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How do you write children's books and get them published? You write a children’s book by choosing a target audience, incorporating captivating elements, and beautifully illustrating it. Children’s books may either be self-published or submitted to traditional publishers.
And this article can give you the other tools you need to write the next great children’s book that you may have been thinking about for years, but never thought you'd be able to write and share it with little ones.
What’s your reason for writing children’s books? For me, it’s that smile.
Many authors or aspiring writers dream of publishing a children’s book. Maybe you have an incredible idea that you can’t stop thinking about. Or perhaps you want to put to paper your little one’s favorite bedtime short story — the one you made up while snuggling together.
Whatever the reason, now is the time to check this dream off your bucket list.
And I'm here to help you do that.
I'm a multi-award winning & bestselling children’s book author and ghostwriter of more than 50 children’s books. And I founded a little thing called Children’s Book University®, which helps other authors create books like I have.
What follows is as much information as I could condense into a single article on how to write a children's book. Enjoy!
Get Your FREE Children's Book ChecklistDon't know where to start your children's book? We've got a checklist that will take you through the entire process, from the initial idea to the finished, polished product. Check it out!
Writing and publishing your own children’s book is no longer super challenging to achieve, nor does it take all your life savings (like it might have 20 years ago).
Unless you’re a celebrity or have a large following already, self-publishing your children’s book is a great way to get your foot in the door, even if your ultimate goal is to eventually explore traditional publishing.
If you present a well-performing book and an established author platform, your chances of landing a publishing deal are much higher than if you simply submit a query or manuscript.
How much money can be made from writing a children's book? The answer to this question greatly depends on the subject of the children's book. That's why doing our research is so important, even before we start writing our children's book.
Even for children’s books, we need to validate our book idea.
In this article, you will learn:
Get it here for FREE!Looking to find the right niche for your children's book on Amazon? Download my personal guide on increasing your book's rankings and discoverability on Amazon so you get more sales continuously!
Additionally, book series are generally doing very well with kids. Once little ones come to love a character, they often can't get enough of them and their parents continue buying the books. The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne and The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle are wonderful examples.
The roadmap below outlines what steps we’ll take to write and publish a children’s book:
For books marketed to younger audiences, you need to know that parents will want to buy this book. Children usually don’t spend the money to buy your story. Yes, make something entertaining for kids — but you need parents to buy your book first.
The primary purchaser of children’s books is between 30 and 44 years old. Females make up more than 70% of these buyers.
A few ways you could really get to better know your audience are:
Market research is also a huge tool to see what books parents are looking to buy their children. You'd be surprised at how much interest some themes get when compared to others. Take a look at this example here, showing the search volume for common children's book themes on Amazon:
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
Right away, you should see that some topics get way more interest than others- and depending on your personal goals, you might want to avoid writing a book about a topic with low searches.
Side Note: We recently reviewed another great course on publishing children's books, read our review here.
When writing a children’s storybook, it’s really important to know the basic structure of a children’s book. There are lots of templates for writing a children’s book!
To learn more about children’s books and how to structure your writing for a younger audience, you could:
Is there a template for writing a children’s book? Yes, there are many templates for writing a children’s book. Here are some of my favorites:
You should be able to explain your book concept to anyone in a single sentence and in fewer than 30 seconds.
To best explain your book concept to potential readers or traditional publishers, you should develop a logline that encapsulates the plot and the hook.
If you’re not concisely explaining your book’s concept, you might lose potential readers and publishers because it’s too confusing.
These 7 writing tips may help you avoid common issues when writing a children’s book:
Over 47,000+ authors, NYT bestsellers, and publishing companies use Publisher Rocket to gain key insight to the market. Help your book now
Get Rocket NowYou want to make a children’s book. Below is every resource you’re going to need.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to write a children’s book:
STEP 1
. Choose the FormatShould you publish an ebook or paperback? You should consider publishing your children’s book in both ebook format and paperback format.
Paperback is still the most popular format for children’s books. If you’re looking to sell your children’s book on Amazon or in brick-and-mortar stores, you should invest in a high-quality paperback format.
Ebooks are not a very popular medium for children’s books. However, children’s ebook usage is continuously increasing.
Most parents still prefer their kids to read print books, but the number of parents who prefer ebooks or who have no preference is growing.
Ebooks also come in handy during promotions and review requests. Giving away an ebook for review is a lot easier and more cost-effective.
