Episode 28: Picture eBook Secrets – Interview with Laura Backes

by Gabriela Pereira
published in Podcast

Thanks for joining me for today’s episode of DIY MFA Radio. Today I’m excited to introduce Laura Backes, and she and I will be talking all about picture books, eBooks and how to turn a picture book idea into something that works in an eBook format.

Laura is the publisher of Children’s Book Insider, the newsletter for children’s writers, and co-founder of The Children’s Writing Knowledge Base, an online membership community for aspiring and published children’s authors.

About Laura Backes

A 26-year veteran of the publishing industry, Laura has worked in publicity, subsidiary rights, and as a literary agent and freelance editor. She’s the author of Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read: 125 Books That Will Turn Any Child into a Lifelong Reader (Random House), and technical editor of Writing Children’s Books For Dummies (Wiley). Her articles have been featured in The Writer and Writer’s Digest magazines, the 2012 edition of Children’s Writer’s and Illustrators’ Market, and she speaks at workshops around the country.

Laura lives in Fort Collins, CO with her husband/business partner Jon, and their teenage son Matt. She and Jon run a public writing blog at www.writeforkids.org. Their most recent project is the Picture eBook Mastery course about Amazon’s Kindle Kids’ Book Creator software.

About Children’s Book Insider

Children’s Book Insider is a monthly newsletter subscription for authors and illustrators interested in publishing children’s books. Subscription includes membership access to the Children’s Writing Knowledge Base: an archive of resources with everything from articles to podcasts, spanning 25+ years of information on writing books for children.

In this interview, Laura and I chat about:

  • The reason writing for children is so important
  • Amazon’s new KDP Kids’ Book Creator and why it’s such a revolutionary tool for self-publishing
  • What you need to do now to help your book stand out in the crowd
  • What resources are available to you if you want to publish an e-book for children but don’t know where to start
  • CBI’s new Picture E-book Mastery course
  • and more…

“As writers we are creating art, and art should really have no limitations.”
–Laura Backes

Tweet this.


Right now Picture E-book Mastery is offering a free video mini-course called “Yes You Can Publish a Kindle Picture eBook.” You can access this mini-course via the links on this page. Check out this free video for tips and inspiration, plus more info about the main course: Picture E-book Mastery. Use the coupon code diymfa for $20 off your registration for the course.

DIY MFA is a proud affiliate of Picture eBook Mastery. This means if you decide to purchase the course via the links on this page, DIY MFA will get a commission at no cost to you.

Resource Recap

Connect with Laura on Twitter @write4kids and Facebook facebook.com/writekidsbooks. Also visit her website www.WriteforKids.org for tons of juicy tips about writing for kids. Interested in the membership site and CBI newsletter? Check out www.CBIClubhouse.com for more info.

Link to Episode 28

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

Signature

Enjoyed this article?