How to successfully self-publish a board book for children (or adults!)

The first in the Self-Publishing by Design webinar series, Board Books by Design, features an interview with board book author Lindsay Kellar-Madsen about her self-publishing journey. Lindsay and I also have a bit of a "show and tell" near the end where we show some different printing options for board books.
✅️ Download my free beta readers' checklist for authors: www.launchmissioncreative.com/betachecklist
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links-which means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and purchase. These links will be followed by an asterisk (*).
To register for future webinars, visit www.launchmissioncreative.com/webinars.
To order Lindsay Kellar-Madsen's board book, The Lovely Haze of Baby Days: amzn.to/3eWmdPK *
To schedule a 1-on-1 coaching call with Lindsay, or download her board book printing leads, visit www.lindsaykmadsen.com
Facebook: www. lindsaykmadsen
Instagram: the.madsen.littles
Host: Travis D. Peterson, author of Ada and the Helpers children's book and print designer for over 10 years.
ORDER TRAVIS' BOOKS ON AMAZON
========================
Never Ever Build a Blanket Fort!: amzn.to/415y1Te
Ada and the Helpers: amzn.to/3AH30sE
Looking for a book designer or print broker for your next board book? Contact Travis at www.launchmissioncreative.com/book-design-quote
Website: www.launchmissioncreative.com
Facebook page: www. launchmission
Instagram: launchmission
Travis' author website: www.travisdpeterson.com
Facebook page: www. travisdpeterson
Instagram: travisd.peterson
Other books shown in this video. (I'm listing the original English versions. What I show in the video are the Norwegian translations of them.)
The links with an asterisk (*) next to them are affiliate links. I earn a small commission at no cost to you if you click and order them from Amazon.
Sleepyhead (Baby's First Book) by Flora Chang: amzn.to/3eY3Ytj *
Friends for Mouse by Rosalinda Kightley: amzn.to/3LiDxKI *
Goodnight Hoot by Rowena Blyth: amzn.to/3BLxyLi *
Little Blue Boat by Ginger Swift: amzn.to/3eZ6CPz *
The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Forest Hide & Seek by Eric Carle: amzn.to/3BmlFKt *
The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson: amzn.to/3RSt23e *
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[@markcunich]

I’ve searched so long for this video. Everyone else is just doing print on demand!!
I’ve got a printer lined up and plan on selling it on my own website but I’m having trouble finding out about listing online at places line bookdepository without a traditional publisher

[@launchmission]

Hey, Mark! Glad you found this one. :) I agree, POD is taking over, it seems. The trouble with getting into places like Book Depository is you need to either have your books available via a distributor such as Ingram, which I believe is the largest distributor, or through IngramSpark, which is Ingram's POD service. And to get access to a distributor like that with traditional offset printed books that you self-published means that you need to show them that you are capable of selling the books by the thousands. It's not an easy feat.
You could sell your book on Amazon via FBA, but that's still only Amazon. This is why I recommend a hybrid approach. Keep your board books or other offset books on FBA and personal/local sales, but offer POD options as well for the broader, international market. By using IngramSpark, the book (hardcover, paperback, or ebook) would be pushed to websites such as Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Target (to name some US chains), as well as others worldwide.
I also find it helpful to offer the paperback and ebook formats on Amazon KDP because although IngramSpark will push to Amazon as well, you'll get a better profit margin directly from KDP. And as much as I want my hardcovers that I have printed traditionally to sell faster, unfortunately it's the paperbacks on KDP that sell the most-probably 10 to 1 or better.

[@launchmission]

BTW, a book published by a large publisher would easily get into a large distributor such as Ingram. But again, better said than done.

[@markcunich]

Thank you for your detailed info. I really appreciate it. I’ll look into FBA a bit more, I hadn’t even considered that option.
Unfortunately my book won’t work as a digital book but I’ll keep that open for future work.
Thanks again

[@doesgodstillspeakstoday3610]

Is there a specific time in this video in which you guys address where ( which specific companies offer the service of printing board books)

[@launchmission]

I don't think we discuss specific companies, but Lindsay has a free downloadable PDF of board book printer leads. You can access that by going to her website listed in the description, and then click the shop tab. Thanks for your question!

[@AsrifYusoff]

Great content and subscribed. I'm about to publish my first book on lifelong learning -- thus content like yours are certainly inspirational. Would love to hear your feedback on my podcast channel. Thank you!

[@randinorman4216]

What were the three printers she liked?

[@launchmission]

Lindsay has a list of printers available for free on her website, www.lindsaykmadsen.com/product-page/board-book-printer-leads

[@LafeSpace]

Who are the printers she used?

[@launchmission]

@littleotterpress could you answer this?