Families and educators can provide these consistent safety messages through a range of Protective Behaviours resources.  Below are a few recommendations that focus on PBs, body safety and consent.

Picture Books

Lottie’s Big Feelings by Christine Camp

A storybook about FEELINGS and meeting new FRIENDS.  This first book from the Little Adventures Series is based on topic one of the Protective Behaviours educational program.  Lottie Lamb discovers that she has big feelings, calm feelings and feelings can change when we ask for help.

Kaylo’s Amazing Body by Christine Camp (Coming Soon!)

What are our bodies telling us through our Early Warning Signs (EWS) or Body Signals? In book 2 of the Little Adventures Series, Kaylo Koala discovers he needs to listen to the body signals (EWS) in his body and recognise why his body is reacting to scary situations.  Kaylo learns that everyone feels uncomfortable EWS and asking for help and sharing our worries can help us feel calm again. 

Christine Camp shop

No Means No! by Jayneen Sanders
Teaching children about personal boundaries, respect, and consent.
Check out books and other resources by Jayneen Sanders e2epublishing Shop

Matilda Learns a Valuable Lesson by Holly-ann Martin
Matilda learns that if you feel unsafe, you need to tell a trusted adult.  Children also learn to keep seeking help until they feel safe again. 

Hayden-Reece Learns a Valuable Lesson that Private means ‘Just for You’ by Holly-ann Martin
Miss Martin teaches her class the difference between Public and Private and explains that no one should see or touch their private body parts without their consent and that Private means ‘Just for you’.

Someone should have told me by Holly-ann MartinA book for adults to share with children.  It uses colourful, fun illustrations and simple statements prefaced by “Someone should have told me…,” to help adults talk to children about potential online and face-to-face dangers.

Check out Holly-ann Martin’s book, games, posters, and bundles. I highly recommend the feelings Bingo! Safe4Kids Shop 

The following books are available online, please check out Amazon, Booktopia, Book Depository and other online book stores for availability and prices.

My Body Belongs to Me by Jill Starishevsky
The rhyming story and simple, friendly illustrations provide a way to sensitively share and discuss the topic, guiding young children to understand that their private parts belong to them alone.  The overriding message of My Body Belongs to Me is that if someone touches your private parts, you need to tell a trusted adult.

Only For Me by Michelle Derrig
Endorsed by one of Australia’s leading child protection agencies Act for Kids, and a resource of the Child Protection Unit at Sydney Children’s Hospital.   A rhyming book that gently introduces children to critical information that they need to know, to protect themselves.

Everybody’s got a Bottom by Tess Rowley
This book uses correct anatomical terms and emphasises that you can always talk about your body or any concerns you have with your parents or another trusted adult. It is a story about Ben and his brother and sister learning and talking together about bodies.

The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside
A funny and reassuring look at dealing with worries and anxiety, to be used as a springboard into important conversations with children about managing big worries.

My Body Belongs to Me from My Head to My Toes by Created by Pro Familia, Illustrator Dagmar Geisler.
An educational tool to help instil confidence in children when it comes to their bodies. The narrative of the story is led by a girl named Clara, who encourages kids to say “no” if they are uncomfortable with physical contact.

RESOURCES

Talk Soon. Talk Often Healthy WA
An age-appropriate guide for parents talking to their kids about sex.

Yarning quiet ways Yarning quiet ways is based on the Talk soon and was developed in consultation with Aboriginal families. It gives tips to parents of young Aboriginal people to help make yarning about sex and relationships a little easier.

Access the documents here.  Free hardcopies bulk orders (Western Australian schools and organisations) can be made via www.dohquickmail.com.au. Register with an organisational email.

SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS

Kids Helpline – Kids can talk confidentially anytime for any reason with a trained counsellor. 1800 551 800 https://kidshelpline.com.au/

WACCS – WA speciality provider of Protective Behaviours, Cyber Safety and Child Protection Literacy programs and resources.

PB West – WA provider specialising in Safeguarding children and strengthening communities and offering resources and support education training and programs for adults, teachers, families, and children.  

* Do you have a PBs picture book or activity resource you are using and would recommend? Share the resource and your thoughts on my FB page: (PB) resources for early years children feel free to add other age-appropriate PBs resources.

This blog is updated with new resources and available support.

