The Surprisingly Fun Side Hustle: How I Turned a Story About My Daughter Into a Children’s Book With AI

Written by Manuel Alfaro | Family Finance Warrior

Sometimes a side hustle starts with a spreadsheet, a business idea, or a plan to make extra money.

Mine started with a story about my daughter.

I had an idea inspired by my daughter, Adeline, and what started as a simple family story eventually became Adeline and the Big Storm—a real children’s book that people can buy as a paperback or Kindle book on Amazon.

It was not as simple as typing a few sentences into artificial intelligence and clicking “publish.”

There were mistakes. There were images that did not look right. There were formatting problems. There were several attempts at getting pages, characters, covers, and book dimensions to work the way I wanted.

There were also plenty of moments when I had to go back and redo something I thought was already finished.

But it worked.

That is why I think creating a children’s book may be one of the more interesting AI-assisted side hustles for families, parents, grandparents, teachers, writers, and creative people to explore.

Not because it is guaranteed to make you rich. It isn’t.

But because today’s tools can help an ordinary person take an idea that might once have stayed in a notebook and turn it into an actual product available to readers around the world.

And there is something pretty amazing about holding that first printed copy in your hands.

Can You Really Create and Sell a Children’s Book With AI?

Yes—but there is an important distinction.

AI should be a tool in the process, not a replacement for having an idea worth reading.

The best starting point is still something human. It might be a funny experience with your child, a bedtime story you have told for years, a family tradition, a lesson your children struggled to understand, a character your kids invented, or an adventure you imagined together.

In my case, the heart of the project was my daughter Adeline.

AI helped me turn the idea into something much more polished and visual, but the reason the project mattered to me had nothing to do with AI.

It was about creating something for my daughter and then realizing that other families might enjoy it too.

That first-hand experience also matters for online content. Google currently recommends creating original, useful, people-first content and specifically encourages creators to demonstrate genuine experience rather than simply reproducing information already available elsewhere.

That is one reason I believe this type of project fits Family Finance Warriors.

It combines creativity with entrepreneurship while teaching a valuable lesson:

Something your family creates can potentially become an income-producing asset.

Why Children’s Books Are an Interesting Side Hustle

Children’s books have several things going for them as a small side-business experiment.

You can create the product once and continue selling it. Amazon can print copies as customers order them, which means you do not have to keep boxes of books in your garage.

The same story can also potentially become a paperback, Kindle book, hardcover, audiobook, printable activity, coloring book, or even part of a series.

Perhaps most importantly, you create something tangible.

That does not mean publishing is passive income. You still need to create a good product, improve it, market it, and help readers discover it.

But compared with starting many physical-product businesses, the financial barrier to experimenting with a book can be surprisingly low.

Amazon says Kindle Direct Publishing allows authors to publish eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers without a publishing fee.

That was important in my experience.

My biggest actual expense wasn’t paying Amazon to publish my book.

It was primarily the software and AI subscriptions I was already using to create, improve, edit, and design it, along with optional expenses such as ordering physical copies.

My Basic Children’s Book Workflow

Here is the process I would use today.

Stage	What You Do	Where AI Can Help
Idea	Decide what the story is really about	Brainstorming
Characters	Create memorable characters	Character development
Story	Write the actual book	Editing and refinement
Storyboard	Decide what happens on each page	Page planning
Illustrations	Create consistent artwork	AI image generation
Editing	Fix wording and continuity	Grammar and second opinions
Layout	Put words and images together	Design assistance
Cover	Create a professional front and back cover	Images and concepts
KDP	Upload files and book information	Description and keyword help
Marketing	Tell people the book exists	Social posts, videos, and graphics

The important part is that you remain the person making the decisions.

Step 1: Start With the Story, Not the AI

Before opening an AI tool, answer one question:

Why would a child want someone to read this story again tomorrow night?

That question is more important than almost anything else.

Kids generally do not care what software you used.

Parents do not buy a children’s book because it contains impressive prompts.

They want something their child will enjoy.

For Adeline and the Big Storm, the central idea became courage.

Adeline faces a frightening storm and learns that bravery does not mean never being afraid.

Sometimes bravery simply means taking the next small step.

That eventually led to the message:

“Brave hearts take one small step.”

That simple emotional foundation gave the rest of the story direction.

Step 2: Use AI to Develop the Idea

This is where AI becomes incredibly useful.

