Tag: picture book

Is There a Market for LDS Spanish Language Picture Books?

Hello, I have some questions that you may be able to answer. I am a graphic designer and I write books for children. I live in [South America].

I have produced the gospel “translated” for them with short texts and nice drawings. So far I have finished the fourth book but I have more than 60 in mind.
I was wondering if I could show you the things I have done, (I write, draw, diagram and desing the whole book). If it is not you whom I should contact, would you please tell me who is that I can write to?

Do I have any possibilities to do this with a book publisher in the US from here?

First, no you can’t send samples of your work to me. I keep a strict divide between my anonymous blogging self and my day-job publishing self. If someone sends a manuscript to “LDS Publisher” I delete it without reading it. Sorry, but this is one of the conditions I have with my boss.

Second, yes, there is a market here in the United States for Spanish-language books that teach gospel principles to children. The fact that you live outside the U.S. shouldn’t be a problem. What is a problem is that children’s books don’t sell as well as books for adults, and picture books are more expensive to publish. (See more on this HERE.)

Also, some publishers may allow you to illustrate and design your books but most will want to do that in-house, having you provide the text only.

What you need to do is send a query to the various LDS publishers to see if they are interested. Here is a list of LDS publishers in the U.S. I’m not sure how up to date it is, so you’ll need to go to the various websites and carefully read their submission guidelines. The big ones to contact are, of course, Deseret Book, Covenant and Cedar Fort.

Children’s Picture Books

Thanks for taking the time to write your blog.  I’m just getting my feet wet in the publishing world, and you have given me a place to start.  I have written a children’s picture book.  I’ve been rejected by three publishers so far, and searched dozens of other LDS publishers who are not accepting submissions in this genre.  Would you please direct me?  I don’t know what to do next.

The difficulty with picture books is they cost more to produce and yet the expected sales are lower than books for adults.

Extra costs for a picture book include the cost of illustrations, which can run in the thousands of dollars if they hire a really good illustrator, plus the cost of full color printing, which can be double or more than a book with no color on the pages.

In order for a publisher to justify the risk, you’re going to have to have a pretty awesome story line or be an established author with a large following to guarantee sales.

What you need to look for is a publisher who specializes in picture books. I don’t know if your content is specifically LDS, but if it isn’t, or if it can be changed to reflect general Christian ideas, you might want to try a Christian publisher. (Google “Christian Picture Book Publisher).

I’m not sure what to advise your for specific LDS content… Readers? Ideas?