Kids’ Books Prove To Be More Than Child’s Play

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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Greetings, friends, listeners, community. This is Chris Guillebeau, your host of "Saddestle School." For every single day, I'm telling you a different story of somebody who creates a little bit more freedom for themselves through the form of an income-generating project. They do this without quitting their day job, usually by using a skill they already have. Oh, and also they usually do so without spending a lot of money. I make this short program seven days a week to shine a spotlight on all the different opportunities and possibilities that are available for you.

So if you're out there and you're like, "Well, I never thought about being an entrepreneur," well, guess what? You don't have to be an entrepreneur. But there is something you can do to make extra money, which again, will open up more options, possibility, and freedom for you. Now, in today's story, when an uncle responds to a family tragedy by creating a children's book, he weaves a story that's inspiring for both kids and adults. He goes on to write and self-publish a whole series of kids' books, offering them for sale online, as well as at arts fairs and comic cons.

Along the way, he learns a creative approach for coming up with the best possible topics for his books. And once he does, he sees a big increase in his monthly sales volume. So we'll talk about that, as well as the pros and cons of self-publishing, specifically related to this project, and how he's able to make a significant amount of money by selling a relatively small number of books. I'll talk about that at the end, so be sure to stick around. This episode is called "Kids' Books Prove to Be More Than a Child's Play." The story is coming up in just 30 seconds.

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David Howard had a difficult life growing up. At a young age, he was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADD, and Asperger syndrome. It was a cocktail of complexes that made conventional learning difficult. Most of his schooling consisted of attending special education classes. The supportive environment helped, but not enough, and David remained illiterate until junior high.

As a result, he was sometimes bullied by other kids and felt alone, ostracized, and scared. During that time, he found an escape in the form of art and creative writing. By combining words with images, he crafted stories and built his own worlds, worlds where no one could bully or hurt him. To some extent, it worked. David made it through high school and says now that all those experiences, both positive and negative, shaped him.

After high school, he attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating with an associate's degree in visual communications. While he wanted to find a job that would allow his creativity to shine, he didn't have much luck. So eventually, David began working a full-time job packing orders in a warehouse, but he still loved engaging in a storytelling art form. Fast forward a few years, and David received some exciting news. His niece was pregnant, and the family celebrated with a baby shower.

David wanted to give her a memorable gift. He thought of a poem he'd written about a dog some years earlier. He thought he could expand that poem to create a children's storybook. He spent some time illustrating and flushing out the story and then presented it to his niece. It wasn't instant hit with all the guests.

On top of that, it was the first time he had ever received direct praise for his work, and he liked that feeling. Unfortunately, a few months later, David's family was hit with a tragedy. That child passed away shortly after being born, dying of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. As a way of coping with the loss, David decided to rework the book he gifted and dedicate the finished product to his great niece. The book was titled "Lady's Day to Play," and David published several copies through Lulu.

He donated a portion of the sales to SIDS research. The process was cathartic, and he vowed to continue writing and illustrating. As time went on, he wrote more and more stories, turning them into books. He continued to sell them to family and friends, but it wasn't until over a year later that he managed to sell to what he considered real customers, that is, people who weren't inside his direct network. That first flutter of outside sales was promising, but what would he do next?

Well, this chapter of his story went on for a couple more years, and not without difficulty. Although he'd only spent $100 to get his first book published and his ongoing costs were low, he still wasn't able to sell enough to break even, let alone profit. It was time to take out the bookmark and get serious about his craft. The first thing he did was move his publishing process to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, also known as KDP. It brought more simplicity to how the books were produced and made things a lot more streamlined.

Afterwards, he decided to launch a website to showcase some of his work. He called the site Uncle Dave's Books. Under that label, he produced several new titles, including Mouse in the House, Baby Ben Did It Again, and The Cloud That Couldn't Cry. The site helped improve sales, since it made it easier for repeat customers to order. David wanted to get the word out to bring in new customers as well.

So to do that, he began exhibiting at craft shows, arts festivals, and comic cons. The in-person touch definitely worked to turn the page on his sales volume. What helped even more was changing his approach to how he created the stories in the first place. Many of his stories came from his life, past experiences, and ideas from family and friends. However, it was his ability to simply ask himself, what if questions about funny situations that helped David write his first two bestsellers nearly 10 years after he wrote his first story.

One of his hits was about a candy store that caught fire, called The Day the Chocolate Melted Away. That book and another new title got so much attention from people at the craft fairs and festivals that his sales started booming. Ever since those titles were published, he sold around 200 books per month and generates over $2,000 profit per month. The money is still just a bonus for David. What he enjoys most about the process is that his stories put smiles on children's faces.

With that amount of revenue, David now feels comfortable enough to take the next step. He'll soon be opening a brick and mortar store to sell his books in a physical location, because the story is far from over. [Music]

So before I sign off for the day, I wanna mention something, one major benefit of self-publishing. Now from the story, the last little bit there, it was David selling around 200 books per month and generating over $2,000 in profit each month. Now as an author, those numbers jumped out to me, because for me as an author, for every 200 books that I sell, I make about 500 to $600.

Okay, I don't make $2,000 for selling 200 books. And these are also business books that I write, which have a higher list price than the average kids book. The reason that's relevant is because royalties are based on the list price. So a children's book author would earn even less. Kids books are usually less expensive than adult business books.

So those authors, those traditionally published children's book authors, would potentially earn as little as a dollar a book. And David of course is earning about 10 times that. He's able to see those kinds of results, because instead of receiving a 7% to 14% royalty, the way that traditional authors do, he's paying something like, whatever it is, 10 to 15% in expenses, and then keeping the rest, which of course is much better, much better ratio. Now there are lots of reasons why traditional publishing is still a better fit for me and lots of other authors, but I just wanted to point that out. If you're thinking about self-publishing, or if you're not able to get into the role of traditional publishing, there are some benefits to doing it on your own.

I will leave you with that today. Whatever you're up to in the world, I hope you're doing something to get closer to a goal that you believe in. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1,099. That is 1-0-1-9. Come and check out Uncle Dave's books, Kindle Direct Publishing, and anything else I mentioned in the episode.

If you've got a comment or question for the show, give me a call on the Hustle hotline. That number is 8-4-4-9-Hustle, 8-4-4-9-4-8-7-8-5-3. We'll be back again tomorrow with another episode. Thank you so much for listening. My name is Chris Guillebeau.

This is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.