5 Ways to Market a Children's Book Online, from Scott Harpole

Guest Post by Scott Harpole

Here's the thing. I am in the process of learning how to market a children's book online! Hopefully I will arrive at some point and be able to say that I figured most of it out. At this time, I just have a few bumps and bruises and a couple of successes that I think might be helpful to someone else

#1 Belief! 

I truly believe that my children's bedtime story, Sleepy Beach, is the best story on the planet. The illustrations are incredible (I didn't create those!) and the story's concept is amazing. I am not saying that to be self-serving (not that I mind entirely!) but to illustrate the most important point. If you don't believe in your story, then don't expect anyone else to.

How can you ask for reviews, submit info to blogs, pay for ads, etc. if you really don't think that much of your story? I know that creatives, like you and I, can get bogged down in making the story perfect. I'm not trying to get you to perfectionize (yes, I made that up) your story, but you must have a powerful belief that your story is worth buying, buy the time you are finished with it.

#2 Set A Goal. 

This one thing I did and I only did this one thing. I researched all of the Bedtime and Dreaming books in that section of the Amazon children's' books and realized that if I could get 100 positive reviews then my book could be ranked in the top 10 of that section and possible in the top 100 of the next section up, the Literature section. 

So for about 40 days or so, I did everything in my power to get those 100 reviews.

I texted everyone on my phone, I reached out to everyone on Facebook I reached to everyone I knew on Twitter and 100's of people I did not know. I refused to start any other part of the process until I at least reached that goal of 100.

#3 Ask If You Can Ask. 

There is a wonderful method to getting people to help. I've learned this the wrong way in a different business, by just shooting out a massive amount of emails and assuming that people will respond. They don't. 

Here's the exact wording I used with people that knew me: 

"I don't know if you've heard about it, but I have a new children's bedtime story called Sleepy Beach. I am trying to get 100 Amazon reviews. Can I send you a free copy of the ebook in exchange for a review?" 

Here's what I sent to people that didn't know me: 

"Hey, I'm a Dad with a new children's bedtime story and I'm trying to get 100 Amazon reviews. Can I send you a free copy in exchange for a review?" 

These were individual messages and text. The general kind of message or posting doesn't work.

I actually asked over 2,000 people for reviews and I got about 120 reviews from them. 

A large amount of people told them that they would and either forgot or couldn't figure it out. It may have been a bad sign when an elderly lady from church asked me "What is the Amazon Review?", in response to my Facebook message. I also had 10 of my 5 star reviews removed by Amazon! Evidently, if anyone states that they are your friend or if they know you, (in the review) then Amazon may remove that review. I fought with them about this, only via email of course, but to no avail.

Since my book has been exposed to a wider audience, that doesn't know me, I have recently gotten some bad reviews. My first 1 and 2 star reviews were given because the book opened backwards on their Kindle. Again, Amazon refused to remove those reviews. My favorite bad review literally says "I love children's books. This is not a well written book. I will not be reading it to the children in my life. I would recommend that the author think about editing it to make it a true story." Ha! I laughed so hard when I read that. I kind of feel like I have really arrived, when I see a review like that one.

#4 Paying For Ads Can Be Worth It: 

I've carefully read and re-read Let's Get Digital and Let's Get Visible by David Gaughran. He's a master at this and I have a ton to learn from him about marketing a book. He encourages his readers to use Book Bub and I followed that advice. It took quite awhile before I was ready, but I paid them $60 to let the world know when my book would be free. Amazon allows you to have 5 days that are free when you sign up with Kindle Direct Publishing. My first day, I had over 11,000 free downloads and a total of nearly 15,000 by the time the 5 days were finished. I can definitely say that it was worth the exposure and blogs (like this great one!) picked up on the special and helped spread the news.

My plan is to get lots of people to sample the ebook and then buy the actually book. Hopefully.

#5 Selling The Book Myself Is The Best Choice: 

I have come to realize the truth that I can undersell Amazon (don't tell them) and still make more money. They take 55% of the profits of my sales. That's crazy, I know. But I have used the notoriety and the positive reviews to get the attention of people. So I can sell my book for $10, and personally sign it, and make more dollars than if it is purchased on Amazon for $15. I do have a few of those here and ready to ship, if you'd like one!

I am still in the pursuit of finding out how to get my book in front of millions of the right kinds of eyeballs. I'd love to hear your ideas. Send me a note at scott (at) mydadsbedtimestories (dot) com.

