This class has been instrumental in my journey towards self-publishing seven Christian children's books. I knew nothing about the subject and having Romney walk us through every step of the way made all the difference!

I didn't have a large budget to invest in this project, especially with it being a seven-book -series. I wanted the art in my books to look a certain way and I tried to find an artist on Fiverr that would match the aesthetic, but the budget of $10-15 per page artist looked like clipart. I should have tried other websites like Upward, but In the end, I decided that I would illustrate the books myself. So, I paused this class, took a month's break, and watched 3 or 4 other Skillshare classes that taught me how to draw kids' books dealing with subjects such as character creation and page flow, composition, drawing emotion, and color theory. I also had to figure out how to use Procreate on my iPad and how to format the files etc. This was the hardest part of the whole process and took the longest. So having a bigger budget or doing just one book with a professional artist would have been easier. But I grew as an artist so there's that benefit.

I also downloaded Grammarly to edit, but didn't do the premium option. I hired an editor on Fiverr to help me fix the story mistakes for about $50 (this was a very good call). Once the stories were ready and I had the sketches done, I formatted everything on Canva as we were instructed here. I gave them to a friend to read and the main feedback I received was that there was not enough color, too much white. I did intentionally like the white but she's a kindergarten teacher, so I thought it best to listen to that advice. In hindsight, it would have been better had I followed Romney's format with one page with words and the other with the drawing instead of integrating the words with the drawings because it's less drawing and is effective. One feedback I do have about this class, the format of describing what each drawing would look like for the artist was very difficult for me. One of the classes I saw here, provided a sheet with small mock-ups of all the pages in the book and then we could draw tiny little drawings to get a visual-- all in a sheet of paper. So drawing stick figures and shapes to convey the idea of what each drawing should look like was more helpful to me and much faster.

I was finally able to load my books into KDP. I uploaded all 7 at once--which KDP only lets you do about 3 a day. I requested proofs of all seven and Romeny is right, it is a great feeling to see them for the first time as printed books. However, later I ran into an issue where only the 7th book passed the KDP formatting inspection. I found that strange because all 7 books were made from the same template. I think it was an issue with the bleed and images naturally not going to the edge of the book. I just adjusted the images and moved them around on Canva.

Today all 7 books are approved to Launch on May 11! Thank God! Now I need to advertise I pray it all goes well. My books are far from perfect and there is still a lot to learn, but in the end, I was able to create great books that will make a difference in young children's lives. Thank you, Romney!

What I would do, differently:

1. I would download the KDP Spy software to help with category selection and research.

2. Look for illustrators on another platform aside from Fiverr.

3. Focus on one book at a time

4. Get Grammarly Premium

5. Test run the colors, and print them out to see how they come out

6. Get more eyes on the story early in the process

Okay so here is the description of my book series:

Join Honey and Bea, two preschool best friends, as they embark on a journey filled with adventure and valuable life lessons. This Christian heartwarming series follows the two girls as they navigate their way through childhood, guided by the wisdom of their loving parents.

With Honey's inquisitive nature and Bea's gentle spirit, these two characters will capture your child’s heart and inspire them to ask questions about their faith. Follow along as they learn about Christian values such as kindness, forgiveness, and prayer, and see how these lessons shape their friendship and their view of the world.

This is the type of clipart style I was getting for $10, looking back at it, is not too terrible--just the eyes were a bit much:

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 1 - student project

I don' why they added a forest or a tree house.

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 2 - student project

This is my sketch process, I wish the colors were stronger:

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 3 - student project

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 4 - student project

Logo, I also sourced it on Fiverr:

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 5 - student project

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 6 - student project

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 7 - student project

A page from book 3

My Journey to Create A Children's Book Series this Past Year - image 8 - student project

Thank you for reading. The Honey & Bea series is available on Amazon :)

Mayelin Nolasco

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