With a little research, you can determine how well books are selling in your desired format. Here's an example of five competing paperback books on Amazon showing for the keyword “Children's Books About Puppies”, which should give you an idea of how well that format is performing. You can even see how many pages these books are, so you can calculate your estimated costs!
Price, Earnings, and Pages Data provided by Publisher Rocket
It’s worth noting that a study out of the University of Michigan found that storytime with ebooks is not as effective. Compared with physical book storytime, parents spent more time talking about the technology, instead of the book’s content, during ebook storytime.
So physical children’s books won’t go away anytime soon.
STEP 2
. Know Your Target CategoryTo write a children’s book, you need to know your target category — that is, the age of your target audience.
When publishing on Amazon, you will be asked to list what ages your book is for. So it’s important to add the most appropriate age range. Otherwise you may receive lots of negative reviews from parents and other caregivers that thought your book to be unsuitable for their little ones.
Depending on the kids’ age reading your book, you will want to adjust the number of illustrations, word count, writing style, and more.
Most children’s books fall into one of these 5 categories:
Below is a table to show average statistics for the most common types of children’s books:
Short words and short sentences are critical for the youngest children, so readers don’t feel overwhelmed. Colorful illustrations and fun characters are more necessary in children’s books than in adult fiction. Where adults can mentally grapple with ambiguity, kids prefer resolved stories and answered questions.
Each stage of development in a child’s life requires a different story structure and book setup. Adapting to each stage and its cognitive ability is essential if we want our book to be meaningful, educational, and fun.
Board Books are considered the youngest category — including on Amazon’s marketplace. They are for kids aged 0 to 2.
A Board Book is printed on thick paperboard. Often, it contains all pictures or fewer than 100 words.
In most of these categories, but especially these Board Books, marketing to parents is probably more important than appealing to kids. Of course, you want your book to be fun and intriguing to children. But make sure you give parents what they’re looking for: a good message and subtle, effective education.
Picture Books are the next category of children’s books. They are for 3- to 5-year-olds.
Children’s picture books contain up to 400 words, but there should still be vibrant illustrations on every page.
Also called the “Early Readers” category, Chapter Books are just what they sound like — the first books that children will read with the story split up into chapters.
Though some children will be excited to start reading chapter books, others will be reluctant. The broad age range for basic Chapter Books is 6 to 10.
Middle Grade books are for children 8 to 12 — a step up from Chapter Books.
These books typically feature a protagonist aged 10 to 13, slightly older than the reader. They should contain no profane language, no violence, and no romance outside of a first kiss or an innocent crush.
Common themes include friendship, acceptance, good conquering evil, and the importance of family.
A Middle Grade book is longer than a Chapter Book but shorter than a YA book. It usually contains between 30,000 and 45,000 words.
Young Adult books are targeted towards readers aged 13 to 18. Abbreviated as YA, Young Adult is meant to appeal to teenagers, although it’s important to note that more than half of YA books sold are read by adults older than 18.
Some people also use “Young Adult” to mean a genre where the protagonist doesn’t fit in, the parents are absent, they live in a post-apocalyptic world, and a coming-of-age story takes center stage. These are tropes and don’t necessarily apply to every YA story, but you get the picture.
YA books won’t always be considered children’s books. But some traditional publishers may classify “Young Adult” as a children’s book category.
STEP 3
. Choose a TitleYou need to choose a winning title for your children’s book. You could do this after it’s written, but having a title in mind may guide you in your writing. You can always improve and change the title after the story is written.
A creative title lets your story’s personality shine through. But you also want readers to actually find your book. This could be difficult if you don’t name your children’s book correctly.
Fortunately, Dave at Kindlepreneur wrote excellent articles on How to Title a Book and Book Title Generators. They will definitely help you craft that perfect title.
To title a children’s book, you need:
The book The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions is a great example:
Speaking of subtitles: It’s important to include a subtitle underneath your title. This helps the marketing of your book by including additional keywords that parents can search for.
As you can see, some kids book genres have decent money coming into them, with less competition. So, make sure you do your research beforehand and see what possible types of kids books you can create. One way you can quickly see the competition of a genre is checking out your book's Amazon categories, and seeing how many sales it takes per day to become a bestseller. That should give you a good idea of the competition in that genre.
For example, take a look at the competition difference here for several children's categories about specific animals. Many young children have a favorite, and making a high quality book in a lower competition category can help your book be discovered by readers.
