✅ Have you published a kid's book before? If so, what kind? And, did you see much success from it? Learn How to Publish a Children’s Book on Amazon Kindle here: th-cam.com/video/BU0XtzC_RQU/w-d-xo.html
Dale, thanks for the tutorial and the free templates. I appreciate it. However, if I can add a comment, it would have been great if you also touched on inserting text into the templates.
I'm sorry, this was never really meant to be a tutorial. It was just supposed to illustrate how simple it could be to create a picture book. These templates were originally for sale, but due to popular demand from this video, I made them ALL free.
I am confused with the vexel plans? I find three plans are available: KDP/Merch/Design plan? Which plan is the best? I am publishing ebooks & paperback on KDP and other online publishing platforms. Is Design plan enough?
@@DaleLRoberts I asked Vexel customer service, they keep telling me that I need to either buy their KDP or Merch plan. The design plan is not enough to sell on Amazon, so confusing.
I do not, but April Cox is a friend of the channel and this is something she's covered. Check this out - th-cam.com/video/BggurL449nc/w-d-xo.html Here's a playlist from her channel - th-cam.com/video/BggurL449nc/w-d-xo.html
Hello Dale, are you allowed to use speech balloons or are you required to place text in a certain area of the pages. Thanks! You have the best channel on TH-cam when it comes to helping self published authors. Thanks for all that you do.
Hi Chris. Sure, you could absolutely use speech balloons. With PowerPoint, you can put text anywhere on the page. You could also make the balloons and text part of your images using a little basic image editing. It depends on your skillset. Thanks for the kind words. This is why I do what I do. I hope to see you around. I have a lot more in the pipeline so definitely stay tuned.
Bit of a dumb question, can't seem to find the answer. If you have a 200 page journal, do you tell the KDP book cover template calculator that you have 100 pages or 200? Pages are double sided, so a 200 page journal only has 100 sheets of paper. Not sure if the KDP templates allows for 100 sheets or 100 sides (50sheets) Hope that makes sense. Many thanks
I am using Publisher Rocket and I have a question about competitive score. Does it matter what that score is if I am planning on doing nothing but AMS for the book for a while? I know for ranking it matters, but I plan on just doing AMS for the first few months of each book, of course as long as I profit from it. So it would seem to me that competitive score would not really matter when using AMS. In fact it seems that the higher the score may be the better my advertising will work for those keywords.
Hey Dale how did you come up with the bleed? Is this a standard bleed ? What if you have a different sized book? Does Amazon recommend a bleed for different sizing?
@@DaleLRoberts When I finish the project I am working on, I will sit down and look at your other videos very thorough. I have just been so busy but I will catch up.
Hey Dale thanks for the video and the other links! I've written a childrens book and I found a great illustrator on fiverr. I gave him specific sizing . I googled the typical sizing for childrens books. My question is does sizing matter? I noticed you used the standard ppt size. Also when it comes to the ebook itself does it automatically resize?
It’s alright to me. It’s just formatted square so you have bars on the left and right or top and bottom depending on whether you go with portrait or landscape.
Hey Dale When i am using indesign and exporting epub ( kdp previewer not showing correctly) How to create correct fixed or reflowable epub. What kind soft good covering pdf to epub fixed layout
Great video thanks! Just wondering how long did it take for you to make your Santa book from start to finish? I've been working solid on my first ever kids book and its taking far longer than expected (well over a month!), but I am doing the illustrations myself.. Also, I cant find the link you mentioned for illustrators making their own graphics in the comments. Could you please repost it again? Thanks for all your videos they're fantastic :)
@@DaleLRoberts at timestamp 37:46 there was a question about creating your own illustrations and you mention you had some tips on that.. Sorry if I missed the link already posted somewhere! :P
Hey Dale, how can I create a children’s picture book template with the kdp tool and upload to kdp to make a paperback book? Thanks! I published the ebook but I want to make a printed picture book.
You really need to go by the licensing information from whatever image website you get your pictures from. They will tell you exactly what they expect as far as attribution and you need to follow that to a T.
