How to Create and Publish Your Own Children’s Book

If you’re wondering how to self-publish a children’s book, this guide explains the full process step by step, covering everything from preparing your manuscript for print to understanding self-publishing and getting your book ready for readers.

You’ll also learn how to market your self-published children’s book so your story reaches the right audience once it’s live. Whether you’re just starting or finalising your manuscript, this guide shows you how to self-publish your next children’s book with confidence.

Quick Navigation

• Start with a Story That Works for Children
• Keeping Ideas Simple and Age-Appropriate
• Building a Clear Message or Theme
• Think Visually from the Beginning
• The Role of Illustrations
• Working with an Illustrator
• Choosing Size, Layout, and Format
• Types of Children’s Books
• What Size Should Your Children’s Book Be?
• Paper, Finish, and Durability
• What Paper Is Used for Children’s Books?
• Understanding GSM (grams per square metre)
• Gloss vs Matt: Which Finish Is Best?
• Choosing the Right Binding
• Why Print Quality Matters
• Printing Your Book
• Print Runs vs Print-on-Demand
• What is Print-on-Demand (POD)?
• What is a Traditional Print Run?
• What’s the Difference?
• When Should You Choose Print-on-Demand vs a Print Run?
• Getting Your Book Out There
• Where to Sell Your Book
• Simple Ways to Start Promoting
• Mistakes to Avoid
• Ready to Bring Your Book to Life?

It’s Easier to Get Started Than You Think

With modern digital printing and self-publishing services, getting started with self-publishing is much more accessible than it once was. Now, you can take control of your project from the beginning, shaping everything from the story and illustrations to the final print.

That said, you will need a finished manuscript before moving into self-publishing. Your first stage, therefore, is developing your concept.

Start with a Story That Works for Children

Children’s books work best when they genuinely connect with their target audience. Before thinking about any other parts of the process, make sure you’ve spent plenty of time developing a story that children will understand, enjoy, and relate to.

Keeping Ideas Simple and Age-Appropriate

One of the most important parts of learning how to self-publish a children’s book is understanding who you are writing for. After all, a picture book for toddlers will differ greatly from a story aimed at older primary school readers.

When writing for young children, you’ll need to stick to simple language, repetition, rhythm, and visual storytelling. For older readers, you can focus on creating a more developed plot with stronger character progression.

Reading widely within your chosen age group can help you understand pacing, vocabulary, and structure. While sharing early drafts with parents, teachers, or librarians who regularly work with children can give you helpful insights into whether your story will work in the current market.

Building a Clear Message or Theme

As you refine your manuscript, think carefully about the experience you want your readers to have. Many memorable children’s books contain an underlying message or lesson, with themes like friendship, confidence, kindness, resilience, or curiosity resonating strongly with both children and parents.

A clear theme can also help you later on in the process when considering how to market a self-published children’s book, as it gives you a stronger way to describe and position your story.

Think Visually from the Beginning

Children’s books are highly visual, and illustrations play a central role in how readers experience the story.

The Role of Illustrations

In many children’s books, the illustrations carry as much weight as the words themselves. That’s because images help create atmosphere, explain action, and maintain a child’s attention across each page.

When planning your book, think about how your text and artwork will work together. Picture books often require careful page pacing, with page turns helping to create surprise, humour, or anticipation.

Working with an Illustrator

If you’re not illustrating the book yourself, take time to find an illustrator whose style suits your story and audience. Whether you’re using a freelancer platform or social media, make sure to carefully review portfolios and discuss expectations clearly before work begins.

At this point, you should also try to think ahead to the finished product. High-resolution artwork, correct colour settings, and properly prepared files all contribute to a professional final result.

Preparing Your Book for Print

Once your story and illustrations are complete, the next stage is preparing the book for production. This part of the process is often underestimated by first-time self-publishers, but the decisions made here can have a major impact on how professional your finished book feels to readers, parents, schools, and retailers.

When you self-publish a children’s book, you take on many of the responsibilities traditionally handled by a publishing house. That includes choosing the right format, preparing files for print, selecting materials, and managing production quality.

While the learning curve can feel steep, careful planning at this stage helps create a book that can compete with traditionally published titles.

Choosing Size, Layout, and Format

Children’s books are produced in a variety of formats, and the right choice depends on how your story will be read and experienced.

At a high level, the format you choose helps define both the reading experience and the durability of the book. Board books and hardbacks are designed for younger children who will handle the book frequently, while paperback and perfect-bound formats are more suited to longer, text-led stories for older readers.

Understanding this early helps ensure your book feels appropriate for its audience from the very first page.

