13 Things I’ve Learnt From Self-Publishing My First Children’s Book

When I decided to self-publish a children’s book, I had absolutely no idea how much I was about to learn.

I knew I wanted to write a book. I knew roughly what I wanted it to look and feel like. Beyond that? I was very much making it up as I went along.

Since publishing Barnabee’s Bug Hotel, I’ve learnt about illustrators, editors, ISBNs, printers, proofs, distribution, bookshops, Amazon, margins, stock levels, social media, trade discounts, packaging… and approximately 400 other things I didn’t even know I needed to know.

So, for anyone thinking about self-publishing a children’s book, here are a few things I’ve learnt so far.

1. Writing the book is only one tiny part of it

This was probably my biggest surprise.

You imagine that writing the story is the hard bit. And obviously it matters enormously, but once the words are finished, there is still a huge amount to do.

Illustration, editing, design, typesetting, printing, ISBNs, distribution, pricing, metadata, websites, Amazon listings, packaging, marketing, approaching retailers… the list goes on.

Self-publishing essentially means becoming a very small publishing company overnight.

And you will probably find yourself Googling things at 11pm that you had never previously heard of.

2. Find brilliant people and listen to them

Self-publishing doesn’t have to mean doing everything yourself.

One of the best parts of creating Barnabee’s Bug Hotel has been working with other people who are much better than me at their particular jobs.

My illustrator, Annabelle King, took the characters I had imagined and gave them a life of their own. An editor brings a completely different eye to your words. A good designer notices things you simply won’t.

You are still making the final decisions, but having experienced people around you makes an enormous difference.

3. The physical book matters

I probably underestimated just how much time I would spend thinking about paper, covers, binding, colours and finishes.

When you are producing a picture book, the book itself is part of the experience.

Children are going to hold it, flick through it, carry it around and hopefully ask for it to be read again and again.

Getting a physical proof was a huge moment for me, because suddenly all the individual files and illustrations became an actual book.

It also taught me an important lesson: check everything.

Then check it again.

And preferably get someone else to check it too.

4. Work backwards from the price

This sounds very boring. It is also very important.

When I started, I naturally thought mostly about what it would cost me to print each book.

But the printing cost is only part of the equation.

If you want your book to be stocked by bookshops, wholesalers or distributors, there will usually be a trade discount involved. There may also be distribution fees, postage, storage and other costs.

Suddenly the gap between your £8.99 retail price and what actually reaches you can look very different.

Before committing to a print run, work out your numbers properly.

How much does each copy cost?

What happens if you sell it through your own website?

What happens if a retailer takes 45% or 55%?

What happens if you use a distributor?

It is far better to understand all of that before you have several thousand books sitting in your house.

5. You probably need fewer boxes in your hallway than you think

Speaking of several thousand books…

Storage is real.

Books are heavy. They arrive in a lot of boxes. And unless you are using fulfilment from day one, somebody has to store them.

That somebody may be you.

There is obviously a big temptation to increase the print run because the unit cost comes down. But cheaper books aren’t actually cheaper if you can’t sell them.

Balancing print quantity, unit cost and realistic sales is one of the trickiest parts.

6. Getting into bookshops is possible

Before I started, I think I assumed that getting an independently published book into proper shops would be almost impossible.

It isn’t.

That doesn’t mean it is easy, and every retailer works differently, but independent books can absolutely sit alongside traditionally published ones.

Barnabee’s Bug Hotel is now stocked by independent bookshops, gift shops and larger retailers, which still feels slightly surreal.

Having professional information ready helps: ISBN, retail price, book description, cover image, dimensions, trade terms and ordering information.

Make it as easy as possible for somebody to say yes.

7. Distribution changes everything

There is a big difference between selling books yourself and making your book easy for the trade to order.

Wholesalers and distributors were things I barely understood at the beginning.

Now I realise how important they can be.

If a bookshop has to email you, wait for an invoice, arrange payment and organise delivery for a couple of books, you are asking them to do extra work.

If they can order your book through the systems they already use, it becomes much easier.

That accessibility matters.

8. Amazon is its own little universe

I could probably write an entire separate blog post about Amazon.

Actually, I probably will.

Amazon can be incredibly useful, particularly because people already know and trust it, but learning how stock, fulfilment, listings and availability work has been a whole education in itself.

One minute everything looks fine.

The next minute Amazon says there are two copies left when you know perfectly well you sent them considerably more than two.

You learn not to panic quite as quickly.

Mostly.

9. Marketing starts long before publication day

I originally thought of marketing as something you did once the book existed.

I don’t anymore.

Sharing the process has been one of the nicest parts of the whole thing.

The sketches. The characters. The mistakes. The boxes arriving. The first copy. Seeing it in a shop for the first time.

People seem to enjoy being part of the journey rather than simply being told, “Here is my book. Please buy it.”

And for me, Instagram has become far more than a sales platform. It has helped me find readers, other authors, illustrators, teachers, booksellers and people who have genuinely wanted to support what I’m doing.

10. Small bits of momentum add up

At the beginning, every single order felt enormous.

Actually, every single order still feels pretty enormous.

But I’ve learnt not to underestimate the small things.

One bookshop saying yes.

One lovely review.

Someone sharing the book with a friend.

A customer posting a photo.

A retailer reordering.

Twenty new followers arriving because somebody mentioned the book.

None of those things necessarily transforms a business overnight.

Together, though, they start to create momentum.

11. You will make mistakes

I have.

Loads.

There are things I would do differently with the benefit of hindsight, and I’m sure there are plenty of things I’m currently doing that I’ll look back on in a year and wonder what on earth I was thinking.

But I think that is unavoidable.

You can research forever, but at some point you have to actually make the book.

And once you do, you learn incredibly quickly.

12. Nobody cares about your book quite as much as you do

I don’t mean that negatively.

I actually think it is one of the most important things to understand.

Publishers, distributors, bookshops, printers, influencers and everyone else you work with have lots of books, customers and projects competing for their attention.

You have one.

So you have to be the person who keeps pushing it forward.

Send the email.

Follow up.

Ask the question.

Post about it.

Approach the shop.

Try the idea.

Some things will go nowhere. Others will surprise you completely.

13. And finally: you don’t have to know everything before you start

I definitely didn’t.

I still don’t.

Self-publishing has involved a fairly ridiculous amount of learning on the job, but that has also been part of the fun.

A few months ago, much of the terminology I now use every day meant absolutely nothing to me.

And somehow Barnabee’s Bug Hotel went from an idea inspired by a bug hotel in our garden to a real book being read by children around the country.

So if you have a book idea and are feeling overwhelmed by everything you don’t know yet, I’d say this:

Start with the bit you do know.

Then work out the next bit.

And then the next.

You really don’t need to have the whole thing figured out before you begin.

I certainly didn’t.