Lindsey H. asked, “I would love to hear how you go about designing a book series…It’s important they all have visual cohesion, but where do you start?”

Today’s discussion, for paid subscribers, will talk about the elements of a book cover and how you might start to brand a series of covers.

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I’d like to offer a deluxe edition because it would be a higher priced book for collectors, gifts, direct sales, and project such as a Kickstarter.

I recently experimented with forced edge technology; I’m not convinced it will be right for my books, but here’s what I found and how I did it. I’ll also talk about other options before you go the route of offset printed books.

Forced Edge Printing for Children’s Novels

I’ve been watching this trend of Gorgeous build for a couple years and reading about it. The easiest way to accomplish this is to offset print, where you can build into the specs whatever you want: higher quality paper, dust jackets, spot colors or lamination on covers, ribbon markers, and so much more. For POD, though, Bookvault in the UK has the best set of options, even box sets. For children’s authors, though, the problem is that Bookvault doesn’t print picture books in the US, so everything ships from the UK. I would use them for a special edition for Kickstarter or other projects that would benefit from the glitz and glam.

I wanted, though, something for an everyday print that would make the books stand out. I decided to look at forced edge printing. This idea is that you print something on the very edge of the page and it’s visible on the outside edge. It’s the poor-man’s version of a sprayed edge.

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Not Officially Recommended by Most POD Companies

First, you should know that none of the POD companies (KDP, Ingram, Bookvault, Lulu) recommend this technique. Because POD means each book is printed separately, it’s hard for them to guarantee that the edges will look right. I’m ignoring that comment and will forge ahead! Here’s what Bookvault says comparing sprayed edged v forced edges.

Looking at the Result of Forced Edges - My First Attempt

For this trial, I realized I would need to get a couple proof copies. My forthcoming children’s novel, STRAW HEART is about a scarecrow, a crow, a mouse and a whimsical wind. I slapped a quick cover on the book (the artist is hard at work on the final art—cover reveal coming!), and added the forced edge art. Because a crow, Smudge, is a main character, I chose a stock file of a feather that repeats, created files, and printed proof copies with Lulu. One is printed on white paper and the other on cream paper so I could see that difference, too.

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As I flip through the book, notice that there are horizontal black lines on each page, lines which create the edge design. At the beginning of a design, there are few lines, but in the book’s center, they dominate the reading experience. The question is this: will a young reader be overwhelmed by this edge design? This story takes place in a popcorn field, so maybe you could interpret the design as a fence line? Does the design detract or distract a reader from the story?

Files for Forced Edges

Creating the files for forced edges is the first hurdle. Painted Wings partners with Vellum to create these files. Essentially, they take a design and break it into the pixels required on each page to create the image. You can, of course, do this manually, but I’m glad to pay someone to do it.

Notice:

1. You must purchase files for the correct size for your trim size. This is for an 5.5” x 8.5” book, and if I changed to 5” x 8”, I’d have to purchase a different set of files.

2. The edge can be formatted as a black-on-white edge as I’ve done here, or you can reverse it to white-on-black. You can choose to have the design once in the center of the edge, or you can repeat it. This allows for different page lengths of your novel.

3. Vellum and Atticus both allow you to import the design files and will apply it to the pages of your book. See below for tutorials and comparison on edge controls.

4. Be sure you know what you’re getting. Painted Wings designs are just on the outside edge, not the top and bottom, too. If you need all three edges, you may need to order a custom file.

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Technology for Forced Edges

The technology is simple, if you use Vellum or Atticus for applying the forced edge images. They both have settings that allow you to customize and set it up the way you like. Here are a couple great videos to make sure all the settings are set up your way.

• Vellum how-to video: Apply the design to the entire book.

• Atticus how-to video: Apply the design to the entire book. They allow a couple extra settings such as fade on the edges, exclude certain pages, and so on.

The book shown in my video above was set up in Vellum, so I didn’t have the option to fade the edges. Would that matter? My illustrator is doing about five or six full illustrations and it would be great to exclude the design from those pages. Excluding one page won’t affect the overall edge, so I’d love to do that. Otherwise, the full illustrations must fall UNDER the edge illustration. Painted Wings is careful to say that the edge images must be on top of any other illustrations. I would have to account for that when talking to the illustrator so she can plan for it.

Forced Edges: Yes or No for Children’s Novels?

I’ll be talking with the illustrator laster this week after she receives the proof copies. I tend to think the variable edge treatment on the interior pages is too much for a children’s book. But I formatted these in Vellum, and Atticus allows for faded edges. Would that matter? I am undecided.

Creating a Deluxe Edition of a Children’s Novel with POD Printers

My goal has been to do a deluxe edition of a book without going to offset printing. The goal would be a higher priced book for collectors, gifts, Kickstarters, and direct sales.