The post Resources to teach children Protective Behaviours appeared first on Christine Camp.

Protective Behaviours (PBs) provides a range of skills and strategies to help prevent and reduce child abuse and violence in the community. PBs is mandatory in Western Australian schools and consists of age-appropriate topics beginning in the early years of school.^[1]https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/p-10-curriculum/curriculum-browser/syllabus/health-and-physical-education-overview/glossary/protective-behaviours

Protective Behaviours (PBs) is a universal empowerment program

As a holistic approach for everyone, the PBs program is integrated into the school curriculum, reinforced at home, and delivered in communities to educators, professionals, and families.

For children, Protective Behaviours education focuses on personal safety, which enables them to assert their right to physical and psychological safety and to seek help from trusted adults if they feel unsafe.

This universal framework consists of themes, strategies, and concepts that develop personal body safety and life skills.  It teaches children emotional literacy, assertiveness, resilience, persistence, optimism, to problem solve and be adventurous in safely risking on purpose.

In Australia, the origins of PBs served as a child abuse prevention program.  Although the PBs program applications have universally evolved over the years and are known by other names, the fundamental foundations as a body safety program remain consistent.

Protective Behaviours educational program

Just like any framework, Protective Behaviours (PBs) education follows a pattern of topics.  The teaching of these topics in chronological succession equips children with foundational knowledge of the themes and strategies that are recalled and built upon as new key learning topics are introduced.  As children progress through the topics, they are developing a language of safety and provided with strategic skills to make decisions about their personal safety and wellbeing. 

Protective Behaviours is reinforced by two core themes:

We all have the right to feel safe at all times.

We can talk with someone about anything, no matter what it is.

Key learning PB topics

• Theme 1 – ‘We all have the right to feel safe at all times’ and Feelings
• Early Warning Signs
• Safety Continuum and Problem Solving – Risking on/for purpose
• Theme 2 – ‘We can talk with someone about anything, no matter what it is’
• Networks – Network hand or Safety Networks
• Safe Surprises and Unsafe Secrets
• Persistence
• Body Awareness/Ownership/Safety
• Public and Private
• Personal Space and Consent
• Assertiveness – The Right to Say ‘No’
• Theme reinforcement

Protective interruption is any action taken to interrupt a potentially unsafe situation. This includes keeping children safe from making inappropriate public disclosures.  It protects both the child disclosing and the participants.  It is a strategy that prevents a child from disclosing in front of other children.  It provides the child who is disclosing with the opportunity to disclose in a safe, confidential, and private space. 

*Most schools have a designated PBs program to teach the educational program to students.  PBs Topics may have different names and be in a different sequence of teaching. 

There are many recommended PBs Picture books, games and resources to teach the PBs program.  Check out this blog Resources to teach children Protective Behaviours.

^[2]https://www.protectivebehaviours.org/what-does-protective-behaviours-mean

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At my book launch of Lottie’s Big Feelings in February 2022, Andrea Musulin, Protective Behaviours author and trainer revealed an overwhelming statistic that 20 children had been subjected to interviews about child sexual abuse (CSA) from December to early February 2022 in the local police district.  Andrea also revealed that sadly many of those interviews and disclosures would not go anywhere because the children were not empowered enough to give enough evidence to allow police to move onto the next level.

We don’t know what will happen to these children, but it is a wakeup call that unless communities empower children with their right to feel safe, we are going to hear of many more children who will be traumatised by child sexual abuse and not receive the support from an institution that wants to investigate further but simply can’t because children are not empowered with the knowledge.

So, what can be done? 

In the home, parents/carers and significant family members are the first and ongoing educators.  Through those shared experiences and daily interactions, children can learn and develop age-appropriate body safety skills.