Question... re: KDF Select for children's picture books... Does it even make sense, since the pay is based on number of pages? Most children's books contain very few pages compared to a novel. It seems to me that a 24 page picture book will only pay a few cents each time the entire book is read. So, doesn't it make sense not to opt for KDF Select? Or am I missing something? Thank you for your time & help :-)
Yes, you are missing something. I cover KDP Select in a video here: th-cam.com/video/UqazSNIEgx8/w-d-xo.html Short answer: You don't just get paid for pages read. You get two different promotional opportunities (free promo and countdown deals) and any time someone checks out your in Kindle Unlimited, Amazon registers it like a sale that influences your Amazon Bestseller Rank (ABSR). Again, watch that video and you'll get more clear on it and make informed decision. KDP Select is not for everybody.
Dale, I got my proof copies from KDP and I realized that they added 3 blank pages to the end of my book. I asked KDP about it and they say that because of the nature of print on demand it’s common to have additional pages. I asked them if I add couple more pages will it help but the answer from them is no. Did you run into this problem? Number of pages I had was 29 and I was thinking that I can add 2 more pages at the end and have only one blank page. Any thoughts?
I have my book in word doc as Kdp suggest to upload children’s book. But when I upload it to kdp the text isn’t on the illustrations anymore. It’s under the pictures or on another page altogether. But never on the illustrations. Do you know what the issue is?
Nyikki, maybe your fonts are not embedded in the file you sent to KDP? I was thinking this at first, but then I read that your text appears somewhere else in the product! That sounds like a KDP problem. When sending something with fonts to someone else, there can be problems with whether or not their programs recognize (can read) the fonts, so the fonts have to be "embedded" in the file (Google search how to embed in Word). Again, that might not be the problem here. Another option is to make the text a part of the image itself, and there are lots of ways to do that in imaging programs. My favorite workaround is to finish the image in GIMP (a free, reputable program), although there's a learning curve with it if new to imaging software. I then export from GIMP to .jpg, and convert the .jpg to .pdf with one of many free online conversion tools. The Kindle Book Creator looks nice but only applies to Kindle ebooks, which may be all you need. Good luck!
@@GrowingHomeGardening oh idk - my reply was from 2 years ago, and the tools are constantly changing and improving, and I haven't wrestled with KDP since. If you can export to PDF from GIMP and have enough control of the output to meet current KDP specifications, that saves a step!
Wow! The Business Plan is next level! You can order 7 designs per month. Take advantage of that! At 7 designs per month, you’re looking at $5.71 per custom design. Wow! And that doesn’t include the 2,000 downloads per month. Im excited for you. Get on those custom designs. That’ll be a game changer for you.
@@DaleLRoberts Can you please reconfirm does Pro License is enough for KDP considering its a POD platform or do we need to get MERCH plan for kdp since that plan covers both POD and exclusively MERCH Another Big point that most of us overlook often that is - in Merch Plan it is written that "• Graphics can be used as main image " as a feature. So if Pro plan allows us to use images for KDP then can we use images as main image or as it is for KDP? Last but not least, if Pro is enough for KDP then can you manage especial discount offers for your audience?
Yeah, I’ll admit the pro plan is nice, but it’s restrictive. The merch plan is much nicer. And, you can only order one design per month, whereas you get 2 with merch.
✅ Have you published a kid's book before? If so, what kind? And, did you see much success from it?
Learn How to Publish a Children’s Book on Amazon Kindle
here:
th-cam.com/video/BU0XtzC_RQU/w-d-xo.html
I have a kid's book on Amazon. It's a tough genre to write in.
It sure is. Have you ever checked out V Moua? She crushes it with kids books.
@@DaleLRoberts No I'll have to go look her up.
@@DaleLRoberts She's on several platforms. I'm sure that helps A LOT. Hmmm.🤔
Oh yeah! And very prolific. The art work is great too.
