Hi, I’m Debbie Ridpath Ohi! Welcome to Part 3 of my Picture Books 101 post series, which focuses on the basics of writing and illustrating picture books for traditional publishing houses.
In Part 3, I will explain the basics of picture book format and why 32 pages is the standard, identifying different parts of a picture book in terms of construction, and showing how this affects picture book writers and illustrators. You can browse my Resources For Picture Book Creators on my website for additional info.
If you are enjoying my Picture Books 101 column, I’d very much appreciate you letting others know. I’m also open to suggestions for future topics; just let me know in the comments.
Some of you may be wondering, “Why bother worrying about format at all? I’m just the author or illustrator. Isn’t it up to the publisher to figure out all that format stuff?”
While it’s true that you DON’T need to know anything about picture book format to get published, arming yourself with some basic knowledge will help elevate you and your submission above the general masses of those who think that writing and illustrating picture books is easy.
Editors and agents tend to be inundated with picture book manuscripts and picture book dummies from those who don’t understand picture books. If your story and art are BRILLIANT, one of them might think it worthwhile to invest the time needed to help educate you. Most won’t. I can’t blame them…especially since the pandemic; most industry people I know have overflowing email boxes and more online meetings since many work from home at least part of the week.
If you want to have your picture book published by a traditional publishing house, it’s worth learning about the format. One common mistake made by beginning picture book creators is to have too many or too few pages to fit into a picture book format.
Books are produced in page-count multiples of eight. At the printer’s, a large sheet of paper containing eight picture book pages per side will fold into a signature:
A picture book is typically 32 pages or two signatures.
The actual pages are the book block. A book block is the part of a book that is bound together, usually sewn or glued, and then attached to the book cover. It does not include the cover, spine, or dust jacket.
Picture books CAN be any number of pages in length, but non-standard formats will usually cost the publisher more money to print. Publishers may be more cautious about investing that extra money if you are a new picture book creator without a track record or guaranteed audience.
Above: Dust jacket for my picture book, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers).
My advice for new creators: Stick to the 32-page standard for your submission, and leave it to the publisher to add pages. My editor at Simon & Schuster made that decision after seeing my picture book manuscript or dummy, saying that we needed those extra pages to tell the story. Adding pages usually means adding at least one signature, which is why you’ll see picture books with 32, 40, or 48 pages. There are always exceptions, but again, I strongly advise letting your publisher make that decision.
Another mistake I’ve seen in many picture book manuscripts and dummies by beginners: assuming that they have all 32 pages available for story content. Some of these pages will be taken up by the copyright, title pages, and possibly endpapers.
Here is an example I put together showing you how a 32-page separate-ended picture book has 14 full spreads plus 1-2 extra single pages.
The term “separate-ended” is sometimes called a picture book with “colored ends.”
One way to see if a picture book is separate-ended is to check the paper used for the first and last pages; if they are a different type of paper, it usually means separate-ended.
In a self-ended picture book, the first and last pages of the book block are pasted directly onto the cover.
The term “self-ended” is used because the book block is glued directly onto the cover, and no extra paper/pages are needed.
All this can be confusing, I know. You DON’T need to know all these details to write or illustrate picture books, but I wanted to explain the above to help you show why not all 32 pages are available for story content.
Also, be aware that there are always exceptions. Some picture books use one or more of the frontmatter pages to start the story through illustrations, and some even use the endpaper art (if there are endpapers) to add to the story. If you are a new picture book creator, I recommend leaving this decision to your editor and art director.
When you are writing or writing AND illustrating a picture book, I strongly recommend you think in terms of double-page spreads. To picture book writers: learning to think visually will help you become a better picture book writer. I’ve given entire workshops on this topic; feel free to let me know in the comments if you want to see more in-depth details in a future newsletter.
Always keep the READER EXPERIENCE in mind. Children don’t read picture books the same way that adults read novels. Picture books are often read out loud. A child too young to read by themselves may just be browsing the art, already having the story in mind after previous read-alouds.
Young readers are looking at a full spread at a time, which is why picture book creators should be thinking in terms of double spreads. What will make a young reader want to turn each page?
I also suggest paginating your manuscripts, even if you don’t plan to submit your picture book mss this way (I will post more about pagination and mss submission format in a future post). I do this for every picture book project; this also helps me figure out page turns and pacing (again, topics for another newsletter).
Here are some examples of double page spreads from my solo picture book with Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?, that help show the different ways text and imagery can work together to tell a story. Notice the mix of full bleed (illustrations that go to the edge of the page) and spot illustrations. To writers: Note that the choice of full bleed and spots is up to the illustrator and art director, NOT the writer, so don’t include these instructions in your picture book mss submission!
Note: Forgot to mention one more term: GUTTER. This is the inner margin where the pages of the book are bound together. It’s essential for an illustrator to consider the gutter when working on layout sketches, or else an important part of the art could get awkwardly smushed in the gutter. More on layout tips in a future newsletter. Notice how I was careful NOT to put any characters or the toys right in the middle of this first double spread illustration, for example:
More examples of different layouts of how a story can be told via words and art:
My friend Heidi Stemple and her mom Jane Yolen have used my picture book thumbnail template in some of their workshops (thank you, Heidi and Jane!) to help picture book writers better understand the structure of a picture book as well as help them think in terms of spreads rather than individual pages.
I offer free, print-ready templates for picture book creators on my website. Feel free to browse!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions for future newsletter topics? Feel free to let me know!
Resources For Children’s Book Creators - My free, print-ready templates for writers and illustrators, info about creating picture books, advice for young writers and illustrators.
Basic Book Construction: Editorial Anonymous
Ask An Editor: Why Are Picture Books 32 Pages? - from Kite Tales newsletter, SCBWI Tri-Regions Of South California
Picture Book Dummy, Picture Book Construction: Know Your Layout - by Tara Lazar
Picture Book Standards: 32 Pages - by Darcy Pattison
Picture Books 101 (from Alison Hughes) - by Michael Hingston on Medium. Includes typical word counts of various types of children’s books, lots of term definitions, and tips for beginners.
PUBLISHERS AND TRIM SIZE
Letterpress text and pre-separated art were on their way out, but in 1984 our office didn’t have a single computer. When I started my first job out of college as a children’s book production assistant, the way books were made was changing fast.
One change I was seeing firsthand involved trim sizes. The publisher had nurtured several successful series over the years. But within each series, the titles were printed with varying trim sizes and at different printers. The main character of one of those series was a curious ape. Although the author/illustrator had passed away a few years before, his creative partner and wife was still very much involved in continuing the series.
To afford to keep the series reprinting, the publisher needed to make the trim size consistent. The production director (my direct boss), the art director and the editor had to balance aesthetics and economy to figure out the best trim size for that series.
With trim size, part of the decision comes down to paper. Paper is expensive, so you want to waste as little as possible. The trim size and page count help determine the size of the sheet (or the width of the roll) the book will print on. A book with an 8.5”x 11” trim size needs a larger sheet of paper to print than an 8”x 8” book.
If you print on a sheet that is larger than the trim size requires, that extra paper you paid good money for is trimmed off and tossed (hopefully recycled nowadays).
The more paper you buy, the greater discount the paper merchant gives, and the less each individual sheet costs. If you buy paper for 100,000 copies of a certain trim size, each individual sheet will cost less than if you buy paper for only 10,000 copies.
To save additional expense, the publishing house would reprint several titles in the series at the same time. The more sheets you print, the greater discount the printer gives, and the less each individual printed sheet costs. So, the publishing house would try to “gang” titles together, often a new title in the series along with its reprint titles.
When I started working there, everything—paper, printing and binding–was manufactured in the United States. Years later, when I left (and computers had become plentiful in our office), more and more books were being printed and bound overseas. In those cases, the overseas printer took care of all the headaches of buying and storing paper: those same costs were of course included in their bottom line. Having standard trim sizes still saved money.
TRIM SIZE AND FORMAT
I bought this book about skyscrapers at a library book sale several years ago. I’m in awe of its trim size. It lives on the floor because it doesn’t fit any of my bookshelves. When I first bought it, I imagined the librarian pulling the book from the oversize books shelf, flipping through the pages, regarding its checkout record, balancing its heft in one hand before sighing and chucking it into the book sale carton.
Skyscrapers by Judith DupreThe thing is, this publisher chose the perfect format and trim size for a book on skyscrapers.
If a publisher acquires your manuscript, they will choose the trim size that best fits and best benefits your story idea. But first you need to sell them your idea, most likely submitting a loosely sketched dummy with two or three sample art pages (which the publisher will most probably ask you to redo eventually).
Trim size refers to the trimmed size of the block of pages, not the outside dimensions of the bound book. Different binding methods can change the outside measurements of a book.
The trim size of the bound pages will be the same for a paperback and a hardcover book, but the hardcover book will have larger outside dimensions because of the binders boards. A saddle stitched bound book will be wider than a perfect bound book of the same trim size.
Books come in three general formats: upright (vertically oriented), square, and landscape (horizontally oriented). Before you start work on your dummy, ask yourself which format fits your book the best. Don’t lose any sleep over this decision: the publisher will either second your intuition or ask that you change the format later.
Imagine a toddler has these three books in front of her. Which spine would she be able to break the quickest?
The first number in the trim size is for the width of the book. The second number is the height. At this point, you don’t need to worry about the third dimension, the thickness of the book. (Spine width is determined by the number of pages, paper weight and paper finish. Later, when your book is being developed, the art director will guide you on the width of the spine of the jacket or paper cover.)
Pretend that you’ve chosen to make an 8” x 10” dummy.
If the trim size is 8” x 10” the book is upright. If the book is 10” x 8”, it’s landscape.
When you open an 8” x 10” book, a double spread will measure approximately 16” x 10.”
When you open a 10” x 8” book, a double page spread will measure approximately 20” x 8.”
16” x 10” or 20” x 8”? Which double page spread would work better for your story? Or would you rather use a square format?PAPER AND DIGITAL DUMMIES
I’ll explain why those measurements of the double page spreads are approximate and how they relate to trim size a bit further down, when we get to the sample art pages you send along with your submission. But first, here’s a quick digression on dummies.
At this point, paper dummies are submitted less frequently than digital dummies. Any dummy should be paginated. The sketches should be loose yet clear enough to explain what’s happening in the story. It’s probably best not to go too wild with the type. At a convention I once heard an agent on a panel say she automatically rejects anything written in Comic Sans. Everyone in the ballroom laughed, but she was dead serious.
Paper Dummies
Although physical dummies are submitted less frequently than they once were, they are often welcomed at SCBWI conferences as part of their illustrator showcases.
Have your dummy photocopied onto either letter or legal paper, depending on the size and format you want to make your dummy. I usually use card stock because it gives a better feel to the dummy and is less likely to tear.
What matters most is the content of your dummy, not so much its presentation. Simply stapling the copied sheets together works well as long it’s done neatly.
Just to share, here are some dummies from workshops I ran for kids.
Letter size copy paper folded and stapled. Flat letter size copy paper stapled together. A piece of card stock was cut with scrap-booking scissors, folded and glued over the spine to cover the staples.Digital Dummies
At the publishing house, I only handled traditional artwork, mostly watercolors. Digital art was only becoming a thing a few years later, when I was working in advertising. But here are some basics that I’ve gleaned since then.
If you adapt anything as you develop your art, save it as a new file, even if you wind up with a long string of files. I add the date to the file name each time I work on something. Especially if you need to reduce the file size of a dummy to send it as an attachment, you want to have your original file saved.
Don’t save your working files in the JPEG (JPG) format. Even though JPEG the most used format, it compresses the images by losing data that can’t be retrieved. Choose a lossless compression file format instead (I personally use PNG).
If you ever need to email your dummy as an attachment, you can reduce the file and save it under a different file name.
Save as CMYK (the four color process inks–cyan, magenta, yellow and black—that printers use) so that you can print your dummy out in color later if you want. Your brightly lit monitor is RGB: the photocopied or printed image won’t match exactly.
Keep the resolution of your original work at least 300 ppi/pixels-per-inch.
SAMPLE ART PAGES
That’s the end of my digression on dummies. Now, let’s talk about the sample art to submit with your dummy.
If you are making a paper dummy, you can bind your sample art pages into the dummy or include them separately.The measurements of the double page spreads I mentioned above are approximate because another factor needs to be considered. Most modern books have at least some pages or spreads where the printed area extends beyond the edge of the page. These extended areas are called “bleeds,” and it’s up to the illustrator to include art in the bleed area even though it will be trimmed off. You need to allow 1/8” bleed all around to allow for trimming. One eighth inch bleed plus 1/8” bleed equals an additional ¼” added to the vertical and horizontal measurements.
Double page sample art with bleeds for an 8” x 10” book would measure 16-1/4” x 10-1/4”.
After you’ve taken the bleeds into account, you should also think about the “safe area” within the trim edges. Focus areas of the illustration (and the type) shouldn’t be placed too closely to the page edges. If your character is juggling three lemons and there’s some variance in the folding or trimming of the book as it’s bound, you may lose a lemon. Plan at least ¼’ all around within the trim size; the art director may ask for more.
When composing double page spreads, you also need to be careful of what you place near the gutter, the area where the pages are bound together on the inside of a book . You don’t want anything visually important too close or in the gutter. Even with 32 page books, there may be “gutter loss” where the bound pages curve in to meet the spine. Books with higher page counts are even more prone to gutter loss.
Much of Poor Dragon will be lost in the gutter.It can’t be said often enough: If you are a traditional artist, never send original art unless your book has been signed and the publisher requests it.
In the 1980s, I often passed the very sad and dark Storage Room of Purgatory, filled with original art and photos people had submitted without including return postage or often without even a return address. Any unrequested original art that might get damaged or lost or stored in a sad, dark storage room is not the publisher’s responsibility.
HEDGING YOUR BETS
If you’re an illustrator for a traditional publisher, the publisher has the final decision on trim size. If you work traditionally, with physical media, the art director will specify what proportion you can enlarge your original art while still fitting the trim size (your physical art can’t be larger than the printer’s scanner). If you work digitally, the publishing house will give you the resolution they want along with the other specifications.
If you are confused or uncomfortable about anything, ask for clarification as often as you need.
The book buying market is smaller than it used to be. Traditional publishers only have the resources to accept a fraction of the flawlessly written, perfectly illustrated, well deserved books submitted to them every year.
What if you’ve submitted your dummy for a few years, and you still haven’t gotten a nibble from a traditional publisher? Or what if you’ve open to skipping the traditional publisher straightaway and want to control and publish your book yourself?
I’m not suggesting vanity presses. Vanity presses charge a lot of money to prepare, print and bind your book, but they aren’t invested in you or the worth of your message. I am pointing out that many authors—including Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain and Beatrix Potter—have self-published their work.
Not only did Beatrix Potter self-publish, she handled the designing and merchandizing of toys based on her characters.
Self-publishing takes a lot of planning, self-education and incredibly hard work. There are two printing methods, digital and offset.
Print on demand (POD) uses digital inkjet or laser presses that allow you to order small quantities, even a single book at a time. Depending on your experience and how much outside help you need, you can even release your book without spending any money (although I suggest paying for a proof before you release your title).
If you self-publish using offset presses–the same presses traditional publishers use–you’ll need to pay for the materials (paper, printing, and binding) and the storage and shipping the same way traditional publishers pay.
If you’re open to self-publishing or want to keep it in your back pocket just in case, it would make sense to look into the trim sizes offered by the various self-publishing companies. Because self-publishing companies handle purchasing and storing the paper, they may streamline the number of trim sizes they offer. Some companies offer either POD or offset printing, some companies offer both. Some only offer paperback binding, some both paperback and hardcover binding. The technology is getting better every day, so do your research.
I visited the websites of a few of the many self-publishing companies and made a table comparing the availability of certain trim sizes (as of August 2019). This is just an excerpt and each company manufactures many more trim sizes. I just wanted to suggest a way of comparing what different companies may offer. In no way am I recommending any of these companies.
Trim Size Mill CityOne thing is certain. Even with so many trim size options in self publishing, printing and binding a book with custom printing and binding like Skyscrapers would be prohibitively expensive, and not available with POD printing.
A few years ago, I self-published a paperback book of my paintings using POD technology. (You can see the inside of the book by playing the video below). Up to that point, I’d always written under my legal name and sold my paintings under my married name. Using two names had happened organically, but I’d gotten to the point where I knew I’d save time by promoting myself under one name. I had built up a good following for my cat paintings on Facebook, so I printed Ginger Cats under both names to iron out the matter before switching to using one name for my writing, painting and illustrating. (If you are wondering, I’m still very happily married: there’s no better man for me than my husband.)
I’ve ordered copies a few times over the years. Truthfully, the copies vary a bit from order to order. With POD printing, you don’t get the potential luxury (and expense) of going on a press okay as you would with offset printing. The POD printer doesn’t store printed sheets that you’ve signed with your approval.
Even though I’m picky, and notice the color variation, it doesn’t bother me enough to turn me away from the possibility of self-publishing in the future. But if I do, I’ll have to be ready to take on all the jobs a publishing house handles for traditionally published authors.
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