Teaching Protective Behaviours (PBs) at home

• PBs related storybooks that engaged discussions about body safety
• Identify Early Warning Signs (EWS), the signals in a child’s body that make them feel yuck inside.  Wobbly legs, heartbeat fast…
• Identifying what they feel, who they can talk to about anything no matter how awful and who are those trusted adults.  Don’t assume who they are, let your child decide.
• Identify their personal space and decide who they want in their personal space.  Allow them to say no to hugs and kisses from family members and friends, and instead encourage them to use a high five or fist bump.
• Empower them that they are the boss of their own body.  Identify their private and public body parts, that private is just for ‘them’.  No one has the right to touch their body i.e., private parts without their permission, which may be a doctor or nurse for health reasons.  And they are not allowed to touch other people’s private parts.
• Discuss safe and unsafe secrets.  Safe secrets are like surprises, unsafe secrets can give them their EWS and they need to talk to someone they have identified as a trusted adult.
• Share the Kids helpline 1800 55 180 https://kidshelpline.com.au/.  Take a look around the site, there are different age-appropriate sections. 
• Become an advocate of the PBs program and when children share something about the PBs program that was taught at school, allow those opportunities to open discussions to further reinforce the PBs language of safety. 

PB parent resource WA Department of Education:

This resource is designed as a guide to protective behaviours for parents and carers.

Protective behaviours Parent resource
Schools and parents working together to help keep children safe

Protective Behaviours in Schools

The Protective behaviours (PBs) educational program is mandatory in WA and other parts of Australia. In WA, teachers in all schools are to teach the PBs program to students from early years to high school. 

Teachers have access to a range of protective behaviours educational resources to teach the program.  Protective behaviours education focuses on teaching students how to identify and avoid a range of potentially unsafe situations, including sexual abuse.^[1]https://gdhr.wa.gov.au/-/protective-behaviours

As with all aligned curriculum subjects, the learning and development of PBs education can provide children to establish a solid foundational beginning in the early years.  These age-appropriate learning concepts are embedded during the school years, providing students with the acquired knowledge to become effective and assertive in using these PBs concepts to keep themselves and others safe.

As Australia moves from a reporting (CSA) perspective to a cultural shift involving an – all of school, community approach to child safe (focused) organisations, ^[2]https://christinecamp.com.au/2021/11/13/children-are-our-future-what-the-hell-happened/ the PBs education program is going to play a pivotal role in changing social norms; those unwritten rules of what has been acceptable in silencing children and preventing them from disclosing.  When we empower children to break the silence, ask for help, give them the knowledge to speak about why they feel unsafe and support them, we are enabling them with the right to feel safe.

The PBs program is one of many programs that enhances the safety and wellbeing of children.  It’s not just a one-off conversation, it’s learning a new language that is socially embedded at home and implemented into the school culture.  If we are playing our part as an educator and advocate in whatever role we have in a child’s life, can you see how it will impact that child?  How it will impact a family, a classroom, a sporting team, and a community?  Can you see it?

Check out this blog What is Protective Behaviours.

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The handwritten notes describe their hell stories and agonise over those that didn’t make it within the failed systems in our nation that are supposed to protect and empower children.

And I share their grief of the hell that is this still happening in our nation with the statistics that most abused children (96%) are abused by someone known and trusted by them, with 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys experiencing child sexual abuse before the age of 18. ^[1]https://gdhr.wa.gov.au/-/protective-behaviours

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (RCIRCSA) 2013 – 2017 was Australia’s longest-running public inquiry:

• The former Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, announced the decision to establish the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on 12 November 2012.
• There were 42,041 call handles, 25,964 letters and emails received, 8,013 private sessions and 2,575 referrals to authorities, including the police.
• The Final report delivered on 15 December 2017 consists of 17 volumes and 409 recommendations that aim to make institutions safer for children.
• The cost was 342.3 million

More than 4000 individual institutions failed children across many decades in Australia.

What’s the future of children in Australia?

Out of the RCIRCSA 17 volumes, volume 6 ^[2]https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/making-institutions-child-safe lists a road map for moving forward in creating a safer Australia for all children. This volume looks at the role community prevention could play in making communities and institutions child safe with 10 child safe standards ^[3]https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/national-principles that will make institutions safer for children. 

