How to write & illustrate your own children’s book

So….you want to write and illustrate your very first children’s book? Well you're in luck because I just finished working on my first children’s book and I’ve learned so much along the way. I did some things right and made some mistakes but I’m going to share with you exactly how I would approach it the next time I do it step by step. 

My first initial character sketches

1. Plan out a plot & characters 

I think this is the best place to start and this is where I started when I began my children’s book journey. I really wanted to write a story about a character that was going through grief and loneliness for the first time and how she travels through a completely new world she’s never been to and how she eventually found her joy again. 

Find something that you feel strongly about like bullying, or family relationships, or even simple things like making food together just make sure it’s a message that you feel strongly about and really want to tell to the world. Also make sure when you write your story that the character has to go through some obstacles to get their desired result and you set up the problem early. I would even say by the 2nd or 3rd page the reader is aware of the problem the main character must face. 

This was one of the first books that really inspired me, I loved the whimsical adventure vibe of it

2. Research 

Now this is the fun part where you can start researching different worlds, character ideas, and colors. For me I made 2 Pinterest boards: one that I used for inspiration on environments and another that I used for character inspiration. 

Play around with different possible characters and worlds and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I made a bunch of different characters that I ended up not even using because I felt like it just didn’t work in the story but the experience is where you grow as an artist. 

Also really make sure you get the characters facial expressions down so that people can tell it’s the same character throughout your book. I made the mistake of not thinking about that and had to redo almost all of my faces throughout my book. 

For environments try to come up with multiple interesting perspectives such as showing the main characters face up close to really connect the reader. You can also think about your detailed indoor room scenes as well as far away landscape views. Readers love when they can see different perspectives throughout the book and it feels more fun and interesting. 

Here are some of my rough sketches when making the decision to turn my characters into aliens

3. Sketching away

This is the part where you really get those creative juices going. Get creative with your designs and make sure you don’t copy any pictures completely, you want to find your true style and voice. The key is to find different things you like in different pictures and combine them all in the end. Take your time on this step because this is the one that requires a lot of creative juices and it’s better to really take your time on this step instead of coloring in your pictures only to realize you wanted to completely change your characters which happened to me. 

For the sketching part I would use a simple one page template like the one I made here, it’s a great way to just get the layouts down such as if you should fill in both pages for more landscape view pages, or just use a half page or even just some simple spot illustrations showing movement. 

About the book copy, you don’t need to have your copy perfect but you should have a basic idea of what the copy would say on each page just so you're not lost at the end wishing you made changes to the images. 

Also don’t forget to sketch out your cover image, this is something so many people forget including me. I ended up finishing all of my drawings but had no cover and had to do a ton of research on that and creating your cover is so important, this is basically your marketing piece, the very first thing people will see when they see your book so make sure you really take time on the cover, layout, and title. Make sure it's eye-catching and gives a general idea of what the story will be about before they even open the book. 

These are typical book sizes for childrens books

4. It’s Color time 

This is the part where you should start coloring in all of your sketches whether you decide to do digital art or hand painted art make sure you use a size that is standard children's book sizes. I added a simple graphic to help you decide. I personally chose to do 10” x 8” because I wanted to show cool environmental landscapes in my book. Take your time on this step also, this is probably the one that will take the longest depending on how detailed you want your illustrations to be. 

One of the illustrations from my upcoming book “A World Within”

5. Publish

Okay, so you’ve written, illustrated, and colored your book now it’s time to make it real! Publishing might sound intimidating, but indie authors have more tools than ever and it's actually quite easy to do it. The easiest place to start is Amazon KDP, where you can upload your book and make it instantly available worldwide. To give your book extra credibility, you’ll want an ISBN (basically your book’s fingerprint), and don’t forget to register your copyright so your art and words are protected. And remember — you’re not limited to just one platform! There are plenty of amazing self-publishing sites that can get your book into readers’ hands.

🔗 Helpful Publishing Links

• Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) → https://kdp.amazon.com

• ISBNs (U.S. via Bowker) → https://www.myidentifiers.com

• U.S. Copyright Office → https://www.copyright.gov

🖤 Other Self-Publishing Platforms for Indie Authors

1. 1. Blurb → blurb.com Blurb is great for highly visual books like children’s books, photo books, and art books. It has easy design tools, integration with Adobe InDesign, and offers both print-on-demand and ebook options. Perfect if you want a polished, design-focused product.

2. 2. IngramSpark → ingramspark.com IngramSpark gives you access to one of the largest book distribution networks (bookstores, libraries, online retailers). It’s a bit more complex and has setup fees, but it’s the best choice if you want your book to be widely available beyond just Amazon.

3. 3. BookBaby → bookbaby.com BookBaby is known for its “all-in-one” services. They handle printing, distribution, and even offer editing, cover design, and marketing help. It’s a good option if you’d like more support and don’t want to juggle multiple platforms yourself.

4. 4. Lulu → lulu.com Lulu is a flexible print-on-demand service that supports a wide variety of book types and sizes. It’s user-friendly, has global distribution, and is especially popular for authors who want full creative control and a straightforward platform.

5. 5. Draft2Digital → draft2digital.com Draft2Digital specializes in ebooks. It makes it easy to format and distribute to all the major ebook retailers (Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.). If your children’s book will also be digital, this is the simplest way to get it everywhere.

Final Thoughts

I truly hope this guide helps you take the first steps toward writing and illustrating your own children’s book. It’s such a rewarding experience, and you’ll learn so much along the way, and it brings me so much joy to share what I’ve discovered with you. If you’ve been dreaming of creating your own story, trust me it’s 100% possible. I’m also beyond excited to share that I’ll be publishing my first-ever illustrated book this November! If you’d like to follow along with my journey (and maybe pick up a few more tips), stick around! I’d love to have you here. Thank you so much again for reading!