I’m not sure the forced edges is the right answer. But there are other options:

1. Paper. You can always change the quality of the paper, no matter the POD printer. I ordered my test copies in white and cream versions to see how that affects the interior.

2. Dust Jackets. Ingram allows for dust jackets with casebound books or linen hardcovers (about $1 more). Lulu only allows dust jackets for the linen hardcover, not with casebound. Bookvault also allows dust jackets. In other words, check the specs from your preferred printer!

3. Duplex Covers. Ingram can also create paperbacks with duplex covers (about $0.30 extra) which allow printing on the interior cover. This isn’t end papers that we’d love for picture books, but it’s an extra cool formatting for paperback novels. Bookvault doesn’t do duplex covers in the US, UK only. Lulu doesn’t do duplex covers; although, if you print a magazine or comic, they allow duplex.) See this how to video for more on creating duplex covers.

There are options for going deluxe, just not many! Check out Bookvault’s Bespoke options—just keep in mind that BV ships from the UK. What options would give a children’s that something special worth paying more for?

One other question: do you need a separate ISBN for a deluxe edition? Maybe. ISBNs are tied to a certain format, either ebook, audiobook, paperback, or hardcover. If you set up a book everywhere with the same files, the same ISBN applies. But if you created a deluxe edition with better quality paper, forced edges, and a duplex cover only at Ingram, then you’d need a separate ISBN. You want that anyway, because you want to price it differently. Then the customer can choose the standard printing or deluxe printing and pay accordingly.

What do you think? Would you use a forced edge image on a children’s novel? I’d love to hear opinions on this because I’ve not decided one way or another yet.

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Two major POD companies are trying to make it much easier through direct-buy links. These are links to the POD company to process an order, ship, pay taxes, and take care of the transaction. Immediately, you can think of many use cases: Instagram posts, emails about a new book, QR code for handouts to teachers, and more.

Let’s look at the details, because the choices are all in the details!

Why Use a Direct Sell Button?

If you’re in direct contact with your audience a direct sell button is stellar. With one click the book is added to a shopping cart and you’ll have an immediate sell. You’ve removed all the friction of asking a customer to go to your website, find the right page, and click Add to Cart. Instead, with one click, customers are ready to complete their information and buy the book.

The questions detailed below for each will relate to fees, international sales, who owns customer information, and the details of your POD printing options.

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IngramSpark - Share and Sell Program

Ingram’s Share and Sell Button Program is a simple setup if you’re already an IngramSpark customer. You set up your book as normal and then on the left-hand menu, click on Ecommerce to access the Share and Sell option. You’ll be allowed to create a URL for direct selling. They include a URL, QR code and HTML embedding into a website (for example, your blog).

Here’s Ingram’s example of setting a price for a book (see what is taken out and what is your profit).

1. Fees. IngramSpark’s Share and Sell Program will charge you a fulfillment fee ($3.50 in the US; £3.00 in the UK; 5.50 AUD in Australia). The reader pays the shipping and sales tax for your book.

2. International Sales. As of this writing, you can create Share and Sell links for the US, AU, and UK. Each of these is a different link which directs the order to the printer in that country. So, Australian orders are printed and shipped from an Australian printer.

3. Customer Information. You will not have access to the customer information.

4. POD choices. Check out IngramSpark’s pricing calculator here. Notice that they have 70# paper and you can choose premium printing or Standard70.

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Lulu Buy Direct Button Program

Lulu Buy Direct Button Program is another simple setup if you’re already a Lulu customer, with one extra setup step. You’ll choose Lulu Direct for distribution. To sell with the Direct Button Program, you’ll need to set up a Stripe channel. Stripe is the payment processing program used widely across the internet. For each place you receive income, Stripe asks you to set up a channel. I use Stripe here on my Substack for when you become a paid subscriber. That means, I would need to set up a new Stripe channel for Lulu payments; you can’t use a channel you already have set up. It’s a simple process, especially if you already have a Stripe account, to connect your banking information. But it is an extra step.

They include a URL and Html embedding. If you want a QR code, you’ll have to generate that yourself. For example, Canva has a free QR code generator.

Here’s Lulu’s example of setting pricing for a book (see what is taken out and what is your profit).

1. Fees. You’ll have a Stripe payment processing fee (depends on your account, that is typically 2.9% + $0.30/transaction. Lulu Fulfillment Fees run USD1.75, GBP1.55, EUR1.75, AUD2.75, CAD2.45. Lulu’s fulfillment fees are the same if you order one book or ten books.

2. International sales. Lulu’s Knowledge Base says, “We have print facilities located in Australia, Canada, France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

   Lulu’s order routing system is automated and it will attempt to send the order to an available print facility closest to the destination address.”

