Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts

Friday, May 12, 2023

Why Children’s Book Illustrators Are Angry About AI

First of all, let me make this clear. I think AI is pretty amazing. I am blown away by the images that various AI generators can produce. I say this because I don’t want people to assume that the reason I’m writing this article is because I hate AI. I don’t. Nevertheless, as cool as AI is, I’ll be honest, it is wreaking havoc on the illustration industry and making a lot of us worried. This blog post is to explain to those who are not in the world of children’s book illustration why AI art is making illustrators uncomfortable.

As an author/illustrator of children’s books, I like to be aware of what is going on in the publishing world from as many angles as possible. This is why I am on over 100 forums including those for teachers, librarians, principals, editors, illustrators, authors, and children’s book self-publishers. In the last few years in the world of children’s book self-publishing, there has been an increasing trend of people taking credit for illustration work which they have not created. AI did not create this trend, but it has added rocket fuel to the fire. AI has now become the number one topic on many of the forums that I am on and for good reason. Let me explain.

Originally, children’s book illustration was all done by hand in various media, such as colored pencils, watercolors, or collage. Now, however, all artwork, even that which is carefully crafted by hand, is eventually put into a computer. This is not a bad thing. It actually makes doing layouts a lot easier. Creative apps like Adobe Photoshop and Procreate have made it possible for artists to make spectacular digital images and gorgeous picture books.

The first big revolutionary change in the children’s book industry was the introduction of print on demand books (POD). This is because in traditional publishing, a book took months to make. Publishers had to make sure that everything was perfect and professional before they could send a book to press. POD books, on the other hand, could be printed immediately. POD technology made it possible for anyone to publish a book who had the means to do so. Companies like Amazon took advantage of this and made it possible for people to publish their books for free. The market for self-published books began to boom.

To self-publish a children’s book, however, you need to be able to finance its creation. This means that unless you are an author/illustrator with experience in graphic design and perfect grammar, you still need to pay for editing, illustrations, and layout. Most professional illustrators charge between 3-10,000 dollars per book for illustrations and are paid upfront (illustrators are not normally paid royalties). This means that for most authors who choose to self-publish their children’s book, illustrations are the biggest cost. Because of this, many began to look for cheaper ways to make their dream come true. The demand for inexpensive illustrations grew.

In order to find low priced images, many people began to go online to pay for someone overseas where wages are lower to illustrate their book. There are many illustrators on sites like Fiverr which will do an entire picture book for less than $500. Unfortunately, these sites are filled with scams. One of the biggest problems is artists stealing other illustrator’s work and calling it their own to make their profiles look great. Another is illustrators who take money and never send illustrations. Finally, you have illustrators who make entire books using clip art. You would think that this would be easy to spot, but it is rampant in the industry and is a huge problem for various reasons.

First of all, clip art is actually an illustration done by someone else. When a writer or illustrator uses a bunch of clip art to make an illustration and then puts his/her/their name on it and publishes it, it is dishonest. Imagine if you take a bunch of recipes from various cookbooks and put them together in one book and then claim it is yours. Clip art might be fine on a Power Point, but it has no place in children’s book publishing. There are thousands of books with clip art illustrations currently on the market and many authors are unaware that they are being unethical by publishing them. The worst part, is that many of these authors do not even realize that the illustrations that they bought were not original art. For those of us who work in illustration, however, these type of books are easy to spot. The images are often different styles, the shadows are wrong (or non-existent), eye-contact is off, and the parts look cut out. A lot also look like the characters were copied from Disney.

It used to be easy to spot cheap self-published books because so many used clip art. Within the course of less than a year, however, this has completely flipped. Now AI in children’s books is all the rage. Unlike clip art, AI images are on a completely different level. Many of the images coming out of AI are absolutely amazing. It’s no wonder that tons of people are using AI as an opportunity to make their dream book a reality. Nevertheless, using AI in a children’s book has a lot of negative side effects and many of these are why my colleagues and I are angry.

First of all, there is currently no copyright on AI as a computer generates the images. That means that if you publish a book full of AI images, there is not much stopping someone from copying or sharing your images. This area is just too new and there isn’t much legal precedence.

Secondly, AI runs its algorithms based off actual artwork.  Imagine taking a bunch of famous paintings and collaging them together and saying it is your work. It is actually not, especially because you didn’t even do the collaging yourself. Plus, the artists are not being compensated or acknowledged for their work. In addition many authors inadvertently place only their name on the cover of their AI illustrated children’s book so that everyone assumes that they are the illustrator. Unfortunately, I see this every day on the forums that I am on. There is always a newbie author pushing their debut book with AI images, only their name on the cover, and no admission that they used AI to create it. I’ll be honest, people buying cheap illustrations frustrate me but people trying to skip paying someone entirely and take the credit for it frustrate me even more. Nevertheless, AI makes it easy to take credit for amazing illustrations that you didn’t actually create.