Sweet Dreams!
Scott Harpole
My Dad's Bedtime Stories

Children's eBook Review: Sleepy Beach by Scott Harpole

Illustrations: 5.0 Stars
Cover: 5.0 Stars
Storyline: 5.0 Stars
Total: 5.0 Stars

My Review:
On the surface, Sleepy Beach is a simple account of a family playing on a beach. But as you look closely, you see that the illustrations reveal a "giant's" face. Look even closer and you discover that this book is a parent putting their son to sleep by stroking his head and face to follow the tale.

Storyline: So clever! I've never read anything like it. I love the multi-layered story, and can see this becoming a nightly tradition with my youngest. 5 stars.

Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated! And the illustrations reveal their own story as you see parts of a giant human face as the island, water and woods. 5 stars.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Reviewer Valerie Harmon: How did you come up with the idea of a beach/human head?
Author Scott Harpole: My mom told me stories about a racecar, while she put me to sleep, and she told the story on my head as she told it.

You can find the whole background story here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQcwiTxFkS8

VH: How did you connect with your illustrator?SH: I struggled mightily to find an illustrator. I played around with E-Lance and other web based listings of illustrators, but I knew that I had to have someone amazingly different. One day I just typed in my city name, Terre Haute, and the word Illustrator into Google. A lady's name popped up, without a phone number of course! I traced her down and called her. She has since moved away but I honestly believe that her months of hard work are worth an award. I've actually submitted Sleepy Beach to the Caldecott Award folks and other various award chairs just this week!

VH: Why do you write?
SH: I don't write! I tell. All the time, to random people and everyone in a buckshot blast of my voice! I recently told a lady, at a small group setting, that I'm in all the major children's movies! She really believed me and asked which ones! I told her to watch the movie Up, really closely. When the old guy is in his house and looking at his wife's photographs on the bookcase, you can see for just a flash of a second that there is a reflection of my book Sleepy Beach that is also on his bookcase and it's open to the last pages and you can just barely see my face. It's hard to see, so you have to look really close! I do that all the time, so much that finally, finally after years, my family encouraged me to get some of my crazy and wonderful stories out to the world. Voila ~ Sleepy Beach!

VH: What advice do you have for authors who'd like to write children's books?
SH: My chief advice for authors is...the barricades you are facing are mainly in your mind. For decades I believed that my stories would only be things that would be told my children, since I don't know how to...(and the list is quite long), draw pictures, make a book, publish, format, have the money, and on and on. My wife helped me see that I could just start by recording my stories and giving away audio versions. That is the next key. You have to start. You can't really steer a parked vehicle. Do what you can, with what you have, right now.


VH: What would you tell children who read your book?SH: I tell children that read my book that I am so happy that they enjoy it, and that I want them to have peaceful dreams, and that I hope Sleepy Beach makes them smile and then fall over dead asleep! I also make sure that children understand that they should not operate heavy machinery after they have read my book. Most of the time, they just seriously reassure me that they won't!

VH: Do you have any funny stories of how you got to where you are?
SH: I have so many funny stories, about how I got to where I am, and some of them are true! When I showed up at the illustrator's house after calling her and arranging a meeting (remember I just found her on the internet), I brought along one of my young sons. It turns out that it was a good idea, because she told me later that she had Mace in her pocket!

VH: What are three favorite books?
SH: Three of my favorite books are: The Bible, Streiker's Bride, and Where the Sidewalk Ends...plus a hundred more.

VH: What are three favorite children's books?
SH: My three favorite children's books are:

VH: Who influences your writing?
SH: My influencers are: my Italian family and the way we still tell stories to and about each other and Shel Silverstein (I cannot read his stuff and not be inspired)!

Parents can do a lot of things with this story - ask kids to find the dog, ask them to find the parts of the child's face, listen to the peaceful piano music that I wrote and played (it's on the CD that comes with the book), and have them point out the stars and the moon on several pages.  

Want more of author Scott Harpole? Check out more of his stories here, He also has a special offer: I have a few paperback books of Sleepy Beach left in this shipment, so for a limited time I'm offering signed and personalized copies of Sleepy Beach with a CD for $10 (plus shipping). Just send your order and info to Scott Harpole at:  scott (at) mydadsbedtimestories (dot) com.


~Reviewed by Valerie Harmon