Information, inspiration and interviews on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and making a living with your writing. If you need help with writing your book, or you want to learn how to navigate the new world of publishing and book marketing, then join Joanna Penn and her guests every Monday. Also covers the business of being a writer and how to make money with your books.
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How To Self-Publish An Adult Coloring Book With Meg Cowley
I've been a fan of adult colouring books for years now, and have used them as a precursor to writing since before they were trendy ???? So I'm excited to announce that I've now published An English Country House and Garden adult colouring book, and accompanying notebook, with my Dad, Arthur J Penn, who is a fine artist and print maker. A real Creative Penn collaboration!
This interview with Meg Cowley gave me everything I needed to know to publish these very different kinds of books, so I'm thrilled to be sharing it with you today.
The corporate sponsorship for this show pays for hosting and transcription. This podcast episode is sponsored by 99 Designs, where you can get all kinds of designs for your author business including book covers, merchandising, branding and business cards, illustrations and artwork and much more. You can get a Powerpack upgrade which gives your project more chance of getting noticed by going to: 99Designs.com/joanna
Meg Cowley is an author and illustrator. She writes the fantasy series, Books of Caledan, and also writes and illustrates the children's book series, Diary of a Secret Witch. She also produces Adult Colouring Books, which we're talking about today.
You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.
* On the reason for Meg's shift into coloring books.
* The difference between sales in fiction and sales in coloring books.
* Tips about what makes the best kind illustration for an adult coloring book.
* Information about the important rights illustrators need to retain in order to publish their coloring books.
* The Wacom Intuos 4 digital tablet Meg uses to create her illustrations, and specific details about the images she uses.
* On cover design, and thoughts on colour vs. black and white, and book size and layout.
* Using keywords for best ranking in Amazon and the cross-genre appeal of coloring books.
* The paper choices available and what works best for coloring books.
* Creating other products from illustrations.
* Marketing and advertising coloring books, and the pros and cons of selling in person at craft fairs.
You can find Meg at www.MegCowley.com and on twitter @meg_cowley
Transcription of interview with Meg Cowley
Joanna: Hi, everyone, I'm Joanna Penn from the Creative Penn, and today I'm here with Meg Cowley. Hi, Meg!
Meg: Hello!
Joanna: It's great to have you on the show. Just a little introduction, Meg is an author and illustrator. She writes the fantasy series, Books of Caledan, and also writes and illustrates the children's book series, Diary of a Secret Witch. Now,