While the focus is currently on schools, the national child safe standards are recommended for all businesses and organisations that engage in child-related work. These organisations that implement the standards will demonstrate their leadership and commitment to child safety and wellbeing and will be known as ‘organisations of choice’, because children, young people, families, and communities will feel confident that they provide safe environments for the rights of children. ^[4]https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/national-principles/about-national-principles

As we turn into the fifth year of the RCIRCSA and the implementations of the report’s recommendations, many schools are implementing ‘prevention education’ with the inclusion of Protective Behaviours education to be delivered on a national scale, as the RCIRCSA report’s recommendation, 6.2 b) states ‘prevention education delivered through preschool, school and other community institutional settings that aim to increase children’s knowledge of child sexual abuse and build practical skills to assist in strengthening self-protective skills and strategies. The education should be integrated into existing school curricula and link with related areas such as respectful relationships education and sexuality education. It should be mandatory for all preschools and schools.’ ^[5]https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_recommendations.pdf

In WA, all schools are required to deliver to student’s appropriate protective behaviours education aligned with the WA curriculum.

Protective Behaviours education focuses on developing the skills of empowerment, communication, self-esteem, resilience, social skills, and other life skills to prevent abuse, reduce violence and promote life-enriching rather than life-depleting experiences. It encourages students to:

• assert their right to feel safe
• listen to what their body tells them
• follow up by taking action to either solve problems on their own or to seek assistance from other people. ^[6]https://gdhr.wa.gov.au/-/protective-behaviours

In Australia, the origins of PBs served as a child abuse prevention program.  Although the PBs program applications have universally evolved over the years and are known by other names, the fundamental foundations as a body safety program remain consistent.^[7]https://christinecamp.com.au/pbs-consulting/

What can we do to help the future of the children in our communities?

• If your business or organisation is child-related, work towards becoming a child safe organisation.
• Is Protective Behaviours education mandatory in schools in your part of Australia? If not, visit your local member and ask why not?
• Is PBs education being delivered to students in the school where your child/children attend? While it may not be mandatory in all parts of Australia to implement PBs education into the school curriculum, those schools that are already moving towards creating a safe environment for children could be considered ‘schools of choice.’

‘Message to Australia’ gave those who bravely told their story to the Royal Commission an opportunity to share a message with the Australian community about their experience and hopes for creating a safer future for children. These messages were published in a commemorative book that was handed over to the National Library of Australia during the final sitting of the Royal Commission on 14 December 2017.

The post Children are our future, what the hell happened? appeared first on Christine Camp.

I read a story on a forum where a person had spent a ton of money working with a graphic designer to self-publish their children’s picture book.  When it came time to upload the cover and internal book to Amazon, it was rejected because it was not an Amazon standard trim size.

The devastated author shared her wisdom to help others not fall into the trap of working with a professional that did not know about industry standards.

If you are self-publishing, you are the boss and the client.  As a client prior to working with an illustrator or graphic designer, take some time and do your own research on page count, trim sizes, and illustration formats.  Your designer team may also offer suggestions, but the trim size will need to align with how you will print your book. 

There are standard trim sizes with a common page count of 32 pages.  Authors can make decisions on page count and trim size based on cost-effective printing. 

While researching for trim sizes consider these suggestions:

• Do you want paperbacks or hardcopy books?  The cost is much higher for hardcopy books. 
• What sizes are established publishers using for their books in your genre?
• What size is your target market buying in your categories?
• If cost is not a major factor, consider the scenery layout in your story and does it align more with a certain trim size?
• If you are going to use Ingram Sparks and/or Amazon for print and distribution, check out their trim sizes.  There are standard trim sizes for both companies.

Trim sizes that are available by IngramSpark and Amazon’s KDP Print which has a similar list.

Storyboards

Once you have decided on your trim size, the storyboard is a perfect tool to plan and prepare for your book.  Use the storyboard as a visual tool to design the directional layout of your picture book.

Consider these suggestions with Storyboards:

• Create your own storyboard mock-up of what your layout looks like with text and illustrations, there are templates on the web. 
• Research similar genre illustrations and image scenery to get ideas for your book layout.
• If you are searching for an illustrator, discuss the types of mediums they use and does this align with your picture book vision.   
• If you are creative enough to write your story, don’t be afraid to come up with ideas for imagery scenes.
• If you are working with an illustrator, share your illustration ideas.
• If you are working with a graphic designer, share the black and white storyboard images with them so they can give you their professional suggestions with layout and scene ideas.

This part of the process is still in the infant stage of creating your book and it’s where you will work with your illustrator and graphic designer and give them room to use their creative genius.