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
By writing a quality book for a category with low competition, but significant interest, your children's book will stand out from the crowd. If you decide to target a high competition category, just know there are publishers and authors with high experience already in that space, and you will have to work harder to capture a customer's attention.
STEP 4
. Find a Writing StyleYou need to find a writing style that fits the age group you are writing for, the associated word count, the story you’re telling, and your own preferences.
You may be an excellent writer, an engaging blogger, maybe even an already accomplished author of adult fiction or nonfiction. But when it comes to writing style for children, you have to adopt a new mindset and an appropriate writing style.
Here are some writing styles you should consider:
There is no right or wrong approach; it’s merely a question of style. Once you have chosen your style, you will need to stick to it throughout the book.
. Incorporate Important Elements
When you write a children’s book, there are important elements that you need to incorporate, such as an appropriate theme, memorable characters, and relatable dialogue.
Your inspired story idea is only as strong as how you tell it. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. There are actions, scenes, and emotions. Be sure to be clear about your core message.
The 5 most important elements in a good children’s book:
While the sequence and rhythm of events are significant, keep in mind that not all stories have the same structure. There is no one formula because following a formula would rob stories of their true potential.
Yes, it’s crucial to have an intentional structure. But if it doesn’t fit perfectly, don’t force it.
STEP 6
. Use Solid CharactersYou have to use solid characters in your children’s book. Interesting, unforgettable characters are a must, especially when helping kids recall your story and core message.
The best characters in children’s books…
It's also important to research a character's surface level attributes before starting to write your book. Children will often ask their parents for a specific type of character such as a train, or a pig, or any other current interest they may have. For example, take a look at how much bestselling books earn for these character types, as well as the level of competition become a bestseller:
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
STEP 7
. Make the Story EngagingYou need to make the story engaging in your children’s book.
First, you need a good ending. Younger kids need a happy ending that satisfies them. You don’t want to make a kid cry because your story ended sadly. That doesn’t mean slightly more realistic conclusions are pointless, but your audience may struggle to understand complex topics.
Next, make sure your main character is making deliberate choices to move the story forward. If they aren’t making any decisions, they probably shouldn’t be the main character.
Any good story needs suspense, no matter your age category. Cliffhangers are a great way to engage your reader. In a younger book, a cliffhanger may be as simple as writing “Peek-a-” on one page, then “BOO!” on the next.
Here are some examples of suspenseful questions that different age ranges should ask throughout the story:
STEP 8
. Proofread & EditWhen you finish your first draft, you need to proofread and edit your children’s books.
Check out Kindlepreneur’s useful article on the Best Proofreading Services You'll Ever Find.
You should wait to hire a professional editor until you have self-edited your book. But you need a pro to look at your work before publishing.
Editing is a valuable and necessary investment, particularly for anything longer than 600 words. A professional proofreader or a line editor can help with spelling and grammar. For chapter books and beyond, you may want to hire a developmental editor to look at the big picture.
A good editor is instrumental in making your book a success because poor spelling, grammar, and book structure will reflect poorly on you as a children’s book writer, leading to negative reviews and fewer sales.
Your book and its message might be fantastic, but too many errors will be noticed by your readers. They may voice their opinion in a review like this, which ultimately lowers your overall rating.
So if your book is more than 600-800 words long, you should send it off to a professional editor for proofing.
Yes, you can go over it yourself and let your significant other read through it. But letting an unbiased, independent professional look over it will make your manuscript as good as it can be.
To find a great editor, read Kindlepreneur’s handy article Selecting The Best Book Editor.
STEP 9
. Illustrate Your BookWhen it comes to adding illustrations to your children’s book, there are three options you can choose from:
The best option for you will depend on your budget, time, skill level, and trust you’re willing to put into someone else's interpretation of your story.
Illustrating your book may take almost as much time as — if not more time than — actually writing the words of your children’s book.
I’ve broken up the illustration process into 7 steps:
Your book cover is a particularly important illustration. Make sure it attracts the right readers! Services like 100 Covers can really make it shine with special typography.
When it comes to picture books, there are 3 orientations to choose from:
(This doesn’t apply to chapter books or books for older children. Those usually feature the classic 5½” x 8” format.)
You should choose your book’s orientation early on since it will inform virtually every decision about illustrations down the road.
This is not a hard and fast rule, but here are general reasons to choose each:
Whether you hire an illustrator or create the illustrations yourself, you’ll want to make sure you plan your image sizing correctly. This way, once you upload your artwork, everything runs smoothly.