Finally, many illustrators are losing work. The amount of AI produced work is overwhelming the industry. Literary agents are flooded with AI produced books. Publishers have stopped submissions because they do not know how to handle the amount that they have received. This means that authors and illustrators who have been spending months creating high quality books are unable to get their books in the hands of the people who need to see them. When authors and illustrators say that they are worried about their jobs this has more to do with just AI making neat pictures. Just like photography killed the editorial artist, AI will put a lot of illustrators out of business. The technology is just too revolutionary. AI is able to generate illustrations which rival even the best traditional artists at almost no cost.

Human illustrators cost money for a reason because doing illustration is a lot of work. I got my master’s degree in illustration and book design, and I spend hours on each illustration I make. I’m proud of the work that I produce. At the moment, I use AI for ideas. I won’t use it in my books, because I want people to know that when my name is listed as illustrator that I did all of the artwork myself. Maybe someday I will use AI to make even better illustrations. Perhaps I’ll use it to add backgrounds, shadows, or to create entirely new images. I have no idea, but I am sure that I will have to find a way to work with this technology or get out of the way.

So why does AI make illustrators so upset? In the end, I think most of us are not angry at AI. We know that AI has a lot of uses and is here to stay. We are frustrated, however, with people who misuse it for their own gain. We are annoyed at people taking credit for artwork that they didn’t create and those who use cheap illustrations instead of paying an expert to do the job. We are irritated that the artists whose work is being used by AI are not contacted, acknowledged, or compensated. We are angry at how recklessly AI is being used in our industry and how that recklessness is damaging our livelihood. We are upset because we know that a lot of us may not be working in illustration ten years from now. The industry as we know it is gone. AI is here and our world as illustrators will never be the same.


Go to KelleyDonner.com, Kelley's official author/illustrator page.

 

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Have You Ever Wanted to Write a Children's Book?: 10 Tips for Beginners

Have you ever dreamt of publishing your own children's book? Would you love to see your book on a shelf when you walk into Barnes and Noble? Have you ever wondered how difficult it is to sell a book on Amazon? Well... there are a few things that you should know first. 

Here are my top 10 tips for beginners:

1. Have reasonable expectations

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that anyone can create a children's book. Part of the reason for this is the number of celebrity picture books on the market. Nevertheless, the reality looks very different. Children's book publishing is a very competitive field. Think of it like this. If you put your book on Amazon, for example, your book will be one of about nine million books. This means that if you do not advertise your book, no one will know that it exists. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't publish your own book, just that you shouldn't expect it to be a bestseller or sell thousands of copies. Publishing is a business. You will need to consider if your objective is to make a great book or to sell one.

2. Know the term "Vanity Press"

There are various ways to get your book published. A traditional press is very difficult to get into and usually requires an agent. They pay their authors an advance when they sign them plus royalties. Self-publishing, on the other hand, means that you do the publishing process by yourself. Nevertheless, a lot of people who self-publish outsource some of the work, such as editing, layout, and printing. This is where hybrid publishing comes in. They offer various publishing services for a price. For example, they may offer to layout your book for you and publish it for you on the platform of your choice. What is a vanity press? A vanity press is a hybrid press with the intent to just take author's money without offering much in return. Unfortunately, there are a ton of vanity presses out there (see list here). 

3. Don't rush it

Most authors spend months to years perfecting a book before they bring it to press. If you have only spent a couple of weeks, your book is nowhere near finished. Join a critique group, have other authors read your work, or pay for an editor to help you out.  Even bestselling authors send their texts to editors to be improved and this process often takes longer than writing itself. My tip. Edit. Edit. Edit.

4. Illustrations can make or break a book

If you are self-publishing, get a great illustrator! When your washing machine breaks down, you hire a repair person who is an expert to fix it. Your illustrator should be an expert, too. Illustrators work hard at their craft and should be paid for their expertise. If you think minimum wage is reasonable, your book will look minimum, too. This is why traditional publishers have their own in house illustrators who they know are experts in their field. If you want to sell lots of books and you are not an artist, do not do your own illustrations. Also, finish all of your editing before you find an illustrator. 

5. Show your book to strangers

Your family and friends will always say your book is great. They love you and don't want to hurt your feelings. You need to find people who do not know you who are willing to read your book. Join a local writers group. Go to your local library and ask your librarian if she knows of any people who would be willing to anonymously critique your book or mentor you. Ask if you can read your book for story-time and see how children react to your book.

6.  Spend time coming up with a superb title

First and foremost, your book needs a good title. This should not just sound good, but should also explain to those who do not know you or your book what they are going to expect when they read it. Also, make sure that your title does not sound scary, does not have any negative connotations, and is free from anything that could be considered controversial. A good title stands alone. In addition, look up your title on Google and Amazon and see what other books and products have similar names. This is an important step that shouldn't be forgotten as once your title is uploaded, it is almost impossible to change.

7. Your cover is more important than your book

When people see a link or advertisement to your book, the first thing they will do is look at the cover and read the title. Often this is only a tiny thumbnail image on a mobile phone. If the title is illegible or does not catch their attention, they will not even read your blurb and they will definitely not buy your book. Your cover should tell us about what we will expect in the book. If you are doing your own cover, take time to look at other popular books in your genre to see how a good cover looks. A cover is not just an image and a title, its layout, typeface, and understanding industry standards. Zoom out until your image is very small and see if it still works. My advice is to only do your own cover if you have experience in book or graphic design. Unfortunately, you can usually always spot a first time author by the cover of their book. A good cover sells a book because you only get one chance to make a first impression. 

