Talk title
Creating and Publishing a Book With Your Daughter or Son
What is this talk about?
Sharing a strategic and subjective approach to making a book with your daughter or son, with the focus on creating it together, protecting it, publishing it and getting it out properly.
The talk overview
This talk walks through making a book with your daughter or son, from the first idea to the steps after release, with the creative side and the business side considered together.
This talk’s touch points run across the creative side, the print and format side, the protection of the work, the publishing and distribution options, and the steps after release. They apply to a picture book, an illustrated story or a longer chapter book.
I am not an attorney, and none of this is legal advice. What I share is our experience and my opinion, and I mark the opinions as opinions.
What families can leave with
- A clearer picture of the choices involved in making and publishing a book together.
- Options and considerations for protecting the work and publishing it at a cost that fits.
- A list of the records, identifiers and steps to look into, and where to find them.
Takeaways and touch points
Creating it together
- Deciding the roles a parent and child can each take, and keeping both voices in the book.
- Building the concept before the pages are written, and what to settle first.
- Planning the pages, from the story to the extras, and the options along the way.
- Choosing how the pictures are made, from the child’s own art to an illustrator or applications of AI, and being transparent about which one was used.
- Adding hidden elements and interactive pages for young readers.
Print and format considerations
- Considering trim size options, and what each one means for the layout, the cover and the cost.
- Understanding bleed, margins and layout for a picture book versus a longer book.
- Weighing page count, paper and color, and how they affect the spine and the print price.
- Preparing print files and ebook files, and the pieces to consider in each.
- Recognizing the cover file differences between printers, including the barcode.
- Knowing what to look for when checking and approving a proof.
Protecting it
- Approaching copyright registration, and the parts of the application to consider, including what to claim and what to exclude.
- Understanding how the mandatory deposit with the Library of Congress works, and when it is due.
- Setting up the Preassigned Library of Congress Control Number before publication, and what you will eventually send in for it.
- Applying best practices in setting up ISBNs and ASINs, one for each format, and properly filling out the details.
- Setting up a professional and proper imprint.
- Explaining what an ISNI number is, why a child can have one too, and how to set it up.
Publishing and distribution
- Explaining self publishing, hybrid and traditional routes, and what each one means for rights, cost and control.
- Using Amazon KDP and IngramSpark together or separately, and what each one reaches.
- Considering ways to price, and the benefits of wholesale discounts and returns for stores, libraries and schools.
- Comparing the use or non-use of exclusivity programs, and what they allow and rule out.
- Looking at a couple of ways to publish affordably, and where the money is worth spending.
Post promotion steps
- Knowing what to look for and what to add to a website, from the book page to a trade and library guide.
- Finding where to go for the records of the book that build authority, and which ones to set up first.
- Suggesting a book to libraries and sharing it with schools.
- Considering a child’s privacy at every step, from the name on the cover to social media.
Closing the talk
Many parents talk about creating something with their kids. This is one way to do it together and get it out there, and it may inspire and motivate your daughter or son to do more than they thought was possible. This is one set of ideas, options and strategies worth considering. It is not the only way.
The event
A talk with time for questions from kids and parents. The length is flexible, from 30 minutes to an hour, to fit the library’s schedule. Kids can try the seek and find from our book, and we sign books afterwards.
For parents, grandparents, teachers and kids of any age, and for any adult who wants to make a book with a child.
Questions about this talk
What is this talk about?
Sharing a strategic and subjective approach to making a book with your daughter or son, with the focus on creating it together, protecting it, publishing it and getting it out properly.
Who is this talk for?
For parents, grandparents, teachers and kids of any age, and for any adult who wants to make a book with a child.
What kind of book does it apply to?
The touch points apply to a picture book, an illustrated story or a longer chapter book.
How long is the talk?
The length is flexible, from 30 minutes to an hour.
Is this legal advice?
I am not an attorney, and none of this is legal advice. What I share is our experience and my opinion, and I mark the opinions as opinions.
The talk sheet
Download
A Family Co-Authoring Blueprint to Consider talk sheet (PDF, 5 pages) 121 KB
The talk overview, the takeaways and touch points, and the speaker and presenter bio in one file an event organizer, a program committee or a booker can forward. Searchable text and screen reader ready.
Book this talk
Directly, or through a referral partner. Email speaking@lorenweisman.com or call +1-850-391-8053. Run times, what a room needs, the terms and the other talk titles are on the speaking page.
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Speaker and presenter bio
Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist based in Orlando, Florida, working worldwide. He helps businesses and individuals build authentic and authoritative brands by aligning messaging, optics and communication.
He works with established experts, and with people who hold real knowledge and experience but lack a clear brand presence. The approach emphasizes transparency and truth, amplifying genuine expertise over hype.
His background includes work as a drummer and producer on 700+ albums, television production credits with ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and TLC, and consulting roles across a range of industries. He has written five books. Four are published under his own name, including Music Business For Dummies from John Wiley and Sons, The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business from Greenleaf Book Group, and Alphabet Animal Adventures Across America, written with his daughter. The fifth is a 2026 book released under a pen name.
As a speaker he delivers down to earth, educational and applicable presentations. Every talk is tailored to the level of understanding and the size of the audience, from small board rooms to full capacity convention centers. There are no locked in slide decks and no one size fits all presentations.
Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts.
Weisman is the host of the brand communications and optics podcast Wait What Really OK.
© 2011 to 2026 Loren Weisman. All Rights Reserved ® ℗
A Family Co-Authoring Blueprint to Consider talk title
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The Consulting Side of This Talk
This subject is also worked on directly with clients. It pairs with creative brand development for authors and books listed under services and options, including the discovery, the audit and the blueprint where I look with you at what you are being told by others.