How To Make A Children’s Book Online

There are several steps to make a children’s book online. Writing children’s books allows many authors to record and relive the experiences of raising young children, as well as retain memories of adult children. The records of these experiences provide opportunities to share ideas and life experiences with others. As as aspiring author, write children’s books as a creative outlet and to offer new networking and creative opportunities. Read on to discover a step-by-step guide on how to make a children’s book online.

Refine Main Idea

The first step in writing any children’s book is to refine the main ideas. If you’re looking to write a book for kids, you probably have a preliminary idea already. Refine it by performing a web search for books that may be similar. From there, look at their summaries. Next, determine how your idea differentiates itself from those other ones on the market. This way, you perform quick preliminary research that provides competition insights, proves there’s demand for your idea, and helps to refine it. Surely, refining the main ideas and themes of your book enables you to gauge demand and gain a competitive advantage.

Understand Target Markets

You’ll also need to thoroughly understand the markets and demographics to target with your book. There are many categories of children’s literature that are determined by age group. For example, a baby board book should be significantly less complex than a young adult novel. While these aren’t hard rules, you should pick a specific age group to target and make your writing unique to that demographic. This way, you focus on specific areas of the market, increasing your book’s chances of selling. In ascending order of age, the categories are: picture books use both illustrations and words. Early reader books still have pictures, but less. Chapter books are longer and tend to come in series. Middle grade books are slightly more mature in terms of both language used and subject material. Finally, young adult books are lengthy and often deal with adolescent subject matter such as life-changing issues. Absolutely, understand the different age markets to target to buy ad space for your audience.

Write/Illustrate Using Outlines/Drafts

Third, it’s time to write and illustrate the story. Make a rough outline to determine how the story will flow. For traditional stories, roughly outline a beginning, middle, and end. If you’re going a less traditional route, write down everything you want to include. Refer back to your outline as a road map of sorts to keep your story on track. From there, write a first draft to get your ideas out. Don’t worry about word counts or editing, just write. With at least a first draft of the story written, begin illustrating by creating a mockup of the book. Cut words into chunks and place them on each page to visualize how you’d like them broken up and where they should sit on the pages. Next, sketch out drawings to create a rough draft of illustrations. Once this draft is complete, start filling out the sketches into full illustrations. Certainly, use rough drafts and outlines when writing to keep your story on track and maximize it’s quality.

Proofreading/Editing

Next, you need to proofread and otherwise edit your manuscripts and illustrations. The age group categories above are often characterized by certain word counts, so make sure you’re at least close to your chosen market’s word count. Consider items such as whether the story makes (somewhat) logical sense, if there are any plot holes, as well as the how and why of these items. Perform these preliminary edits yourself before sending your manuscript to a professional editor. Getting an outside critique provides professional feedback on the marketability and content of the book, and addresses any lingering grammatical or language issues. Definitely, proofread your work on your own and via a professional to significantly improve its story, illustrations, and optimize the consultant marketing.

E-Book Format

Lastly, publish your work as an ebook. Ebooks are a great format for new children’s books due to their consistently growing usage among young children and their parents. Additionally, it’s much easier to promote ebooks, since they’re just digital files that can be instantaneously sent to editors, reviewers, and consumers. You won’t have to pay for printing or materials either, making ebooks one of the most cost-effective children’s book formats. Of course, publish your book as an ebook to reduce printing costs and streamline the editing and review processes.

There are many methods of making children’s books online. One method involves refining your main ideas and themes to gauge demand and gain competition insights. Second, understand the various age groups to keep your book focused and increase its profitability. Third, write and illustrate the story using rough drafts to maximize its quality and maintain its focus. Next, proofread your work yourself and via an outside editor to gain insights that significantly improve the marketability and quality of your work. Finally, publish the book as an ebook writer to reduce printing costs, streamline review processes, and capture an expanding market. When wondering how to make a children’s book online, consider the steps described above.