8. A great blurb says it all

Amazon, for example, only shows the first 2-3 sentences of your blurb and then writes 'more...' You need to catch people's attention in those first few sentences so that they click on either the 'more' button or buy your book. Hook your reader. Tell them why your book is so great and give them a taste as to what your book is about. While putting together my Best Coronavirus Children's Books blog post, I looked at hundreds of product pages and the majority of pages I saw were from first time authors.  Many, were teachers, parents, and medical workers who decided to try to break into the children's book market for the first time. Although some of the newcomers surprised me with their concepts, ingenuity, and talent, others had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Nowhere in your blurb, for example, should you put yourself down and say that you are not a professional writer or illustrator. This may be true, but keep that information to yourself. If you are a teacher, than promote yourself with your experience working with children. If you are a parent, use that. And, don't forget to write in the third person. 

9. Consider self-publishing

Personally, I am a fan of self-publishing. Platforms like Amazon KDP are free. Why should you spend thousands of dollars on a hybrid publisher when you can learn how to do it yourself and save all of that money? Learning how to self-publish is also not that difficult. It just takes a little time and effort. Plus, there are many advantages. You will receive full royalties instead of having to share them with a publisher. This is a huge difference. Traditional and many hybrid publishers take a huge chunk of your paycheck. You also own your book and its rights. This means that if you decide to sell your book somewhere else or change a part of it, you can. Self-publishing puts you in the driver's seat.

10. Don't stop now

In order to be successful, treat publishing like a business. If you really want to make it in self-publishing, you will need to have more than just one book. Like many, I didn't begin really earning money until my fourth or fifth book. It takes time to get to know the industry. If you are serious about publishing children's books as more than just a hobby, join the Society of Children's Book Writer and Illustrators. They offer invaluable courses on how to write and illustrate, critique groups, and have chapters all over the world. I would never have gotten to where I am if I hadn't joined this wonderful group of people.

If this all seems to overwhelming, I understand. When I first got started it seemed like a lot to take in. This is why I began offering webinars and consultation services. There were so many things that I had wished I had known when I began that I know now. 

I hope these tips help to get you started. Good luck! You'll find more information about A Little Donnerwetter Books and how to sign up for my latest webinar "Have you ever wanted to write a children's book?" on my author website at KelleyDonner.com.




Sunday, November 1, 2020

A Very Corona Christmas: Santa Stays Home

One Crazy Year


This has been a crazy year. Nevertheless, I have been amazed by how differently everyone has been experiencing it. I know a lot of people who have complained this year that nothing has happened. No vacations. No conferences. No nothing (I apologize, but sometimes a double negative just sounds appropriate). However, I feel like just the opposite is true. Yes, we haven't gone on holiday. Yes, I wasn't at any events. But, yes, this year everything has been different. Although many of these things have been stressful for me, they have also pushed me to see things from a different perspective. 

What Would Santa Do?

One morning while talking with my children about Christmas, I began to think about what Santa would be feeling and seeing this year. So together with my children, we brainstormed what life would be like at the North Pole in the midst of such a chaotic year. It was fascinating to hear the children's perspective of how Santa would react to the Covid19 epidemic. Of course, they were worried about Santa's safety. He's rather old, and children know already that it would not be good for an elderly person to get the coronavirus. In addition, my kids expected that a lot of the same things that they experience, must happen at the North Pole, too.

Elves watching kids
on Zoom

Soon, it was clear to me that there was a story to be told. How would Christmas look this year for Santa? I sat down at my computer and didn't leave until I hadn't written the entire text to A Very Corona Christmas. Every few minutes one of my children would come in and ask me if I was finished. I would have to read to them how far I was and then they gave me their input on what I had already written. Soon, I got a lot of, "Mom, you have to add this..." and "Don't forget to add this..." I also got critique now and then, too. If it weren't for my kids, this story would have never happened. Once again, I am thankful for their inspiration and great ideas.

Santa baking bread
during lockdown

A Very Corona Christmas


Once my story was done, I sat back and thought about what I wanted to do next. I realized that this book should be published. Children this year really need something to look forward to. They deserve to have a great Christmas. A Very Corona Christmas would be perfect to remind kids that Santa would never let them down, even during a pandemic. Nevertheless, I needed illustrations. It was already mid-October. I knew, I would need to have the entire project finished in about 7-10 days. I honestly didn't know if that would even be possible. The illustrations for Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain took me most of a year. Was I crazy to try to illustrate a book in a week? 