Thanks! I also have a children’s book series where I have sold hundreds of copies. Good quality bright pictures and fun is def what makes the book
Awesome! Congrats 😎🔥💪
@Bloody Peach I created my own website
@Bloody Peach I have my own website.
Very informative - step by step always works. Like to see more of those.
Awesome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. More to come for sure.
Can’t wait to learn how to illustrate a picture book. I am not an artist!
You've got this.
@@DaleLRoberts Thank you! I am excited and your videos are really helping me!
Love your videos. They have been so helpful.
I'm so glad! That's why I do what I do! Thanks for your comment, Tonya. 👍
Dale, thanks for the tutorial and the free templates. I appreciate it. However, if I can add a comment, it would have been great if you also touched on inserting text into the templates.
I'm sorry, this was never really meant to be a tutorial. It was just supposed to illustrate how simple it could be to create a picture book. These templates were originally for sale, but due to popular demand from this video, I made them ALL free.
I am confused with the vexel plans? I find three plans are available: KDP/Merch/Design plan? Which plan is the best? I am publishing ebooks & paperback on KDP and other online publishing platforms. Is Design plan enough?
Yes, the Design plan is plenty for books. You should only get the Merch plan if you're making shirts and stuff.
@@DaleLRoberts I asked Vexel customer service, they keep telling me that I need to either buy their KDP or Merch plan. The design plan is not enough to sell on Amazon, so confusing.
Hi - do you have any sort of video series that are geared toward KIDS publishing books for kids? Thanks!
I do not, but April Cox is a friend of the channel and this is something she's covered. Check this out - th-cam.com/video/BggurL449nc/w-d-xo.html
Here's a playlist from her channel - th-cam.com/video/BggurL449nc/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Dale this was very helpful.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
Hello Dale, are you allowed to use speech balloons or are you required to place text in a certain area of the pages. Thanks! You have the best channel on TH-cam when it comes to helping self published authors. Thanks for all that you do.
Hi Chris. Sure, you could absolutely use speech balloons. With PowerPoint, you can put text anywhere on the page. You could also make the balloons and text part of your images using a little basic image editing. It depends on your skillset.
Thanks for the kind words. This is why I do what I do. I hope to see you around. I have a lot more in the pipeline so definitely stay tuned.
Bit of a dumb question, can't seem to find the answer. If you have a 200 page journal, do you tell the KDP book cover template calculator that you have 100 pages or 200? Pages are double sided, so a 200 page journal only has 100 sheets of paper. Not sure if the KDP templates allows for 100 sheets or 100 sides (50sheets) Hope that makes sense. Many thanks
You count according to front and back, not the sheet count. So, you’d say 200 pages not 100 pages. Definitely not a dumb question.
@@DaleLRoberts thanks heaps, have been getting great value from your channel - thumbs up :)
I am using Publisher Rocket and I have a question about competitive score. Does it matter what that score is if I am planning on doing nothing but AMS for the book for a while? I know for ranking it matters, but I plan on just doing AMS for the first few months of each book, of course as long as I profit from it. So it would seem to me that competitive score would not really matter when using AMS. In fact it seems that the higher the score may be the better my advertising will work for those keywords.
For advertising, use the AMS feature. For keyword metadata, use the keyword search feature.
Good stuff as usual 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽😉
Thanks, buddy! 😀👍👏
Hey Dale how did you come up with the bleed? Is this a standard bleed ? What if you have a different sized book? Does Amazon recommend a bleed for different sizing?
Super simple yet tedious. I essentially took the trim size and created the normal margins and bleed area based on their spec recommendations.
Love this, thank you so much.
Hey, thanks 😀👏👍I appreciate you watching and commenting.
@@DaleLRoberts When I finish the project I am working on, I will sit down and look at your other videos very thorough. I have just been so busy but I will catch up.
Awesome. I’ll be here.
Hey Dale thanks for the video and the other links! I've written a childrens book and I found a great illustrator on fiverr. I gave him specific sizing . I googled the typical sizing for childrens books. My question is does sizing matter? I noticed you used the standard ppt size. Also when it comes to the ebook itself does it automatically resize?
