Self-Publish A Children' s Book: How We did it.

Our self- published children's book was a gift... from an owl.

When my friend, Linda Gast, showed me her appealing photos of a tiny Saw-Whet Owl with it's expressive eyes and confident demeanor, I knew these images needed to be shared with the world.

"This is a children's book," I told her, and began to prove it by penning a few lines to fit with the photos. I know that most children's books start with the idea -- possibly some research -- then a story. The illustrations usually come last. Though we did this totally backwards, it proves that there are always exceptions.

After ourfirst modest marketing attempt with hand assembled books at a local street fair, we found that we could sell our little book about a tiny owl "So What, Saw -Whet?" to complete strangers.

We had talked to a local publisher, and though it didn't quite fit with his line of travel and nature books, he did encourage us and gave us some useful information about pricing and promoting.

We applied for our business license, and IBSN numbers and opened a business account as partners in "Hummingbird Mountain Press". We had the book professionally printed. We were publishers-- with an inventory of 2600 books.

Linda set up a website. We signed up for Amazon Advantage which produces a rather small profit, but it does give us credibility and a way of publicizing with book reviews.

We contacted children's book reviewers online and offered a review copy. Whenever we got a nice comment from someone, we asked if they would post it on Amazon (and anywhere else). We mailed out flyers and post cards to nature centers, bird clubs and wildlife rehabbers. I started started making e-mail contacts and found people who wanted to buy our book, in quantities of 6, 12 or even 20 at a time for a wholesale price. It was a modest start, but an encouraging one.

Self publishing requires multiple talents, which are not always packaged in one individual person. It is easier to handle the varied aspects of this enterprise if you are lucky enough to work with a partner who has complementary abilities and tendencies. I had a little publishing and writing experience . She had some small business experience in addition to her photography talent.

We had worked together in previous years as a free lance writer and photographer for the same publications, so we already knew we enjoyed collaborating. We share our work. We keep each other inspired with new ideas.

We fill in for each other. For us, the division of labor has worked out in a natural way so that we do not duplicate or skip over important things like order fulfillment, and tax record keeping.

Our early hope was that we could eventually attract the attention of a "real" publisher who would take on the business tasks and leave us free to do more creating. But as we got into it, we began to see that there were advantages in being our own publisher.

1. We were able to control the quality of the book. We believed that the superior photos deserved a heavier, higher quality paper than what is normally used. We wanted a heavy matte surface that would show off the images to good advantage, and would eliminate the possibility of type showing through from the other side.

2. We always knew where we stood financially, and we always knew exactly how much effort was going into marketing and promotion --- because WE were doing it ALL !

Another thing that happened at that first street fair, was the attendance of the local elementary school principal. She immediately invited us to visit the school and talk to the students about creating a book, about owls and about our book in particular. She even arranged to have notices sent home so parents could send money to buy the book! We were invited to other schools, and since we had both been teachers we felt comfortable in those settings.

Now, after almost four years, we have sold about a thousand books and are very close to recouping our original investment of start up expenses and printing costs, as well as taking care of our shipping and operating expenses. We still have an inventory of about 1,500 copies. No, we are not making a lot of money, but we will make some. Our profit margin is modest, especially since most of our sales are wholesale. The experience has been very interesting, and it gives us some insight into what publishers and marketers must do.

We found out that certain marketing attempts produced few returns, and we made some mistakes. On the other hand we were very lucky, in that this little owl is very widespread, even though elusive. Nature centers that have gift shops, seem to be our best customers. We have sold to customers in about 30 states and provinces , and we have several multiple-repeat customers.

Naturalists all across the continent seem to be very interested in it. The book has an educational element that environmental educators seem to appreciate.

Librarians have told me that it is "fun to read aloud" and, of course, the photos are unusually appealing. We targeted our efforts to reach people who would be most interested in our subject, the Saw-Whet Owl. I am sure, if we had tried to do this with a generic children's story book, it would have been much harder.

If things occasionally get a little hectic, Linda and I remind each other that we are SUPPOSED to be having fun.

In fact our prime business objective is: "to have fun" . No one was pushing us except ourselves. This may seem like a selfish or frivolous ambition, but we both believe that it is the only way we can do our best work, and our best work will produce other benefits: Our books have raised money for nature centers, bird rehabilitators, educational groups and animal shelters. They have have also caused children to wonder, learn and think.

======= Photos by Linda Gast 2004