   This means you don’t need a special link for international customers. Instead, the customer’s address determines the print facility. It’s One Link to Rule Them All (ha!)

3. Customer information. You own the customer information! Lulu says, “Access customer names, emails, shipping addresses, order history, and marketing opt-in status. Use order data for customer support and to build a dedicated list of buyers for future marketing efforts.”

   For most of you, this will be the game changer. If you have access to your order history and customer information, and can build a mailing list through this method.

4. POD Choices. Lulu’s pricing information shows the print options available. Like IngramSpark, there are Standard and Premium print options. But for me, the difference for years has been Lulu’s lovely 80#-coated paper, which creates lovely picture books, even with Standard printing.

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Discussion - Which Direct Buy Button Should You Use?

For me, two issues stand out. Lulu says customer information belongs to the publisher; IngramSpark doesn’t share customer information because they belong to IngramSpark. With Lulu, you can build a customer base by using opt-in marketing. With IngramSpark, you can’t.

Second, Lulu’s 80#-coated paper continues to be the best option for my picture books. The printing is lovely, whether you choose Standard or Premium printing. IngramSpark is out of touch with today’s market with their 70# paper.

Third, of less importance, but still something to consider, Lulu’s fulfillment fees are lower. They charge $1.75 USD, while IngramSpark charges twice as much at $3.50.

The one hesitation for Lulu is setting up that extra Stripe channel. I’m off to do that right now!

Will you take advantage of either of these Direct Sell programs?

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Here are three things I learned this week!

Book covers – genre, title, author AND age range! Via blog article

When I first started publishing books, I was surprised when someone said that books covers sell books by instantly, at-a-glance, telling the reader the genre of the book. Oh. OK. The book cover has a job to do. They should instantly communicate certain things to the reader. OK. What? Genre? Really?

To show that something is a science fiction, one person recommended the “butt” of a spaceship with a flare of energy coming out the back. That instantly says science fiction to most readers. Romance is instantly communicated by a bare-chested man. Beyond those obvious genre signals are a host of other symbols and visual short-cuts to make sure the right reader picks up the right book.

This fascinating blog article, Introducing: The Kid Cover Test by Afoma Umesi analyzes middle grade book covers, and find the same thing: genre matters. However, it reinforced something that was only fuzzy for me. Beyond genre, for children’s books, you MUST communicate correctly what age reader would enjoy this book.

Reading Middle Grade

Introducing: The Kid Cover Test

When I asked on Instagram what people wondered about young readers, one of the top responses was, “What makes them pick up a book?” Two weeks later, I received a Book Matchmaking request from a parent who said that her 11-year-old son actively rejected anything with a “kiddish” cover. He would even check the covers of the audiobooks they wanted to liste…

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a month ago · 40 likes · 31 comments · Afoma Umesi

That means middle grade covers should communicate genre and the intended age of the reader. Age range! Ah, that’s very helpful. Umesi says, “Older kids police the age signal hard.”

Cartoonish covers clearly indicate they are for the 6-8 or 7-10 year old range of readers. The more realistic the images, the older the story’s perception skewed. More simplistic covers were rated as appropriate for younger readers.

Umesi says, “If the characters on your cover look like elementary schoolers, you’re essentially telling most older readers to back off.”

Interestingly, older kids did read and take into account extras on the cover: reviews, questions, blurbs, recommended by, and so on. If you’re doing an older MG, consider if something might help create interest.

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Picture book layout – via Pooh Bear -- via podcast interview with

In a podcast interview with Kirsten W. Larson, author Annette Bay Pimental discusses her book, How a Bear Became a Book, the story of A.A. Milne’s and Ernst Shepard’s collaboration on creating the original Whinnie-the-Pooh books. The podcast talks about the development of the manuscript from a straightforward nonfiction narrative into a more lyrical book with a metafiction element.

But the discussion of book layout especially interested me. When We Were Very Young, the first Pooh book, was published in the 1920s when publishers were transitioning to offset printing. The series they produced was one of the first books to take advantage of the layout possibilities of offset. They stacked words about the 100-acre woods to create a tree-like trunk. They scattered words across the page to create a mud puddle. They crossed the page with a double-page spread.

Before offset printing, book layouts could only put an image on one page and words on the opposite page.

I promptly ordered a facsimile of the original book to see what they actually did! I liken it to THE WILD ROBOT, which integrates art and text in a fantastic way. Look at how the art for Chapter 12 frames the page, for example. When I put these two books—The Wild Robot and When We Were Very Young—together (they were published 100 years apart!), it’ll be interesting to see what we’ve learned and where page design has gone for short chapter books.

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Copyright Clearance Center – via IBPA

As a member of IBPA, I receive their monthly magazine. IBPA is the Independent Book Publisher’s Association which relates strongly to our publishing of children’s books. I read their magazine closely every issue.

