5 Costly Mistakes First-Time Children’s Book Authors Make
Hiring services separately without a plan
Finalizing text without visual consideration
Underestimating illustration timelines
Ignoring print specifications until the end
Trying to manage production alone
Most of these mistakes don’t come from lack of effort, they come from lack of coordination.
COMMON MISTAKES
Why Hiring Illustrators One by One Often Fails
Working with individual illustrators without a central process often leads to:
inconsistent styles
unclear revision limits
mismatched file specs
communication breakdowns
In professional publishing, illustrators work within a structured system. When that system is missing, authors unintentionally take on the role of producer, which is overwhelming and inefficient.
Feeling unsure about your next step?
DIY formatting tools are fine for text-heavy books, but children’s books are visual products.
Common DIY issues include:
text drifting into trim areas
inconsistent margins
incorrect page sequencing
files rejected after upload
Formatting isn’t just placing text, it’s engineering the reading experience for print. This is often the final step authors underestimate, even after everything else is done well.
The Hidden Problems of DIY Book Formatting
We help authors turn ideas into finished, publish-ready books, with guidance at every stage.