When choosing a book team in self-publishing, it’s important to research, read testimonies, ask for examples of their work, and discuss copyright, pricing, and time frames.  And ask for a proposal with all this information.  This is your storybook that you are going to present to the world with your name on the front cover, alongside the illustrator.  Be proud of what you are creating for kids to read. 

And, while there are expectations of e-books dominating the book industry when it comes to children’s stories, don’t discount the power of printed books.  Those young consumers enjoy the look and feel of beautifully presented picture books and tuck them under their pillows or pop them in their schools’ bags to share with their kindy mates. 

References

Design a children’s picture book

Thinking Thursday Storyboarding

Forbes.com

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Holding that traumatic vision in my mind, I strolled to the edge of my balcony and stared at the man.  Who would plough a field filled with deadly snakes?

The farmer of the field walked down the path and waved to the worker.  There was a brief exchange between the men, and then the worker left.  Later, I was inside my bungalow when I heard the sound of a chugging tractor.  I grabbed a coffee and headed back out onto the terrace and sat to enjoy the day’s entertainment. 

A few hours later, the worker in knee-deep mud pulled his rotary tractor around that field like he was mowing a lawn.  The machine was (in my eyes) massive and yet he operated the tractor with such ease and skill.  Wasn’t he afraid he would get bitten?

If he was afraid, fear did not show in his face or his body language. On one of his many by-passers, he raised his rice hat and grinned.  His toothless smile was priceless.  It was nearly dark when he finished.  The previous scruffy field was now ready for planting.

The farmer appeared as the worker was leaving.  The hearty wave from the farmer acknowledging his gratitude of thanks to the worker, who nodded in return, raised his hand and then rode off into the sunset on his formidable tractor. 

“There are snakes in that field,” I yelled, walking slowly over to the farmer, also the owner of my small bungalow.

 “That’s why I pay that man to work my field for me,” he chuckled.  He walked up to the doorway of his grand little house, turned around and lifted one of his aging fingers, “Today, he was the king of the field.” 

There’s a saying in business ‘work smarter, not harder,’ and the 80/20 rule. When starting out in business with a small budget, we are the king of the field and the worker. On my daily to-do list was a string of tasks, from working with my book team to learning business systems and redesigning my website. And many times I got bogged down in the little tasks. When I started my small business course, the list grew dramatically. Then, one day I wrote a list of what was essential in launching my business. I already knew what I enjoyed doing and could improve through learning. The two big picture tasks were branding and my website.

I reached out to my book graphic designer and I spent time working through a branding journal and then a 1-hour zoom to work out what she needed to produce a story of my branding. The time and money I spent on this branding task was incredibly valuable and I started using the branding tools within all aspects of my business. It saved me a lot of time in designing my SM platforms and posts. The original logo design with fonts and style sheets was also the preparation I needed for my website.

With a tight budget, I researched government and local grants and found the WA ASBAS program. I signed up and worked with a content writer, social media specialist and finally found a WordPress guru. We worked together for six weeks, with weekly 2-hour back to back sessions. Each week we recorded the sessions for me to play back and learn how to update my site. I was given homework and encouraged to have a go, do more research and get creative with my business story. If I broke something, she could fix it and show me how to fix it!

There are some people that you meet in business that do more than just professionally produce what you need and tick the task box. The kings of your business field for a season will ‘get’ what you do and minimise your risks. Be patient to find them.

The WA ASBAS program ended in August 2021, with a new program and structure to start in September 2021.

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“But I like to be here. Oh, I like it a lot!”
Said the Cat in the Hat to the fish in the pot.
“I will NOT go away. I do NOT wish to go!
And so,” said the Cat in the Hat, “So so so …
I will show you another good game that I know!”

From the ‘Cat in the Hat’ by Dr Seuss

Children’s book authors suggest that it is not that the big publishing companies do not like rhyming picture books they love them if the rhyme and meter are perfect. 

Rhyming books for babies and younger children are wonderful.  The perfect pattern of repetition and sing-song like rhyme captures their imagination, and why when I wrote ‘Lottie’s Big Feelings’ in prose, I was determined to re-write the story in rhythm. 

I worked with a rhyming expert and after four edits and comments suggesting I reconsider my decision and write in prose, I paused my project and signed up for an online rhyming workshop. After the course, I submitted my rhyming story for an assessment with an international rhyming editor.  When they replied and asked for the original prose story, I asked why? 

