How Do I Self-Publish a Children's Book?

A picture book is a print-and-colour project before it is anything else. The steps are the usual ones, but three decisions dominate: illustration, a layout with the text placed on the art, and colour printing. On Amazon KDP a colour paperback needs 24 pages in premium colour, but 72 in the cheaper standard colour, and a hardcover needs at least 75 pages, at every hardcover trim size, which is longer than most picture books. That is why picture-book authors often use KDP for the paperback and look to IngramSpark for the hardcover, checking its page limits for their trim size first.

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The longer version

First, which kind of children's book?

• Picture books are short, illustrated on every spread, and read aloud to young children. Everything below is mostly about these.
• Early readers and chapter books have fewer illustrations and more text.
• Middle grade and young adult are novels. They publish like any other novel: follow the steps to self-publish a book and choose children's or teen categories.

1. Get the illustrations, with the rights

Illustration is the largest cost by far; see how much it costs to self-publish. Before an illustrator starts, agree in writing that the art can be used in every format and edition you plan, including ebook, paperback, hardcover and marketing, and whether you or the illustrator owns it. A deal that only covers "the book" can stop you making a hardcover later.

2. Lay out the pages

In a picture book the text sits on the artwork, so layout is design work, not formatting. Decide the trim size before illustration begins, because the art has to be drawn to it, with bleed for images that run to the edge of the page. Check the trim size is offered by every printer you plan to use.

3. Print in colour, at the right tier

On KDP a colour paperback needs 24 pages in premium colour, but 72 in the cheaper standard colour. A short picture book therefore has to use premium colour, the more expensive option, because it doesn't reach the minimum for standard colour. Order a printed proof: colour on paper rarely matches the screen.

4. Decide on a hardcover

Hardcovers are popular as gifts and often preferred by libraries. On KDP a hardcover needs at least 75 pages, at every hardcover trim size, and its colour option is premium colour only; standard colour isn't offered for hardcover. A typical picture book is too short.

IngramSpark offers hardcover in Premium and Ultra-Premium colour, both of which IngramSpark describes as ideal for children's books. Its distribution reaches over 40,000 bookstores, online stores, libraries, schools and ebook retailers, which matters for a genre where bookshops and libraries are a large part of the market. See KDP vs IngramSpark, and check the page-count limits for your trim size in IngramSpark's title setup before you commit.

5. Make the ebook, or don't

A picture-book ebook is a fixed layout: each page stays exactly as designed. Amazon's route is Kindle Create, which turns a PDF, PNG or JPEG into an illustrated kids' ebook but can't format text, so the text must already be on the artwork before you import it. Picture books are usually bought and read in print, so the ebook is worth making but doesn't need to come first.

6. Metadata and where to sell

Use the juvenile categories, which are separate from the adult ones; see which categories to choose. For exclusivity, KDP Select is usually a poor fit for children's books, for the reasons in should indie authors use KDP Select?

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Common exceptions

• Board books for babies need a different kind of printing. Check whether your print-on-demand service offers them before planning one; if not, it means an offset print run and stock you hold yourself.
• Hiring an illustrator through a "publishing package" bundles the rights question into a contract you didn't write. Read how to tell if a publisher is legitimate first.

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Related questions

• What are the steps to self-publish a book?
• KDP vs IngramSpark: what is the difference?
• What BISAC categories should I choose?
• How much does it cost to self-publish a book?

Sources

• Amazon KDP Help: Print Options (colour and hardcover page counts); Prepare Comic and Kids' eBooks with Kindle Create.
• IngramSpark, Print Book Options: Trim Sizes (hardcover colour tiers).

Platform figures are quoted from the AuthorAZ records for Amazon KDP and IngramSpark. Verified 15 October 2026.