How to Start a Children’s Book Business

Children’s books businesses publish children’s books, bringing illustrated stories to print. For businesses that have captivating books, the industry offers plenty of opportunity. The children’s book market is expected to keep growing, with current revenues at roughly $11 billion.

Additionally, business owners who start this type of business are in good company. Not only do many people have successful children’s book businesses today, but one of the most successful children’s authors in modern history began by self-publishing her work. Beatrix Potter funded the first runs of both Peter Rabbit and The Tailor of Gloucester. The two stories are popular even to this day.

You may also be interested in additional home business ideas.

Ready to turn your business idea into a reality? Tailor Brands is our top recommendation because it guides you through every step of the formation process with hands-on support — from paperwork and compliance to devising a detailed plan to help you achieve your business goals.

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Start a children’s book business by following these 10 steps:

  1. Plan your Children’s Book Business
  2. Form your Children’s Book Business into a Legal Entity
  3. Register your Children’s Book Business for Taxes
  4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
  5. Set up Accounting for your Children’s Book Business
  6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Children’s Book Business
  7. Get Children’s Book Business Insurance
  8. Define your Children’s Book Business Brand
  9. Create your Children’s Book Business Website
  10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your children’s book business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Children’s Book Business Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

  • Your state’s business records
  • Federal and state trademark records
  • Social media platforms
  • Web domain availability

It’s very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

What are the costs involved in opening a children’s book business?

The costs involved with publishing a children’s book are significant yet manageable. According to Lee Johnson, business owners on a budget can go from a story to having 3,000 copies of a finished book for $5,400. Hiring a more skilled illustrator or incorporating more edits may bring that total up to $8,000 or $10,000.

Ron Pramschufer of Self Publishing, Inc. breaks down the costs a little more:

  • Illustrations often cost $2,200 for a 24-page book and $2,700 for a 3-page book
  • Text editing costs between $500 and $1,000
  • Text and artwork editing costs between $3,000 and $4,000
  • Designing the layout costs between $1,000 and $1,500
  • Printing 3,000 copies with offset printing costs $1.43 per copy ($4,290 total)

Of these, illustration costs can vary the most. Some illustrators may charge anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, or even more. Higher-priced illustrators may include layout designing in their services.

Any of these steps that business owners can do themselves greatly reduces the total cost of publishing a children’s book. For this reason, many business owners do their own illustrations and layout design. They may also rely on school teachers or librarians, who are familiar with curriculum requirements and grade reading levels, for assistance with certain steps.

Business owners should only do these steps if they’re truly capable of producing professional quality work. Sacrificing the quality of a book’s text, illustrations or layout will greatly hinder sales in the future.

Additionally, business owners should avoid using digital printing. This printing method may be fine for test runs, but offset printing should be used when a book is printed to be sold. At volume, offset printing costs a fraction of what digital printing does.

What are the ongoing expenses for a children’s book business?

After a book is published, the ongoing expenses associated with the title include any marketing costs and storage costs. Of course, businesses must also fund the publication of additional titles.

Who is the target market?

Counterintuitively, kids are not the target market for children’s books. Instead, it’s parents, schools, and libraries — as they’re who actually purchase books. Children’s author Kate Klise says that schools and libraries are especially profitable customers as they purchase in bulk.

How does a children’s book business make money?

A children’s book business makes money by selling copies of books. Books may be sold individually at retail prices or in bulk at wholesale prices.

How much can you charge customers?

The School Library Journal reports that children’s books usually retail for between $6.49 and $17.85 per copy. Hardcovers command the highest prices, with mass-market paperbacks getting the lowest prices. Trade paperbacks are in the middle.

How much profit can a children’s book business make?

With a successful title, a children’s book business can bring in six-figure revenues. For example, Augie and the Green Knight raised $384,410 on Kickstarter before publication.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Business owners have multiple ways to earn additional revenue. Selling ebooks is becoming increasingly common. Alternatively, business owners can speak at schools and businesses, and offer teaching workshops to other aspiring business owners.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC’s free Small Business Startup Guide – a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

One crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked when starting your children’s book business is the importance of establishing a solid business foundation. While sole proprietorships and partnerships are the most common entity types for small businesses, they’re a far less stable and advantageous option than LLCs.

