How do I get my foot in the door... For the Children Book Niche

7 replies
Hello Warriors,

A friend of mine recently has written three children books that were illustrated and written really well. She asked me if I could help her sell the books via self publishing.

I know a printing company that can deliver 500 color books for $3.50 each.

However, my question is...

How do I get my foot in the door of some large distribution sites and stores.

Also what other sites besides Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, are available to sell your own book on?
#book #children #door #foot #niche
  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Hi Steve,

    Some of the book printing companies have access to Ingram (spelling?) and other distributors. The book printer should be able to help you get your ISBN and UPC code.

    A friend of mine self published a book about Cincinnati, call several distributors and got his book in to book stores that way.

    John T. Reed is an author in the real estate industry and success industry. He's a bit of a charactor, but he does know his stuff. He sells a book about self-publishing at his website. It is a very interesting read.

    His site is John T. Reed Publishing Home Page I have no affilation. Yes, you will want his book. He talks about some of the horror stories dealing with distributors.

    There was a book years ago called "In Cold Type" that decribed some of the nonsense that goes on in the book industry.

    Dan Poynter has a quite detailed book about self-publishing available at any bookstore.

    Hope this helps.

    :-Don
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  • Profile picture of the author Teresa Coppes
    Steve -

    I would highly recommend taking a look at the CPSIA site due to the new law coming out effective Feb 10th. If in fact your friend self publishes, according to way the new law reads, she would have to pay anywhere from $100 to $4000 PER BOOK to have them tested for lead since it is geared toward children.

    Wish for the best for your friend and it's really great that you're wanting to help out anyway you can but I would hold off for a bit until the kinks are worked out with that law. It's all muddled up right now and not even the CPSIA knows what to do.

    Teresa
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  • Profile picture of the author IMChick
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...uilt-mine.html

    jonb is the warrior who started this thread. He's all about children's books and the thread gives a link to his membership site. Good place to start to connect up so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
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    • Profile picture of the author jonb
      Definitely check out Dan Poynter's info -- he's the self-publishing guru. Para Publishing - Welcome to Para Publishing

      One suggestion -- try to find organizations related to the topic matter of the books and work out direct bulk sales. Many self-publishers do well selling through organization newsletters, offering books as membership premiums, selling into museum gift shops, etc.

      It's pretty hard to sell self-published books into big chains, so you need to think a bit outside the box.

      Jon
      cbiclubhouse.com, children's writers community
      Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author Doug Simons
    My wife was writing some books could I get the name of the publisher?

    Doug
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  • Profile picture of the author kentaiwan98
    ESL Books for Kids are a decent market, too.

    Kenneth
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  • Profile picture of the author mlr08
    In order to get in with Ingram you have to have published at least 10 titles. It's tough for self-publishers to get into the chain bookstores as they go through the big distributors. If someone requests your book, they will order 1 book from you directly, but order no more.
    The Amazon Advantage program is great, they pay on time and gives you great exposure. Another time-consuming, but effective option for self-publishers is to contact small children's boutiques and bookstores, if you have a great product you can often sell them 5-10 books this way. If they feel nervous, offer to sell them the first few on consignment so that if they don't sell within six months or so, you'll take them back. That takes the risk out of it for the store owner and you get your book out there. One gal I know made a fortune selling children's books about Alaska to tourism-related shops, ie...she geared the books towards grandparents who were on cruises through the Inside Passage to buy for their grandchildren. Those books are in some really nice boutiquey, tourist/gallery type of shops because the market is there.
    There is also the option of trying to find a small book publisher to publish the book for her. They'll do the leg work and often have relationships with the distributors. The caveat is that the royalties will probably be around 10% and they may deduct graphic design expenses, etc. from those. Good Luck!

    P.S. I can't recall the name but there is an organization where you can place an ad for books directly to librarians to purchase for their librarys. And...check out ipg.com, they work w/ independant publishers and offer marketing, drop shipping, etc.
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