Santa-tizer on
Santa's new sleigh
I decided that I was going to at least try. I started sketching. Then I googled Santas and elves and sketched some more. I looked at some other illustrators that I really enjoy. I love Laura Numeroff's books, such as If you Give A Mouse a Cookie, and how the illustrations pop out of the white background. I also enjoy Benji Davies characters and their simplicity. Personally, I also think that good illustrations tell a story that the text cannot tell by itself and have little jokes that only adults might understand (as long as they are child-friendly, of course). David Shannon is a perfect example of this. Although I have a tendency to get too detailed, I really concentrated this time on trying to make the illustrations simple and not to over-think. I knew I didn't have much time and I wanted the story to shine through. 
Santa reading a
letter from the President

9 exhausting days later, my book was finished. I hit the publish button and off it was sent to the big library in the clouds. This time I even surprised myself. I hadn't realized that I was capable of writing, illustrating, and publishing a book in 8 days. This year has been crazy and has pushed me in a way that I didn't know was possible. Life is short. There is no time to waste. If you have an idea, it's time to make it happen.

A Very Corona Christmas is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.





 

Saturday, October 24, 2020

A Pandemic Silver-lining

How Writing a Covid19 Children’s Book 

Changed the Way I Publish

February was not a good month to be sick with a cough. Nevertheless, I had one and it ended up being one of the worst colds of my entire life. At the time, Covid19 was just becoming an issue and my continual coughing caused more fear than sympathy. Therefore, I went into lockdown before it ever became a bad word. Then my kids came down with my colds, homeschooling began, and questions about this mysterious virus began to get real. It was impossible to keep the kids in the dark. They began to worry and their questions became harder and harder to answer. Will we get to go back to school? When can we see our friends? Why can’t grandma visit? Is grandma going to die? Will you die? Can I die? These are not easy questions to answer, especially when no one really knew that much about Covid19.

Lockdown Inspiration

One afternoon while playing around with torn construction paper, I suddenly realized an easy way to explain to my six year old about the virus. Just as many of my stories come to me out of the blue and overtake my thought processes, this one wouldn’t let go. The story of a happy, carefree green line whose life changes suddenly when one day some of the orange and purple lines in her town begin to turn crooked. I began tearing paper, scanning it in, and writing down the story that had appeared in my head. Within 24 hours, I had assembled the beginning of a book which would end up becoming one of the most popular children’s books about the coronavirus. I called it TheDay the Lines Changed. 

My Advantage

By early March stories about the notorious coronavirus began to arrive from all corners of the globe. I began to realize that the story that I had written to console my boys had marketing potential. Large publishers need months to years to bring out a story as they require the collaboration of various people from book designers and illustrators to marketing experts. As someone who had already self-published a couple of children’s books and done my own writing, illustrating, and book design, I realized an opportunity. I quickly got to work. My last book had taken a year to write and illustrate. Nevertheless, within a week I had published the first draft of The Day the Lines Changed on Amazon. I decided to give the first two months earnings (March and April) to local charities which support children’s mental health. After April, I figured if the book was still making some money, I could use the extra cash to pay off my Master’s degree. At the time, I thought I would be lucky if I sold a couple hundred books and I never imagined that the pandemic would get so out of hand.

Learning by Doing

Unlike most children’s books, coronavirus children’s books were an absolutely new idea. I began to look on Amazon everyday. I would type in “coronavirus children’s books” or “pandemic picture books” and see which books continually came up. I began to get to know the competition, which grew by the day. Quickly I began to see why some books sold more than others. The cover looked more professional, you could look inside the book and read the story, the idea was great, or the blurb especially appealing. I began tweaking my story. I improved the cover. I improved my blurb. I increased the look inside function to 70% so that people could read my story. I made a story-time video on Youtube. I began to advertise and post on social media. I started doing interviews. I learned basic analytics. Soon, my numbers began to improve. 

I also decided to contact other authors of coronavirus children’s books. I looked at who was in the top ten and I sent them each a letter. I introduced myself and asked them why they wrote their book and their story. Soon, I began to see a trend. We were mothers, teachers, and all had some artistic experience. In addition, we were all privileged enough to be able to have had the time to do what we did. Writing, illustrating, book design, and marketing all take precious time and usually amount to little income. None of us had a traditional book contract, but we all had the ambition to venture into the unknown. We had all decided that the benefits outweighed the risks. Interestingly enough, for many of my colleagues, this was the first book that they had ever self-published.

As Covid19 began to really hit the US hard, teachers all over began to talk on social media about what they were going to do when they went back to school. Having worked as an educator for many years, I knew I could help out. I used my research to write an article on my blog The Best Coronavirus Children’s Booksfor back to school. I began to receive more emails from teachers wanting to use my lesson plans in their class. More than any newspaper article or interview, social media post or podcast, word of mouth about my book began to fuel sales. By August I began to sell 40 books a day and at its peak, I was selling well over a hundred. In September, The Day the Lines Changed was featured in the Washington Post as one of the top coronavirus children’s books on the market and had made over 10,000 dollars. My book had gone further than I had ever imagined possible.

Moving Forwards

Publishing a coronavirus children’s book has taught me more in 6 months about publishing than all of the writing classes and seminars I’ve been to in my lifetime. A book is so much more than its text. When I wrote The Day the Lines Changed, I didn’t know what would happen. But, I knew that if I didn’t take a chance I would never know what could happen. The worst case scenario was that my book would fail. I was willing to accept that. It is only after you have accepted that you can handle the worst case scenario that you can begin to look at how you can achieve the best. At that point, you can only move forwards. Thank goodness I did.


