If you’re looking to print a children’s book, then you’ve come to the right place. We love to print children’s books of all shapes and sizes. We understand the importance of building the love of reading from an early age and that's why printing children’s books is one of our favourite things to do! We know that you want to make sure that your children’s books are of the highest quality, designed beautifully and user-friendly for little ones.
When using Book Printing UK to print your children’s books, you don’t just upload your files, pay and hope for the best. Instead, you get a dedicated account manager to oversee the entire project, making sure you’re updated every step of the way.
We work closely with every customer to make sure that the finished product matches the initial idea and is always top quality. That’s the reason we work with hundreds of authors each year to help them make their own children’s books. With our free file assessment you can have total confidence your children’s books will print exactly the way you want them to. If we spot any errors with your files, we will let you know so that what we send to print is perfect.
To start printing a children’s book you can get a free online quote to calculate the cost of printing. Along with that, you can also get a sample book full of information regarding paper types, stocks, fonts and much more.
Printing Your Children’s Book
There is no right or wrong when it comes to the size of a children’s book. You can print a children’s book in pretty much any size. It’s not a case of “one size fits all” but we do have some recommendations when it comes to printing children’s books.
If you are aiming at a younger market (0-7 years) it is best to go for something larger, A4 or medium square size. This gives you plenty of space on each page for engaging, vibrant images and oversized text. We quite often see A4 or square books for this category and we absolutely love them. They stand out, are easy to read and open nicely for reading together.
If you are aiming at the junior (7-12) or teen (13-16) market, then an A5 novel-style book is perfect. You can include either colour or black and white images but this size also works great for text only books.
Your page count will affect the binding type but the majority of the children's books we print are either perfect bound or stapled booklets. A perfect bound book needs more than 25 pages so if you are producing a small book the stapled will be the way to go. For older children, we recommend going for the perfect bound option.
Self-Publishing Your Children’s Book
We often get asked about self-publishing children’s books, it is a great way to get your book out there if you haven’t got a big publisher behind you. This is how many authors started out, it is well known that Beatrix Potter first self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit before being taken on by a publishing house. Self-publishing your children’s book isn’t as hard as it may seem. Follow our simple steps to self-publishing and you could have your children’s book on sale in a matter of weeks.
Layout and Design for Your Children’s Book
As mentioned before, our designers can perform a free file assessment on your files to ensure they are print ready and you’re not in for any nasty surprises when you open your printed books.
If you would like us to help you with designing your cover for your children’s book or laying out the inside so they look professional, then we would love to! Our team of in-house expert designers have heaps of knowledge and experience when it comes to designing and formatting children’s books.
If you want to have a go at creating your children’s book yourself then you can use our templates which have all the technical bits set up.
Other Things You Need To Consider When Printing Your Children's Book
Editing
Are you going to edit and proof your children's book yourself or do you need some help with this? If you are going to edit the book yourself you can download our self-editing checklist. If you would like some help then head over to our editing page and see what we can offer.
Illustrations
Children's books tend to include a lot of images when aimed at the younger market. You can use stock images (just make sure they are royalty-free) but we think it is best to have your own unique illustrations. This is not something we offer in-house at Book Printing UK but we do partner with a great illustrator. To see his work or for more information head over to our book design page.
Reorders
When you first print your children's book the artwork needs to be set up for print, you will check your proof and make any changes. Once this is done your print files are ready to go the next time you order. This means we are able to offer a reduced price for reorders of your children's book. As long as there are no changes to your book you can use your online account to order as little as one copy at your reduced reorder price.
Our Recommendations
Our recommendations differ depending on the age of the audience your book is aimed at.
0-7 Years
For the younger audience, it is best to go for something bigger which is easy to hold and open. We would recommend an A4 landscape paperback book. Early years books generally include a lot of colour to keep the child engaged throughout the story, 135gsm gloss paper works really well for this.
7-10 Years
Books in this category move away from the high colour, glossy feel that suits the younger audience. We see books reduce in size to A5, the text will still be slightly bigger than adult books and you may want to add colour or black and white images throughout. If you are going for text and black and white images then 80gsm paper works best, if you are adding colour images then go for 100gsm.
10-15 Years
Young adult books tend to replicate a general novel-style book.
Most novels you see are printed to a similar size, somewhere between novel size (127mm x 203mm) and A5 (148mm x 210mm). We recommend going for a paperback book in novel size.
For paper thickness, we recommend either 80gsm off-white paper for a standard novel full of text, or 100gsm if you are including colour images in the book.
Our max page count is 600, so be sure to keep within that limit. Learn more by visiting our book sizes page and paper types page.
More than just Printers
At Book Printing UK, we don't stop after printing. We understand that there's much more needed to create a book. That's where our extended Services come in to help. From proofreading to ISBNs, book design to E-book conversion, we've got you covered!
Our experienced team offer bespoke expertise relating to your book, and your book only. Simply add any services to your quote, or order separately. Feel free to contact us for more information: [email protected] or 01733 898102
I am so pleased with how the process of printing my children's book was handled by Book Printing UK. The selection of options they offer, staff support and the final product are more than satisfactory. Thanks!
Mary T Adamson
Author of 'Yo, Ho! Armadillo!'