By Kids, For Kids Program
Bring your child’s dream of becoming an author to life.
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Imagine it.
A child’s mind is overflowing with stories. Fostering this imagination through writing empowers kids, making them feel like their ideas matter and deserve to be shared with the world.
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Write it.
It all begins with an idea. A spark of inspiration. A story they want to tell. Writing gives children the confidence to create new worlds and interesting characters that they want to share with us.
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Publish it.
Publishing gives children the ability to have their voices heard. By publishing their story, they learn how to work towards a long-term goal and receive a finished product that they can be proud of.
“The greatest gift you can give a child is an imagination.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
The inspiration.
My fondest memories of my childhood are sitting at my grandma’s dining room table, writing stories and illustrating them. Most of our stories revolved around the Bow family, a group of green bunnies that were my favorite stuffed animals growing up.
My grandma was an avid reader and she passed her passion onto me. If I was not creating stories, I was going from library to library trying to get my hands on as many books as I could.
My grandma always said, while we were writing, that one day we would open our own publishing company where kids will write books for other kids because who knows what kids would want to read about more than other kids?
My grandma passed away years ago but even though she is not here with me, her words are what inspired me to take this leap of faith and open a publishing company, offering a “by kids, for kids” program. I aim to inspire kids to reach their goals and gain confidence they did not know they had, in the same way that my grandma did for me. I hope to encourage kids to nurture their creativity as well as giving them an accessible avenue to create goals and publish books that they are proud of.
— Anna Stileski, Publisher at Bow’s Bookshelf
The program.
I was inspired to start this program when I noticed how inaccessible the publishing industry is to the majority of people. Traditional publishing tends to be non-inclusive and difficult to navigate. This makes it very frustrating for parents attempting to help their kids become authors. I aim to give parents and children a simple, hassle-free avenue for publishing.
Your child is able to submit any kind of book they would like whether it be a picture book, a novel, poetry, nonfiction, whatever their passion is. Anyone under the age of 18 is eligible to submit with approval from a guardian.
Your child’s story would be published under Bow’s Bookshelf and they will be offered all of the same benefits as the adult authors and illustrators including same royalties and promotion opportunities.
Bow’s Bookshelf is a small traditional publisher that specializes in children’s, middle grade, and teen books including but not limited to picture books, middle grade, poetry, and educational books.
The Bow’s Publishing Process:
Write
Your child will outline their story and write their first draft. Their story should be original.
Consulting appointments available if needed.
Final edits
You and your child will work with the Bow’s publisher to make minor edits to the story if needed.
Edit
Your child will edit their story (developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading).
Editing appointments available if needed.
Design cover
You and your child will work with the Bow’s Publisher to collaborate with a cover designer.
Illustrate
Your child will illustrate their story or work with an illustrator to bring their story to life (if applicable).
Author/illustrator pair-up services available if needed.
Promote
Bow’s Bookshelf will promote your child’s book on social media accounts. You are not required to do any additional promotion but it is encouraged.
Submit
You will submit your child’s story to the submissions link on this page.
*Note: Not all stories that are submitted will be accepted. Next steps apply to accepted manuscripts only.
Publish
Your child’s book will be launched in ebook and print. They will immediately start earning royalties off of every copy sold.
FAQs
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No, Bow’s Bookshelf does not charge authors anything to have their books published. We do offer appointments for editing, consulting, etc. There is a fee for these services but they are completely optional.
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Yes, your child will earn royalties on each copy of their book sold. Bow’s Bookshelf gives the author 50% of the net proceeds from audio books and ebooks and 20% of the net proceeds from print copies. if your child is not also the illustrator, those royalty percentages will be split 50/50 between the illustrator and the author.
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No, Bow’s Bookshelf expects that submitted picture books are already written and illustrated. Bow’s Bookshelf splits royalties between both authors and illustrators but they will not pay for illustrations.
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The time commitment after your child’d manuscript is selected is minimal. You will only need to be in contact with the publisher for the final edits, the cover design, and information on where to send royalties to. Occasionally, the publisher may reach out with additional questions.