The current issue includes this article: “Why Trade Publishers Shouldn’t Overlook the Copyright Clearance Center by Maria Jesus Aguilo, Independent, Issue 3 2026, Vol 44, No 3, p. 40-41

The article assumed that I’d know about the CCC. I knew nothing.

The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) is used widely in academic and university publishing, but less so by trade publishers. If someone wants to license something from your book (text, art, etc; excerpts, single pages, etc.) they should come to you, the publisher, for permission. But often, that’s a pain, so they just don’t use your materials. Probably, they aren’t willing to pay enough to make the communication worthwhile.

The CCC set up a marketplace where people can easily search for rights and make small payments. It smooths out the small transactions and makes them possible.

Aguilo reports that when she listed Blue Star Press’s books, their first payment was a five-figure check. About $500 was attributed to a coloring book, which wasn’t an obvious target for licensing opportunities.

In other words, it’s another passive income opportunity. Will my books do well on such a marketplace? The only way to know if to try it. I’ve asked for information from the CC and will follow through to see if it’s a good fit for my books.

If you’re a member of IBPA, read the article in their latest magazine. Contact the CCC here: https://www.copyright.com/landing/contact-rightsholders/

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An author writes books. An illustrator creates story art. A publisher puts the text and art together in a format we call a book and brings it to market.

They are different roles. I recently helped a friend bring her out-of-print book back to life. Then she received communication from Ingram and worried that it was asking her to pay a bill. It clearly said the publisher’s share was a certain amount. But she clearly didn’t acknowledge and accept that role: publisher. She’s still thinking like an author.

This is a crucial mindset shift that you must make when you self-publish. You may be both the author and the publisher, and both roles are important. But you need to acknowledge and accept the publisher role and understand what it means.

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Publishers and Printers

One obvious result of understanding the publisher role is when we talk about selling books on Amazon or through IngramSpark. You are the publisher; Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) and IngramSpark are merely the POD printers-distribution companies you choose to work with. That means at any point, you can change printers and/or distributors. You are in control of the book, not KDP or IngramSpark.

Publishers decide when and how to distribute a book. You may decide that for the launch of the book, you’ll use an offset printer for 3000 copies, and you’ll ship from your own warehouse. But two years from now (or any time in between), when those 3000 are sold, you can switch to anything you like. Switching to a print-on-demand for ongoing book sales you might choose to use KDP, Ingram, and Lulu Printing for your Shopify store.

You are the publisher. KDP, IngramSpark, and Lulu are merely the POD printer-distributors you choose to work with.

The idea that you are the Publisher becomes vitally important when we turn to marketing. For paid subscribers, let’s talk about what a publisher can do to help find readers for your book that authors can’t do.

Publishers Market Books

What it means for marketing is that your company presents books to the marketplace. Not you.

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Picture Book Authors and Illustrators: A Generative Retreat, on September 16-19 is a dynamic, fun, amazing workshop. Leslie Helakoski and I will be teaching a session every morning, followed by a round-table critique. Matthew Phipps, editor from Penguin, will hold a ten-minute consult with each person! And, he’ll be responding to the First Pages session.

You’ll have time to write, get feedback, meet industry professionals (and me!), and laugh and cry and feel every inch a writer or illustrator. All of this while staying in a charming, comfortable (if rustic) cabin or a comfortable lodge room. And the food? Amazing! They know how to take care of us!

The cost may seem a lot, but it includes that fabulous room and board, plus all the teaching, feedback, and laughter.

This opportunity is going, going…

If you’re available, don’t wait. These spots will be gone soon!

Among other fascinating details, Market Reports says: “Public and private libraries globally purchased over 210 million children’s titles in 2024…Library systems in the USA managed over 9,200 public branches, collectively circulating 310 million children’s books annually.” It’s a huge market for your books!

Caroline S. asked: “…you mentioned certain items that libraries liked to see in books they acquire. (Maybe things like reading levels) What are they, and are they really needed? I have an upcoming book (self-published) that I’d like to market to libraries.”

Let’s dig in to library marketing!

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How Does Your Book Get Found on the Internet? SEO and GEO

Tricia G asks: What have you heard about Keysearch? It almost feels like it would be worth it if you have 30 books.

Keysearch is one of many tools that help you optimize your website, books listings, and anything else you’d find online. The question these days is what optimization do you need, SEO or GEO?

SEO is search engine optimization and for years it was the gold standard for making sure your information gets found. It’s still somewhat important, but as AI takes over, we’re moving to GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), or AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization). They are quite different! The GEO term seems to have won the battle for which term to use, so I’ll use it here.