Types of Children’s Books

Children’s books are usually grouped by both age range and physical construction, with each format serving a different purpose.

For toddlers (0–3 years), books are typically board or sturdy hardback books. These are designed for durability above all else, with thick pages that can withstand repeated handling. Early learning books are often produced this way because they are made to be handled as much as read.

For early and primary-aged children (4–8 years), picture books are most common, usually in hardback or high-quality paperback formats. These books combine strong visuals with simple storytelling, helping children develop early reading habits.

For older children (7+), books tend to move into perfect-bound paperback books. At this stage, the focus shifts from illustration-led storytelling to longer-form reading, with fewer images and more developed narratives.

Each format exists for a reason, and choosing the right one ensures your book matches both the reading ability and expectations of your audience.

What Size Should Your Children’s Book Be?

In UK traditional publishing, picture books are most commonly produced in square and landscape formats such as 210 x 210mm or 240 x 170mm. These sizes have become widely used because they work well for illustration-led storytelling and sit comfortably on retail and library shelves.

Some of the most common children’s book sizes used in UK printing include:

• 210 x 210mm square: one of the most popular formats for picture books
• 240 x 170mm landscape: commonly used for highly illustrated storytelling
• A4 portrait (210 x 297mm): frequently used for educational and activity-focused books
• 8 x 8 inch square: popular for toddler and preschool books

If you are unsure which size to choose, reviewing books currently stocked in bookshops within your category can be extremely helpful. Understanding what readers already expect within your genre allows your book to feel commercially familiar while still standing out creatively.

Paper, Finish, and Durability

Unlike standard novels, children’s books are designed to be handled repeatedly by young readers, so thinking carefully about your paper thickness (GSM) and finish is an important part of the production process.

What Paper Is Used for Children’s Books?

Most UK children’s picture books are printed on coated paper stocks, typically silk or gloss, because they reproduce illustrations more clearly and provide additional durability.

• Silk: smooth with a soft sheen, often used for balanced text and illustration books
• Gloss: highly reflective and vibrant, ideal for colourful illustrations and visual storytelling

Understanding GSM (grams per square metre)

Paper thickness is measured in GSM (grams per square metre) — in simple terms, this is just a way of describing how thick and sturdy the paper feels. The higher the GSM, the thicker, stronger, and more premium the pages will feel in your hands.

Typical GSM ranges include:

• 70–80 GSM: standard adult fiction paper
• 120–170 GSM: most children’s picture books
• 400+ GSM: board books for babies and toddlers

Many traditionally published picture books use paper in the 150–170 GSM range because it provides strong colour quality while preventing artwork from showing through to the reverse side of the page.

Gloss vs Matt: Which Finish Is Best?

The right finish depends on the style of book you are producing and how illustrations are being used. Gloss finishes are widely used in children’s picture books because they:

• Enhance colour vibrancy
• Make illustrations appear sharper and brighter
• Create a durable wipe-clean surface
• Help pages move smoothly for younger readers

Matt finishes create a softer, less reflective appearance and are often used when:

• Text readability is important
• Illustrations contain subtle detail

Many self-published children’s books use gloss laminated covers with gloss paper for bold, colourful books, or silk interiors with matt-laminated covers for a softer premium finish.

Choosing the Right Binding

The binding you choose affects how your book looks, feels, and withstands repeated use, which is especially important in children’s publishing.

Each binding type serves a specific purpose:

• Board-style hardback – best for toddlers, designed for maximum durability and frequent handling
• Stapled (saddle-back stitched) – suitable for very short books, early readers, or activity-style books with low page counts
• Perfect bound (paperback) – ideal for longer storybooks and children’s fiction, offering a clean, professional spine suitable for retail
• Hardcover binding – a premium, highly durable option often used for picture books and library-quality editions
• Wiro bound – commonly used for activity or educational books where pages need to lie flat

As a rule of thumb:

• younger readers = stronger, more durable binding
• longer stories = perfect binding or hardcover
• activity-based books = wiro or stapled formats

Choosing the right binding ensures your book doesn’t just look professional, but also performs well in real-world use by children, schools, and libraries.

Why Print Quality Matters

Parents, schools, booksellers, and librarians are used to the production standards of traditionally published children’s books. Thin paper, weak binding, poor colour reproduction, or low-quality finishing can quickly make a self-published book feel less professional.

For self-published children’s books especially, you shouldn’t think of production quality as cosmetic. Instead, it plays a direct role in how your book is received, reviewed, stocked, and recommended.

Printing Your Book

Printing is where your project becomes a physical product, and choosing the right production approach is an important part of deciding how to self-publish a children’s book successfully.

