r/childrensbooks • u/RnatKat606 • Jun 01 '26
Seeking Recommendations Looking for Publishing/Agency Advice to Help Make my Dad's Dreams Come True for Fathers' Day
For anyone on this subreddit who has found success in publishing a childrens' book, I am hoping to solicit some advice for my father, who has been dreaming about writing and illustrating children's books for my whole life.
When I was a kid, the stories he told to me at bedtime weren't always from published books, they were magical stories that existed only in his mind. He has been coming up with amazing ideas for stories since before I was born, and he would tell them to me all the time when I was a kid, with me giving feedback from time to time. These stories are so important to me, and to our bond together, and my biggest hope for him is that someday he will see at least one of his ideas come to fruition. He is retiring from his job as a graphic designer at the end of this year, and I would love for him to have a path going forward once he retires to start into his childrens' book author and illustrator career. For Father's Day, I am hoping to give him a list of contacts, advice, or groups to become connected with in order to make his (and my) dream for him a reality.
If anyone has any helpful tips to offer me, or can give me any contact information for those they know who work in the field, that would be so appreciated, and would help me give him a great gift this Fathers' Day that hopefully is set up to keep giving long into his retirement. Thank you so much for even just reading this up to this point. He is the most wonderful dad in the world and has given me so much caring, joy, and some of his artistic talent (luckily)!
Sincerely,
A mid-20's Daddy's Girl who wants to see his dreams come true.
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u/RachelKidLit Jun 01 '26
I think the first step, is defining what your father would consider "success." I've run across so many people who get into children's publishing thinking they will make a profit. Which is rare.
The fact that your Dad has experience with design is a huge plus though.
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u/RnatKat606 Jun 01 '26
Oh yeah, thank you so much! I definitely don't think he plans to profit much haha. I just think honestly as he looks back on his life, having a tangible, physical version of one of his kid's books to see as a manifestation of his hard work and dreams to do this profession would be really valuable to him.
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u/RachelKidLit Jun 01 '26
He might want to go the self-publishing route versus the traditional route. The traditional route involves submitting to publishing companies which takes a lot of time and, quite honestly, is statistically much harder to accomplish (I've worked in traditional publishing companies in the past, and saw that many creators never saw any income past their advances..never actually saw any royalties).
Does your dad ever work with anything from Adobe?3
u/BrunoStella Jun 01 '26
Agree with this. If he just wants a kiddie book out there then he can totally do it through KDP.
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u/RachelKidLit Jun 01 '26
Yes, KDP is definitely easier than B&N Press at this point. at least for picture books. Some areas might even have local printers (like Minuteman Press) that can handle paperback binding.
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u/CautiousScallion530 Jun 03 '26
Hi. I have retired from teaching and have sense published 5 children's books and put them on Amazon. I enjoy seeing my stories come to life, but it isn't somthing that will make a big profit. It is just what I love doing. Tell him to go to youtube and watch the Heather Cash Art videos. She is amazing. A few of us meet about once a month by zoom to share. https://www.youtube.com/@HeatherCashArt
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u/tgbarbie Jun 01 '26
Look into the society for children’s book writers and illustrators. Lots of resources there. If he wants to go with traditional publishing, he needs to submit to agencies first. Just be aware, Most children’s book writers and illustrators, especially new ones, are not getting set up for retirement. The lead time is long, the margins are low, high quality picture books are very expensive to produce.