Kiss a frog? YUK! Kick-nonstarter.

Some while back I thought it would be a great idea to try publishing my own picture book called Kiss a Frog? YUK!. The question I get asked the most is, "Your idea is great, why self publish? Why not go to a publishing house?" The simple answer is that getting published is very difficult unless you happen to be in the right place, at the right time with exactly the right idea. The people that have their books published are a drop in the ocean in comparison to those that don't. The publishing industry is not a big one and the number of books published each year is not large and most of those are from established authors.

I have seen some great looking picture book ideas from other illustrators that in my opinion would easily compete with books that are sitting on the shelves of book shops today. Alas, these are stories that as yet have not made it into any publishing house. Does that mean we should all give up? Hell no! Determination is key and brushing off the silence and those rejection emails is essential. So what about Kiss a Frog? YUK! Did I give up? No, the book did the rounds of the publishers and so had it's chance. The story did get interest from some mainstream UK publishers. Wow! I know that to be an achievement in itself. Yes, some editors actually read it, stopped, emailed me and asked questions! I compressed my excitement but unfortunately, it's still down there. So I had to decide where to turn next with a story that even some editors thought had potential.

I turned to funding a self publish with kickstarter. I did a great deal of research, produced artwork and graphics, brushed up the story and built up my following. I launched the kickstarter project and BANG! Well, the bang was just me getting excited and hitting my desk. Actually nothing much happened. So what went wrong. Probably nothing. Yes, I could have spent a great deal more time building up a following and that would have a made a big difference but I think that actually, when the campaign starts is when the work begins. Getting those backers through all means possible. A lot of time needed to be spent promoting the project and I had run out of time. So, while working away on illustration projects I watched my campaign stagnate.

I could have tried using a promotional crowdfunding service but most of the research that I did about such services suggested that they would only account for a small percentage of the backers. I didn't want to end up owing people money on a failed campaign. It was an all or nothing situation. Well, that's not strictly true. I had a good go in the moments when I had time. I used online advertising, social media, bloggers, but the reach needs to be huge and, as I think works for some people, you need a few generous friends and family.

I haven't given up on this project as I believe it is good enough to see the light of the printed page, but not just yet.