For more info on The Day the Lines ChangedKelleyDonner.com

Friday, September 11, 2020

Ready to Self-Publish Your Children's Book? Read This First.


Self-Publishing Tips Children's Book - Kelley Donner
Self-publishing is not as ‘easy’ as it's cracked up to be. Sure, theoretically anyone can do it. But, just because it's easy
 to put your book online does not mean that you should or even that it will make you any money. The reality of self-publishing is that it is a very tough business, especially on Amazon. You are going against big publishers who have a ton of experience putting their books on the market. How will you make sure that your book stands out? 

8 Things I Have Learned Self-Publishing


1. Have Reasonable Expectations

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that if you put a book on Amazon it will sell itself. The reality is that your book is one book in a vast library of over 8,000,000 books. If you do not advertise your book, you will not sell a single copy and no one will know it exists. Just because you sneaked your book into the largest public library in the world, does not mean that anyone will find it. If you are not worried about sales, go to point two. If you would like to make some actual cash, then you will need to make an advertising plan and consider how much money you want to spend. Most newbies do not sell more than a few hundred books. If you would like to make more than that, you will need to do a lot of work researching the best ways to market your book to your niche

2. Don't Rush It

Most authors spend months to years perfecting a book before they bring it to press. If you have only spent a couple of weeks, your book is nowhere near finished. Join a critique group, have other authors read your work, or pay for an editor to help you out.  Even bestselling authors send their texts to editors to be improved and this process often takes longer than writing itself. My tip. Edit. Edit. Edit.

3. Reflect on Your Illustrations

How do your illustrations compare to other books on the market? When your washing machine breaks down, you hire a repair person who is an expert to fix it. Your illustrator should be an expert, too. Illustrators work hard at their craft and should be paid for their expertise. If you think minimum wage is reasonable, your book will look minimum, too. This is why traditional publishers have their own in house illustrators who they know are experts in their field. If you want to sell lots of books and you are not an artist, do not do your own illustrations. Also, finish all of your editing before you find an illustrator. 

3. Show Your Book to Strangers

Your family and friends will always say your book is great. They love you and don't want to hurt your feelings. You need to find people who do not know you who are willing to read your book. Join a local writers group. Go to your local library and ask your librarian if she knows of any people who would be willing to anonymously critique your book or mentor you. Ask if you can read your book for story-time and see how children react to your book.

4.  Spend Time Coming Up with a Superb Title

First and foremost, your book needs a good title. This should not just sound good, but should also explain to those who do not know you or your book what they are going to expect when they read it. Also, make sure that your title does not sound scary, does not have any negative connotations, and is free from anything that could be considered controversial. A good title stands alone. In addition, look up your title on Google and Amazon and see what other books and products have similar names. This is an important step that shouldn't be forgotten as once your title is uploaded, it is almost impossible to change.

5. Your Cover is More Important Than Your Book

When people see a link or advertisement to your book, the first thing they will do is look at the cover and read the title. Often this is only a tiny thumbnail image on a mobile phone. If the title is illegible or does not catch their attention, they will not even read your blurb and they will definitely not buy your book. Your cover should tell us about what we will expect in the book. If you are doing your own cover, take time to look at other popular books in your genre to see how a good cover looks. A cover is not just an image and a title, its layout, typeface, and understanding industry standards. Zoom out until your image is very small and see if it still works. My advice is to only do your own cover if you have experience in book or graphic design. Unfortunately, you can usually always spot a first time author by the cover of their book. A good cover sells a book because you only get one chance to make a first impression. 

6. Write a Great Blurb

Amazon, for example, only shows the first 2-3 sentences of your blurb and then writes 'more...' You need to catch people's attention in those first few sentences so that they click on either the 'more' button or buy your book. Hook your reader. Tell them why your book is so great and give them a taste as to what your book is about. While putting together my Best Coronavirus Children's Books blog post, I looked at hundreds of product pages and the majority of pages I saw were from first time authors.  Many, were teachers, parents, and medical workers who decided to try to break into the children's book market for the first time. Although some of the newcomers surprised me with their concepts, ingenuity, and talent, others had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Nowhere in your blurb, for example, should you put yourself down and say that you are not a professional writer or illustrator. This may be true, but keep that information to yourself. If you are a teacher, than promote yourself with your experience working with children. If you are a parent, use that. And, don't forget to write in the third person. 

6. Research Your Categories

When you upload to KDP you are allowed to pick two categories for your book. Normally, these are general categories. If you want your book to be a bestseller, you will need to do some research. Most of the 'bestselling new releases' are in categories you probably didn't even know exist. Find other books in your market, see what categories they are in, and add your book to the categories with the least amount of competition (that of course still represent your book).  

