{"id":2844,"date":"2022-08-11T07:08:16","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T07:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qinprinting.com\/blog\/?p=2844"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:21:24","slug":"how-to-get-childrens-book-printed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qinprinting.com\/blog\/how-to-get-childrens-book-printed\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Get a Children's Book Printed? An Introduction for Self-Publishers"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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We take a look at how to get your children’s book printed, bound, and ready for marketing and distribution<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photo by Ismail Salad Osman Hajji dirir<\/a> on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Self-publishing children’s books is one of the most rewarding\u200a\u2014\u200aand challenging\u200a\u2014\u200aoptions for an independent creative writer. It’s a tough market. But if you have the right skills, understanding, and sensibilities to capture a child’s imagination with great storytelling, a sense of fun, and well-crafted writing, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t find success.<\/span><\/p>

While many self-publishers choose print-on-demand book services (POD), for a children’s writer<\/a>, that’s not usually an option. Why? Because the automated online printers don’t have the range of materials, formats, and technical capabilities to produce high-quality children’s books. For example, PODs such as Amazon, IngramSpark, and others, only offer either trade paperback or very limited hardcover printing. And if you want anything other than a black-and-white interior\u200a\u2014\u200aand many children’s books are illustrated in full color on every page\u200a\u2014\u200athe costs become prohibitive with the limited digital technology they have at their disposal.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why choose offset printing for your children's book?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In short, you don’t really have any choice! For children’s books, you need a professional offset printing company who can customize your book at a cost-effective price point. But don’t worry, it’s a good choice as it will give you a product of excellence, personalized to your needs, and offer a very competitive price-per-unit return on your investment. We believe that even if in the future POD companies develop better services, higher-quality materials, and customized products\u200a\u2014\u200aso far, there are no signs that they will\u200a\u2014\u200aonce you’ve discovered the benefits of offset printing, you’ll never look back.<\/span><\/p>

We at QinPrinting\u200a\u2014\u200aobviously, we hope you’ll choose to work with us, but other offset printers are out there!\u200a\u2014\u200ahave been in the industry since 1997, so we have over 25 years’ experience to share with you. And besides having the very latest printing technology at out fingertips, a fantastic international reputation, consistently positive reviews, and a full range of materials, bindings, and finishing options, we remain an enthusiastic team who pride ourselves on real commitment to each customer as a valued individual.<\/span><\/p>

Putting together a children’s book is complex. Contrary to what some believe, writing well for children is much more challenging than writing well for adults. And the highly-visual and tactile nature of many children’s books means they command specific skills and attention to detail at the design and layout stages, too. Not to mention the beautiful, vibrant color tones and beautiful paper stocks that make your artwork pop off the page and that you can only get with “real” printing.<\/span><\/p>

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The three kinds of children's books<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The term “children’s books” covers a wide range of ages, styles, and content. But they can be broadly categorized into three kinds: “Pre-School\/toddler” books; “Early Reader” illustrated books; and “Middle Grade” (MG) chapter books. Let’s look at each in turn.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Pre-school\/toddler books<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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These are\u200a\u2014\u200aas the name suggests!\u200a\u2014\u200abooks for very young children in the 0 to 4 years-old categories. They are often board books or spiral bound with simple text and bold illustrations. They’re designed for parents to read and chat about with their children. They’re largely visual, often tactile, almost indestructible books of usually no more than a dozen or so pages. Text on the page is limited to very simple sentences, or even just a single word. It’s rare for the total text of a board book to be more than 300 words. It may even be much less.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Early reader books<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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These are for children who may have just started to read but still aren’t ready to read alone. They’re often saddle-stitched “booklets” with glossy covers and full-color illustrations accompanying a more developed text, but still no more than a paragraph to each double-page spread. They have more developed characters and a stronger story line and will include dialogue, too. But the entire text is rarely more than 3,000 to 5,000 words. The typical age-range here is 5 to 8 years-old.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Middle grade (MG) books<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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MG books are also known as ‘chapter books’ because while they may contain a handful of one-page illustrations, they’re mainly text divided into chapters and “perfect bound” in paperback format like a “grown up” novel. These have all the elements\u200a\u2014\u200acharacter development, complex plotting, theme, description, dialogue, insight, conflict, and resolution\u200a\u2014\u200aof any novel, but modulated to the age and experience of their readers, who are usually 9 to 12 years-old. While parents will often read MG books aloud to their children\u200a\u2014\u200aoften, say, a chapter a night as the “bedtime story”\u200a\u2014\u200athey’re meant for kids who have learned to read and enjoy to read alone, gripped by a good story and characters with whom they can identify, either whispering the words aloud or reading silently “in their head”. An MG novel may be between 10,000 and 45,000 words, with 15,000 to 20,000 as a common average.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Printing options for different children's book styles<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Each of the styles above has its specific needs and processes in terms of what’s involved in preparing and printing the book. We have detailed information on each of these options which we’ll link to below, so you can follow up with the format best suited to your children’s book age group.<\/p>