Below are the most common sizes for children’s book images:
If you plan on having your images cover the entire page, make sure to add 0.125” to the top and bottom, as well as one side. This accounts for trimming (sections to be removed in printing).
Amazon offers handy templates to plan your image sizing. But remember that you’ll still have to add the bleed allowance yourself.
Here are great inches-to-pixels and pixels-to-inches converters. These help you know how large your image should be, depending on your selected trim size. Be sure to choose a DPI (dots per inch) of 300 when using the mentioned converter.
A storyboard or book dummy helps you decide what to include in each illustration and how the text will match up with the images.
This is meant to help you determine which illustrations you want to include, better informing your quest to find and hire an illustrator. This step is extra helpful if you are planning to create your illustrations yourself.
The storyboard creation process doesn’t have to be perfect. Be expressive, and have fun. In the end, you’ll probably create a few different versions, each being an improvement over the previous one.
How to create a storyboard or book dummy:
How you combine your text and illustrations is entirely up to you.
However, it's a crucial element on how to write a children's book. Whatever you choose, be consistent throughout.
There are two ways of combining text and illustrations:
Having the text as part of the image makes your book format much more straightforward,, and looks consistent across all devices.
However, you decide to include the text in the image itself, this will have to be done by your illustrator. This method makes editing the text a bit harder — any changes or corrections have to be made within the image itself.
Below (left) is a page from my book The Garbage Trucks Are Here, and on the right is a page from my book A Gemstone Adventure.
The other option is to have the text and image separate. The text sits below or above the illustration or on a separate page.
Below is a double-page spread from my chapter book series, The Amulet Of Amser. It has an image on the left-hand page and the text on the right-hand page.
You can arrange this layout by yourself. You don't have to involve your illustrator.
I've started gathering individual authors and agencies into one big list to help with your search. Check them and their sites out below. Keep in mind that I haven't used these services myself.
Here’s a list of outsourcing sites and social media sites where you can choose an illustrator for your children’s book:
These outsourcing sites provide you with reviews from the artist’s previous clients and may even include information about previous completion rates. Most importantly, these sites are cost-effective.
On most outsourcing sites, you’ll post your project (similar to a job offering), and children’s book illustrators will bid on it.
To get an idea of how much you should be offering, browse some of the platform’s current projects. Know that your bid sets a baseline only, as each illustrator will bid individually on your project if he or she is interested in working with you.
: To get you started with your illustrator search, I’ve created swipe files that you can use to post your Illustrator Project Description into any of the previously suggested sites. You can download it here
After the initial bidding process (usually a couple of days), you will have to go through each illustrator’s profile and portfolio to decide who would — or wouldn’t — be a great fit.
You’ll need to pay for illustrations. An illustrator is more critical than an editor for picture books — the illustrations are what the reader will be most focused on.
To get a feel for acceptable prices for a project, browse websites to find postings for similar projects. Actual prices differ significantly from service provider to service provider and change drastically over time.
Payments are generally released based on milestones that you set, such as the completion of the storyboard. The milestone setup will depend on the scope of your project and the platform you are using to hire your illustrator.
The cost of your illustrator depends on multiple things:
Once you choose the best-fitting illustrator for your project and they’ve completed their work, you need to obtain the illustrations.
You want high-resolution images (300 dpi) with the proper sizing and the raw files of all images. This will enable you to make changes directly to your illustrations if need be.
A signed art release form is relevant if you decide to hire an illustrator directly. Any art attained via outsourcing sites should automatically make the illustrations your intellectual property.
Take my full featured video course on how to select the best keywords and categories for your book.
Take the CourseThe answer to whether or not you should copyright your children’s book is entirely up to you. Just know that under U.S. copyright law, you already own your work the instant you write it down. However, you can protect your copyright by registering it with the US Copyright Office.
Read Kindlepreneur’s handy article written by a lawyer: How to Copyright a Book in the US
What should I not do when writing a children’s book?
You should try not to sound too preachy or instructional about your themes and morals. Kids are very perceptive. They smell an agenda miles away.
You should not leave a story unresolved or a question unanswered. Depending on the age group you’re writing your children’s book for, you need to provide a satisfying ending — particularly for smaller kids.
You should not break patterns. Children love a routine. The key to routines or patterns is to not break them. In your children's book, once we’ve established a pattern (rhyme, repeating phrase, character behavior, etc.), try your best to stick to it.
