Help! I need advice about publishing my children's book which tackles Domestic Abuse. What do I do now?

[dragonrabbit]

I posted in Creative Writing topic but there's no traffic, so I'm posting here too :)

Please help, I am a total newbie to this world of publishing.

I wrote a short story (1356 words), aimed at children (but to be honest I think it would appeal to an older audience too), which explains domestic abuse using animal metaphor. I am also in the process of illustrating it.

I would really love to get my book out there but not sure which avenue to go down.

Last year I was receiving therapy via Women's Trust. I sent the story to my therapist who was very moved by it and thought WT may be interested in using it. She sent it off to her manager, who also liked it, and the story was sent to the CEO of WT back in November. I haven't heard back as yet...should I just wait? Would it be a good idea for me to get my work published through them?

I also tried self publishing on Kindle - I sold 8 in about a month and then I got an email from Amazon saying they "detected activity on your account attempting to manipulate Kindle services" and had terminated my account! I emailed them back as I've no idea why, but heard nothing back. What's that all about then?? Is it worth pursuing this, and self publishing on Kindle again?

I've no idea about getting an agent, or sending it into a publisher - could anyone kindly advise me? Or should I try and self publish? I've heard of a website called Kickstart, where you can raise money to self publish - again wouldn't know where to start.

Another thing - do I need to have a physical book made, with illustrations all done, to send to a publisher, or should I send the manuscript in, typed up on a PDF?

Sorry I know this is long and if you've got to the end of this, I thank you. If you help me out, I am forever grateful.

I am just so mixed up about it all!

Good luck OP!

I'm a horrible pedant and honestly couldn't see any issue with random capitalisations in your OP! So what a twatty, unnecessary comment that was.

Maybe if your book is successful, you could do a follow-up about people who are needlessly nasty on social media? You could make the main character a grumpy cow

@jesusinthecabbagevan thank you. I didn't want to grace the fucker with a response, so thanks to you and @tenlittlecygnets for doing it for me

@dragonrabbit and I forgot to say, the book sounds like a fantastic idea and I think it could do a lot of good for children. I hope you'll come back and update!

PS I have a 9yo DS so would definitely buy a copy!

Happy to email a copy to anyone who is interested in reading and critiquing it.

It's basically about the life of a girl who was brought up in an abusive home, got involved in abusive relationship and eventually turned her life around as a woman.

I would love to read it - have pm'd you my email address, BUT only if you're comfortable sending it out - I'm no expert, but I suppose there is a small risk someone might nick it and claim it as their own work.