7. Use the Look Inside Function

When I went researching coronavirus children's books, I was amazed at how little information authors give about their books. I rarely buy a book just based on the cover. Although I will buy a fiction book based on the blurb, for a children's book I need to be able to look inside. If I don't know what your book is about, why should I buy it? Write to Amazon and have them set the 'Look Inside' feature to at least 50%. You want people to read your book and get hooked. Tell people in the blurb what your book is about and why you wrote it. The more info, the better. My bestselling book The Day the Lines Changed can actually be read in its entirety on my website. So far this transparency has actually improved my sales. 

8. Don't Stop Now

 In order to be successful as a self-publisher, you do need to research what you are doing and treat it like a business. Begin researching how to advertise your book to your niche. This is different for every author. Think of why your book is newsworthy and hit up local media. Call your local paper and television station. If you really want to make it in self-publishing, you will need to have more than just one book. Like many, I didn't begin really earning money until my fourth or fifth book. It takes time to get to know the industry. If you are serious about publishing children's books as more than just a hobby, join the Society of Children's Book Writer and Illustrators. They offer invaluable courses on how to write and illustrate, critique groups, and have chapters all over the world. I would never have gotten to where I am if I hadn't joined this wonderful group of people.

I hope these tips help to get you started. Good luck! If you have any questions, add them to the comments and I'll try to answer them as soon as I can. You'll find more information about A Little Donnerwetter Books and my current projects on my author website at KelleyDonner.com.


Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Best Coronavirus Children's Books 2020

Back to School?


Whether or not your school is held normally or remotely, no one knows how this pandemic will actually affect our kids. And, although we may not be able to change policy decisions, we can make sure that we pay attention to our kid’s mental health, their anxiety, and their worries no matter how things play out.

As someone who has worked in education for over twenty years, I know that teachers and parents have too much on their plate already. Who has time to research an entirely new market of books? Therefore, as someone with experience in publishing and education, I have created a list of the top children’s books currently on the market which discuss the pandemic in simple terms, are not scary, and help to ease children’s fears about going back to school.

How I Created This List


Since I published a book about the pandemic called The Day the Lines Changed back in March, I have been scanning the market for similar children's books about Covid-19. I have read, joined forums, connected with other writers, and checked Amazon bestseller lists. In addition, when I decided to create this list, I asked my colleagues in the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, other forums, social media, friends, and family for their favorites and received over one hundred recommendations for children's books about the coronavirus.

As traditional publishers usually need months (to years!) to bring out new books, there are a lot of independent publishers who have stepped up to fill the need. Some of these children's books about the coronavirus are great, others less so. From a child spraying bleach (never a good idea) to another being chased by germs, many of them get so specific in their explanation of the virus, whether through text or elaborate illustrations that they actually come across as frightening. I find this unfortunate as I think children are already overwhelmed enough as things are. As most of these books have been published quickly (and some are from first time writers and teachers), I am not going to judge them too harshly for having a less than perfect layout or a text that could have used a bit more editing. Instead, I am judging these books on what matters most, how much kids will like, understand, and learn from them and how well teachers can use them in the classroom. 

Here are ten books to start your school year off right!

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Social Distancing Scavenger Hunt

In our little neighborhood in Cambridge in the UK, my children have a nice group of friends that they enjoy playing with after school and on the weekends. As for many children in the world at the moment, social distancing has been very difficult for them. Other than saying hello from a window or on a computer screen, they have not been able to play with their friends in two weeks and probably won't be able to for three months.

In order to make this time a little easier and to give them an indirect way to connect with the neighbor kids, my neighbor Michelle and I decided to start the Social Distancing Scavenger Hunt.

1. Getting started
In order to get prepared, the kids and I first picked up some large rocks on our morning walk, took them home, and then painted them. One of my boys painted dinosaur fossils on his rocks, my youngest just painted them with different colors, and my middle child had some funny ideas. I also painted a couple, including the very simple sleeping rock which is covered in the letter z. Once the rocks were finished, we put a sealer on them.

2. Hiding rocks
Then, on our next walk, we chose 8 large rocks to hide along the way and as we hid them we thought about clues and wrote them down. For example, one rock has the word "rabbit" written in brown on it. This rock we hid under a large white round sculpture in the dog park. The clue was, "Find the brown rabbit under the white planet." Another rock we hid close to the playground and made finding it like in a pirate's story, "go four paces forward, then five to the right..." Sometimes we made references to landmarks or street signs. It was fun making the clues. The final rock was put by our doorstep and I told my friend to ring the doorbell and we could say hi from the window. Then it was her turn to place the rocks and think up clues.

3. Precautions
If you are worried about cross-contamination and catching Covid19 when picking up the rocks, you can use an inverted plastic bag to pick them up (as if you were picking up after your dog). If you coat the rocks with clear nail polish or a good coat of sealant, then you can also wash them with soap and water. Make sure you always wash your hands when you come back inside.

I think you'll find that the more often you do a scavenger hunt with the same people, the more difficult you can make the clues and hiding places. I hope that you enjoy this idea. Please let me know what other ideas you have! Stay safe!

By the way, if this is your first time on my blog. Please check out my previous post about a children's book that I wrote and illustrated to help ease children's fears during this time. It's called The Day the Lines Changed and all proceeds go to Covid19 charities. For more info, see my website kelleydonner.com.