This is because unincorporated business structures (i.e., sole proprietorships and partnerships) expose you as an owner to personal liability for your business’s debts and legal actions, while LLCs protect you by keeping your personal assets separate from your business’s liabilities.

In practice, this means that if your children’s book business were to face a lawsuit or incur any debts, your savings, home, and other personal assets could not be used to cover these costs. On top of this, forming your business as an LLC also helps it to appear more legitimate and trustworthy.

Ready to Turn Your Business Idea Into a Reality?

Tailor Brands is our top recommendation because it guides you through every step of the formation process with hands-on support — from paperwork and compliance to devising a detailed plan to help you achieve your business goals.

FORM YOUR LLC

Note: If you’re interested in more information before getting started, we recommend having a look at our state-specific How to Start an LLC guide (DIY) or our in-depth Best LLC Services review (for those opting for a professional service).

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It’s really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website. If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

  • Separates your personal assets from your company’s assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
  • Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a children’s book business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation Coverage.

Find out what types of insurance your Children’s Book Business needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Children’s Book Business.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a children’s book business

The best way to promote a children’s book is by getting reviews and awards. Reviews can send a book to the top of a best-seller list and give a book authenticity. Winning awards (especially the Newbury or Caldecott) and being mentioned on recommended reading lists will help increase school and library sales.

How to keep customers coming back

To keep customers purchasing books, businesses need to consistently publish children’s books that engage kids and that adults don’t mind reading multiple times. Books that appease both kids and adults will have grown-ups coming back for more titles.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

  • All legitimate businesses have websites – full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
  • Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
  • Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.

Other popular website builders are: WordPressWIXWeeblySquarespace, and Shopify.

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2024 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it’s fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

Most people who start a children’s book business have either already written or plan to write their own children’s book(s). Some business owners first try to publish their stories through traditional publishers, and others go directly into self-publishing.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a children’s book business?

Publishing a children’s book involves several distinct phases:

  1. Writing the story
  2. Creating illustrations to accompany the story
  3. Designing the book’s layout
  4. Printing the book
  5. Marketing and selling the printed book

Printing is usually outsourced to a company that has specialized equipment for printing runs of books. The other steps may be done by the business owner or outsourced to professionals. (Writing is almost always done by the business owner at first.)

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful children’s book business?

Most business owners that get into children’s publishing already know how to write books for kids. Those that don’t have writing experience can learn by taking classes at a local community college or online. Institute for Writers and Gotham Writers both offer online courses. There are also universities that offer M.F.A. programs in children’s writing.

In addition to knowing how to write, business owners also need to know how to produce and sell children’s books. The best resource for this information is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, which has online resources, local chapters and annual events available to associate members. (Self-published and aspiring children’s authors can sign up as associate members.)

Two other resources that discuss the business side of children’s publishing are a book titled The Business of Writing for Children and a class called The Craft & Business of Writing Children’s Picture Books.

What is the growth potential for a children’s book business?

A children’s book business may be a small operation that has just a few titles, or it can grow into a major publishing house that has many works in print. Oliver the Clownfish is an example of a small business that has three titles. Scholastic, Inc. is one of the largest children’s-specific publishing houses. The company puts out more than 750 new titles annually.

Not sure if a children’s book business is right for you? Try our free Business Idea Generator and find your perfect idea.

Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

  • Funding
  • Events
  • Guides
  • Support

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a children’s book business?

To help with startup costs and see whether there’s a demand for a particular book, business owners can crowdfund the printing of a book. Many children’s books have successfully been funded through Kickstarter and other platforms. Some of the most successful titles on Kickstarter have been Augie and the Green KnightScience Wide OpenThe Mines of Light and My First Science Textbook.

How and when to build a team

Many children’s book businesses are run by a single person or a small team. Once a business grows, most business owners outsource the work they can’t do rather than hire lots of employees.

Useful Links

Industry Opportunities

Real World Examples

Further Reading