emerging author help

Childrens Book Mentor

Ian McIntosh Childrens book mentor Logo

Have an idea for a children’s picture book but don’t know what to do next?

Have a children’s picture book but need some help to grow your profile, sell more books and earn some money?

Do you have an idea for a children’s picture book but don’t know what to do next?

I know for a fact that there are literally hundreds of people who have an idea for a story or who have written a story, however have no idea how to turn it into a real book.

That was me in 2013.   It took me almost two years of ups and downs and a crash course in “how to write and successfully self publish a children’s picture book,” to take my scrappy piece of paper and big dream, and turn it into a reality.

To be honest, it was challenging.  I made a number of costly mistakes along the way and it almost didn’t happen. But becoming a published author has been one of my life’s greatest achievements so far.​

Here is a small snapshot of my journey since then

In December 2014 I successfully self-published my first-ever children’s picture book.  Before the book was even printed, I pre-sold over 350 copies.  Within 6 months of publication I was a top 3 finalist for a book award, was invited to attend a writers festival as a “paid” guest author and was being paid to visit schools and kindergartens to read my story and to share my story about how I became an author.​

In the past 4 years I have successfully self-published 3 children’s picture books in total, pre-selling over 1300 books, set a Guinness World Record at a book launch, visited hundreds of schools and kindergartens, attended several writers festivals, built a strong personal brand, become a regular in the media and now work full time as an author.  I also have 3 other books written and ready to go.

Not bad for a kid from Outback QLD and former rodeo clown who never graduated from high school. ​

Apart from writing more books and progressing my own author career, I love helping first-time authors take what seems overwhelming and impossible and turning it into a reality through self-publishing.

I help first-time authors with:

      • Knowing when your story is ready to publish
      • Finding a professional editor
      • Finding the best illustrator for your story
      • Understanding how to work with and editor, illustrator, graphic artist and printer
      • Book layout tips, tricks and ideas
      • Deciding on a book size and type
      • Pre-publication sales and marketing
      • Ideas for book launches
      • Post-publication sales and marketing ideas
      • Getting your books into public libraries, schools, kindergartens, bookstores etc.
      • Developing a storytime session and author talk
      • Approaching Kindergartens, schools etc
      • Attracting media attention
      • Personal branding, building a public profile and attracting media attention
      • Generating sales and starting to make money from your book

You can do all of those things yourself.  But it can take hours of research and guessing, months of preparation and planning and years of waiting to get there and there is still no guarantee you will get it right or that it will work.  ​

I specialise in taking the hardship and guesswork out of the process and helping people to take their idea and successfully turn it into a book they can be proud of.

If you would like to know more about how I can help you, fill in the enquiry form below.