I was surprised by their response with the simple reality that my story was stronger in prose. Writing in rhyme would also restrict the way that I was writing the story.  After several edits, I loved the results.  The story had a rhymical feel with a whimsical element of Florence Flamingo speaking in rhythm adding to her flamboyant character.  The rhyme would not have worked on the other two characters. And, as a storyteller, I would not have the freedom to describe hats with pearls popping out tiny curls, shrugging fury shoulders and red sparkly shoes and fluffy tutus. 

Four reasons why you need to consider writing narrative rather than rhyme:

1. Focus on the story that will help develop a child’s memory, vocabulary, concentration, and imagination.  Some children just love hearing the magic in the story.
2. The story comes first.  You have a beautiful, crafted story plot with strong characters and emotions. Rhyming the story may detract from the content rather than empower it.
3. You are a natural prose narrative writer with a unique voice.  Discover what is distinctly different about you as a storyteller and get creative and explore ways to introduce whimsical elements.
4. Michelle Medlock Adams shares there are top rhyming felonies in her online course ‘When Rhyme is a Crime’, and to not rhyme for the sake of rhyming.  Authors need to write their stories in prose and rhythm and find the perfect fit!

If you are going to write rhythming picture books, I suggest learning the art of writing meter and rhyme.  It is a skill and getting connected with the right experts, who are also children’s book authors will teach you that there are various kinds of rhyme and help you to find the right one.

I was fortunate to meet experts in the rhyming field who guided me to write this series in prose, but as a storyteller finding my stronger version in my next series just might be rhyme. 

Lottie’s Big Feelings Picture Book

If you would like support with rhyming your story, I suggest Jacking Hosking’s who is an Australian rhyming expert.  Jackie’s Rhyming Manuscript Editing Service

When Rhyme is a Crime with Michelle Medlock Adams

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While some authors are enjoying riding their publishing wave, others may be struggling with the basics of the whitewash and getting started.

Serious authors, like surfers, understand their terrain and work with the elements.  From understanding our own natural writing style to learning from others and working with a team to produce the best version of a book we can.

Now more than ever, any writer with a good idea for a book can ride the wave well.  The major keys are knowledge of the platforms in the marketplace, choosing the best option to publish your books and getting your book under the nose of a targeted audience.

Amazon is the biggest bookstore on the planet, serving a whopping 225 million customers.  On Cyber Monday alone, Amazon sells on average 300 items a second.  Amazon has 96 warehouses in the world (Australia is joining them), and these fulfilment centres are the size of 20 football fields.

In its humble beginnings, Amazon was a bookstore. Now it is the ‘everything store.’  Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of Amazon is a revolutionist and not afraid to disrupt the old ways.  He believes that “the common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’.

Let’s look at a tiny snapshot of why authors are signing up with the #12 company on the Fortune 500 list.

1. KINDLE Amazon’s digital game changer

The Kindle store is one giant networking machine with a massive list of books in the millions. Amazon puts those titles (written by anyone) in front of readers as recommendations.  These suggestions on what to read next are based on among other things, the customer’s reading habits.  For Amazon, it’s not about the competition it’s their obsession with keeping customers coming back to the Kindle store, ready to show them their favourite books to read.

2. KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING (KDP) The platform without a publisher

A staggering sum of authors that were turned down from agents, written off by publishers or found their manuscripts stuck in the slush pile switched to self-publishing, and their book sales skyrocketed through the digital roof on Amazon’s KDP.

It’s open to anyone and with KDP Select authors can opt in for 70% of the profits back in their pockets.  There is just one big string attached.  Authors who enrol in the Select Program must commit their digital books exclusively to Amazon during the exclusive period.  Some Authors go wide and upload their books to a range of distributors including KDP, while others choose KDP Select and either hire professionals or do the hard yards themselves in understanding this platform and getting their books in front of readers.

3. KDP SELECT A Program with Benefits

Signing up to KDP Select is not a guarantee that authors will make sales, it’s a program, which includes:

• Automatically available to Amazon Kindle readers who are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited
• Earn royalties under the Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP) Read program
• Available in the Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL) program
• Participate in Kindle Countdown Deals
• Offered for free for five days in each 90 day enrolment period

Check out Amazon US  for more benefits.  Australians can make their KDP published books available for readers in the Australia Kindle Store.