In SEO, you cared about keywords, thus the program Keysearch. In addition, links, a website’s authority, and other factors weighed in. For example, if you wrote a book about a horse becoming friends with a girl, you might use these keywords: friendship, horse, female. If you wrote a blog post about the book, and a major company linked to it—say, Taylor Swift—then the links to and from the post would tell the search engines that this is an important post. They’d show it to more people.

GEO, however, doesn’t care so much about keywords and links. Jane Friedman recently reported on a presentation at the US Book Show, From SEO to GEO: Optimizing Books for AI Discovery, presented by Cameron Lennon (paid article). Lennon said that it’s common practice to start your Amazon listing with an award list.

For my new title, NIGHT: How Copernicus Made the Sun Stand Still and the Earth Move, it might read like this:

“…accessible…immersive…historical development of ideas.” Kirkus Reviews

“Cheerful, childlike illustrations supplement Pattison’s especially adept work describing complex concepts in kid-friendly terms. . . Unique in coverage, this makes a great read-aloud and offers considerable STEM curriculum support.” Booklist

“…easily understandable language for young readers….VERDICT Highly recommended. School Library Journal

Patterns in the Night Sky

On a March night in 1497, a young Nicholas Copernicus watched the moon glide across the sky and hide a distant star. When the star reappeared too soon, he knew something was wrong with the accepted science of his time. That single observation launched a lifetime of questions—and changed how we understand our place in the universe.

But that doesn’t help GEO discover and understand your book. Instead, it needs a simple declarative sentence that answers: What kind of book is this? Who is it for? What does the reader experience?

Instead, it needs basic information about the book, something like this:

This nonfiction children’s picture book explains how the famous astronomer Nicholas Copernicus observed the night sky and realized that the sun is at the center of the solar system. For curious kids, ages 7-12, or STEM/STEAM classrooms. Book 11 of the Moments in Science series.

WHAT: nonfiction children’s picture book. Book 11 of the Moments in Science series. This gives the genre and that it’s a picture book for kids.

WHAT-theme or one-sentence plot: Explains how “the famous astronomer Nicholas Copernicus observed the night sky and realized that the sun is at the center of the solar system.”

WHO - intended reader : curious kids, ages 7-12. STEM/STEAM classrooms. Be sure to mention ages or grade levels for your children’s books. I’m trying here to appeal to both parents and teachers.

THEN, you go into the normal description, including awards, reviews, synopsis, author biography, illustrator biography, etc.

WHO - comparables: I didn’t add any comparable books to this description. If you are writing fiction, it’s helpful to compare it to similar books, or at least mention comparable authors.

Reader Experience: Will your reader weep, delight, puzzle, hate, or love? What emotions will they experience? For nonfiction, I’m trying to satisfy curiosity, so I mentioned the “curious kids.”

To me, the declarative statements seems a boring way to start a description on Amazon! My instinct is to use something that captures the audience, a strong hook. But GEO says to get the basics done first.

In the end, I think it’s going to be a combination: we have a human audience who needs that hook and understands the importance of awards and reviews. But the AI audience needs to be grounded first. It’s going to be a dance to make sure both audiences find our books. So, I might add in an SLJ recommendation:

“Highly recommended” by the School Library Journal, this nonfiction children’s picture book explains how the famous astronomer Nicholas Copernicus observed the night sky and realized that the sun is at the center of the solar system. This book is for curious kids, ages 7-12, or STEM/STEAM classrooms. Book 11 of the Moments in Science series.

There are no rights and wrongs here. We’re just trying to capture the attention of the technology that can bring our books attention.

GEO experts also recommend that you use the A+ content available in the KDP dashboard, optimize your author listing on AuthorCentral, keep your own website updated, and include accurate information everywhere you can. Remember that AI can read text on an image. It also understands video, so, add those extra videos when possible.

I’ve not yet started the process of updating all my descriptions for GEO! With about 80 books out, that’s a lot of metadata updates. But over the next six months or so, it’s a project I need to tackle.

Another unexpected resource for GEO is Reddit, where people can have anonymous conversations. Because they are anonymous, they tend to answer more honestly, explaining their mistakes, giving more in-depth critiques, etc. That gives it authority when AI crawls it for answers. Find Reddits related to your book! Learn the Reddit culture, of course, before you post. But if you like the Reddit style of social media, it can help your GEO.

Short answer: SEO, while still important, is being taken over by GEO. Therefore, I wouldn’t pay for a keyword service like Keysearch. But your situation may vary. Look at your books to decide if it’s a service that will bring in readers or not.

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Tricia G also asks: Where and how do we best accumulate metadata?

Metadata is all the information about your book: title, subtitle, description, sizes, number of pages, categories, keywords, author, illustrator, author bio, illustrator bio, ISBN, age level, grade level, series name, # within the series, BISAC categories (three columns), price (MSRP), publisher’s name, physical size, language, copyright year, ASIN, format (hardcover, paperback, etc), reading level, review quotes, and so on.

