I've had a lot of disappointments in publishing this year. Picture books are a hard sale at the moment. They are expensive and time consuming to produce. Editors are hesitant to take on picture book projects and agents are wary. I get the nicest rejection letters from agents.
Earlier this year, two different publishers changed their minds on picture books they had promised to publish. I was surprised and sad, but I moved on quickly. No sense in wallowing in it. I sent a new manuscript right away. Back to the waiting game.
The biggest loss when publishers change their mind is the loss of time. It takes a long time to get that manuscript through the acceptance process, and another long time to get the book illustrated. If the process gets short-circuited along the way, the time loss is huge.
It was this level of disappointment and frustration that led me to take a serious look at publishing an e-picture book. E-publishing for picture books is in its infancy. There are some commercially produced e-picture books available, but only a handful of indivually produced e-picture books. There is not a lot of accessable info about the process, and the tools that commercial publishers use to produce an e-picture book aren't available to Joe Author.
Still with a little bit of help (okay, a lot of help), I was able to get A Valentine Disaster up on kindle. It was a rush job, because we wanted it out before Valentine's Day. It went live on Kindle some time last Friday. We've had a few sales already.
It will make a great Valentine Surprise for someone you love. Ordering is one click away on the sidebar of this blog. If you don't have a kindle, you can get a free kindle app for your computer or phone. Click here to download.
We will also have the pdf version available on our website soon. We're still under construction. Check back in a couple of days. http://www.picturebooksrock.com/
I love picture books. I love the kind you can hold and touch. If you're like me, you can almost smell the flowers and taste the cookies. E-books have a different feel, but they have some advantages. They take up less room. They are less expensive. They are not limited by publisher's imagination.
I have more e-picture books on the way. Hang on for the ride.
Linda Garner
Earlier this year, two different publishers changed their minds on picture books they had promised to publish. I was surprised and sad, but I moved on quickly. No sense in wallowing in it. I sent a new manuscript right away. Back to the waiting game.
The biggest loss when publishers change their mind is the loss of time. It takes a long time to get that manuscript through the acceptance process, and another long time to get the book illustrated. If the process gets short-circuited along the way, the time loss is huge.
It was this level of disappointment and frustration that led me to take a serious look at publishing an e-picture book. E-publishing for picture books is in its infancy. There are some commercially produced e-picture books available, but only a handful of indivually produced e-picture books. There is not a lot of accessable info about the process, and the tools that commercial publishers use to produce an e-picture book aren't available to Joe Author.
Still with a little bit of help (okay, a lot of help), I was able to get A Valentine Disaster up on kindle. It was a rush job, because we wanted it out before Valentine's Day. It went live on Kindle some time last Friday. We've had a few sales already.
It will make a great Valentine Surprise for someone you love. Ordering is one click away on the sidebar of this blog. If you don't have a kindle, you can get a free kindle app for your computer or phone. Click here to download.
We will also have the pdf version available on our website soon. We're still under construction. Check back in a couple of days. http://www.picturebooksrock.com/
I love picture books. I love the kind you can hold and touch. If you're like me, you can almost smell the flowers and taste the cookies. E-books have a different feel, but they have some advantages. They take up less room. They are less expensive. They are not limited by publisher's imagination.
I have more e-picture books on the way. Hang on for the ride.
Linda Garner
3 comments:
Looks great - I'm going to head over and take a look.
I have a couple of picture book ideas in my head, but know few illustrators. I am considering self pubbing a middle grade novel though...
Congratulations on your e-picture book. Last summer at a restaurant with my husband I say a man showing his friend a picture book on his lap top. They were clearly talking about e-publishing. That gave me an idea to do more pictures in my books for children. They are not picture books, just great little stories. Michael Di Gesu has agreed to be my illustrator, so excited.
Nancy
Sorry about the books that were accepted and then didn't pan out.
But big congrats on your new epicturebook!!!
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