2. Children as authors?
Vanity press or legitimate authorship?
Parents support extracurricular interests:
Soccer, Saxophone or Stories
Financial resources/encouragement
Does it matter which “team”?
3. Success stories
“No prodigies in literature” ~ Tom Robbins
Chris Paolini –
Published Eragon – Age 15
Inheritance Cycle – 25 M copies/49+ languages
Ben Heckmann
Velvet Black novels
800 copies
Featured in NY Times
4. KidPub Press
KidPub Press launched in 2008
Membership
Required only if publishing
Via parent registration
$12.95/yr
Targets tween and teen authors
Fiction, poetry
5. Creative Process
Created offline and uploaded
MS Word preferred, but will consider other editable
formats.
Illustrations:
Provided by author
Felt-tip pen drawing preferred
B/W
No photos, color, clip art
Scanned or hard copy
8. Covers
Full-color on heavy, glossy cover stock
Front cover: Title, author, artwork
Back cover
Book summary
Author bio
ISBN
Copyright statement
Spine
If book > 100 pages, Title, author, artwork?
9. Editing/Design
“Light editing”
Formatting
Poetry will have more white space
Limited enhancement of author’s
illustrations
Cover: overall design by staff
10. Marketing
Amazon: Print & eBook
KidsPub Press online – Print only
Press releases to local news
media, bookstores, libraries
Books in Print
11. eBook
Kindle format only – Available on Amazon
Reflects the print book in design, artwork, pricing.
12. Fees
Initial investment: $250
Editing
Cover Design
Marketing
Registration with Books in Print
ISBN
5 copies to author
Additional copies at discount
19. Editorial Services
No Marketing
Sales to account owner
Author’s name not revealed until after book is ordered.
No ISBN
Copyright to author
Exception: Build-a-Bear story templates
20. Tikatok’s new app
Draw, Write, Read
Draw - App’s pens, paint brushes,
Write - Choice of font style, color, page layouts
Read - Recorded audio
21. Oops!
StorySpark – available?
Draw, Write, Read – unavailable?
Orders for books not currently accepted?
Between the lines
Microsoft enters the picture as Tikatok takes a break
B & N support says it’s “up to the publisher”.
Kidpub website began in 1995 as “safe’ place for kids to share their stories. Except for cover-art, very little focus on illustrations. Better option for picture book authors
Timeline from submission to print is about 2-3 months
Price can depend on number of pages/volumesLibraries and local bookstores receive a discount and free shipping
Full-color will wrap aroundAuthors do not do cover art (usually)
Spelling, grammar, layout (margins fixed)Final proof copy sent to author (digitally) for review/approval. Parents sign off and it’s sent to press.
Amazon agrees to offer “usual” marketing for book, Vague, I doubt they include it in “featured” or “new releases”.
Publisher has mutually beneficial agreement with Amazon. In exchange for hosting and marketing the books on Amazon, exclusive eBook to Kindle format
Copies to the author are free as is shippingAdditional copies are $7 only if ordered at time of publication
B & N print only. No EPUB, Amazon=Kindle & print, KidPub Press – Print only Slight variation in shipping costs between the 3 for hard copy
Target user group – Younger children – ages 5-10Some older kidsGraphics heavy, text light – Picture books/ER
Controlled through their UI.Uploading original drawings/graphics is do-able. Photos?Leverages the early education concept of story prompts by providing templates that require, in some cases, very little inputBackfire? Too easy?
In this case, a Father’s Day book. Just pop in a couple of pictures/photos, supply the text to a few “fill-in-the-blanks” fields and two pages are done!
Here, the first pages are entirely blank. Layout, text, illustrations are entirely within the writer’s control.
DRW introduced late 2011
Reading between the lines of emails from B & N Nook support and Tikatok support, it appears there is a dispute in place. Occurred about the time of the MS investment in B & N? Last tweet, upload in March. Plans to revive “entirely up to publisher” - A B & N company (?)
Advent of eReaders – Enhanced and interactive books for kids are a growing field. Now, you can create your own. UI intuitive.
Talespring recommends professional graphic artists, but not necessary. Use students. JPEG, GIF, & PNG (best for transparency)Audio files must be MP3, .wav & OSS not supported. HTML5 not yet supported on IE
Fairly powerful. Not impressively intuitive. Best for teens – adults, though one of the most popular books was created on an iPad by two sisters 10, and 14. Dad teaches tech. Tutorials on YouTube.
Flags fluttering in the breeze, ships sailing across the waves, birds flying in the sky, pirate slashing the air with his cutlass
Apple sets price – Usually $1.99-$2.99 depending on file size. Demo video of book in action on an iPad - $95.00. Created by staff of graphic artists & can be uploaded to YouTube. Used for marketing.