Why did I do this?
I have a sister who lives in LA, and she has two kids, a boy and a girl. When I visited them, I saw how much they love reading children’s books before bedtime. Wanting to be involved in their lives and refuse to let them forget me when I am back in Australia. I decided to draw a children’s book to remind them of my existence. Totally selfish reason.
Also I see the effects with Social media, while it can be great for self-expression, it can also set an unrealistic portrayal of life, which can negatively impact their self-esteem. I have concerns about how gender-related topics are being introduced to children. I believe these conversations should be approached with care, age-appropriateness, and involvement from parents. So I want to do something about this in their crucial years of development. By using this story to tell the kids that it’s ok to be different, just embrace your uniqueness, grow in your own terms, and there is no need to compare yourself to others.
What did I do?
First problem – I am not a very good hand-drawing illustrator, I can’t draw YET. The good thing is I am a graphic designer. Like drawing logos, I can do lines and some simple shapes in Illustrator. So I went with that style and just do simple lines and shapes.
Uploaded to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
I am not selling it in Amazon anymore and I will tell you why.
Once the book is ready in a digital pdf file. The fastest way you can get it into the market is through a self-publish service through Amazon KDP – it’s free to set up. You upload the file, They put it on Amazon. They don’t print until there is an order. Meaning when there is an order, they print it and post the book to the buyer for you. Although very convenient, the royalty you get is very small, e.g. RRP = $14, I get $1.30.
The print quality is also not the best, but it’s free, and it’s a good start. You can still find my book on Amazon, but it would be displayed as “sold out”, because I have turned it off. Reason being I have just printed my version, and I want people to buy it through my website instead.
My first readers
Good thing with Amazon is that they ship globally, it was very easy to send my niece and nephew the book. It was the best feeling ever when I saw them read it. Or sitting next to it…Emma was, in a way my editor of the book, I actually made a few adjustments based on her reaction to make the story more engaging.
Self publish
I want better quality for the book. To do that, I…
- Set up a company called “Potato Publishing”.
- Found a printer through Alibaba in China, paid a few thousand to print and shipped 300 copies over.
- Went to a park next door to take some photos with my mobile.
- Then I set up a website through Square.
Marketing
Now this is the hardest part for me. To sell my book to the world.
This is me selling at Docklands through a Makers Market stall for the first time.
It was nerve-wrecking and exciting to see people’s reactions when they read the book. I was expecting to sell 5 and we ended up selling 15! I was very happy with that.
What’s Next?
Next thing is to promote my book. The plan is to:
- Send some free books to local libraries and schools.
- Send emails to bookstores for consignment.
- Market my book, more stalls? I am not sure yet, but I need to get rid of 200+ copies that are under my bed.
- Write more books!
To buy a copy of Milo – A dog who likes to meow, please visit https://potato-publishing.square.site/
It’s $29.95 with free shipping Australia-wide!