Saturday, March 21, 2020

The Day the Lines Changed

The past two weeks, my children have asked a lot of questions about what the Coronavirus is, how it travels, where it came from, whether their grandparents will be okay, and why they can’t go to school. Sometimes their questions are really complex and I realize just how much their little brains are trying to wrap their heads around what is going on. My husband and I are trying to limit the amount of negative Coronavirus talk that we do in front of them. They don’t need to know how many people died in Italy today or worry about whether the British health system will fall apart. However, they do want the big picture and a lot of the info about the Coronavirus is way to abstract for a small child to understand.

Last weekend, while all of these thoughts were circulating in my head, I had a moment of inspiration. An idea for a picture book popped into my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. As always when I get some crazy, creative idea, my brain became obsessed with it and the following day I spent every second I could get writing, tearing paper and scanning and then threw everything into Photoshop and InDesign. What became of this is a story called The Day the Lines Changed.

Carefree and happy, the green line lives together with her family, goes to school during the week, and on weekends visits the town square. Then one day some of the orange and purple lines begin to turn crooked and suddenly, everything is different for the green line and her family. Just as the green line begins to worry if her own family might turn crooked, one line makes a fantastic discovery which changes the lives of the lines forever.

Excerpt from book: first page
After sending around the story to some family and friends, and getting positive feedback, I decided I needed to share it with others. I realized that teachers, parents, and caregivers need resources right now to help them explain to children what a pandemic is, while still giving children a much needed positive view of the future. Therefore, I hope that this story will help to make those difficult conversations with children about the Coronavirus at the moment a little bit easier.
Excerpt: beginning of book

My family has been very lucky. My husband has a job that has not been affected much by the lockdown. Although I find trying to do a full time Masters while homeschooling my kids at the same kitchen table difficult, I understand that many others have far worse things to deal with at the moment. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for so many people affected by personal loss or dealing with financial insecurity. I would feel very uncomfortable making a profit from this book.  Therefore, I have decided to give 100% of the profits through the end of April to Covid-19 charities.

Excerpt: middle of book
I appreciate all of the support from those who read my blog. Could you please help me in getting the word out and post to your social media about The Day the Lines Changed. It is currently on most Amazon marketplaces (see links below)

Together, we can help to make this time a bit easier for children to process, ease their worries, and let them enjoy just being young.

Buy on Amazon.com
Go to website and read more 

Keywords: Coronavirus, children's book, Covid19, pandemic, children's book about Coronavirus, picture book about Coronavirus

Friday, September 20, 2019

Author Scams and Wishful Thinking


Writers are a great bunch of people, but we receive a lot of rejection. This is why, when an email pops into my inbox promising great things, I am often very skeptical.  In June, my book Ball! Ball! Ball! A Picture Book to Inspire Sensory Awareness made it onto Amazon's bestseller list in Special Needs Children's Health. Ever since then, however, I have started receiving emails all offering to make my book that one book in a million that makes it big.

Normally, when I receive an email which lists my name and book in the mail (unlike many, which just say Dear Author) I copy the website and research on Google whether or not the company can be trusted or not.  Last week, I had an email from a company saying that my website billing information had been compromised. It wasn't. The week before, I had an email just offering my financial support if I just responded to their email. I didn't. Unfortunately, a lot of these phishing emails just want you to confirm that your email account is real. It is annoying to have to double check everything, but definitely worth it.

A few days ago, I was offered a true author scam and I thought I might share it with you. This is how the email began:

Al Cole would like to officially invite you for a Radio Interview. He is one of the broadcasting's most gifted interviewers with his nationally syndicated show People of Distinction. One of the best Radio Host Personality of CBS Radio Station.

As I have done interviews and podcasts before, I thought it might be interesting to do more research into this one to see if there was any harm in doing it. Many shows work under the pretense of- you plug my site on your social media, and I'll interview you on mine. A win/win. Not all of them are scams.

My first impression of Al Cole's website was that he definitely had his connections and liked to appear big in a way that only Trump might understand. However, what struck me as odd, was that when I typed his "bestselling book" into Amazon, it showed it as being made in Createspace and it had a horribly cheesy cover. I find it hard to believe that someone with as many connections as Al Cole could not find a publisher. However, the more I Googled the guy, the less I found (also strange). So, just for fun, I called the number on the email (not with my cell phone number, of course) and talked to a very impressive sounding man from Philadelphia who promised me Al would give me three hours of his time and an interview that millions of listeners would receive. The interview itself would cost me nothing, but airing in would cost 1,700 dollars...

At that point I politely declined and decided I had heard enough. Just as vanity publishers always offer you the world if you only pay them first, you should never have to pay for an interview on online radio. On the one hand, I had to laugh at the vanity of it all. On the other hand, it makes me angry. I'm sure there are many good people who are scammed by people like Al Cole into thinking that they are a "Person of Distinction." Such scams, as always, prey into our insecurities and our wishful thinking.

