Exploring Second Income Sources: Writing a Children’s Book

Whether you’re a college student looking to pay your way through school or a seasoned worker saving for a major investment such as a house, it never hurts to make a little more money. As a result, you might be investigating some possible side hustles or passion projects that could potentially boost your income, especially those that you can do from home. One of the most unique and potentially effective ways to make some extra money from home is to write a book, specifically a children’s book.

If you’re wondering how fruitful this kind of endeavor could actually be, here are the tips you need to keep in mind when writing a children’s book as an additional form of income.

Understand the Structure of Kids’ Books

To write a children’s book that is going to sell, you need to familiarize yourself with the structure of these types of texts. Specifically, you need to understand the sections of a book you’ll need to write in order to flesh out a selling story. In general, the parts of a children’s book can be broken down into the three major following categories:

• The Front Matter – Title page, acknowledgements, table of contents, copyright page

• Body – Prologue, introduction, chapters, conclusion

• Back Matter – Afterword, glossary, appendices, list of contributors

Create a checklist of all these components prior to writing your story. Such preparation will greatly ease your creative journey and boost your odds of writing a book that will actually make you some money.

Invest in an Editor

Once you’ve finished putting your story together and you’re confident with the first draft, seek the assistance of an editor. Getting a fresh pair of eyes on your text will help identify any unclear aspects, typos, and general areas for improvement. A children’s book editor in particular will be exceedingly helpful, as they offer invaluable insight into the ways young people speak, think, and behave – and they’ll be able to translate that knowledge into your story. An editor will significantly bolster the quality of your content and will thereby improve the chances of your book flying off the shelves.

Decide How to Publish

When the time finally comes to publish your piece, you have two major options on how to proceed with this step: self-publish or publish traditionally by selling to an agency. There’s no right or wrong choice here, but it’s important to know the pros and cons to each option – particularly the financial ones – so you can know what to expect and make the decision best suited to your goals.

When it comes to working with a publishing house, you can expect roughly a $2,000 to $4,000 advance, 6% to 10% of the book sales, and maybe 20% to 30% of the e-book sales. When it comes to self-publishing, however, you could be looking at anywhere from 50% to 90% in royalties, depending on how many and which distribution channels you end up using. Keep in mind that these numbers vary significantly from author to author and no earnings are guaranteed.

If you’re looking to earn some extra cash from the comfort of your own home, then writing a children’s book could be an excellent way to do it. You just need to ensure that you do it right to see the financial payoff. By following these tips, you’ll put together a winning children’s book that will make your audience (and your wallet) very happy.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes