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[Gavin Stevens]

Yeah. I posted a thread a while back about publishing with amazon. Well, I managed to get through it all, and have it all under my belt so that I can do the next couple with ease.

Anyway, a few weeks back, I decided to start writing children’s books. I’ve been a teacher for over a decade and worked with all ages and abilities, and have read many a story. My daughter (aged 3) loves books, can’t get enough of them. So... I thought what the hell.

So I sat down, and in the space of a week, I wrote a story, did all my art concepts, and painted it all out.

And now it’s published... and people are buying it. Not many. It's been love like 2 days and I’ve sold barely 20 copies, lol. But I’ve somehow managed to write, draw and release my own book.

Crazy.

I’m now working on my second and third books that fit in with the first. Hopefully will have the second done by next weekend.

It’s a great feeling! Anybody else ever done anything like it? I would post the link here, but I’m not 100% on the rules of self pimpage on Gaf so I’ll leave it off for now. But if I’m told it’s ok, I’ll post some pics and info etc

TLDR: Woke up, wrote a kids book, it’s out now.

 

[DKehoe]

That's awesome, congrats! 20 copies in 2 days is actually pretty great when you think about it. Keep at it!

 

[Gavin Stevens]

That's awesome, congrats! 20 copies in 2 days is actually pretty great when you think about it. Keep at it!

Thanks man, it’s actually less about money (well, not at all even) and more because it’s just bloody great fun I love a good challenge! But yeah thinking about it that’s not terrible with zero promotion!

 

[DKehoe]

Thanks man, it’s actually less about money (well, not at all even) and more because it’s just bloody great fun I love a good challenge!

In just 2 days 20 different families have been reading and enjoying your book. That's a cool impact to have! You should share a link here so people can see, assuming you are cool with that.

I dunno if they are still around but I believe at one point here we had a poster on here who made a full time living from publishing their books on amazon.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

If I’m allowed to post it then by all means, if not, mods feel free to remove it. I’m not looking for sales, hardly going to be many children on here after that haha!

Don't Worry, It's All Gouda (Cheeky Mouse & Friends)

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1078308993
US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1078308993/?tag=neogaf0e-20
DE- https://www.amazon.de/dp/1078308993/
FR - https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1078308993/
ES - https://www.amazon.es/dp/1078308993/
IT - https://www.amazon.it/dp/1078308993/
JP - https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1078308993/

And a few lower res snaps of some art:

 

[TrainedRage]

Cute, I may have to buy this for my niece. Good work OP.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

 

[brap]

If I’m allowed to post it then by all means, if not, mods feel free to remove it. I’m not looking for sales, hardly going to be many children on here after that haha!

Don't Worry, It's All Gouda (Cheeky Mouse & Friends) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1078308993/

And a few lower res snaps of some art:

Pretty cute honestly

 

[Texas Pride]

That's good stuff OP. How hard was it to self publish through Amazon the way you did it?

 

[Mista]

Congratulations mate! I’m happy for you!

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Difficulty wise, not overly hard. The confusing part with amazon is there’s barely any documentation, it’s very much just try and see what works, then go from there. The major issue with that is that it takes a day or so for your change to apply before you can see if it’s even correct. So it’s easy, but takes time.

Now I’ve done it once, I can just use the same template and go from there

Thanks for the kind words guys. Do we have any other authors here? Be curious to see your experiences in other areas too

 

[ROMhack]

Wow that's brilliant! It must feel great to know others are enjoying it too.

Good luck with your future books~

 

[bitbydeath]

Congrats man, love the artwork.
I’m also writing but rather a fictional novel instead.

Hopefully at some point next year I could also consider myself as a published author like you.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Thanks dude, I’ll be tackling something a little bit more heavy at some point as well.

Feels so good to be doing it all

 

[bitbydeath]

Thanks dude, I’ll be tackling something a little bit more heavy at some point as well.

Feels so good to be doing it all

It sure does. I’m setting up a series so it allows me to do a lot of foreshadowing and it feels great piecing it all together.

Hopefully the editor doesn’t rip my writing style too much when I hand it in next year.

 

[Ichabod]

CaptainAmericasalute.gif

Getting published is on my bucket list. Congrats, OP!

 

[Chairman Tickles]

That's great OP, well done.

I've always wanted to have my many stories self published but there is no amazon equivalent for us Australians. We pay 80% cumulative tax on earnings if we publish on a US platform so lol not going to happen.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

80% is a tad extreme yeah but big cuts are common on these sorts of things. Amazon take a cut of my sales too. It’s rubbish, but what can you do? I’ll never sell massive amounts of the book, so going to a proper publisher makes no financial sense right now. So amazon, even though they do take a big cut, at least will make everything free (store, hosting, printing, distribution) and then give me what’s left. Best I can do!

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Yeah. I posted a thread a while back about publishing with amazon. Well, I managed to get through it all, and have it all under my belt so that I can do the next couple with ease.

Anyway, a few weeks back, I decided to start writing children’s books. I’ve been a teacher for over a decade and worked with all ages and abilities, and have read many a story. My daughter (aged 3) loves books, can’t get enough of them. So... I thought what the hell.

So I sat down, and in the space of a week, I wrote a story, did all my art concepts, and painted it all out.

And now it’s published... and people are buying it. Not many. It's been love like 2 days and I’ve sold barely 20 copies, lol. But I’ve somehow managed to write, draw and release my own book.

Crazy.

I’m now working on my second and third books that fit in with the first. Hopefully will have the second done by next weekend.

It’s a great feeling! Anybody else ever done anything like it? I would post the link here, but I’m not 100% on the rules of self pimpage on Gaf so I’ll leave it off for now. But if I’m told it’s ok, I’ll post some pics and info etc

TLDR: Woke up, wrote a kids book, it’s out now.

Well done my man.

What was your motivation to write the book?

Keep them coming and keep us all posted.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Honestly, a couple of things. My kid just turned 3, she loves reading. We read a few stories every night, and she’s just engrossed by them. Some of her favourites are stories like the Gruffalo and Stick Man, stories that are really short (20-30 pages), but are fun with word play, rhymes and what happens, with great characters.

At Christmas her grandad bought her a story that was made by somebody he used to work with, and... it was ok. It didn’t flow too great, and clearly the art was done in her free time with a few pencils. She did a good job. It wasn’t going to set the world on fire, same as mine. It was a bit of a personal journey for her. But reading it I couldn’t help shake the feeling that “I could do this?”

So one day I sat down, and wrote a story. Checked it over, got others to read it etc. Was just going to stay at that. But then my daughter started talking about it... constantly. Everything was about “cheeky mouse”. So I sketched out some things and she basically took this drawing on a piece of A4 about the house with her and played with it.

So I did a drawing for every page, scanned them in, and started tinkering in photoshop. I’ve been a graphics designer/games designer for years so that bit was easy, it was more about finding a style I liked. At this point I was still just messing and thinking I would just print it out for her. Then the wife showed how amazon can put my book in print....

Before I know it, I’ve written a book, got it checked over by people, illustrated and it’s in print.

General attitude seems to be everybody likes it, and that’s great. As I said, it won’t set the world on fire. I’ll be happy if it just sells 20odd copies for its life.

But opening the package and seeing my little girls face when I read it to her? Utterly priceless. Beyond tears.

 

[King of Foxes]

Until you go on twitter and retroactively change your characters to black or gay you are infact not an author.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Until you go on twitter and retroactively change your characters to black or gay you are infact not an author.

How do you know my mouse isn’t black or gay already? This is a very mousist comment!!! You’re lucky this isn't Era!

 

[plushyp]

Wonderful art quality! Were you an artist before you were a teacher or did you teach art by any chance?

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Wonderful art quality! Were you an artist before you were a teacher or did you teach art by any chance?

Thank you, no never taught art, more so special needs kids in normal teaching environments. But I have done a lot of art all my life, and have done a hefty chunk of graphics design over the years.

 

[Corrik]

Congrats. Looks cool!

 

[EverydayBeast]

OP's a winner, if everything goes right this will sell millions, doesn't have to be millions but I mean actually sell a lot.

 

[Kadayi]

Well Done O'dium. I've had a novel rattling around in my head for quite a few years but never really gotten too far in terms of realising it yet (notes here and there and a rough outline), so good on you for pushing through.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

OP's a winner, if everything goes right this will sell millions, doesn't have to be millions but I mean actually sell a lot.

Man, could you imagine though? I hardly see Daniel Radcliffe signing up for the lead role of the movie mind you haha. I’ll be happy if it just puts a few smiles on kids faces. Job done.

I finished the second story the other day, and I’ve done about 4 pages illustrated so far, so I’m on target to get this next one out and published before I go away in a couple of weeks. Then onto the final part of the trilogy, where cheeky mouse turns to the dark side but ultimately his father saves him just short of boinking his sister. Just working on the legal issues there.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Well Done O'dium. I've had a novel rattling around in my head for quite a few years but never really gotten too far in terms of realising it yet (notes here and there and a rough outline), so good on you for pushing through.

You know what? Just do it. Best advice I can give. Don’t do it for money, fame or anything other than you. Sit down, plot it out, and just keep adding to it. It’s surprisingly therapeutic and feels great once you get into a rhythm with it. I’ve gone though a lot of hours of music, either classic 80s tracks or the mass effect soundtrack haha, but just go for it

If you ever get to a point (or anybody here actually) where you want to release it, hit me up. I’ll help in any way I can to make it easier for you.

 

[bitbydeath]

Don’t do it for money, fame or anything other than you.

Very much this. Creating something tangible that can be shared with others is the greatest reward.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

cool! i really like the art. that is very well done. congratulations!

ive worked on a few books, once doing the InDesign work for a new comics collection. they went through BookMobile i believe.

one of the great things about the internet has been the spreading of self publishing. it is cool, even though the old bookstores have kind of died, there is now a wider variety of people publishing than ever.

 

[The Scrivener]

Just wanted to say well done. I couldn't imagine writing anything, but I do proofreading professionally (as part of my job and also on the side) and I enjoy it. I have my name in a few children's books but mostly do academic proofreading. Good luck with this, I admire your aims, and I see Amazon already has some 5* reviews!

 

[betrayal]

Just here to say GJ and always great to see things like that (publishng you own book).

 

[Aintitcool]

Fantastic work and ambition. Find local book stores and give them cheap personally made prints without publisher. Sell local, it leads to people contacting you for work you never predict.

PS: When you do amazon publishing of something you do not want to just be in ebook form. Do they print too? and give you sample prints?

I have so much writing I can put together in a book already but I believe I need to see it printed and edit from there.

 

[AV]

Just bought a copy to read with my niece. Good on you for actually getting out there and doing something rather than just thinking about it like everyone else, congratulations man.

 

[GymWolf]

Very cute, congratulation.

 

[DoctorEkkoUK]

did you actualy have physical books made up or is it just e-books? if physical how did you go about that?

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Just bought a copy to read with my niece. Good on you for actually getting out there and doing something rather than just thinking about it like everyone else, congratulations man.

Oh wow, great! Thanks!

Amazon do allow publishing through both paper back and ebook guys. Use their "Amazon KDP" stuff, which I can help anybody with if they need it. Its confusing at first but once you know what you're doing its not so bad. I learnt a lot of lessons from the first book, mostly that the first image they see on the first real text page needs to of course be GOOD (on this book, it was likely the weakest one. Thats fixed in the second book), but also that the contrast the books print out at is a touch higher than what I have on my home computer. Again, easily fixed.