Hopefully, the next person who googles author scam will get to read my blog first. If you are an author, just remember, if it sounds too good to be true. It is.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

On the Ball for Autism

I wanted to share with my blog readers an exciting article about my new book series which was published in the Cambridge News. It was exciting to receive such support from the community. Here is the entire article:

A new book series designed to empower children with special needs has become a hit with readers.

The Happy Heads series, by Trumpington based American children’s author and illustrator Kelley Donner, made its debut two weeks ago, and has already topped Amazon’s Special Needs Children’s Health bestseller list.

The first book in the series, Ball! Ball! Ball!, tells the story of a lively young boy with autism, who speaks only a few words and has a fascination for round objects and discovering new things. The second book in the series, Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain, is set to be published in the autumn, with the third and fourth books in the series currently being illustrated.

Speaking to the News, Kelley Donner explained why these books were necessary, and why stories focusing on characters with special needs should always strive to do more than just raise awareness.

She said: “I started work on these books ten years ago, but since moving to the UK, I’ve had more time to focus on creating the stories. It’s my belief that every child has the right to see themselves represented in the books they read, but the standard approach to characters with learning difficulties is very problematic, if they’re represented at all. “Most books are solely about raising awareness of autism, or children on the autistic spectrum, and are centred on a character who doesn’t have that condition learning about them. It creates the “Rain Man” effect, and in many cases furthers pre-existing stereotypes, when there are a broad range of behaviours on the spectrum.”

Kelley explained how the Happy Heads series would correct this. She continued: “I wanted to tell more complex children’s stories about children with autism, where they aren’t defined by their disability. There’s little representation like this in the picture book market - I asked various groups on Twitter if anybody had any examples, and people were struggling to name any. “I want the characters in these books to be less perfect, so children can see themselves. I’ve had a positive response from the autistic community, and I would love to start visiting schools to share this story and the ones I have coming up with children.

“My next book, Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain, will be out later this year. The aim with that book is to challenge stereotypes surrounding Asperger’s, as all representation highlights the intelligent children with Asperger’s, ignoring the more diverse spectrum of people with that condition.”

Kelley will be reading and selling copies of her book at The Big Weekend's Big Read tent on Parker's Piece at 3:20pm on Saturday, July 6.

Ball! Ball! Ball! A Picture Book to Inspire Sensory Awareness is now available to order on Amazon. More information on the Happy Heads series can be found by visiting kelleydonner.com.

Written by Alistair Ryder








Thursday, May 16, 2019

Sensory Fun at Bangabandhu Primary School


This week I visited Maddi Outram’s special education class at Bangabandhu Primary School in London. 

Maddi has been using my book Ball! Ball! Ball! for topic this term in her class. As many of her students are autistic and have sensory processing issues, Ball! Ball! Ball!  offered various possibilities for tie-in activities and sensory fun. Her students are between the ages of 5 and 9.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my book: 

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is about an autistic boy named Tom who is obsessed with all things round and enthusiastically points out any object he can find that looks like a ball. From peas to balloons, Tom learns that “balls” can be smooth, squishy, pop, and even have different temperatures.

Maddi read my story to her class and then made various tie-in activities based on sensory play. She collected variations on all of the objects in the book, such as a rock, a round lamp, bubbles, etc. and placed them in a basket to be used as needed. 

Just as Tom is excited about the peas on his plate, Maddi made a table full of peas and let the children play and squish them as they wished. For science and physical education, they rolled and threw different balls. She even filled a trampoline with balloons and let the children jump in them. I think she is doing a wonderful job and it is clear that the children all really enjoy being in her class. I'm thrilled that my book is being used in such a positive way.

On the day I visited, we decided to do a sensory bag activity. I placed a round object, such as a ball, round Lego tire, marble, roll of tape, etc. into a bag and let each of the children feel the object with their hands. Many of the children wanted to see the object and take it out of the bag.

After this, I read Ball! Ball! Ball!  to the class again. One of the pupils who had been stimming with his hand in front of his face the entire time, stopped stimming for a little while. This made me happy, as this was the child that Maddi had told me loved balls more than anything. Another child sat very close to me and wanted to touch the page that I was reading. Although I received very little eye contact, I could tell that most of the students were listening and taking part in their own way. Having written a story about an autistic child, it was wonderful getting positive feedback from children who could directly relate to Tom's character.

Finally, we made a fabric collage together of a scene from outer space using a simplified version of the collage technique that I used for Ball! Ball! Ball! I brought pieces of scrap material and stencils and we glued the material onto a piece of poster board. The children needed some help with using scissors, but they all worked really hard and together we finished a nice piece of artwork. 

I really enjoyed visiting Maddi’s class and the staff at Bangabandhu Primary School were all very friendly and helpful. I love being an advocate for children with special needs and autism and I look forward to visiting more schools in the future. I am also planning on adding a lot of Maddi’s sensory activities to my webpage along with some ideas for sensory play so that other teachers can benefit from her creativity and dedication.

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is in the process of being published and will be available on Amazon in June of this year. The ISBN number is 978-1-73-395951-3. Please contact me if you would like to pre-order a copy and if you enjoy my books, please leave me a positive review on Amazon. Thank you.