The easiest way to manage the metadata is to use spreadsheet that includes all the metadata for each book.

Download a blank metadata spreadsheet template here.

The blank spreadsheet only has columns that list the most common metadata elements for books, but feel free to update as needed. For example, if there are two authors, just add two more columns for Author 2 and Author 2 Biography.

The template is meant to keep information for all the books you publish. You should have a row for each ISBN, because ISBN is tied to format. You’ll have a row for hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and ebook versions of a title. Add columns specific to a format if needed. For example, for audiobooks, you may want to add a column for total playing time. You may not need that if the platforms you use for audiobooks don’t request it. In other words, customize it to your needs.

This spreadsheet is invaluable when you upload a book to a new platform. All the information is now in one place.

When you have published about 50 books or more, you may outgrow the spreadsheet and want to move to ONIX. That’s the format that the publishing industry uses to exchange information about books. It’s complicated and programs are scarce for the small publisher. I use ONIXEdit.com, a subscription-based program that prices based on how many titles you have listed. I don’t recommend ONIX until you reach at least 50 books, and only if you’re comfortable with slightly complicated technology.

How Do you USE the Metadata?

Basically, the metadata includes everything about the book that is needed to list your book on platforms and reasonably hope to be discovered. It’s not to share with anyone else, it’s just a spreadsheet that 1) gives you instant access to information. 2) It keeps you organized! Instead of hunting for information or recreating it on the spot, you have a resource to pull up and refer to. When you upload a title, just copy and paste the information from your spreadsheet. 3) It keeps you consistent across platforms.

Be sure to keep it updated! If you receive a great review, immediately put the review quote on the spreadsheet. When you update prices, update your metadata. Make it the most up-to-date resource for information about your books and keep it updated.

How do you create and use your metadata and keep it organized?

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But how do you put the art into a children’s picture book? You need professional software to do the design and layout of your book. There are specialized programs that are meant to allow you to take raw art, add the text, and produce the print-ready pdf.

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT ART?

When you commission an artist to produce the art for your picture book, you should require art at 300 dpi, (dots per inch, a measure of the quality of the images; artists will understand this requirement). Printers need a pdf with art at 300 dpi for good print quality. Art that you see online is usually 72 dpi, good enough for viewing on a screen, but if you try to print that image, it’s blurry and pixelated.

It also needs to be in a CMYK format. There are two ways to discuss art, depending on whether you’re viewing it on a screen or printing on paper. CMYK means Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK, the colors of the ink used to print on paper. But on a screen, you don’t use ink; instead, you combine light. So they use RGB, or Rad, Green, and Blue. When you commission art, it should be delivered in CMYK format so it prints well. You can later use Photoshop or a similar program to translate to RGB for ebooks and any online promotions.

Let’s assume that you have the art in the right size, at 300 dpi, and in CMYK format! What next? How does that art become a children’s book? I’ve recorded a quick video to give you a peek at what Indesign or other layout and design programs do.

Why is the video behind a paywall? Because it takes time to record the video and when you support this blog with a paid subscription, then it makes possible for me to spend that extra time creating educational videos for you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

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This month, I’m planning to do a Q&A post around July 15. This is your time to submit a question, general or…

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Everything comes back to the writing.

That’s why I’m excited to be teaching the basics of picture book writing again for Boyds Mills (formerly Highlights Foundation). Leslie Helakoski and I have taught together for over ten years, specializing in how to write a children’s picture book.

If you’re a beginner or even if you’ve been writing for a while, this class will reinforce all the important considerations in writing a picture book. Will your story fit into a 32-page format? Do you have an exciting opening? Does the middle tell the story well? Does the conclusion work? Does the story actually work as a story? Would a parent come back to this one and read it over and over at bedtime? Beyond that—how does the book sound when read aloud? And—so much more! This online webinar is only $59, so it’s affordable. Two nights in August, one hour each night. Join us!

Getting Ready for Back-to-School

One of the biggest seasons for children’s books is about to hit: back to school!

If you live in the northern US, and school just got out a couple weeks ago, your season is pushed to mid-August-late September. Here in the south, where the school year ended before Memorial Day in late May, our season will heat up in early August-September.

Let’s talk about some things to do before that season hits.

1. Metadata Check and/or Refresh: Make sure all your metadata is correct on the platforms that matter for your books: Amazon, Overdrive, Barnes & Noble, EPIC!, Classwallet, or anywhere else your books are sold. If people can’t find your book, or if the listing is outdated, you will not get sales. July is a great time to recheck everything! Refresh anything outdated and tie into any upcoming cultural events of interest.

2. Lesson Plans. If you have a strong school market, you may want to create lesson plans. Or if you have them, perhaps create a dedicated download page for lesson plans. Make sure you’ve added links to the book’s product pages on your website.

