Marketing children’s books is often misunderstood—and many authors don’t realize just how different it is from marketing novels until they’re already deep into the process. From school visits and live events to email lists and social media, the learning curve can be steep, time-consuming, and sometimes discouraging.
This is the third and final interview in my series with children’s author Stephanie Riley, author of the Adventure Squad books. In this conversation, Stephanie speaks candidly about what she’s learned while marketing her books as an indie author: what worked, what didn’t, and why she ultimately had to realign her business goals with the realities of her life. If you’re a children’s author—or thinking about becoming one—this interview offers honest insight, practical wisdom, and hard-learned lessons that aren’t sugarcoated.
You can read the other two interviews here: https://morningstareditingllc.com/2026/01/05/interview-with-childrens-author-stephanie-riley/ and The Children’s Book Editing Process: An Interview with Author Stephanie Riley (Part II).
Stephanie Riley is the author of the Adventure Squad series. She is a pediatric occupational therapist by trade and lives with her family in central Louisiana. You can learn more about Stephanie and the Adventure Squad at amazon.com: Stephanie Riley: books, biography, latest update.
- When did you begin marketing your first Adventure Squad book?
Not soon enough. My first book was a learning experience for sure. I began sending out social media posts a week or so before the book went live on Amazon and my website. As a result, most of my sales on the first book were family and friends.
Learning the Limits of Children’s Book Marketing as an Indie Author
- Were you familiar with the different marketing techniques authors use to market their books?
Yes and no. I followed a few independent authors and belonged to multiple online author groups. The information that I had when my first book was released focused on effective marketing techniques for mass market novels. It was later that I discovered marketing specifically designed for children’s books. The two strategies are different in almost every way!
Understanding Children’s Book Marketing vs. Novel Marketing
- Did you take any marketing classes, attend any webinars, listen to any podcasts, or read any marketing books? If so, did any stand out? Why?
While writing my second and third books, I did specific research on marketing strategies. I found books, podcasts, webinars, and dozens of social media sites and posts. Most courses are very expensive and are not designed specifically for children’s book authors. I even purchased a one-on-one, ninety-minute consultation with my “silent mentor,” Joanna Penn, as part of one of her Kickstarters. What I found is the only thing novelists and children’s writers have in common with regards to marketing is an email list. The best long-term book marketing technique, regardless of the genre, is cultivating an email list. This isn’t me saying this. It’s the highest earning, career indie authors who have been in the business 10+ years. But I found that for children’s authors, those email lists need to be focused on school contacts. And that’s really where the commonality in marketing for authors ends.
The other techniques novelists use can be beneficial, but the best way to market (and ultimately sell) a children’s book is at live events and school visits. That being said, I highly recommend following The Creative Penn podcast and Joanna Penn’s social media. I have learned 90 percent of what I use from her and / or her podcast guests. She has several books for authors, including books on marketing, and she frequently includes reputable guests on her podcast to discuss marketing. She vets her guests well, so if she interviews someone who has their own books or courses, I recommend that you check them out. She only interviews reputable authors. You can also search her podcast list for keywords such as “marketing.” Marketing specifically for children’s authors is harder to find. I recommend that you look up websites for the most successful children’s book authors. An internet search or a little AI assisted research can give you their names and websites. Their websites will have their contact information. Feel free to reach out to them. Most authors are happy to help new authors! As an aside, yes, I use AI to research. It is a fabulous research tool and saves me a ton of time. But to answer the unspoken question, no, I don’t use AI to write. There would be no fun in it for me.
How Indie Children’s Authors Actually Market Their Books
- How do you currently market your Adventure Squad books?
I currently have three Adventure Squad books on the market. The second and third books were released this year four months apart. The second book was finished and scheduled for release in 2024, but I had some health issues that delayed it. In the meantime, I finished the third book.
Marketing for the two books ended up overlapping, which is NOT the best strategy. My marketing focused on regular social media posts using the 80 / 20 rule. Eighty percent non-book specific material and 20 percent book specific (sales) posts. I also do local farmers’ markets and other live venues. I make most of my sales at live events, but I am not making a ton of money. I still do it mostly because I love kids, and I enjoy writing and promoting the Adventure Squad. I really enjoy interacting with my intended audience!
