Today, children’s story books have the most fantastic illustrations, with glitter, pop-ups and hologram effects which can certainly capture the attention of any child. Parents can’t resist these books and friends and family members love to give them as gifts to young children. So, the children’s book publishing market is booming. In the not-too-distant past, the children’s book publishing industry was dominated by the big “houses” of publishing. With net technology, graphic design software and e-book compilers, you can start your own children’s book publishing company, offering both hard copy and electronic formats. If you’re really on a shoestring, start out with an e-book only format. If you’re so lucky as to be both an artist and writer, you’ve got a lucrative, entertaining and soul-stretching online business venture just waiting out there. Enough of the starving artist.

If you’re not so gifted, the worst case scenario means you’ll need to hire a professional illustrator or graphic designer and an editor who can polish your story. If you’re not web-savvy, you’ll need a web designer as well to put your page up. If you think you’ve got the ideas that will appeal to your audience, your investment will be worthwhile. For example, if you’re selling a children’s book telling the story of migrating whales encountering the joys and dangers of their journey, write an article targeted to educational sites. Write a piece that shows you’ve done your homework, have accurate facts and have a passion for your subject.

Your subtle advertisement is contained in your byline. “Mary Jones writes children’s books, specializing in animal stories and ancient myths. Mary’s books are widely admired for their accurate depictions…” You can see how you’ll garner attention from potential buyers with a simple article posted on article directories. In this scenario, another effective marketing strategy would be to submit articles to newsletters pertaining to parenting, books or children’s education. The children’s book publishing industry is making a transition to the electronic and digital world, with all the magic the new technology offers in visual pleasure for children everywhere. If you’re looking for a home-based business that puts a little good in the world, think about children’s book publishing.

Many people have something to share with the world. Perhaps you have information or experiences that others could benefit from. And perhaps you have even taken the extreme step of writing down that information in the best way you know how. If you read my previous series on writing your own book, then you have already learned the methods for creating the text. And hopefully you have taken action and produced your manuscript.

Traditional Publishing is what most people think of when they thing of publishing. You send your manuscript to Random House, or Scholastic Books, or Viking Press, or any one of a hundred different publishing companies, and a few weeks later your phone rings. On the other end is an excited editor who has decided that your book is so good that it must be published immediately. Then he offers you a massive advance, and you’re on your way! Well, it doesn’t often happen like that, but there’s always a chance. This road is long and hard and fraught with danger – yet there is a great payoff on the other side.

Self-publishing is basically taking the work the a traditional publisher might do (create covers, edit the book, fill out the legal paperwork, layout the chapters, deal with printers and bookstores, etc.) and doing it all yourself. If you like control and don’t mind juggling a million details, this could be the best option for you. Sometimes called vanity presses, print-on-demand houses take your money and manuscript and return a finished book to you. In most cases you can then order additional copies of your book which they will print on an “as needed” basis. Essentially, when a copy of the book is needed, they print one for you. This is a viable compromise between giving up all control (Traditional publishing) and being responsible for everything (Self Publishing).

EBook is clearly the easiest and least costly option. Simply start with a MS-Word file (or whatever word processor you are using, and create a PDF file from it. PDF stands for “Portable Document Format” and it is the standard way of storing published information. Once you manuscript has been converted to PDF, it will look and feel and read like an electronic book. And you can begin to charge money for it.