Sizing matters, so make sure you study the subniche you choose. The Kindle Kids Book Creator essentially locks the PDF as is.
@@DaleLRoberts thanks how does a square format look on a kindle book? It seems it would look weird
It’s alright to me. It’s just formatted square so you have bars on the left and right or top and bottom depending on whether you go with portrait or landscape.
@@DaleLRoberts thanks 🙂
Thank YOU for watching and commenting. It really helps a lot!
What Is the minimum pages required for children's books?
24
Hey Dale When i am using indesign and exporting epub ( kdp previewer not showing correctly) How to create correct fixed or reflowable epub. What kind soft good covering pdf to epub fixed layout
You’ll need it to be .mobi for a Kindle reader to display properly.
Great video thanks! Just wondering how long did it take for you to make your Santa book from start to finish? I've been working solid on my first ever kids book and its taking far longer than expected (well over a month!), but I am doing the illustrations myself.. Also, I cant find the link you mentioned for illustrators making their own graphics in the comments. Could you please repost it again? Thanks for all your videos they're fantastic :)
Thanks for the kind words. I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to. Do you mean the video? That’s in the description.
@@DaleLRoberts at timestamp 37:46 there was a question about creating your own illustrations and you mention you had some tips on that.. Sorry if I missed the link already posted somewhere! :P
Hey Dale, how can I create a children’s picture book template with the kdp tool and upload to kdp to make a paperback book? Thanks! I published the ebook but I want to make a printed picture book.
@Laura Martino it’s one of the videos with the 4 green check marks about children’s books. Sadly, I cannot remember which one.
All you’ll need is the PDF for the print book. That’s it.
I love your beard!!!!!😀
Thanks! I usually grow it in Winter, but I didn't last year. This is an old video.
Please do more children books and picture books for children!
maria faraz It’s in my work queue, but will take some time to produce.
@@DaleLRoberts thank you!!
maria faraz thanks for watching and commenting.
If you are publishing a paperback do you use the cover as the first slide as well? Or is that only for Kindle e reader?
Don't sweat it for print, just do the front cover as the first page for when you convert through Kindle Kids Book Creator.
Dale thanks, bro! Just sub'd Love your content NO FLUFF!
Hey, thanks so much! I'll be doing more about children's books in the near future. I believe it's fun to make kid's books.
Do you know if giving attribution can be the illustrator/designer instead of vecteezy.com ?
You really need to go by the licensing information from whatever image website you get your pictures from. They will tell you exactly what they expect as far as attribution and you need to follow that to a T.
Great video. You make the topic fun. Please do cookbooks next. Thank you.
Ooo, I think I’ll definitely be up for it.
Hi Dale. I have another question: If I create a PDF and upload it to KDP, will the paperback print in color?
If you choose the color option for print, you'll be good.
Thanks. I've tried to print before with color elements (emojis) and my research revealed that PDFs don't print in color on KDP 🤷🏾♀️
Question... re: KDF Select for children's picture books... Does it even make sense, since the pay is based on number of pages? Most children's books contain very few pages compared to a novel. It seems to me that a 24 page picture book will only pay a few cents each time the entire book is read. So, doesn't it make sense not to opt for KDF Select? Or am I missing something? Thank you for your time & help :-)
Also, have you shared the square template for PowerPoint?
Yes, you are missing something. I cover KDP Select in a video here: th-cam.com/video/UqazSNIEgx8/w-d-xo.html
Short answer: You don't just get paid for pages read. You get two different promotional opportunities (free promo and countdown deals) and any time someone checks out your in Kindle Unlimited, Amazon registers it like a sale that influences your Amazon Bestseller Rank (ABSR). Again, watch that video and you'll get more clear on it and make informed decision. KDP Select is not for everybody.
No, BUT stay tuned to this channel. My assistant and I will be releasing ALL 32 templates for FREE. Yep, I'm insane. haha
Do you have a template for the 8.25x8.25?
Yes. It's in bleed and no bleed. Details are at diy-publishing.thinkific.com/courses/no-content-book-templates.