4. ALL IN EXCLUSIVELY OR GOING WIDE?

The publishing industry is in rapid change.  Forums are a great way to gain information on keeping up to speed with changes and an opportunity to gain knowledge about why authors are choosing to go exclusively with KDP Select or distribute on multiple book sale platforms.  Here are a few suggestions from seasoned authors:

• If you’re new to the self-publishing world, KDP Select may boost your discovery and keep the starting out process simple.
• If you experimented with KDP Select and it’s working now, don’t always assume it will keep working
• Well known authors may choose going wide to increase readership
• Going wide allows the freedom of controlling where you want to distribute your book

On a recent forum discussion, an author reached out asking for help with distributing their books.  The author had novels and a children’s book.

Forum Answer:  “On Amazon, there are 70% and 35% royalties. To get 70%, your eBook must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. For a short story, you would probably have to price at 99c, and for that, you would just get 35%.  If you go with 70% and it’s a picture book, consider the download fees compared to 35% where there are no download fees.”

The author decided to keep their novels in KDP Select and go wide with the children’s book.

To sum up the decision, there is no right or wrong answer although factors like genre, the number of books, author’s goals, where your audience is and where you are in your career can point authors in the right direction.

Revolutionists like Jeff Bozos don’t get stuck on the ‘why’.  They push beyond reason and tap into something that’s never been seen or done before.  It’s like their brain is uniquely wired to dream up something unique that’s purposeful.  Like Amazon’s octocopters.  Those mini-drones will soon be dropping our purchases right to the front door within minutes or hours of our sale.  But wouldn’t that require warehouses in mass locations all over the world?  Yes, it would, and it’s why Amazon is looking to the sky.

References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/jeff_bezos_449987
http://fortune.com/fortune500/amazon-com/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2017/05/24/the-worlds-largest-retailers-2017-walmart-cvs-amazon/#243e64c620b5
http://fortune.com/2016/12/29/amazon-floating-warehouses/
https://pixabay.com/en/beach-ocean-outdoors-sea-seascape-1836366/

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The chances are that most people who desire to write a book get stuck in a cycle of starting and stopping. Months or years later, people think about their book goal and start writing again. The number of people that finish writing a book, then move through the entire pre-publishing stages of editing, copy editing, book cover design and the formatting process to finally publishing their book is approximately 30 out of 1,000 people.

Here are seven reasons why you need to write, finish and publish your story:

1. Ideas for stories form in many ways. Stories are superpower messages that can stir souls, enlarge lives and catapult dreams into a reality. What message do you carry in your heart? If there was one incredible opportunity to stand on a stage and share your message, what would it be? Think about it. Write your thoughts down. Break it into dot points and start writing your story.

2. You are a creator, creative’s build value, and impact people. What stories have you read that have inspired and challenged your heart?

3. Talents need the power to fly. Invest in your talent and let it develop:
• Write every day or most days. Don’t edit, just write in short spurts.
• Read valuable and empowering content from blogs and books.
• Watch movies that are based on novels or autobiographies.
• Watch author and writers videos and be inspired by why they write.
• Try out editing programs. I recently purchased Grammarly after trying out the free version. I write and then enable the editing program.

What’s the motive behind an inspiring authors story?

4. Become an explorer and have fun. There are no-cost online writing groups, bloggers and Facebook tribes all with the common goal to fulfil their dream. Join a group, connect with others and find a cheering squad. You don’t have to go this writing road alone.

5. Seek out a master expert. If you are starting out on this writing journey, search for others who can help you. Many authors and writers offer programs, mentoring and coaching for young aspiring creators. These experts have the traction we need to catch the fire of our dream and ignite passion. Do your research in connecting with experts.

6. Storytelling is an art. And, there are stories that must be told, to bring hope and empower the broken and lost. Stories also need to be passed on to others, like the stories and songs of old. They remind us of who we are and why we are here.

7. Who in your tribe has written a book? Is there a significant other in your life who would support you in your dream? If you are the first, be the forerunner and encourage others in your life to write their stories.

Resources:
http://www.marketingandsalesbooks.com/nl/contribution/1273/the-top-reason-people-never-finish-writing-their-book?c=73

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