Ethicool Books is taking big stories for little kids to the world. In just over a year since their launch, the independent children’s book publisher has sold almost 30,000 books and brought adults to tears – the happy kind.

Sometimes the best of things can come from the worst of times. That couldn’t be more true for married publishing team Teigan Margetts and Stuart French, who came up with the idea for Ethicool Books when a personal tragedy struck.

“My mum passed away quite suddenly when my son was just five weeks old,” Teigan tells Kochie’s Business Builders. “Obviously he was going to be way too young to remember her, so the first thing I did was create a children’s book so he could reflect on her life and who she was, so we could always share that special moment.

“From there, we just got the idea that there’s a lot of children’s books out there about farts or dogs or princesses, but there’s not as many that are really special ones that you remember, that can really prompt an important conversation with your child.”

The business idea: A new type of children’s book

Against the backdrop of the Australian bushfire disaster of late 2019/early 2020, Teigan and Stuart decided they wanted to tell stories that can help parents plant the seeds of change for our future generations.

The topics of the books tackle the biggest issues of our time like environmental responsibility, equality and mental health, through heartwarming narratives and captivating illustrations.

“The publishing industry is a little bit Ivory Tower,” Teigan says. “Stories come through and they’re decided upon by an editor who maybe has been doing in the job for 50 years and it fits into a particular format that all good children’s books follow and we’re just trying to break that mould. What matters is that the kids love it and the adults like reading it too.”

Books like the bestselling Remembering Mother Nature, about protecting the environment, and Tom’s Tears, which teaches boys and men that it’s OK to cry, have struck a particular chord with families.

Teigan recalls a handwritten letter she received from an Indigenous family whose father was reading Tom’s Tears to his son.

“[He] just started crying when he read it and said ‘I wish that somebody had told me this when I was younger. This message could have changed a lot of anger and issues that I had’,” she tells us.

One of Teigan and Stuart’s kids with Tom’s Tears. Image: Supplied.

Ethicool Books walks the talk on sustainability, too. They’re completely sustainable, using recycled or sustainably sourced papers and soy-based inks, and delivered in compostable and recyclable packaging. Ethicool Books is also a partner of 1% for the Planet, a global movement that donates one per cent of all business profits to the environment.

“It’s basically making the decision if I’m going to make this message, then that’s going to be executed throughout my supply chain,” Teigan says. “Customers expect that these days. They really do.”

How Ethicool Books boomed in the year of COVID

Launching in the year of COVID worked out well for Ethicool Books, when families were at home looking for books to order online.

But the turning point came when Teigan and Stuart won an Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grant to boost their new business.

Each year, Amazon Launchpad gives five Australian entrepreneurs and startups a prize package worth more than $200,000 to help small businesses hit the big time.

Winners receive a $20,000 cash grant, Amazon advertising support, an exclusive Amazon boot camp experience with access to Amazon experts, a national advertising package with JCDecaux Nurture and access to industry experts and onsite marketing placements on Amazon.com. Applications for the 2021 round are open now until 10 May (scroll to the bottom of this story for more info).

“It was so fundamental for us,” Teigan says. “We had planned to launch the business in the US but we wouldn’t be able to do it without the grant money because we’d already exhausted our own savings. So that was just amazing to have that.”

Another highlight was being able to network with other businesses, mentors and influential figures – including an intro to the CEO of Booktopia. “Things like that – you can’t buy that,” Teigan adds.

Silent business partners

There are two other silent partners in the business who deserve credit: Teigan and Stuart’s two children, both under the age of four.

“When we read them the story, we ask them questions like ‘Did you understand that story?’ ‘Would you enjoy reading that story again?’ and ‘What was the story like for you?’,” Teigen shares.

“They’re not that complex, they’re either like ‘yes’ or ‘nope’. It’s not the be-all and end-all because the stories really come to life with the illustrations, but I think it is important to get that initial feedback from someone who will like the story read to them hundreds of times ideally.”

Teigan Margetts and Stuart French test run their stories on their kids. Image: Supplied.

Ethicool Books are available now on Amazon Launchpad.

Applications for the 2021 Amazon Innovation Grants close 11.59pm AEST, Monday 10 May 2021. Ten finalists will be asked to pitch to Amazon HQ, with a judging panel including Chadd Ciccarelli, Head of Launchpad at Amazon Australia; Carolyn Creswell, founder of the country’s leading muesli brand Carman’s; and managing partner, Kylie Frazer, of tech investment group, Eleanor Ventures and last year’s grant recipients Rosa-Clare Willis and Andrew Ford from Crock’d. Five winners will be chosen in June.

Apply now at www.Amazon.com.au/Launchpad. 

This content is brought to you by Kochie’s Business Builders supported by Amazon Launchpad.