As a seasoned, successful graphic designer who now specializes in book design, "How to Format a Children's Book for Self-Publishing," author Becky Bayne knows more than a few things about helping others navigate and understand a complicated design process. Describing the task from start to finish and with tons of visual clarity, "How to Format a Children's Books for Self-Publishing" offers help for anyone who wants to self-publish a successful children's book. "How to Format a Children's Book"... is thoughtfully designed and thorough, taking the author on a guided journey with visuals, videos, and color coded text prompts to explain why and how to access online resources to publish their book. Each chapter is practical and encouraging, something authors new to the self-publish landscape need. The final chapter is a checklist, another help in getting the job done. The book finishes with a glossary that defines and explains important terms. There is something for everyone to learn in "How to Format a Children's Books for Self-Publishing," and should be required reading for self-published authors everywhere.

I was looking for a step-by-step guide to tell me how to format and upload my book to KDP in 2025. So much has changed over the years, and self-publishing has become fraught with self-proclaimed "experts." But Becky Bayne is the real deal—her book not only draws on her 40 years of experience in design but also shares insight that's relevant TODAY in content creation. 5/5, I learned a ton, including stuff I didn't know I didn't know. Looking forward to the next title in this series from Becky!

How to Format a Children’s Book for Self-Publishing should be required reading for anyone considering self-publishing ANY book, not just children’s books. Becky Bayne and Kayla Snyder have written a clear, concise, and easy to read primer on what is involved in publishing a book. Richly illustrated children’s books require special attention to developing the custom artwork, but the design and printing issues are relevant to any book. Bayne and Snyder teach readers three important lessons: the special vocabulary in book design and publishing, the process involved in getting a book to the finish line, and potential traps and pitfalls. Vocabulary: PODs are not just social units of marine mammals, gutters are more than what collects rain off your roof, and a full bleed is not the result of a horrible accident. Publishing has its own language and this book provides newcomers an excellent overview of the technical terms in describing the parts of a book and preparing a manuscript for publication. Process: As professional designers, the authors have assisted others in publishing many books of all genres - scientific studies, photo collections, how to books, and novels. The advice they offer for an effective sequence in preparing a book for publication will save first-time authors time and frustration. The roadmap Bayne lays out for the orderly design of a book is logical and clearly presented. Snyder’s section on the steps involved in developing artwork to accompany a story was very interesting to someone like me – the non-artist. Potential Pitfalls: The book is rich in practical pointers that will save new authors time, money, and headaches. For example, getting your ISBN and LCCN numbers, how to layout illustrations so colors properly go to the edge of the page, and how to navigate the Amazon KDP ecosystem. I found their discussion of the serious pitfalls in using AI (artificial intelligence) artwork and narrative very interesting and extremely important. The book is handsomely produced with color coding to help the reader understand why a word or phrase is important. Snuffles the dragon who appears throughout the book was an excellent heuristic in teaching readers the many complexities of develop graphics to accompany the written word. The advent of POD – print on demand – has opened up the publishing world for authors whose books have an important story to tell but will never sell large numbers of copies. For someone considering going down the POD self-publishing path, this short book is an excellent resource to initiate the journey.