I’m Emily and I’ve worked with Liz since 2020. This year she encouraged me to take the leap and publish my own children’s book on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). And I wanted to share a bit of that journey with you.
I’m one of those people who love to take inspiration and run with it. In my everyday life, I’m constantly inspired with ideas for children’s book stories. From questions my kids ask me, people I read about or fun animal facts I hear, I find myself crafting a story around those ideas.
With my story, Flamingo, Flamingo, I had heard that Flamingos could drink boiling hot water. How incredible is that! So I followed that bunny trail and learned so many fun facts about flamingos, that I had to turn it into a story.
Crafting The Story
My favorite children’s books are ones that are fun to read aloud. They have a cadence and flow that makes it enjoyable for the reader and the listener. That’s what I was aiming for with my book. Once I had my words, I grouped them for each page to make sure to maintain that good flow. And after I had the story planned out, it was time to illustrate.
Finding Inspiration
Fortunately, I really enjoy drawing animals. I gathered loads and loads of flamingo pictures. I found single flamingos standing serenely, large crowds of flamingos (they’re called a flamboyance!), and flamingos taking flight. I planned out what image best fit with the words on each page. This is called a picture book dummy, and helps you, not only tell the whole story, but design each individual page as well.
Time To Publish
After completing each book page came the tedious, but important, tasks of preparing and uploading each page to the KDP page to self-publish the book. Fortunately, they do give all the information, from page size to color profile, to help you upload a file that will print out the best version of your book.
Pushing that “Publish Book” button felt so incredible after all of the work that I had put into it. What had started as a fun fact was now a fully published children’s book.
My Advice for you
If you’re like me and you’d like to run with your inspiration and create your own picture book, here’s my suggestion:
- First, watch Liz’s Self Published Artist class to be able to glean all you can from her first-hand experience.
- Second, find that thing that spurs you to create your own story. Make it something you’re passionate about, so that it’s harder to give up halfway!
- Third, set a schedule to finish you work. Set your own reasonable goals and deadlines, as if you were working for a publisher.
- Lastly, and most importantly, have fun! Your passion and joy will be evident in your work, so let it overflow onto the page!
I’m so glad I could share my little journey with you. If you’d like to check out my picture book, Flamingo, Flamingo, you can find it here.
P.S — Liz here! Remember to pick up your copy of Emily’s book to support her publishing journey and join me in congratulating Emily over on Instagram on her profile @EmilyDabbles
the self published
artist class
artist class
- Learn about the best platforms to sell on
- Find out what sizes and papers are best
- Understand the top selling niches
- Learn how to list a book with SEO so it gets found
