Learn How to Self-Publish a Picture Book in Two Days

Learn How to Self-Publish 
a Picture Book in Two Days 

Ever thought about making a picture book? Are you interested in self-publishing? Do you want to take control and make a living as an author? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is the workshop for you!

Join best-selling, independent author A.J. Cosmo as he breaks down the steps to write, illustrate, market, print, and sell your independently published children’s book.

This workshop will encompass two days of detailed instruction and includes hands on demonstrations. Participants are encouraged to have a completed draft of a picture book manuscript and bring a laptop or tablet device, along with a notebook, to the presentations.

*A one-hour consultation with A.J. after the workshop is included. 

Space is extremely limited!

What you will learn:

1. Pricing, categorizing, and positioning your children’s book to sell
   
2. Industry standards for picture books along with the reasons for those guidelines
   
3. Creating your book by working with illustrators and editors without breaking the bank
   
4. Printing your book using on demand services or overseas printing
   
5. Marketing your book and making a living as a writer
   

*Optional signed copy of AJ's book Big Science: Galileo's Gamble

SCHEDULE:

Day 1

9AM-12PM

• Introduction
  
• Book pitch
  
• The basics of the book business
  
• Budgeting for your book project
  
• Finding your category
  
• Researching competition
  
• Price points
  
• Editing & Revising
  
• Creating your book dummy
  

12PM-1PM
Lunch Break

1PM-3PM

• Finding an illustrator
  
• Working with an illustrator
  
• Social media marketing
  

Day 2

9AM-12PM

• Introduction to InDesign
  
• PDF formats and printing terms
  
• Printing Options: CreateSpace, Ingram Sparks, PrintNinja (China)
  
• Bowker and ISBN codes
  
• BISAAC categories
  
• Copyrighting and Library of Congress
  

12PM-1PM
Lunch Break

1PM-3PM

• Sales copy
  
• Keywords
  
• Setting up a pre-release
  
• Facebook marketing and ads
  
• Amazon algorithms and ads
  
• Stocking options and store agreements
  
• Release day
  
• After release marketing
  
• Wrap up and questions
  
• eBook handout
  

A.J. Cosmo is the author and illustrator of over thirty children's books ranging from picture to middle grade. An advocate of "professional self-publishing", he enjoys helping other authors achieve their dreams.

In this fun, kid-friendly, read-along book, children and their parents examine gravity through the eyes of a middle-school aged Galileo and his best friend Newton, who, spurred by the phenomenon of two objects falling, explore the question “Do heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones?” Children learn basic experimental design in the context of an easy to understand and engaging story that is sure to inspire further exploration and thinking.