Self-published children’s book marketing — some things I wish I’d known sooner

November 28, 2023 — There’s a good amount to cover about marketing your self-published picture book so I’ll break this topic into more than one post. I’ll begin with some of the more obvious ideas and move on to some of the tactics that you might not think of right away. There are things I wish I’d known sooner. But, we’ll get to that. 

Fortunately, I have a dear friend, Nancy Rosen, a former client who I used to do freelance public relations writing for, who’s a marketing whiz. She tipped me off about the importance of presales for upcoming books and so I created a number of social media posts starting several months before publication, encouraging people to preorder my book. I didn’t get enough presales to make a difference in terms of where my book appeared in searches, but it’s certainly worth the attempt. 

Press releases

Another marketing strategy is to write and distribute (via email) a press release about your book’s publication to the media, particularly local media, emphasizing that you’re a local author of a new book. Include a synopsis, what makes your book stand out, your audience, and short biographies on the author and illustrator, especially any previous writing and illustration credentials. Included at the end of my press release was a link to a Google folder containing several high resolution images from my book, including the cover, for media use. I had good luck with a couple of small local media who featured our book, illustrator and me. There are so many books that it is very competitive to get the media’s attention, unless you’ve got a pretty unique angle, or it’s a slow news cycle. Or you’re a celebrity. 

Social media

Social media posts have the potential to reach a wide audience. Strategies that can help are using popular hashtags (something you can research), relevant groups you’ve joined (children’s book authors, for ex.), attention-grabbing images and clever angles. Personally, I’m on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X. TikTok is one of the hottest forums right now in a rapidly changing arena, so it pays to do research. And keep in mind, with children’s books, your primary audience comprises parents, and others who purchase books for children. Think grandparents, aunts and uncles, teachers, librarians. 

Literary reviews

Something I wish I’d known prior to publication of my first book is that many of the literary reviewers only review books pre-publication. Literary reviews are good to have for excerpting on your book’s back cover or inside front pages. Most libraries will want to see some positive literary reviews before carrying a book. Some of the main literary reviewers are Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal and School Library Journal. 

The literary reviewers that I have found (so far) that will review a book after publication are Midwest Book Review, Story Monsters Ink, and Kirkus Indie Reviews. Some charge for the review, others don’t. Regardless, these are unbiased reviews, so there’s no guarantee that your review will be a good one. You can promote positive reviews on your Amazon page, author website and book cover, for example. I happen to know that if you aren’t happy with a Kirkus review, you don’t have to give permission for them to publish it and it will be kept private. 

Book awards

There are a number of children’s book awards, specifically emphasizing self-published or indie (independently published) books. I’ve been researching this area lately, and some of the awards deadlines are past and/or they limit entries to books published during the same calendar year of the award. Some of the awards that must be entered in the same year as the publication year: Association for Library Service to Children awards (Caldecott, Newberry, Geisel, Children’s Notable Book List), Ben Franklin Awards, Foreward Book Reviews INDIES.

Others are more flexible about publication dates: Best Indie Book Award, Moonbeam Book Awards, Cybils Children’s Literary Blogger Awards, IPPY Independent Publishers Award, Indie Excellence National Book Award (aka Next Gen Indie Book Awards), Rubery Book Awards, Readers Choice Awards, Story Monsters Ink (Royal Dragonfly Award, Story Monsters Approved Award).

This is another thing I wish I’d known about because it seems that the most prestigious awards (as the saying goes, “go big or go home”) limit entries to books published within the same calendar year. Having published in late 2022 and not having this on my radar meant missing eligibility for some key awards, not that I think I would have won, but it’s nice to at least have a chance. But, I will know for next time. And now you know. 

A fair amount has been written already about how worthwhile (or not) various awards are for helping with book sales and this information is searchable online. I’m just getting into this realm and so for me, personally, and IF I even win anything, how certain awards could potentially impact my sales remains to be seen. I assume, for anyone this will depend on the prestige of the award, how much they promote their awards, and how much attention award promotions receive. Similar to literary reviews, some awards can be entered at no charge and others charge a fee. 

My next blog post on marketing your self-published children’s book will discuss author websites, book and author events, Amazon ads, and strategies for setting up your Amazon account, including keywords, book categories and more. 

Since there’s not a feature on this blog for comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you if you are finding the blog useful, have any questions, or just to say hello, using the contact link above.