book design

Self-publishing one’s own children’s book has great appeal, but it’s not quite as simple as it seems. A most important question — what is your purpose in self-publishing?

If you wish to have a lovely book to read to the kids, grandkids, or your students, the journey may be fairly simple, and not terribly expensive. But if your goal is to compete with traditionally published books, and you truly want your book to sell, then your investment in both time and money may be more than you suspect.

I cover all this in my upcoming in-person workshop – Self-Publishing Children’s Books 101 – at the Stewartsville Public Library on Wednesday, October 18, 6-7:30 pm. Registration opens October 4.

I’ll be covering:

* Why publish?

* Your idea – coming up with what will sell

* Your story

* Dummy

* Illustration

* Book design

* Traditional vs. Self-Publishing

* Q and A

If you’re in the neighborhood, please come and learn about self-publishing! For more information about how I help people self-publish, please visit me at Jeanne Balsam Graphics.

As a graphic designer, I work on a wide variety of projects – ads, booklet, flyers, magazines, fund-raising pieces, websites, etc – which I love, because it keeps me interested and challenged. I have been expanding my involvement in children’s books, helping authors get self-published through my design work. Up to this point, I have focused exclusively on picture books … until now.

Approached by a children’s writer I know to do a chapter book, I hesitated. I do love working on picture books, and wondered if maybe I should stay with what I know best. Well, I took the challenge and the result is the first chapter book I designed, The Last Rhino, by Deb Stevenson. Deb, illustrator Morgan Spicer, and I couldn’t be happier with the final product.

If interested in reading more on my initial journey with chapter books, please visit my graphics blog. To learn more about The Last Rhino, just click on the image above, or watch Deb’s outstanding trailer.