The second book has been written, and all art has now been drawn concept wise. Its scanned in and ready for me to work proper on Should be done this week hopefully!

Thank you so much for all the kinds words!

 

[lock2k]

Love the art, seems like something my daughter would love!!

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Thank you! Here are some WIP shots of the next story

 

[Robot Carnival]

congrats, the book looks cute. might get a copy for my friends kids.

 

[Cato]

If I’m allowed to post it then by all means, if not, mods feel free to remove it. I’m not looking for sales, hardly going to be many children on here after that haha!

Don't Worry, It's All Gouda (Cheeky Mouse & Friends) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1078308993/

And a few lower res snaps of some art:

I can't find it on amazon AUS. My kids are too old but I will buy to support and encourage!

My understanding is that they print these locally near where you are and ship from the local printer.
Do you need to click some button to "make available on amazon outside of uk?"

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Hmm, let me have a quick look and see if I can find anything...

Edit: I found the ebook version right away but can’t find a link for the paper back, which is odd, as I have a section for aid royalties on my author page? Very strange. When I get home I’ll have a look at the links provided to me by amazon themselves and if not take a look at why aus is tricky. I know there was some confusing a while back about aus and taxes and what not.

Update 2: yeah it seems Australia is an area everybody in the KDP community is asking for but it costs them too much to do they recommend buying from the US site and sending it that way, but I’ll be honest mate, that sounds expensive. So good words for support is more than enough for me chief. Silly really!

 

[Cato]

Hmm, let me have a quick look and see if I can find anything...

Edit: I found the ebook version right away but can’t find a link for the paper back, which is odd, as I have a section for aid royalties on my author page? Very strange. When I get home I’ll have a look at the links provided to me by amazon themselves and if not take a look at why aus is tricky. I know there was some confusing a while back about aus and taxes and what not.

Update 2: yeah it seems Australia is an area everybody in the KDP community is asking for but it costs them too much to do they recommend buying from the US site and sending it that way, but I’ll be honest mate, that sounds expensive. So good words for support is more than enough for me chief. Silly really!

Jeez, ok that is the usual price for living in a nice climate :-( On the other side of the planet from EVERYWHERE.

Don't worry. It is available in the US? I go there a couple times a year for conferences.
I will arrange one of my usual suspects to buy a few copies and I pick them up next time I am in the bay area (september).
One for me, one or two donated to the local regional library and the rest to various child care centres.

Good on you. You should feel proud for being an author. !

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Thanks extremely kind of you, and yes it is available via US .com

With any luck I’ll have the second part out by the weekend

Feels good! Thanks for your support!

 

[lock2k]

Do you know if it ships to Brazil?

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Do you know if it ships to Brazil?

Sadly no I don’t think so. I think it’s the same as Australia, just the ebook, or shop from another country shame really

 

[Aintitcool]

Thanks extremely kind of you, and yes it is available via US .com

With any luck I’ll have the second part out by the weekend

Feels good! Thanks for your support!

Don't rush when you are incharge of your own deadlines. Also try something like a twitter campaign boost talk about the book before publishing build hype for more day 1 sales.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

I’m actually not rushing, believe it or not. I’m behind atm lol. My aim is to get part 2 out before I got away on holiday in 2 weeks.

I was going to set up a twitter account, yeah. I’ve already got a Facebook one. Really difficult to build any sort of news publicity about this sort of thing sadly, seems I’m at the mercy of people stumbling over it. But that’s totally fine, as I said. I may pay for the ads to run on amazon itself, if I can figure out their weird wording and explanations.

 

[Codes 208]

I envy you. I try to write here and there but usually end up giving up on it and scrapping it for some other project.

My ultimate goal is to someday publish one of my comic books.

Edit: quick question for the process. Ive been working on a book that essentially is made up of episodes (its essentially a godzilla parody but with a giant cat) do you know if amazon allows for the publication of short stories (that eventually end up as volumes ala comics/manga) or would i need to finalize it as a full-fledged book?