One of the easiest ways to convert your children’s book into an ebook is Amazon’s Kindle Kids’ Book Creator.
While I use other methods, I love working with and recommending this simple yet powerful tool. It’s FREE and helps you create an ebook version for your illustrated children’s book. You can import artwork, add text, and create Kindle Text Pop-Ups.
And the best part is that there’s no HTML/CSS knowledge required!
Yes, your children’s book should have a subtitle, mainly for marketing purposes.
As I share in my book How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book, making use of a subtitle can be very beneficial for connecting with potential readers.
Giving your children’s book a subtitle provides you with an additional opportunity to use keywords, key phrases, or synonyms that potential readers might be using when searching for a children’s book like yours.
Using a subtitle also allows for more creative freedom than with your actual title. So if your title itself doesn't fully communicate the topic of the book, you’ll have the subtitle as a backup.
Figure out what is trending in children's books using Publisher Rocket. Use this info to develop an effective subtitle.
Just type in a children's book idea, and you can quickly see how many people are searching for those books on Amazon, the average amount of money made by the top books, and even the competition:
This data was created using Publisher Rocket.As you can see, some kids’ book genres have decent money coming into them with less competition. Make sure you do your research beforehand and title/subtitle your children’s book accordingly.
You write a children’s book description (blurb) by looking at similar books’ descriptions. Pay special attention to length, word choice, and the style they are written in. That’s usually a great way to see what your audience expects and is used to.
Like books of other genres, your book description is fundamental to your children’s book’s success.
While your book cover and title help with your book’s discoverability and grabbing a potential buyer’s attention, your description is often the reason a reader decides to buy (or not to buy) your book.
To help you with your blurb format, be sure to check out Dave’s amazing Book Description Generator that takes care of all the text formatting for you.
Amazon has over 450 paperback and 260 eBook categories for children’s books. Your children’s book should be in the category that best describes your audience:
(These categories are how Amazon’s marketplace categorizes children’s books.)
During your children’s book setup, you may have noticed that not all children’s book categories are offered as an option. That’s because some of Amazon’s categories need to be unlocked before being selected.
However, if you set up your children’s book correctly by adding age ranges, you will be able to add your book quickly and easily to any of these hidden categories by following Dave’s steps in his article How To Choose the Best Book Categories. This is a game-changer for you and your children's book.
The best book cover design for your children’s book is one that entices potential readers, looks professional to parents, looks fun to kids, and communicates what your book is about.
To get the best cover design you can for your children’s book, follow this guide for making standout book covers. Then create a book mock-up for your book marketing efforts.
Follow this guide, and you’ll craft a beautiful story tailored toward your audience. And you’ll have the illustrations to make your children’s book eye-catching, and intriguing.
Children value creativity and individuality. There is no one way to draw. No one way to paint. No one way to write. It’s about being uniquely you, lending your unique voice to your unique story.
That’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of the way you write, and you draw because that’s what sets you apart. Diversity is important. Tell your story.
Check out my book, How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book – Everything You Need To Know To Write, Illustrate, Publish, And Market Your Paperback And Ebook.
It will teach you how to:
Writing a children’s book is one thing; writing a children’s book that sells is another. Check out Kindlepreneur’s video on How to Write a Children's Book: 8 EASY STEPS!
Want more videos like this? Then click HERE to subscribe to Kindlepreneur’s YouTube channel.
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As a child, I developed my love for reading. I think most adults who love reading caught the bug as children. But when I think back to those days, my tastes were all over the place. They seemed to change drastically from year to year. This is not uncommon. In fact, it's something to keep in mind if you're looking to create an excellent children's book cover.
Any parent knows that children grow up fast. And as they do, they are attracted to different kinds of books. This explains the many different age ranges for kids' books. So what makes a good book cover for one age group won't necessarily make a good one for another age group.
Luckily, that's what I'm tackling today. First, I'll go over some of the best children's book covers of all time. Then I'll discuss what makes a good children's book cover for each age group!
In this article, you will learn:
Get Your FREE Children's Book ChecklistDon't know where to start your children's book? I've got a checklist that will take you through the entire process, from the initial idea to the finished, polished product. Check it out!
It’s good to get a feel for what makes an exceptional children's book cover. And the following covers are some of the best out there, with samples from all age ranges.
