ASA’s Children’s Book Projects | The Adventures of Cargo
Welcome to our children’s book projects! Below, you can follow along with some of the children’s book projects that we have helped bring to life, including The Adventures of Cargo.
If you have a children’s book idea that you’ve always wanted to create but didn’t know how then don’t hesitate to contact us at Author Services Australia. We have successfully assisted Australian authors to self-publish their children’s books through our affordable children’s book illustration services.
Let’s jump straight into a little behind-the-scenes look at one of our exciting children’s book projects.
Creating ‘The Adventures of Cargo the Army Truck’ an Illustrated Children’s Book
Welcome to the creation of ‘The Adventures of Cargo the Army Truck: Cargo Gets A New Job!’
When Paul first approached me, he had a great idea for a children’s book based on his original and iconic ex-Australian Army International 4×4 truck. The Australian Army originally used this truck before being purchased at auction by William ‘Billy’ Baird OAM, late of Hay, New South Wales.
Billy used the truck to deliver supplies for many years to communities that traditional methods couldn’t reach. Years later, Cargo was bought by Paul Dekmetzian and fully restored to his original glory. You can see the full story of Cargo in this fabulous YouTube video, Billy Baird’s Australian Army Truck. I’ll drop the video at the bottom of this article.
The Writing Journey | Children’s Book Projects
In book one, we wanted to tell the historical story of Cargo. Book 2 will continue the tale before we divert to some of the great adventures that Cargo may or may not have had! We kept the first book very close to the YouTube clip and the stories about Billy and Cargo.
Next, it’s off to the editors. The editors look at the story and then assist with character development, reading ease, and ensuring that the story flows cohesively from start to finish. If something isn’t right in your story, the editors will find it and fix it or tell you how to fix it.
The Illustration Journey
Below, you can see the evolution of Cargo through sketches created by one of our very talented children’s book illustrators.
As you can see, we started with a Disney Pixar style of illustration with eyes, mouth, and eyebrows. However, we didn’t believe that it truly reflected the historic nature of Cargo. We also kept the styling of Cargo very accurate. All illustrations begin with sketches. After approval of the sketches, we move to full colour and detailed line work.
The final figure is what Cargo looks like with linework and color added. Once all sketches are approved, colour is added, and the images are ready for the next step!
The Formatting/Design Journey
Once the illustrations have been completed, it’s off to be formatted by my lead designer, Chrissy. Chrissy chooses a font that she thinks works well with the children’s book and then places all the text onto the illustrations.
During the formatting stage, front matter and back matter, copyright, dedications, about the author, etc., are all added to the book.
During the formatting and design stage, Chrissy will take an image from your book to create your cover. For example, in Cargo, we used two separate illustrations. We spliced them together to create a visually impacting cover that would look great on the paperback and stand-out digital platforms.
The End of the Journey – Publishing
The final part of the journey is self-publishing, where you take your book files and upload them to the self-publishing platform of your choice! If you’re struggling to choose a self-publishing platform, then check out this article: The Best Self-Publishing Platforms to Self-Publish Your Books!
Many thanks to Paul for letting me be a part of the story and the creation of ‘The Adventures of Cargo the Army Truck: Cargo Gets A New Job!’ If you would like to purchase a copy of Cargo, you can head over to Amazon and grab a copy for yourself by hitting the link above.
If you have been dreaming of creating a children’s book but always thought it was too hard, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us at Author Services Australia. Our friendly and professional team is standing by to assist you. We also offer affordable children’s book formatting services and children’s book editing.