Instead of asking an AI program to simply “write me a children’s book,” I recommend working with it more like an editor or creative partner.

Explain your basic story, the age of the child, the lesson you want the story to communicate, and the personalities of the main characters.

Then use AI to examine the story.

You can ask whether the book has a clear beginning, middle, and end. You can ask where the story slows down, whether any wording is too complicated for the intended age group, or whether a particular scene could be stronger.

You can even ask for several possible endings and then choose, combine, or rewrite the ideas that actually sound like you.

For my workflow, ChatGPT has become my primary creative tool because I can work through the story, revise sections, develop characters, troubleshoot pages, and work on visual ideas in the same process.

But I do not recommend relying on only one AI.

You can also take a section and ask Grok or another AI model you like to review it by asking something such as:

“What problems do you see with this story that the first editor might have missed?”

Think of that as getting another opinion.

One AI may catch something another one missed.

You are still the final editor.

Step 3: Build Your Characters Before Making the Book

One of the biggest challenges with AI illustration is character consistency.

You might generate a beautiful little girl on page three and then discover that page four suddenly gives her different hair, different eyes, a different age, different clothing, or an entirely different face.

That can make a children’s book look amateurish very quickly.

The solution is to build a character reference sheet first.

For each major character, decide on the important details before creating the final book images.

For Adeline, that could include her age, exact hair color and texture, eye color, typical clothing, personality, facial features, and the visual style you want to maintain throughout the story.

Do this for every important character.

Also create reference images before producing the final scenes.

Once you finally get a character looking right, stop reinventing that character.

Use the approved reference whenever your image tool allows it.

This single step can save a tremendous amount of frustration.

Step 4: Create a Page-by-Page Storyboard

Do not immediately start generating random illustrations.

First break the story into pages or spreads.

A simple children’s book structure might begin with the first few pages introducing the main character and family. The next pages establish the setting and problem. The middle of the book develops the adventure and emotional challenge. The final pages resolve the problem and reinforce the lesson.

For example, pages one and two might introduce Adeline. Pages three and four could establish her home and family. Pages five and six might show the storm beginning to approach. Pages seven and eight could make the problem more serious. The middle pages could follow Adeline through the challenge, and the final pages could show the storm passing and the lesson she learned.

Your actual book may use a completely different structure, but the principle is important.

Know what each illustration needs to accomplish before generating it.

That keeps you from creating 50 beautiful images only to discover that half of them do not belong in the finished book.

Step 5: Create the Illustrations With AI

This is one of the areas where AI has changed independent publishing dramatically.

You can experiment with ChatGPT’s image-generation tools, Grok and its image tools, other image-generation platforms, traditional design software, or a combination of several tools.

My preference is to make ChatGPT the main creative workspace and use other tools when I want another interpretation or need to check an idea.

But there is an important lesson I learned:

Your first image probably will not be your final image.

You may need to adjust character size, facial expressions, clothing, lighting, backgrounds, camera angles, book dimensions, colors, or the position of the characters several times.

That is normal.

Patience matters.

The difference between something that looks obviously AI-generated and something that begins to look like a professional children’s book often comes from revision after revision.

Step 6: Watch for AI Mistakes

AI artwork can look incredible at first glance while containing strange details.

Always zoom in and carefully examine the final images.

Look closely at hands, fingers, eyes, ears, shoes, signs, written words, objects in the background, character height, clothing, shadows, and anything that appears repeatedly throughout the story.

Also compare every page with the previous pages.

Ask yourself whether Dad suddenly looks younger, whether the dog has somehow changed breeds, whether the house looks completely different, or whether Adeline’s dress suddenly changes color.

These details matter even more when dozens of illustrations are placed next to one another.

Important: Amazon’s AI Rules

If you use AI to actually generate text, images, or translations for a book, Amazon currently requires you to disclose that AI-generated content during the KDP publishing process.

Amazon distinguishes this from AI-assisted content.

If AI merely helps brainstorm, edit, refine, check, or improve something you created yourself, Amazon says that is AI-assisted and does not require the same disclosure.

However, if AI created the actual image or text being published—even if you later edited it—Amazon classifies it as AI-generated.

That distinction is worth understanding before you publish.

Amazon also makes clear that the publisher is responsible for ensuring the content complies with intellectual-property and other KDP requirements.

Step 7: Edit the Book Like a Parent

One of the easiest mistakes is making the text too complicated.