Print Runs vs Print-on-Demand

One of the first decisions you will face is whether to use print-on-demand (POD) or a traditional print run.

What is Print-on-Demand (POD)?

Print-on-demand (POD) means your book is only printed when someone places an order.

Instead of printing hundreds or thousands of copies in advance, each book is produced individually through a printing service, then shipped directly to the customer.

This makes it one of the most accessible ways to self-publish, especially for first-time authors, because:

• There is no upfront printing cost for large quantities
• You don’t need to store or manage physical stock
• You can test your book in the market before investing in a print run

However, the trade-off is that unit costs are usually higher, which means lower profit margins per book compared to bulk printing.

What is a Traditional Print Run?

A traditional print run means you print a set number of books in advance, rather than producing each copy individually when an order is placed.

For example, you might print 500, 1,000, or 5,000 copies of your children’s book in a single production batch. These books are then stored by you (or a distributor) and sold over time through retailers, schools, events, or direct sales.

This approach is more common in traditional publishing and is often used when there is a clearer expectation of demand or a planned sales strategy in place.

The key advantage of a print run is lower cost per book. Because books are produced in bulk, the unit price typically decreases as volume increases, which can improve profit margins significantly if your book sells well.

However, it does require a higher level of upfront investment, as you are paying for all copies before they are sold. It also means you are responsible for storing, managing, and distributing physical stock.

For many first-time authors, smaller test print runs are a useful middle ground. They allow you to assess print quality, test demand, and make refinements before committing to larger volumes.

What’s the Difference?

Print-on-demand is a flexible entry point into self-publishing, but typically comes with higher per-unit costs and lower profit margins.

While print runs are commonly used in traditional publishing and can be a good option if you are planning to sell through schools, events, or independent bookshops, where having stock available can be helpful.

Smaller print runs are also useful for testing demand before committing to larger volumes, and they allow for small corrections or updates between reprints.

Many first-time authors find it helpful to begin with a blended approach, using print-on-demand for online sales and a small print run for events and direct selling, allowing flexibility while the book finds its audience.

When Should You Choose Print-on-Demand vs a Print Run?

Print-on-demand is usually best if you’re just starting out, testing your book, or selling primarily online, as it removes upfront costs and lets you produce copies only when they’re ordered.

A traditional print run is better suited to authors who are ready to invest upfront, want a lower cost per book, or plan to sell through schools, events, or bookshops where having physical stock available is important.

Getting Your Book Out There

Once your book is printed, the focus shifts from production to distribution. At this stage, understanding how to reach your audience is just as important as the book itself.

Where to Sell Your Book

Many independent authors begin by selling directly through their own website, local events, school visits, and social media platforms. Online marketplaces can also help increase visibility.

Independent bookshops, schools, libraries, and community events may offer opportunities for local promotion, especially if your story has a strong educational or regional connection.

If you plan to approach retailers, ensure your book has a professional ISBN, barcode, and pricing structure in place.

Simple Ways to Start Promoting

When you begin thinking about how to market a self-published children’s book, it can be helpful to start with a few simple, consistent actions rather than trying to do everything at once.

Begin by identifying your audience. Parents, teachers, and librarians are often key decision-makers for children’s books. Share behind-the-scenes content, illustration previews, and author updates through social media and newsletters.

School readings, local fairs, and storytelling sessions can also help build awareness and generate word-of-mouth recommendations.

Reviews are valuable too. Sending copies to parenting bloggers, local publications, or education-focused reviewers may help increase visibility over time.

Most importantly, remain consistent. Marketing often builds gradually, and regular engagement usually produces stronger long-term results than short bursts of promotion.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Rushing the editing or proofreading process
• Using low-resolution illustrations or poorly prepared files
• Choosing unsuitable fonts or overcrowded layouts
• Ignoring print specifications until the final stage
• Printing large quantities before testing demand
• Underestimating the importance of professional presentation
• Neglecting marketing after the book is published

Ready to Bring Your Book to Life?

Choosing to self-publish children’s book projects can feel like a major step, especially for first-time authors. However, with careful planning, professional support, and attention to quality, the process becomes far more manageable.

From developing your story and illustrations to selecting the right print finish and binding, every stage contributes to how readers experience your book. Taking the time to produce a professional, durable, and visually engaging final product can make a lasting difference.

Whether you are creating a family story, launching an independent publishing project, or exploring how to self-publish a children’s book for the first time, having an experienced printing partner can help simplify the journey.

Explore our self-publishing services to see how we can help bring your children’s book to life.