Reddit reviews Know Your Gnome

This is a really cute idea. Have you thought about self-publishing?

In January I self-published a picture book through Amazon's CreateSpace.

Pros:

• Because I was able to do everything myself (copy writing, illustrations, book layout, cover design, etc.), my total cost of production for the entire project was little more than the $10 I spent on clay to make the gnomes.
  
• The book is available for sale on Amazon and prints on demand.
  
• I set the price of the book myself and collect monthly royalties for each unit that sells.
  
• I can order copies of the book at cost and take a hundred of them to a craft fair to sell in person, or put them on consignment at a local gallery, or offer them at wholesale to an independent book seller, or basically do whatever I want. I'm the boss of my book.
  
  Cons:
  
  
• I didn't have a team of editors with years of experience in the publishing industry to advise me on the project or suggest revisions.
  
• If I want the book to sell, I have to market it myself.
  
• The book is available in paperback only.
  
• I have heard some authors express grievances with Amazon's "expanded distribution" sellers (do your research on this subject if you publish through CreateSpace), so I opted out of this channel.
  
  For me, self-publishing was the way to go because my only real goal was to create a book. I had an idea, thought it would be really fun to try, and seeing the project through to completion was a rewarding experience in itself.
  
  If your goal is to sell thousands of copies and outsource production of your monsters to China, you'll probably want to align yourself with an agent and/or publisher.
  
  If your goal is to put something out into the world because creating it makes you happy and it has the potential to bring happiness to others, then don't wait for a publisher to validate your awesome idea. Assess how much of it you can do on your own, and if there are aspects you may need help with (graphic design, copyediting, etc.), enlist the help of friends, or network with friends of friends, and see if you can't collaborate.
  
  Good luck!