Read every page aloud.

Better yet, read it the way you would actually read it to your child.

If you find yourself running out of breath, simplify the sentence.

If a paragraph looks intimidating on the page, shorten it.

If the illustration already communicates something, you may not need three sentences explaining it again.

Children’s books depend heavily on rhythm.

Sometimes fewer words create a better story.

AI can help shorten passages, but the final test should be human:

Does this sound natural when I read it aloud?

Step 8: Format the Paperback

Creating the story is only part of the job.

Eventually you need a file that Amazon can actually print.

That means deciding on the trim size, page dimensions, bleed, margins, image resolution, page count, and cover dimensions.

This was one of the areas where patience became important for me.

Something can look great on a computer and still not fit correctly in Amazon’s print preview.

You may upload the book, find a problem, fix it, upload it again, and discover another problem.

Then you fix that too.

That does not mean you failed.

That is publishing.

Amazon provides its own tools and templates, including Kindle Create and its Cover Creator.

Step 9: Create Your Amazon KDP Account

Here is one of the biggest misconceptions about this side hustle:

You do not currently have to pay Amazon a publishing fee just to put a book on KDP.

KDP allows authors to self-publish eBooks and print books for free.

You will need to provide your legal information, payment details, and required tax information when setting up the account.

Then you create the actual book listing.

The listing includes the title, subtitle, author information, description, publishing rights, keywords, categories, reading age, manuscript, cover, territories, and price.

For children’s books, do not overlook the reading age.

Amazon says that although reading age is technically optional, children’s and young-adult books may not qualify for certain age-specific categories or searches if an appropriate reading age is not supplied.

Step 10: What About an ISBN?

Amazon makes this fairly easy.

For qualifying paperback and hardcover books, KDP can provide a free ISBN.

Kindle eBooks do not require an ISBN on KDP.

There is a tradeoff.

A free KDP ISBN can only be used with KDP and will generally display the imprint as “Independently published.”

If you want your own publishing imprint and more flexibility to use the same ISBN through other publishing channels, purchasing your own ISBN may make more sense.

For someone experimenting with a first book, however, the free KDP ISBN can substantially reduce the upfront cost.

What Did My Children’s Book Actually Cost?

This is where this side hustle gets interesting.

My biggest expense was not a large publishing bill.

It was primarily the subscriptions and tools I was already using.

Here is a realistic way to look at the costs.

Expense	My Experience	Required?
Story idea	$0	Yes
Writing	My time	Yes
ChatGPT and AI subscriptions	Main real expense	Optional
Additional AI tools	Depends on subscriptions	Optional
Design software	Depends on your workflow	Optional
KDP account	$0	Yes for Amazon
Publishing paperback on KDP	$0 upfront publishing fee	Yes
Kindle publishing	$0 upfront publishing fee	Optional
KDP ISBN	$0 if eligible	Needed for print
Proof copy	Printing plus shipping	Strongly recommended
Advertising	Whatever budget you choose	Optional
Your time	Significant	Absolutely

Amazon says proof and author copies are sold to authors based on the book’s printing cost, with shipping and taxes added separately where applicable.

So technically, someone who already has access to the software they need could create a book with surprisingly little additional cash.

But do not confuse low financial cost with zero effort.

The real investment is time.

How Do You Actually Make Money?

Amazon uses print-on-demand.

Instead of you purchasing 500 copies and storing them somewhere, Amazon produces a copy when a customer orders one.

Your royalty depends on the format.

For paperback books sold on Amazon.com, the current KDP royalty rate is generally 60% of the list price minus printing cost when the U.S. list price is $9.99 or higher.

Books priced at $9.98 or below currently use a 50% royalty rate before printing costs are deducted.

The basic formula is:

Royalty = (Royalty Rate × List Price) − Printing Cost

Color children’s books usually need especially careful pricing because printing costs can take a substantial portion of the selling price.

For Kindle books, KDP currently offers eBook royalty options of 35% or 70%, depending on eligibility, pricing, territory, and other conditions.

The 70% option also deducts applicable digital delivery costs.

That means you should never randomly choose a book price.

Look at your printing cost, competitor prices, expected royalty, book quality, and what parents are likely willing to pay.

The Side-Hustle Math

Publishing becomes more interesting when you stop thinking about one book and start thinking about a catalog.

