Is anyone out there an "average joe" like myself and had any luck with having a book published?

Question

If yes. Can you please tell me what you had to do. Where did you send your story? Did you illustrate it yourself? How much did it cost? Please help me I have written many children's stories and would like help on where to go from here. Thanks a whole lot and God Bless.

Answer 1

Hi,

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for in publishing, but there are several options for aspiring authors.
Getting into the big New York publishers isn't easy. There are thousands of writers who send their stuff every day, and sadly a large % of it ends up in the slush pile.
Another route to consider is ebook publishing, your audience is much more varied, but smaller. I don't know your genre, so I can't recommend any specific publishers, but a web search on ebook publishers will bring you a good sample. You can also try epicauthors.com or preditorsandeditors.com
If you're committed to the paper version, there's always
self publishing through a vanity press, or an organization like lulu.com
I hope this was helpful, and good luck to you.

Answer 2

No. It's virtually impossible the way things are set up now. The best thing is to look in the Writer's Market for a publisher of children's books. You can find it in the Reference or literature section of your public library.
If you have to go the self-publishing route, lulu.com is the best. You don't have to pay them your life's savings.
Publishers generally like to have their own artists do the illustrations, but if you are self-publishing, you would have to do them, or pay an artist.