@@DaleLRoberts Thank you so much Dale. You are great
Thanks for watching and commenting.
Dale, I got my proof copies from KDP and I realized that they added 3 blank pages to the end of my book. I asked KDP about it and they say that because of the nature of print on demand it’s common to have additional pages. I asked them if I add couple more pages will it help but the answer from them is no. Did you run into this problem? Number of pages I had was 29 and I was thinking that I can add 2 more pages at the end and have only one blank page. Any thoughts?
Why worry about it? I don’t think your reader will care.
@@DaleLRoberts thanks Dale
It’s my pleasure. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I miiiisssed iiittt!!!😢😭😭😭
Oh, noooooo 😩 But! I’m glad you caught the replay 😀👏👍
I have my book in word doc as Kdp suggest to upload children’s book. But when I upload it to kdp the text isn’t on the illustrations anymore. It’s under the pictures or on another page altogether. But never on the illustrations. Do you know what the issue is?
I'd recommend formatting it with Kindle Kid's Book Creator. I have a full video about it here:
th-cam.com/video/BU0XtzC_RQU/w-d-xo.html
Nyikki, maybe your fonts are not embedded in the file you sent to KDP? I was thinking this at first, but then I read that your text appears somewhere else in the product! That sounds like a KDP problem.
When sending something with fonts to someone else, there can be problems with whether or not their programs recognize (can read) the fonts, so the fonts have to be "embedded" in the file (Google search how to embed in Word). Again, that might not be the problem here.
Another option is to make the text a part of the image itself, and there are lots of ways to do that in imaging programs. My favorite workaround is to finish the image in GIMP (a free, reputable program), although there's a learning curve with it if new to imaging software. I then export from GIMP to .jpg, and convert the .jpg to .pdf with one of many free online conversion tools.
The Kindle Book Creator looks nice but only applies to Kindle ebooks, which may be all you need. Good luck!
Jacki Price-Linnartz thanks for chiming in. Kudos! 😀👍👏
@@jackiprice hello :) why not export as a pdf in Gimp?
@@GrowingHomeGardening oh idk - my reply was from 2 years ago, and the tools are constantly changing and improving, and I haven't wrestled with KDP since. If you can export to PDF from GIMP and have enough control of the output to meet current KDP specifications, that saves a step!
Make an audio book animals and the sounds meow for cat great for kindergartens
Innovative. 😀👍
Just got the $40/month plan from vexels...paid for a whole year. ❤ Can't wait to work with you more in Q1 when your less busy.
Wow! The Business Plan is next level! You can order 7 designs per month. Take advantage of that! At 7 designs per month, you’re looking at $5.71 per custom design.
Wow! And that doesn’t include the 2,000 downloads per month. Im excited for you. Get on those custom designs. That’ll be a game changer for you.
@@DaleLRoberts Can you please reconfirm does Pro License is enough for KDP considering its a POD platform or do we need to get MERCH plan for kdp since that plan covers both POD and exclusively MERCH
Another Big point that most of us overlook often that is - in Merch Plan it is written that "• Graphics can be used as main image
" as a feature. So if Pro plan allows us to use images for KDP then can we use images as main image or as it is for KDP?
Last but not least, if Pro is enough for KDP then can you manage especial discount offers for your audience?
Contact Vexels’ support for clarification.
#new
Welcome! Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Stay tuned for more!
New
To you?
Your template is not available. I subscribed and said it will be sent shorty but nothing arrived.
Double check your spam folder. If it’s not there, drop me a direct email:
Dale at Self Publishing with Dale dot com
@@DaleLRoberts Nothing in the spam folder. Emailed and waiting.
Nishi Singh okay, I’ll look into it once I get at my desk today.
$13 a month Merch plan looks inviting. 👌
Yeah, I’ll admit the pro plan is nice, but it’s restrictive. The merch plan is much nicer. And, you can only order one design per month, whereas you get 2 with merch.
Anyone else confused 😐?
What do you need help in understanding?