3. Think about bundles. Are there creative or interesting ways to create bundles of your books? Because I’m marketing to the homeschool audience through ClassWallet, I’ve created bundles that I hope appeal to parents and kids. It’s always better to sell one bundle than one single book! Creating a bundle is a simple process through my software, so I do this often.
   
   If you write novels, use Vellum or Atticus to create an omnibus edition, which means you put several novels together into one ebook. (Formal definition from Wikipedia: An omnibus edition or omnibus is a book containing multiple creative works by the same or, more rarely, different authors.) Remember that Amazon limits ebooks to $9.99, but you can price high on Kobo, Google Play, D2D, and others.

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4. Set up school visits. This is also a great time to plan school visits. Teachers and librarians aren’t in school to contact yet, but this is the time to plan programs, set up procedures to order books, create graphics for social media, create flyers to send, and so on. Some authors earn a significant income from school visits! It doesn’t happen without planning. Next month, August, is a great time to start contacting teachers and librarians to set up dates.

5. Check inventories. If you offset print or use POD to fulfill orders, this is a great time to check your inventories. What’s your most popular book? Do you have enough on hand to fulfill orders. What books do you have leftover from last year? Could you offer a discount on those books at a school visit? Or can you emphasize that book for presentations this year?

Your circumstances will determine the mid-summer tasks that need to be done. It’s the calm before the storm! Do what you can now to prepare before the back-to-school season hits!

What is your biggest task for the month?

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The homeschool market has changed in the last couple years because state governments are now setting up programs that fund homeschoolers. It varies wildly from state to state, with funding levels all over the place. Often, a homeschool parent can register and received $5000-10,000 to spend on educational supplies. Wow! That’s per child. Families homeschool with several kids have lots of resources.

This changes the game. Parent’s aren’t spending family resources; instead, they have money designated for school and educational supplies, classes, and so on.

There are a couple clear channels for reaching homeschoolers, but each comes with unique problems and opportunities. Let’s talk about how state funding changes the way we sell books to homeschoolers.

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Today, we’ll talk about the ins and outs of working with Ingram, including setting discounts, changes in the library marketing, how to get a pro account, and updates on what’s coming.

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I did my last conference of the year this week, the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM), the school librarians, in Jonesboro, AR

Book sales were strong at this conference because 1) they are school librarians, 2) I only brought hardcovers appropriate for their libraries, so the price points were higher, and 3) they bought series. The Children’s Animal Book series, Moments in Science, and the Read and Write series (writing essays) were popular.

Time to Clean My Office

This isn’t exciting news, but I’m planning to clean my office this week. I have lots of books that need to be organized and put into storage until the next season of conferences. They are stacked everywhere! I’ll need to inventory, sort and store them better so next season will start strong.

Order Books for Award Committees

This is also the season to mail books to award committees. I’ve written about children’s book awards here, which includes a list of appropriate awards. And I’ve started a Monster List of Children’s Book Awards here—subscribe to be notified when a new list goes live! Or download the Monster Books handout from the conference to see what books I recommended.

Right now, I have a spreadsheet of awards that I will submit to, the number of books required by each award (see the info on each award), and I’ll order books to send out. (Order more books? I really need to get those boxes sorted and organized!) I’ll also need to order packing materials. I tend to like the easy fold boxes because they can hold 1-3 books depending on award submissions that year. They are also sturdy and protect the books. I like to get these award submissions sent early because Book/Media Rate at the USPS can be slower; I mail early to get there in a timely manner. A majority of my publicity budget is invested in sending books to the award committees.

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Write the Next Book!

Finally, I’m turning my attention to two new manuscripts. I’ve done research about a new animal to add to my Children’s Animal Book series. I’ve ordered used books from other countries, dug into scientific papers and actually started a draft. But here’s the thing. Right from the start, I wanted these books to be ABOUT the animal as a main character. They are biographies of a single animal, not a species. For WISDOM, one editor said I needed to add more about the scientists. Another editor said take out the scientists entirely. But my vision has always been that these are from the animal’s POV, but also includes how they interact with humans.

The first draft of the new story, though, is all about the scientist. I was trying hard to get the timeline and the science facts straight. One source is written by the scientist, so of course, I started channeling his POV. Now that I know the problem, it should be much easier to write with the POV and voice that will work for the story.

A second manuscript is a cosy fantasy. Have you heard that term, “cosy fantasy”? It’s become popular in the last five years. A space-opera or high fantasy is a story that takes into account the fate of the world. It might be a war between rival factions that will change the universe forever. It includes sweeping stories, years of battles, and bigger-than-life characters.