Why School Visits Are the Most Effective Way to Sell Children’s Books
- Is this successful?
Not really. Selling children’s books requires a strong connection to schools and other live venues where you can sell books in bulk, particularly for an indie author. School visits are the bread and butter of the children’s book author! Book stores will not carry your books, even if they are available for them to order. Mine have always been available to them, and I have tried, but they prefer to deal with the “big 5” publishing group. You will also often hear that you need paid advertising to get your books “discoverable” in search engines (Amazon and Facebook are the most successful, depending on genre). This is probably true, but it isn’t beneficial until you have several (most suggest at least five) books on the market. You will not get back in profit what you spend on ads otherwise. You need to market to schools (private schools are the most profitable) if you are a children’s book author.
This is the primary reason why I am shifting my writing and business plans. My “day job” and responsibilities at home do not allow for much travel, and the private school market is very thin where I live. I am not giving up the Adventure Squad, but right now I am focusing on a new series in a new genre and looking at branching out into author services such as book formatting and cover design—“multiple streams of income” as Joanna would say.
When Children’s Book Marketing Isn’t Financially Sustainable
- If you were starting at the beginning, would you change your marketing plan? Why?
Yes. If I wanted to focus on my children’s series, and I had the ability to travel, I would start reaching out to private schools in my home state, and in neighboring states within a certain radius, months before I launched. I would pitch a plan where they do not pay me to come but guarantee a certain number of books sold per visit at a slightly reduced rate. If the student purchases hit that number (I would initially set a very low number to start as I am a new author), then the school pays nothing. If they do not hit that number, the school agrees to purchase the rest and they can resell, donate, or keep the books at their discretion. I tried this with my local public schools, but they wouldn’t bite. Some of it is a money issue–public schools are always low on funds. Some of it is a time issue–public school teachers don’t have the time to commit to setting up the visit, and they don’t have staff to designate this task to. This is a very successful model for other children’s authors. But it is usually authors who are in or near large cities with access and connections to a lot of private schools. In those areas, children’s authors are very successful with school visits and can make quite a bit of money.
How and Why Children’s Authors Must Adjust Their Marketing Strategy
- Do you modify your marketing plan? Why?
Yes. Just prior to the release of my second and third books, I researched how to optimize my social media presence. I did “all the things.” I created and scheduled regular posts using eye catching images, the 80 / 20 rule, and posts interesting to parents. Children may be my target audience, but the target customer is the adult. It didn’t help. I still made most of my sales at live events, and it isn’t enough for me to want to just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m still chasing the full-time author dream! I LOVE the Adventure Squad, and I will continue writing new adventures, but my focus is definitely shifting because I’m marketing me and my goals, not just my books.
Your entire business strategy needs to be tailored to your life so you can invest the time for it to be successful. That is, in my opinion, the base, the starting point, for marketing your work. My shift reflects my need to use marketing strategies that are successful when implemented from my home office. Those include building my email list, building a back list, and writing in a genre where multiple book editions sell well (ebooks and audio do not sell well in the children’s book genre). I have also started formatting books for other authors and I am looking at other forms of income within the book industry. Since I don’t have the local school sales market that I need as a children’s author, that form of marketing isn’t going to work for me. To shift my marketing, I had to shift my business focus altogether. I’ll write the Adventure Squad less frequently and sell them at live venues. But I will also be writing in other genres that can be successfully marketed using an email list and an online presence.
Long-Term Marketing Advice Every Children’s Book Author Needs to Hear
- Is there anything about marketing that authors need to know?
In reading and researching I found several pieces of advice repeated again and again, and after a few years these are the ones that I have found to be the most helpful. A few may hurt to read. Don’t shoot the messenger. But that doesn’t mean that I, or anyone else, should stop writing! The world needs dreamers after all…
–Don’t quit your day job. Yeah, ouch. This one isn’t marketing specific and it is the piece of advice that sucks the most. The days of J. K. Rowling and Stephen King are gone. Even then, success like theirs was based on lottery winning odds. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than your first (or second, or third) book becoming an overnight literary success. But you CAN build modest success! Like everything else in life worth having, it takes work and time. Oh, and a back list. Keep writing!