Imagine eventually having Book One, Book Two, Book Three, and Book Four, along with a coloring book, printable activity pack, companion worksheet, Kindle edition, and perhaps a related series.

One story can begin creating several possible revenue opportunities.

That is where publishing begins looking less like a one-time project and more like a small intellectual-property business.

But that does not mean every book will sell.

Some may sell very little.

Others may unexpectedly connect with readers.

The goal should be to create products you are proud to have your name on and then gradually learn what people respond to.

My Children’s Books

My experience did not begin and end with one book.

Over the years I have created several children’s stories.

The Little Knight and the Four Candy Dragons

I like how this story blends a fun fantasy adventure with courage, problem-solving, and a playful world kids can easily enjoy.

Griego the Great and the Green Goopally Goop That

Gobbled

I like the silly humor, colorful imagination, and the way the story turns something strange and messy into a fun adventure.

Super Griego the Great and the Secret Mission to the Moon

I like the sense of adventure and curiosity in this story, especially the space theme and the idea of being brave enough to explore something new.

Adeline and the Big Storm

This is the book that brought the whole idea full circle for me.

Inspired by my daughter, Adeline, the story focuses on courage, family, and learning that being brave does not require being fearless.

Sometimes courage is simply taking one small step.

See Adeline and the Big Storm on Amazon:https://amzn.to/4x5CeFy

Amazon book collection:https://amzn.to/4gIDhoq

One Book Can Become More Than One Product

This is something I think new creators often miss.

The book itself may only be the beginning.

A successful children’s-book concept might eventually become a second book, a full series, a coloring book, activity pages, printable worksheets, a classroom resource, a narrated YouTube story, short videos, Pinterest graphics, character merchandise, or related family products.

Do not force all of those ideas immediately.

Start by making one good book.

Then see where the audience takes you.

Do You Need to Be an Illustrator?

Not necessarily anymore.

That is one of the reasons AI makes this side hustle more accessible than it once was.

But you still need visual judgment.

AI can generate an image.

It cannot automatically decide whether that image is appropriate for your story, consistent with page six, emotionally accurate, properly composed for printing, or something a parent would actually want their child looking at.

That becomes your job.

You are essentially becoming the author, creative director, editor, publisher, and marketer.

AI is your toolbox.

Do You Need to Be a Professional Writer?

No.

You need an idea and the willingness to improve it.

AI can help with grammar, sentence structure, rhythm, brainstorming, character development, alternative wording, plot problems, descriptions, and proofreading.

But there is a danger here.

If you simply ask AI to generate an entire generic children’s story and publish whatever comes out, you will probably end up with something that feels generic.

Instead, bring your experiences into the story.

Bring your family, your sense of humor, your childhood memories, your traditions, and your imagination.

Those are things another person cannot duplicate simply by entering the same prompt.

Other Places You Can Publish

Amazon is not the only option.

Lulu allows creators to publish through its print-on-demand platform and offers additional distribution possibilities.

Kobo Writing Life is another option for digital books and gives independent authors access to Kobo’s international eBook marketplace.

Draft2Digital can distribute books to multiple retailers rather than requiring the author to manage every retailer independently.

IngramSpark is another established publishing and distribution option, particularly for authors interested in broader bookstore and library availability.

Fees, ISBN decisions, print costs, retailer discounts, and distribution terms can change, so always check each platform’s current requirements before committing.

You also do not have to choose every platform immediately.

For a beginner, mastering one publishing system first may be much less overwhelming.

The Biggest Lesson I Learned: Be Patient

The title of this article could almost have been:

How Many Times Can You Redo One Children’s Book?

Because there were a lot of attempts.

That is normal.

Your first cover may not be your final cover.

Your first image may be wrong.

The page dimensions may not work.

A character may look strange.

Amazon’s preview may reveal an issue you never noticed.

Your Kindle version may require different formatting.

You fix it.

Then you try again.

AI makes the creative process faster, but it does not eliminate the need to learn.

That is why I consider patience one of the most important tools in this entire process.

A Simple 30-Day Children’s Book Challenge

If I were starting from zero today, I would spend the first week developing the story.

That means choosing the idea, identifying the audience, creating the characters, writing the first draft, reading it aloud, and rewriting anything that does not work.

During the second week, I would build the visual world.

That would include creating character reference sheets, choosing an illustration style, storyboarding every page, and beginning the final illustrations.

The third week would focus on assembling the book.

