Children's Book Publishing
Your children's book, done beautifully, illustration and all.
Crystal Swain-Bates has written 15 children's books and sold more than 750,000 copies. Now her studio publishes children's books for other authors, and handles the whole thing, including the part that stops most people: the illustration. You bring the story. We bring it to life.
Who it is for
For the author with a story worth getting right.
A children's book looks simple and is anything but. The wrong illustrator, the wrong trim size, or a character that looks different on every page can cost you months, thousands of dollars, and the book you pictured in your head.
This is for first-time and experienced children's book authors, and especially for authors creating diverse and Black children's books who want a Black children's book publisher that actually understands the mission, not just the market. You hand us the story. We hand you a book you are proud to put your name on.
The hardest part
The illustrator makes or breaks a children's book. So we handle it.
Finding a skilled, reliable illustrator who can keep your character consistent across an entire book, and actually deliver on time, is the single hardest part of making a children's book. It is where most first-time authors get stuck, overspend, and stall out. So we do not send you off to figure it out alone. We manage the illustration from start to finish, matched to your story, so your book stands with the best of them.
The packages
Your children's book, from a single title to a full brand.
Three ways to work together, plus a strategy session if you want expert eyes on your idea first. Every package includes professional illustration and full ownership.
The Children's Book Series
Don't publish a book. Publish a brand.
$15,000over $19,500 in value
Get Your Quote- Two professionally illustrated children's books, up to 16 custom full-color scenes each
- One companion coloring book featuring your characters, up to 24 illustrations
- One guided journal for kids, extending your brand beyond storytime
- A professional author website for your series, so schools and bulk buyers can find you
- Consistent character and world design across every product
- Individually: two illustrated books $12,000 + coloring book $3,500 + kids' journal $2,500 + website $1,500 and up = over $19,500. As the Series: $15,000
- Complete ownership and 100 percent of royalties on everything
The Ghostwritten Children's Book
You bring the idea. We write, illustrate, and publish it.
$10,000idea to finished book
Get Your Quote- Ghostwritten children's book manuscript, with story concept development and narrative structure guidance
- Everything in the Professional package below, from illustration to print-ready files
- Perfect for professionals, educators, and experts with a message for children but no manuscript
- Complete ownership of your book files and 100 percent of your royalties
The Professional Children's Book
Your manuscript, professionally illustrated and published.
$6,000done for you
Get Your Quote- Up to 16 custom full-color illustrated scenes, built around the 32-page picture book standard
- Character design and illustration style development, with art direction from our publishing team
- Two rounds of sketch revisions plus one round of minor revisions on final artwork
- Professional interior layout, typesetting, and a custom cover
- Electronic proof, plus print-ready files for paperback and hardcover
- Plus The Launch Kit, our done-for-you marketing starter, including a pitchable paid workshop concept you can sell at $3,500 and up
- Complete ownership of your book files and 100 percent of your royalties
Not sure yet?
The Children's Book Strategy Session, $497. A private 30-minute session with Crystal to pressure-test your idea before you invest: honest feedback on your concept, structure, age range, illustration planning, and your best publishing path. Strategy only, no production, and many clients use it to choose their package with confidence. Book a session →
The math
| Your investment | From $6,000 |
| Break even at $20 a book | 300 copies |
| The faster path | One school or organization bulk order, or one workshop plus 125 books |
Sell 300 copies, land one bulk order, or pair a workshop with 125 books, and this package has paid for itself.
See the proof: read the case studies → | Related reading: Why children need books about grief →
You keep everything you build. Your book is published under your own accounts, and you keep full rights, all royalties, and every file we create. Payment plans are available.
Proof
Clients whose books opened doors.
Dr. Arlyne Simon
Biochemical engineer and author of the Abby Invents series
Dr. Arlyne Simon is a biochemical engineer who invented a blood test that helps detect when cancer patients reject bone marrow transplants. She also writes Abby Invents, a STEM picture-book series that has reached K-5 classrooms, earned her a spot on a STEM trading card, and put a brilliant Black girl at the center of the story. Exactly the kind of book, and the kind of author, we exist to serve.
And of course, Crystal's own. Big Hair, Don't Care, Naturally Me, and a catalog of 15 titles have sold more than 750,000 copies. The standard we hold your book to is the one we built our own name on.
Nyesha and Samantha Davis-Williams
First-time authors of Umi & Uma: The Story of Two Mommies and a Baby
Nyesha and Samantha Davis-Williams wrote Umi & Uma because their daughter did not have a picture book that reflected her family, two queer women of color, anywhere on the shelf. So they made one, and we helped them bring it to life as a finished, professional book.
Where it went. Their book did not stay on a single shelf. It was featured at The Market at Macy's and stocked at a major children's library. That is what a professionally made children's book can do: open doors a homemade one never could.
The process
How a children's book actually gets made.
A picture book is not one job, it is a chain of them, and every link has to be right. Here is exactly how we take your story from a manuscript to a finished, illustrated book, so you know precisely what you are investing in.
We review your manuscript
We read your story closely and map it out: what happens on each page, how the words and pictures share the space, and where the pacing needs to breathe. This is the blueprint the whole book is built on.
We sketch every page
Our illustration team draws rough sketches for each page so you can see the book taking shape, the characters, the scenes, the flow, before a single final line is drawn.
You approve the sketches
You review the sketches and give feedback. Nothing moves forward until you are happy, because changes are easy at the sketch stage and expensive after.
We finalize the line art
Approved sketches become clean, polished line art, the finished drawing under every illustration.
We color the illustrations
Each page is fully colored and rendered, bright and joyful or soft and quiet, matched to the mood of your story.
We lay out the book
We place your text with the finished art, page by page, into a clean, professional interior that is ready for print.
We design the cover
Last, we create the cover that makes a child stop and reach for it, the face of the book everywhere it appears.
Plan for about four months. Custom illustration is careful, human work, and a children's book done right is roughly a four-month engagement from manuscript to finished book. If you have a launch, a season, or a school year in mind, reach out sooner rather than later so we can build the timeline around it.
Sample illustrations
The kind of art your story deserves.
Every book we make gets illustration matched to its story: bright and joyful for the adventures, soft and quiet for the hard conversations. These are real pages from real books we have published, including Crystal's own.
Questions authors ask
Children's book questions.
Do you illustrate the book for me?
Who are your illustrators?
How long does a children's book take?
How much does a children's book cost?
Who is this for?
Do I keep my rights?
Start your book
Let's make the book you have been picturing.
Book a call, bring your story, and we will handle the rest, illustration and all.
Just have a question? Contact us.