Most people are familiar with this book. It’s one of the most widely acclaimed children’s books of all time. And with good reason. But purely in terms of cover art, there’s a lot to be learned from this book. The use of pastels, the unique artwork, and the fantastical creature are sure to catch a young child’s attention.
Pretty much any book by Jory John and Pete Oswald will have a great color scheme. Like this one, they all make use of pastels and feature an adorable character. Notice how the background is kind of washed out, preventing it from being overly distracting.
I can’t mention children’s books without discussing one of the many Dr. Seuss books. This one is a great example of using standard colors from the color wheel for younger readers. First published in 1960, this book is a testament to the timelessness of a great children’s book cover.
In keeping with the classics, Goodnight Moon is another excellent example of a timeless children’s book cover. The solid colors and cozy setting make it one that’s attractive to both parents and children. Notice, however, that there is no character on the cover. This is rare, and an exception to the “rule”.
Animal characters are favorites for children’s books — especially for those in the 0 to 5 age group. And these cute illustrated penguins are a great example. Their dark bodies stand out well against the pink-and-white background, making this an excellent example for anyone designing a children’s book for kids just beginning their reading journey.
This book cover is an example of doing less with more. It’s a simple cover, only featuring a caterpillar. Granted, the caterpillar is very colorful, and the artwork is certainly unique. The gray background and simple font help the caterpillar catch the eye.
What kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? And what kid doesn’t like hugs? This book combines both for an endearing story about a poor dinosaur who has arms that are just too small for a proper hug. The great use of font sizes and colors helps this pastel-colored cover stand out.
As you can probably tell, this book is for older children — aged 10 and older. It’s not a picture book, but it still falls into a children’s book category. The use of darker colors and the silhouette of a character conveys drama, which is common among books for this age range.
This classic children’s tale features a more realistic cover illustration than others I've covered so far. However, the topcoat Peter Rabbit is wearing, and the way he’s eating the carrots, indicate a character with human characteristics.
The strategic use of color really creates a striking cover for this chapter book. The red backpack against the blue background is an excellent touch. Add the title in black and the author’s name in white, and you have all the makings of an excellent cover.
Many children’s books have seasonal or holiday themes. The Leaf Thief is a great example of one with a fall theme. Not only does the cover feature soothing fall colors, but it also features an animal character looking like he has just been caught stealing! It’s comical enough to catch a child’s interest, as well as a parent’s.
One of the things that draw kids toward a book is a familiar character. And any kid who watches Sesame Street will recognize Grover on the cover of this classic book. The hand-drawn style of the cover design makes this book unique by today’s standards, but this book is still selling strong.
As kids get older, they tend to seek out more adventurous books. And the cover of this first book in the Percy Jackson series does an excellent job of showing that. Notice that the scene on the cover isn’t straight-on, giving it a skewed appearance. Also, note the use of darker colors to signify danger and conflict.
Many kids love fairy tale books, even if they’re modern tellings. Fantastic creatures like mermaids and unicorns are always favorites, which is partly why this book is such a huge hit. The vivid colors and placement of the mermaid combine to make this an intriguing book for young children.
It can be hard to convey the tone of a children’s book on the cover without the help of a professional (and pricey) designer. But if you take a book like this for inspiration, you’ll see that it doesn’t have to be too hard. This simple design conveys the goofy tone of the book while keeping things simple by only using a few colors.
Now that I've covered some excellent book covers, it's time to discuss what makes a great kids' book cover.
The first thing to consider when designing a children's book cover is the age of the target audience. In the examples above, I've selected books from all different age ranges. But when searching for a design idea, it's important to only look at books that are similar to your own — both in age range and content.
What works for readers 10 and older won't be appropriate for kids 5 and under. So your readership age will determine your cover design choices. Also, keep in mind that parents buy kids' books — but this doesn't mean that you should focus on attracting just the parents' attention. They generally know a book in the appropriate age range when they see it.
Most children's books use bright colors to catch eyes. Young readers are attracted to bright colors, but that doesn't mean you should throw a rainbow on your cover. You want to make things easy to read so you don't overwhelm the reader. This is where the color wheel comes in handy.
Using complementary colors is as easy as looking at the opposite side of the wheel. Yellow and purple is one example of a pair of complementary colors, which can be used to provide some pop on your cover. Conversely, using colors next to each other on the wheel can make for a calming combination.