By contrast, a cosy fantasy is a local neighborhood story about smaller stakes. In children’s literature, I’d consider THE WILD ROBOT a cozy/cosy fantasy. It’s limited to the island where the robot is stranded. It’s about an egg, a baby duck and raising the duck. The stakes escalate to include the fate of the island, but it’s not an epic fantasy for sure. Another popular story is the GROWING HOME by Beth Ferry. A girl’s best friend is her goldfish and her talking ivy plant. Talking plants are big right now int he cozy fantasy category.

I realized that cozy fantasy may be better suited to the types of stories I write! I’m deliberately writing one and having a blast. I’ll be doing a major revision on that for the rest of the summer.

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Planning for Fall

Planning for late summer and fall still continues, of course. Leslie Helakoski and I will teach a webinar on August 11 and 13 about writing picture books, Picture Book Essential.

We’ll also teach an in-person workshop for Boyds Mills on September 16-19, Picture Book Authors and Illustrators: A Generative Retreat. If you’re interested, hurry! Spaces are limited!

Finally, I’m speaking at the Wisconsin SCBWI Retreat on October 8-10, teaching an intensive, PUBLISH: Earn Enough Money to Pay Yourself a Salary. Come, join me!

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And I’ve been musing that our business, thanks to the internet runs 24/7/365, all day, every day, with or without direct intervention. What a blessing!

Trip to Amsterdam and London

Two years ago, I traveled to Prague and Poland and that trip resulted in two books.

But this time, our travel was just for pleasure. Here are a couple photos.

Planning for a Break

Before I left, though, I did a couple things to make sure the business didn’t break while I was gone. First, yes, I had email access all the time, through wifi and our mobile provider. That meant, I could quickly deal with urgent items. There were a few small ones, and I was surprised at how easily I could solve things from my ipad. I always bring my computer, but I never fired it up.

Second, before I left, I shut down some ads. I’ve been running Amazon ads this year again, trying to master the beast (hopefully a post is coming later this year). Some of the ads are experimental, unproven. I PAUSED everything except the proven ads. I took other steps to set up automatic payments and make sure the financials were all steady—and wouldn’t need any attention.

Third, I gave myself permission to not write! I’m a writer. Everything I do is to write or teach writing. I’m pretty boring—that’s my only passion, to communicate through words on a page and to help others maximize their communication skills, and connect people to their work. But sometimes, you need to take in things—so you have something to give out.

One afternoon, my husband and I just sat on a bench and watched people walk by for an hour or two. We chatted about the choices of clothing: the heat wave meant belly buttons everywhere. He noticed the crooked houses, the result of failing foundations along the canal, and how were those foundations built anyway and such a waterway? I pointed out unobtrusive bird nesting boxes placed oddly on a roof. What would it be like to live in such a town if you were a bird-watcher?

The Sherlock Holmes play in the Open Air Theater of Regent’s Park was amazing. The stage was a circular structure that had a revolving inner and outer ring, and when there was a chase scene, what an amazing choreography!

Regent’s Park roses were in full bloom, so I literally took time to smell the roses!

We often need to remind ourselves that our writing comes from filling the well, so there’s something to give out.

And—hallelujah!—while you do it, you’ll still be selling books!

I’ll start with one thing I’m not worried about: I’m not worried about things that my traditionally published friends are worried about. Several children’s publishing imprints with long storied histories have closed recently. Overall, the industry is shrinking, with tales of woe here and there. There was a big ruckus about the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett. This is all happening like it’s in another dimension. The trials and tribulations of traditional publishing doesn’t keep me awake at night.

Instead, I’m worried about tablecloths for tables at conventions, accessibility for ebooks, reaching the homeschool market, launching two books, writing a new book, contracts for another new book, and much more. Come and marvel at my jumbled thoughts!

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Barnett quotes a science fiction writer, Theodore Sturgeon, who was tired of his chosen genre being belittled and decided to write what’s known as Sturgeon’s Law:

90% of everything is crud.

Corollary 1: 90% of science fiction is crud and this is normal.

Corollary 2: The best science fiction is as good as the best fiction in any field.

Barnett extrapolates that to children’s literature in the now famous Barnett Addendum to Sturgeon’s Law:

“Maybe more like 94.7 percent of kids’ books are crud.” (p. 19, Kindle version)

When I read this as a children’s book author, it’s depressing. Maybe it is normal that 90% of everything is crud, but what good does that do me when I sit down to write?

Barnett’s Arguments

Throughout his book, Barnett is arguing two things. First, the audience of kids is often misunderstood, ignored, or exploited. On that, I could agree. There are books which bash kids with politeness, tell them tone-deaf stories about events that bore kids, and tell sensational stories just to make a buck.

His second argument is that some books represent art, crossing into the exotic realm of literature. Those are the books that Barnett would say respect the unique position and inner life of kids.

But, he says, most books “…fail to provide any kind of real literary experience for children.” (p. 21, