that particular story then there is no point hiring him/her. Also, you should never reject an overseas illustrator only because of the location factor, because in most cases, even the local illustrator will not meet you every day. In fact you will still get the same result irrespective of the location.

The most important aspect is the suitability of the kind of art which will make your story stand out in the eyes of the reader who are mostly the children. The printer does not require the hard copies, he will still scan the hard copies given by your local illustrator, so at the end of the day, your illustrations will be accepted in the scanned format, weather you work with a Local children book illustrator or an overseas illustrator. Look out for established illustrators who have done well in their careers or have received awards, or if you know someone who has real talent and suits your story but is a new illustrator, you may still give him/her a chance.

Art of Handling Multiple Children’s Book Illustration Projects

It is a common practice by almost every illustrator to work on more than one project at a time and that is purely for two reasons, making more clients and also increasing scope of income. But many times every illustrator realizes that multiple projects are creating a lot of problems specially in the timely delivery of work. When delays become very regular from illustrators side, the existing buyers also start looking for an alternative in terms of more efficient illustrator. This can also cause a bad name for you in the market as you may get bad reviews or your website may earn a reputation. Your professional image may be hampered and the result would be lesser and lesser people approaching you and less business. The main question is, how to avoid such an event?

The simple answer lies in basic time management and prioritizing the work. Whenever you accept a project, discuss the deadline with the author and make a simple entry into your project sheet and mention that you will need to make minimum of 2-3 (or any figure depending upon the deadline fixed) illustrations per month for this particular buyer.This number may go up to 10-12 also if the deadlines are very tight, but generally most of the Self publishing for kids authors are happy with a figure of 3-4 in a month as they are also occupied with other engagements in life. This initial entry will also help you in breaking down the monthly requirement into weekly requirement .

Accordingly, you should keep in mind that there will be some modifications also in the art piece which you will submit, so always keep a buffer time for every buyer, don’t make the schedule so tight that you give no time for modifications, because in case if you receive a modification then every other project will start to get delayed.

Make sure that you have a check list which has entries such as, start date of book, deadline, buyers preferences, last modification, how many days were delayed in the last illustration etc etc. In case of delays which are unavoidable, please communicate the same to the author. A simple phone call or an E-mail will save you from bad relationships which may develop in the future. Communication is a very important aspect which is usually under utilized and lack of it at the required situation can create big issues.

As an children’s book illustrator, you must also make a habit of reviewing all the work done during the week, this will help you in ensuring that you have not left an important buyer or you have not missed out on a modification which was supposed to be sent on wednesday. You must also make an entry for complaints which you receive regarding the quality or style of children’s book illustration, from the author. You must work very seriously on these feed backs and complaints because these complaints will improve your standards and way of working. Don’t be afraid of difficult buyers, take them up as a challenge and make sure that the toughest ones praise you the most.

As a professional children’s book illustrator, work hard on all the above points and manage your time is such a way that you finish your work on time or before time and if you are not able to do that,then send an email explaining the cause of the delay. But if you have made a couple of delays already in respect of a particular buyer, then make sure that you never repeat the same again, till the time that Author’s book is complete.

Tips For Authors to Cope-up With Delayed Deadlines

This is one of the most common problems which is faced by almost all authors. But before we go on the solution part, lets also understand what are the factors which can cause such delays. Usually an author should try to give a deadline in such a manner so that he/she still has some cushion time after the declared deadline and this may or may not be conveyed to the illustrator. Although illustrators around the world want that their work should be submitted within the agreed time frame but problems may arise because of delayed feedback by the author, poor understanding of the concept of the character by the illustrator , delayed payments or multiple modifications. Although some factors are certainly avoidable but few remain throughout the book project and take a bigger form with the author thinking that selecting the illustrator was a wrong decision and at times even thinking of aborting the book.

A thorough research of the style of the illustrator is strongly recommended and even if the author does not have an art background, the illustrators work can always be reviewed by others who have a good character designing understanding. The effort done at this stage can save a lot of time at a later stage and both sides must be sincere i their efforts. The author must describe his/her requirements very very clearly and may also get a sample made by the illustrator for a right price.

No one wants to work for no fee, and the author must also understand that an children’s book illustrator may not give best work if a free sample is desired and quality always comes at a cost.

prevention is better than cure and a little extra effort and prevention while choosing the right illustrator can go a long way in avoiding any delays caused at an advanced stage of the children book project.

5 reason to choose blueberry illustrations for book designing/book layout

Book layout is a very important part of the publishing. Once the illustrations are complete, you need the complete layout of the book so that it is print ready. It will include getting a book cover design as well as the inside layout of the book as per printer specification. Blueberry illustrations offers exclusive books layout services to the authors and with more than 400 books already designed and self published, we are certainly one of the most experienced self publishers in children’s book.

There are many reasons to choose Blueberry illustrations but the top 5 reasons to choose us for book layout are mentioned below.

Samples/ designs- No one else if offering the samples for book layout but we have displayed various examples of inside book layout as well as the book covers. You can have a look at the various designs and choose a style for your book. All these samples are actually from books that we have designed and later published.
Affordable cost – Our price for the cover design as well as the inside book layout is very affordable. We only charge $149 for the cover design and $299 for the inside layout of the book. This price includes revisions as well as approval of the design from the author.
Experienced designers – The designers at blueberry illustrations are the best in the industry. We have very experienced designers who are not only very creative but they are also very flexible when it comes to making changes as per the authors requirements.
Perfect specifications – We will design the books perfectly and the designs will meet the specification of every printer. Also, we will assist you at a later stage also, in case you need some minor changes here and there.
Authors approval – Every book layout which we do will be approved by the author as we send all designs for the approval to the author. In case of changes, they are carried out free of cost. We include the authors preference at every stage. You can also read our reviews given to us by many authors who have used our book layout services in the review section of our website.