Newton native starts children’s book publishing company

Newton native Brooke Van Sickle is on her journey to get her first children’s book out there in the world called “Pirates Stuck at ‘C’” and along the way she started her very own publishing company Bibliokid Publishing.

Van Sickle graduated from Newton in 2008 and attended Iowa State University before studying abroad in Italy, working in New York and starting her own wedding gown company among other ventures. Later, she realized what she really wanted to do.

“I ended up deciding I wanted to be a children’s book author so I studied that,” Van Sickle said.

Along the way Van Sickle said she noticed how funding is cut and there is less librarians coupled with other issues which made her want to give back with her new venture into being a children’s book author.

“I have always wanted to be able to give back to education in some way,” Van Sickle said.

Getting into a traditional publishing house Van Sickle mentioned would have taken a long time and potentially limited her ability to give back to education because she would have only received royalties which she mentioned them being somewhere around 12 percent for example.

“So, you make pennies on the dollar. So, to be able to really give back would be next to impossible,” Van Sickle said.

This led Van Sickle to creating her own publishing company called Bibliokid Publishing to better be able to give back to education. With her own publishing company Van Sickle is able to devote more of her profit to giving back.

“We donate 50 percent of our profits back,” Van Sickle said.

Now that Van Sickle has her own company she does have a list of goals she has set up for herself to accomplish. Among those goals includes establishing the company which includes three picture books coming out next year but also Van Sickle wants to sign more authors in the future.

“I really want to be able to give Midwest authors a platform because it is so hard to get into the publishing houses that are located on the coast,” Van Sickle said. “If you can write a book well enough it deserves a space on a children’s bookshelf.”

There are already multiple national charities Van Sickle mentioned they support including Pencils of Promise and First Book which Van Sickle said they were able to donate this year. For the future Van Sickle hopes they can also be local.

“Eventually we would like to do a partnership with more local schools so then we can give directly to Iowa schools,” Van Sickle said.

Bibliokid is more than just publishing books Van Sickle said it is also about educating other writers and doing educating in the schools as well as Van Sickle achieving her own goals as an author with her books.

Moving forward Pirates Stuck at “C” will be the first book to come out and it will look to be available in February 2020. Van Sickle said that for those who want the book it should be available most places for purchase.

“It’ll be everywhere,” Van Sickle said.

Bibliokid Publishing will bring education to schools and aspiring writers as well as giving back to schools throughout Iowa and throughout the nation with the national charities it supports among many other things all the while highlighting the importance of reading and literacy.

“Everyone should ready always, that is super important,” Van Sickle said.

If you would like more information on what Bibliokid Publishing has to offer you can visit https://bibliokidpublishing.com.

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com