If your children's book tells a story with the use of pictures and words, you'll want to use the cover to give potential readers a glimpse into the illustration style within. There should be a character featured on the cover, but the style of the cover will depend on the targeted age range for the book.
If your book is a text-heavy one for older kids, you'll definitely still want to put a character on the cover. But since you don't have interior illustrations to work from, you'll want to carefully consider your cover illustration so you end up with a great book cover.
The font you use is perhaps as important as the illustration. The art of typography is not something you can pick up overnight, but by looking at other great book covers in your genre, you can get a feel for the kind of font that works.
You want it to be easy to read but also fun enough to catch the eye. Sometimes this means using a bright color for the font. Other times, it's enough to use black or white to make the title stand out against the background.
Since most kids in this age range haven't yet learned how to read, it's best to focus on cover images. Simple is often better for books in this age group. Large font, simple words, and colors from the standard color wheel tend to perform best.
It's also important to ensure that any characters on the cover are familiar to young children. Bears, cats, dogs, bunnies, and birds are all good options. Cartoonish illustrations of these characters and their surroundings work well.
Soothing colors should be used for bedtime books, while brighter colors are best for those books teaching kids how to read, count, or identify animals. Here are two examples of great covers in this age range:
With one simple glance, parents can tell that this is a great book for bedtime. Likewise, most young children will be able to recognize the cute elephants on the cover. The soothing blues and greens can promote relaxation when it's time to sleep.
This children's book classic features a very simple cover with two animals every kid knows: a dog and a bird. The use of red on the dog's collar adds a splash that pops against the white and turquoise. Such a cover is likely to grab a kid's attention.
Most kids learn to read around age 6, which is important to keep in mind when designing a book cover for this age range. The covers can be slightly more complex than those for younger kids. This means you have more choices when it comes to fonts and illustration styles. You can also branch out to pastel colors if it suits your book. Still, stick to vivid colors and combinations to draw the eye.
Characters on book covers in this range can still be animals, but you'll often see human characters, as well. The style tends to be a bit more real and less cartoonish, although that certainly isn't always the case. Check out these examples:
This cover showcases the more complex nature of book covers for this age range. It also shows human characters in a setting that kids this age will become familiar with: the classroom. It's still bright and colorful to help draw the eye.
This cover makes excellent use of slightly muted colors. It also uses longer words (kindness and superpower), as they're more appropriate for kids in this age range. Note the human character, as well.
Kids in this age range are becoming individuals. They're starting to see more of the world, and they want to experience it. Adventure and personal relationships are often top of mind.
With this in mind, you can get a little more creative with your covers. Instead of sticking to simple fonts, you can branch out to more complex typography and longer titles. You can also use more abstract illustrations. Most of the time, kids in this age range will want to see a character on the cover they can identify with. You'll often see animated children — sometimes with animal companions — on these book covers.
You're also not limited to just bright colors or pastels here. You can trend toward darker colors and more complex combinations. Here are two examples:
This book cover is a great example of the possibilities for this age range. It's dark, stylized, and you can't see the characters' faces. Still, the use of color to draw the eye is well done.
This middle-grade fantasy book makes use of darker colors in the background. The swirls of white-blue signify the magical nature of the story within. And while most characters on the front of books for younger kids are smiling, that is not the case with this book and others like it.
The young adult genre is huge, including a wide variety of book covers and stories. Things are always changing in this age range, so research is doubly important. As teenagers become more individualistic while simultaneously trying to fit in with their peers, they'll seek out books with covers that resonate with them.
These covers are often dictated by their subgenre. A book aimed at teenage girls will have a very different cover than one aimed at teenage boys. An adventure book will have a very different cover than a teenage drama.
For young adult books, it's best to research the bestselling books in your subgenre to determine the best cover. You don't want to copy or chase fads, but let what you see influence your cover design.
With all the information I've covered fresh in your mind, it's time to take the next step: designing your cover. If you're doing the illustrations yourself, you may want to design your own cover. If you're going to hire an illustrator (or already have), then chances are they can draft a book cover for you.
Some children's book covers can be easily made from interior illustrations with just a few changes. You can find a particularly beautiful illustration in the book and use that as the cover, provided it hits all the marks for your targeted age range.
If you have no design experience, you can always work with a graphic designer to help you design a beautiful book that will help kids read, learn, and laugh. This is the best option for those who are new to self-publishing.
You never know, maybe your book will become a favorite book among children for decades to come!
For a look at different book cover design solutions, check out this article.
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