Paperbacks + ebooks

Projects in Partnership

We believe in creating a better world through literature. We believe in creating a safe community through education. But we also believe in aiding people — those who were not so lucky to have grown up in safe environments — with publishing opportunities. Blackberry often works with incarcerated youth to help them develop talents that are nearly impossible to realize inside the dark walls of prison. Little Ricky’s Ambition is such a project, in which we coached the author, edited and proofread the book, financed an illustrator and helped the author to achieve his dream of publishing a book, via the very excellent Next Chapter Publishing.

Publishing for Picture Book Authors

Submissions are open

HRPR Blackberry Publishing is our imprint for the publication of picture books.

Get your picture book idea written, published, and marketed for $1500 USD.

Idea – Do you have a story idea that would make a fantastic picture book? Have you written one but are having trouble finding a publisher or don’t have the skills to self-publish? We’d like to hear your idea and help you get it into publishing shape, or take a look at your finished manuscript and talk to you about the next steps.

Editing — Don’t have a manuscript? We’ll help you write one. Most picture books are between 500−1000 words. Write a short outline for your story in a 3 part act: Beginning, Middle, End. Then make notes about what happens in the beginning, more notes on the middle of the story, then a nice ending with a lesson learned or a happily ever after. Write as much of the story as possible, and keep it under 1500 words. We’ll edit it, get it into spectacular shape.

Characters – Give your characters names and descriptions. Sketch them if you are able to, but it’s not necessary. It’s best to let the illustrator read your story and notes and create the art of the book. When you decide on an illustrator, you will work with them directly to create your picture book characters.

Illustrations – We do not have an illustrator on our staff. We can recommend some great kidlit artists and introduce you (Nivya Kuriakose, for example, who illustrated Princess Fluffy Plumpkin Eats Pink), or give you tips on how to find a high quality illustrator with fair prices. We’ll need to communicate with your illustrator briefly to discuss the size and bleed area before they start. And we need all of the illustrations and cover image before we start formatting.

Formatting – First we will design your ebook. There are a couple of options, though we recommend the interactive ebook. The illustrations and text pop up individually by tapping on a Kindle screen. Once you decide on the ebook options and the size of your paperback, our in-house pro will create the files. The ebook interior and ebook cover, and the files for the paperback interior and paperback cover, will be meticulously checked and perfected before publishing.

Publishing – You will need a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account. You can go to the KDP website and login with your Amazon account. It’s quick and secure. We can walk you through the process — it’s actually very straightforward — or you can give us temporary access to upload the files and make sure all the right boxes are ticked, keywords added, before hitting the Publish button. We can publish the ebook and paperback on the same day.

Book tour – The HRPR Blackberry Publishing package includes a virtual book tour at Blackberry Book Tours (4 day tour, webpage, 12+ reviews posted on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter), and we’ll send a digital copy to a bunch of avid readers that love to buy ebooks and post reviews. You’ll get critiques on numerous platforms, including 12+ on Amazon; you’ll get a nice launch there. Price – The cost of helping you write your story, publishing it, giving advice along the way, and launching with a book tour and general PR is $800 USD.

Note: This does not include the cost of the illustrations; again, we’re happy to help you find a good illustrator and make sure the cost is fair. Expect to pay $25–$75 per illustration, though you can keep down the cost by not illustrating every page.

Contact us here.