Editorial Anonymous provided a great explanation of basic picture book construction a few months ago.
At that time, I skimmed the info. Today, I’m studying it.
Why? An editor asked me to make page breaks on my current manuscript. And know what? I had more page breaks than a 32-page picture book would allow! Whoops. I knew that my manuscript had to fall within the 500- to 800-word length, but I had neglected to pay attention to logical page breaks.
The editor said, “Page turns can make or break a book, and it can be helpful to an editor to see how you envision the text.”
In a 32-page picture book, you don’t actually have 32 pages for your story. You only have 24 pages since 8 are used for the book ends, copyright and title. And 24 pages translates to 12 spreads (an illustration that spans the two opened pages in a book).
Self-ended means that the printed book block serves not only for the story, but also for the end pages. No additional paper is used to form the book. The printed book block is pasted directly onto the cover.
Another common format is colored ends. This means colored paper (different from the printed book block) is used for the end pages. With colored ends, you’ll gain an additional 2 1/2 spreads since more of the printed book block is available for story.
Some picture books have single-page illustrations instead of spreads. One of my favorite devices is when a group of three things are illustrated on one page. But this isn’t done on every page. A debut author’s work might be laid out only in spreads to save on costs (it’s less illustrations to produce), so you may want to think mostly in spreads. As always, publishing is a subjective industry, so this will vary by editor.
You may be asking, why do I need to know this? Won’t the editor and illustrator figure out the page breaks? Sure, they will. Some may not even ask for your page-break input. However, you can write a more appealing picture book if you understand the format for which you’re writing. Knowing the page turns will improve your story’s pacing. You’ll realize which scenes may have too much text. You can make page turns surprising and fun.
So give it a try. Take your current PB and plug it into the format. Does it fit?
I just took a random sampling of 7 picture books from my collection. Interestingly, none had self-ended construction. They all had colored ends. Here’s how they broke down:
I don’t think I’ll ever look at a picture book the same way again. My kids are going to be frustrated if I count spreads while I read to them!
It’s interesting to note that Cowboy Camp and Spaghetti Eddie are both by debut authors. Cowboy Camp is illustrated in spreads, whereas Spaghetti Eddie is told with mostly single-page illustrations. This “illustrates” that publisher preferences vary (as do manuscripts)!
Keep in mind that when you submit your manuscript, you should do so in the standard format, unless the submission guidelines specifically request that you mark page breaks.
Some editors will never ask you for page breaks, some will insist upon them. Remember that this is a subjective industry where there are many rules to follow but many places to break them, too.
14 comments
Comments feed for this article
February 23, 2009 at 1:03 am
Kelly H-Y
SO true … what great advice, and what a fabulous graphic you provided!
February 23, 2009 at 8:31 am
Corey
What a fantastic diagram you made. Can you do my powerpoint presentation for me?
P.S. I had always heard 14 or 14 and a half spreads.
February 23, 2009 at 9:43 am
tara
Corey, the 14 or 14 1/2 spreads is for colored ends. It depends upon the editor, I suppose, but this editor said her house preferred self ended construction.
February 23, 2009 at 11:03 am
Randi
Thank you, Tara! Very informative. I have to send this one onto my writing group. =D
February 24, 2009 at 1:00 am
duckofalltrades
This is great information. Thanks for sharing! It goes to show how many variables you have to consider when writing for children.
March 1, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Ginger Pate
It was so nice of Tara to share this with everyone.
I write PB and I sent this on to a teacher who’s classes I’ve attended and here is some more information. He said: “That seems like an interesting article. Most my author friends don’t use rigid models like that one to write/illustrate their books, however. But, it does serve as a good “heads up” tool for people who are not familiar with the format. Editors usually do all that work at the end.”
Ginger
March 2, 2009 at 10:23 am
tara
Thanks, Ginger. I was always told that the editor does this work on their end, but the editor I met with was adamant about knowing where your page breaks are. But this industry is subjective. Another editor may not want your input on page breaks. I do think it’s excellent information to know, but of course, your editor has the final say on where readers will turn the page. And I know of one case where the illustrator had the final say, and that’s probably not uncommon.
I’ve since read this advice in numerous other sources, plus an Executive Editor and a picture book author both touted making dummies at a recent conference. The author even presented three examples of how to make a dummy–folded paper, a box diagram and a storyboard template.
Moreover, my editor said that publishers might want to take the least-expensive route when producing a debut author’s book, and self-ended construction with 12 spreads had lower production costs than colored ends with many single-page illustrations.
Check out the Editorial Anonymous post I referred to for more opinions on this topic.
And as a final reminder, no one should take anything they read here as absolute gospel. Take what works for you, discard all the rest.
March 2, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Ame Dyckman
Tara, you are AWESOME! You know I was in the same boat at the conference (“What do you mean my 500-word manuscript is too long?”) and totally confused, but your awesome explanation and magnificent diagrams make it crystal! I already used these to “revamp” two of my manuscripts, and it made them much better! Cheers to you, Super Writer Lady!
March 2, 2009 at 3:05 pm
tara
Ame, you’re equally AWESOME! So glad you dropped by my blog! I am fully expecting a contract to come your way…any day now!
July 1, 2009 at 11:29 am
Paolo Puggioni
Hello, thank you very very much for all the time and effort you put into this blog.
I am a professional illustrator with some skills in writing, so I recently started writing a short story on my own with a few illustrations in it. I use to write in italian and then have everything translated into english by my wife so don’t take my clumsy english as a sample of my skil
I was just about to start illustrating it when – looking for the proper size for an average pictures book – I stumbled upon this site and I learned about the whole lot of things you have to keep in mind before even considering the idea of submitting a manuscript to a publisher. Everything about style, words count, target age – and now this – have been really precious. Thanks:)
September 23, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Picture Book Review: That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown « Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)
[...] related posts: (automatically generated)Yee-haw! It’s the Tammi Sauer Round-up, Partner!Picture Book Construction: Know Your LayoutSteve Ouch: Can He Twitter to a Best Seller?Why I like Emily Brown and the Thing What is this [...]
September 30, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Ev
thanks! I didn’t think I could find such a great detailed article on line. Hopefully this will help me with my project…Many thanks!
October 4, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Gina Harden
Thanks so much for the information!! I am in the process of writing my first children’s book. Your page was like a mirage – surely I am dreaming that I found an answer to my question. Thanks, agian.
November 14, 2009 at 9:23 pm
PiBoIdMo Day 15: The Life and Times of…Who? « Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)
[...] picture book biographies or texts for older children? How can you tell that person’s story in 32 pages, in a way that’s suitable for young children? Which details would you keep? Which would you toss? [...]