I would finish the illustrations, proofread the story again, create the page layout, design the cover, and prepare the print and Kindle editions.

During the fourth week, I would move into publishing and promotion.

That means creating or completing the KDP account, uploading the files, checking the preview carefully, ordering a proof if needed, correcting mistakes, publishing the book, creating social-media posts, making a Pinterest graphic, producing a short video, adding the book to my website, and explaining to readers why I created it.

Thirty days may be aggressive for some projects, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking longer.

Quality matters more than an artificial deadline.

Why This May Be the Ultimate Creative Side Hustle

There are side hustles where you earn money for every hour worked.

Stop working and the income stops.

A book is different.

You put a significant amount of work into creating the product first.

Once published, that book can potentially continue being discovered and purchased later.

That does not make it guaranteed passive income.

It makes it an asset you created.

And there is another return that is difficult to put into a spreadsheet.

My daughter can hold a real book with her name and story behind it.

Years from now, that book will still exist.

Even if Adeline and the Big Storm never became some enormous bestseller, creating something like that has value to me beyond a royalty report.

If it earns money too?

Even better.

Can Anyone Do This?

I believe far more people can learn to do it than realize it.

You do not have to be a programmer.

You do not necessarily need thousands of dollars.

You do not need a warehouse.

You do not need to convince a traditional publisher to accept your manuscript before you are allowed to create.

What you do need is an idea, patience, the willingness to learn, attention to detail, and the ability to keep improving something when the first attempt does not work.

AI lowers some of the technical barriers.

It does not eliminate effort.

And maybe that is exactly why this is such an interesting side hustle.

The technology helps ordinary people create things that once required a much larger team—but the human idea still matters most.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Amazon KDP free?

Yes. Amazon currently allows authors to create a KDP account and publish qualifying paperback, hardcover, and Kindle books without an upfront publishing fee.

Optional expenses can include software, editing, design, advertising, proof copies, author copies, shipping, and purchasing your own ISBN.

Can I use AI images in a children’s book on Amazon?

Amazon currently allows AI-generated content subject to its content rules, but requires publishers to disclose AI-generated text, images, or translations during the KDP publishing process.

You remain responsible for complying with applicable intellectual-property and content requirements.

Do I need an ISBN?

Paperbacks and hardcovers generally require one.

KDP can provide a free ISBN for eligible print books.

Kindle eBooks do not require an ISBN through KDP.

How much money can a children’s book make?

There is no reliable guaranteed amount.

Earnings depend on price, printing cost, format, royalties, demand, reviews, competition, marketing, and how many copies you sell.

Treat publishing like a small business experiment rather than guaranteed income.

Should I Publish a Paperback or Kindle Book?

If possible, consider both.

Parents may prefer a physical picture book for younger children, while Kindle gives you another format without the same physical printing cost attached to each sale.

Is ChatGPT Enough to Create the Entire Book?

It can help with a remarkable amount of the workflow, including brainstorming, editing, image development, descriptions, planning, and troubleshooting.

But I would still review every sentence, every image, every page, and every publishing choice yourself.

The author should remain in control.

Final Thoughts

Creating a children’s book with AI is not a magic money button.

And that is probably a good thing.

The opportunity comes from combining something technology can do quickly with something technology cannot replace:

your story.

For me, that was turning an idea inspired by my daughter into Adeline and the Big Storm.

It took patience.

It took several attempts.

It involved learning new tools.

But eventually there was a real book.

And that is why I think self-publishing is one of the most surprisingly fun side hustles families and creative people can explore today.

You might start trying to make a few dollars.

You may end up creating something your family keeps forever.

And sometimes the best side hustles do both.

About the Author

Manuel Alfaro is a writer, father, creator, and founder of Family Finance Warriors, a family-focused website dedicated to practical ways families can save money, organize their finances, increase income, and build greater financial stability.

He is the author of several children’s books, including The Little Knight and the Four Candy Dragons, Griego the Great and the Green Goopally Goop That Gobbled, Super Griego the Great and the Secret Mission to the Moon, and Adeline and the Big Storm.

Through FamilyFinanceWarriors.com, Manuel shares real-world experiments, family projects, financial ideas, side hustles, and tools designed around one simple belief:

Small practical decisions can make a meaningful difference for a family.

Visit FamilyFinanceWarriors.com for more family finance, side-hustle, saving, budgeting, and practical money ideas.