–Your craft will improve with every book and working on your craft is a form of marketing. The first time a reader discovers you is usually because of a great cover, an intriguing sales blurb, or a well written back cover description. But nothing sells a reader the next book like the good writing in that first one. Word of mouth sales also come from great writing. Focusing on your craft IS marketing, and it is the best investment you can make toward your goal of being a full-time author.
–Keeping your day job pays the bills. But many indie authors delve into other streams of income related to the book industry to pay the bills while they write. I am currently looking into this in the areas of Kickstarter, formatting, and cover design. There are also podcasters, audiobook narrators, public speakers (these are usually nonfiction book writers who speak and write on the same topic), and yes, even editors. Get creative. What other things are you good at, enjoy, and, most importantly, fit into the author business plan that works with your life and schedule? Multiple streams of income are not only how some authors choose to pay the bills; they also provide a more stable cash flow when other areas of the market wax and wane. You know what else they do? They act as additional marketing for you, the author. See how that works? Cool, right?
–Email lists are still the MOST successful marketing strategy for novelists. Why? Because marketing isn’t about marketing your book. It’s about marketing your most valuable and unique asset—YOU. Authors should decide up front how much of themselves they want to share with the rest of the world. Then they should capitalize on that! Use your email (and social media) to share a part of yourself that you think your readers will be interested in. For instance, I am currently writing a crime thriller that takes place in New Orleans, just two years post Katrina. There are two main protagonists. One likes to lift weights to burn off anxiety from past life experiences, the other has a pet bird, plays guitar, and is a distant relation to a very well-known Voodoo queen. I am from New Orleans and I lived there during Katrina. I also lift weights, have a small parrot, and play guitar. This is information I can share and talk about with my readers when the novel comes out.
It’s about making connections, a relationship. That’s what readers want: a relationship with your characters, and you, their favorite author!
Note: Make sure you have a clear boundary of what you will and won’t share with the public. Famous or not, some parts of our lives should remain private. Even if it’s just to have a safe place to retreat to outside of the “public eye.”
–Beware of scammers!! The minute you go live on social media, the private messages and emails will start rolling in. If they want you to pay them to publish, it’s a scam. You can do it too easily on your own to be shoveling money at someone else to click a few buttons for you. No matter what they offer, if it sounds too good to be true–and if often does because they are now using AI to write their email /messages and pitches–it is. Trust me on this. I just got another one today. They also won’t market for you; I don’t care what they say. Even the largest publishers will expect you to do the bulk of your own marketing. Read that again, because that leads me to…
–No matter how you are published, YOU will be the primary person responsible for marketing. Again, that isn’t me saying it. It’s every industry professional I’ve ever spoken with, emailed, read, or listened to. It’s the reason big publishers and agents look for authors to have a social media presence and / or an email list PRIOR to signing. It’s also the reason so many authors are goingv ndie. If we have to do the bulk of the work ourselves, why on Earth would we sign over ownership to someone else? That was my reason. It’s my IP (intellectual property). I created it and I am expected to market it, so I’m not giving up control of my creation or its potential.
I know all of this sounds daunting, even a bit discouraging. But it isn’t. It is absolutely within your ability. It is also 1000 percent worth all of the time and effort to hold that book in your hands and say, “I wrote this!” That is the very best feeling until the first time a reader tells you excitedly how much they enjoyed your story. From then on, THAT will be the very best feeling and it will become the “why” when you want to give up. Even if this never becomes my full-time gig, I will keep writing. I love writing stories, I love spending time with my characters, and I’ve met that reader! I have my why!
“Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne
I truly enjoyed talking with Stephanie throughout this interview series. Her willingness to share both her successes and her struggles offers invaluable insight into the realities of writing, editing, and marketing children’s books today. These conversations reinforced an important truth for authors at every stage: there is no one-size-fits-all path. A successful strategy must align with your life, your goals, and your capacity—not just industry advice or trends.
If you have questions after reading this interview (or the previous two), please feel free to send them to me using the Contact Form in the ribbon at the top of my website. Stephanie has graciously agreed to answer reader questions in a future follow-up post.
And if you’re a creative who needs guidance—whether that’s coaching, editing, or help shaping a clear path forward for your children’s book, cookbook, or craft book—I’d love to talk with you. Leave a comment or fill out the Contact Us form. Let’s explore how I can support you and your work.