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Curious if anyone else has gone through the process or done any research. For years I've told myself I would write something, then I had a minor epiphany while on the toilet. So, with what I think is the entire text written, notes on how I want to illustrate, (but need to hire a real artist to illustrate for me), I suppose the costs are print, arguably any copyright, and Library of Congress number issuance. I suspect it could be about $3k total.

Has anyone tried Kickstarter for something like this? I see a nice handful of books up there that have been funded from donors in my area.

Thoughts are greatly welcomed.

I wonder if I could start a Kickstarter, to purchase Kickstarter. Good luck on your book OP!

Probably your best route, good luck!

That depends on what sweet ass swag you give to donors.

Also I don't know how much artists charge.

cousin wishes kickstarter was around 10 years ago .. she used to write short stories like screenplays but havent picked up a pen in 10 years....

could of used this for a local high school radio station 10 years ago as well... they could not come up with the 10,000 then needed for start up cost for the station

I'm a little leery of any children's book which was inspired by a trip to the toilet.

Originally Posted by Rasen I'm a little leery of any children's book which was inspired by a trip to the toilet.

Everyone Poops!

Originally Posted by Rasen I'm a little leery of any children's book which was inspired by a trip to the toilet.

haa haa. Perfect! THAT is the type of reader I'm hoping to appeal to. Hoping it will be funny enough to make a person say, "really? No, that's not right...hunh. Hey, that's pretty funny." -preferably in that order.

I personally think any parent of 3 should get to write a book. The amount of material we have is such wasted potential.

The working title is: "Things I Would Do If I Didn't Have to Poop".

Berzirk probably stays up all night at home really angry that he didn't write Go the to Sleep.

Originally Posted by Strell Berzirk probably stays up all night at home really angry that he didn't write Go the to Sleep.

Haha, I didn't need to write that, I LIVE that :P

I suppose that's one way of doing it if you're looking to self-publish. There's also Kindle self-publishing, but I'm not sure if that would work with a kid's book. https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

Have you tried selling your book to any publishers?

Originally Posted by KillerRamen I suppose that's one way of doing it if you're looking to self-publish. There's also Kindle self-publishing, but I'm not sure if that would work with a kid's book. https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin Have you tried selling your book to any publishers?

Not yet. Literally got the idea for it last night, wrote most of it, then am at what I would consider to be a final draft today. Been adding notes on illustration ideas as the day goes on. Apparently for people who want to sell it and make real money, it's better to send it off for publisher reviews without illustrations, because they'll employ the ones they like should they choose to pick it up, but I'm more interested in grass-rooting this I think. Local print shop, employ one of a handful of illustrators who have expressed interest. Pitch it at small local bookshops, offer to read it at libraries. If I sell 20, and I printed 50, yay for me. If I sell none, and have to give away 50, having burned $3,000 of my own money...lesson learned.

Having the goal to make a real book and NOT lose 100% of $3k, would be great, and thus the idea of Kickstarter. Obviously offer things like copies of the book, signed copies. Maybe for higher donors, find a way to incorporate the name of their choosing to a character. I dunno. Regardless of which avenue I end up taking, it will happen. I've decided that. It's just a matter of how, and when, at this point.

Just as a word of advice: Before going to Kickstarter, I would highly suggest that you have a fairly clear idea of costs and time to get everything out the door. Kickstarter is more or less a binding contract, and you can potentially have legal issues down the line. There was an article about this just this week. Some guy had made an iPad stand, but couldn't deliver in time. Ultimately one of his backers sued him.

Anyway, just for your own information.

Originally Posted by Strell Just as a word of advice: Before going to Kickstarter, I would highly suggest that you have a fairly clear idea of costs and time to get everything out the door. Kickstarter is more or less a binding contract, and you can potentially have legal issues down the line. There was an article about this just this week. Some guy had made an iPad stand, but couldn't deliver in time. Ultimately one of his backers sued him. Anyway, just for your own information.

Good to know, I appreciate it. Definitely in the information acquisition phase. It works out that I've got a handful of friends/contacts in some useful locations, such as hired illustrators/artists, manager of a local printing press, friend who works at an indie bookstore. Need to get as much info as possible, because I know how much I'm comfortable spending, and since I want to get this out, the level of print/illustration quality, or even the decision to try and shop it around for a publisher, will all have to be made. I'm actually pretty damn skeptical of Kickstarter myself, for those very reasons. I'm glad to see that they've made it more strict in terms of what you can promise, vs. what you deliver. That was overdue.

Lulu is an excellent option for self publishing paper books. That along with Amazon's digtal self-publishing should cover all bases.

The biggest hurdle your going to encounter is how to go about promoting the book and getting it exposed to the audience your going after.

My first book was published a few months ago, and the biggest piece of advice I can offer is slow down and spend ample time thinking things over. I am not sure if creating the story in a few hours means you are ready to publish. Let a wide variety of people look it over and provide feedback. You will see that it may change countless times before the end, even as a children's book.

Well, if you were to ask Mitt Romney, he'd tell you to ask your parents for the money.

Originally Posted by Chase Well, if you were to ask Mitt Romney, he'd tell you to ask your parents for the money.

And if the OP were to ask Obama, he'd give him the money for free out of our pockets.

Way to contribute.

OP, have you considered releasing it on the Amazon or iTunes store? I know a few authors who have done it and saved a boatload. You won't get as widespread of an audience, but you could gauge interest in your book/style of writing before deciding to invest too much time or money into it.

More good advice and questions. I am sending it around to a handful of friends, reading it to my kids, some of their friends. It's doing pretty well. It's no Dr. Seuss, but it has some cute little rhymes and ideas. If I were accused of ripping anything off, I'd say stylistically it mildly resembles Weird Al's "When I Grow Up".

I'm more after this as a fun hobby and creative outlet, that ideally, I would like to break even on, or lose no more than a grand. If either of those happened, I'd consider it enough of a learning experience to be a success.

In terms of "sales and marketing", that's literally my day job, and while I'm pretty darn humble about what I do day to day, I'm kinda starting to realize that I'm fairly good at it. Nothing earth-shattering, but in my mind I want to sell one for every one that I give away. Do readings at local libraries, hit up independent bookstores. Give readings kid Q&A's at pre-schools (there's one that my kids have gone to that has a hundred or more kids over the course of the day). It would really be a grassroots sort of thing. If I sell 25, giveaway 25, hurray for me. I'll be a published author, my kids will have a book they can hold in their hands which lists their dad as the author, and I can add it to the list of fun things I've done.

Looooonger term, I also write stuff purely as a brain dump, but it's more catered to a non-kid crowd. The thought is that if I can learn the process at a relatively low cost, on a children's book that I feel good about, if/when the time comes that I really want to chase writing as a side job, I'm now "published author ____" instead of "first time writer ____". Again, the marketing side of things. Having a bigger name than nothing, when trying to publish a short story/novel would be helpful.

So don't let the short amount of time it took to write, make it appear that little thought went into it. There is a continuous refinement process, and I think the illustrations are going to be critical in making it more entertaining, but for a short, simple, mildly funny children's book, I think it's worth doing.

Berzirk can be the Tom's Shoes of kids publishing. And later on when all those children become poorly adjusted adults with scat fetishes, he can die knowing he truly changed the world.