Regardless of whether you’re traditionally published or self-published, marketing is an essential part of success in children’s book publishing. The best part? You don’t have to have a huge budget to build a successful marketing plan. What you do have to have is consistency, creativity, and a desire to interact directly with your audience—both children and the adults who purchase for them.
This manual addresses five critical areas of low-cost, high-impact marketing:
- How to Market Your Children’s Book on a Budget
- Doing School Visits: What Authors Need to Know
- Creating an Online Presence for Children’s Book Authors
- Social Media Tips for Authors of Children’s Books
- How to Create Supplemental Educational Materials for Your Book
- How to Market Your Children’s Book on a Budget
Cost-effective marketing starts with clarity—know who your target audience is. In children’s book publishing, you’re primarily reaching:
- Parents
- Teachers
- Librarians
- Booksellers
- Kids (indirectly, via the above)
Budget-Friendly Strategies:
- Use Print-on-Demand Services: Skip bulk printing expenses. Companies such as IngramSpark and KDP Print allow you to print copies on demand.
- Book Giveaways: Utilize Goodreads or your website to host giveaways. A single free book can generate word-of-mouth sales, particularly within parent clubs.
- Tap Into Facebook Groups: Get involved in parents’, homeschoolers’, teachers’, and local authors’ groups. Participate naturally. Don’t merely promote—give value first.
- Reach Out to Indie Bookstores and Libraries: Provide signed books or do free readings. Craft a concise, readable one-page presentation with your bio, book summary, and reviews.
- Email Marketing: Begin a newsletter with free software such as MailerLite. Include a free activity sheet or coloring page to incentivize joining your list.
- Pitch to Podcasts and Blogs: Parent bloggers, children’s book reviewers, and education podcasts tend to welcome guests. Investigate and send targeted pitches.
- Doing School Visits: What Authors Need to Know
School visits can be powerful for visibility, credibility, and sales. They also help build your personal brand in the children’s book publishing space.
How to Start:
- Offer Free Visits Locally: Especially for your first few visits, offer a free 20–30 minute session at nearby schools or libraries. You’ll get experience and testimonials.
- Develop Multiple Presentations:
- For younger children: Make it pictorial, with big pictures and interactive Q&A.
- For older students: Discuss writing process, narrative, or your job as a writer.
- Have a Book Order Form Available: Plan with the teacher or librarian in advance and include a home-sent order form. Provide opportunity for signed copies to be personalized.
Prepare Materials:
- A brief biography for the host to introduce you
- A sample reading script
- Coloring worksheets or sheets
- A comment card for school staff
Promote Your Visits:
Post “Author Visits Available” on your website and social media. Include photos (permission granted) of previous events to demonstrate your experience.
Tip: Provide in-person and virtual visits. Some schools like Zoom because of budgetary or geographical restraints.
- Building an Online Presence for Children’s Book Authors
Today, if folks can’t find you online, they’ll forget about you.
Begin With a Website:
Your website doesn’t need to be fancy, but it needs to be:
- Mobile-friendly
- Simple to navigate
- Clear about who you are and what your books are about
Add:
- Author bio with a warm photo
- Book summaries and links to purchase
- Downloadable activity pages
- School visit info
- Contact form
- Testimonials and reviews
Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress make setup easy with free or low-cost templates.
Blogging:
Consider a simple blog that speaks to parents or teachers. Topics could include:
- How your book can be used in classrooms
- Behind-the-scenes of your writing process
- Educational or parenting tips that relate to your book’s theme
A blog makes your site appear in search results and positions you as something more than a book seller—you become a resource.
- Social Media Tips for Authors of Children’s Books
Social media is not a choice. But don’t be everywhere. Select 1–2 platforms and do them exceptionally well.
Platform Priorities:
- Instagram: Visual and child-friendly. Awesome for cover reveals, illustrations, and BTS posts.
- Facebook: Good for connecting with parent and teacher groups.
- Pinterest: Surprisingly good for sharing printables and blog posts.
- TikTok: If you feel at ease on video, “BookTok” is a big community.
Content Ideas:
- Brief videos of you reading a few pages
- Time-lapse of illustration being drawn
- “Author Day in the Life” clips
- User-generated content (children holding your book, teachers teaching with your materials)
- Quotes or interesting facts from your book
Engagement Tips:
- Use pertinent hashtags: #PictureBook, #ReadAloud, #ChildrensBookPublishing, #Storytime
- Respond to each comment—build relationships
- Cooperate with other writers to cross-promote
- Make use of free software such as Canva for images and Buffer or Later for scheduled posts
Final Thoughts
As an author, your marketing task is not just to sell books, but also to create a relationship, generate trust, and build value with kids and their influencers.
It doesn’t cost much, but you need to have a strategy that involves:
- Authentic engagement
- Visibility in the right places
- Supplemental tools that extend the life of your book
By doing so, you’ll position yourself for success in the long term as a children’s book author—no matter if you’re just starting out.
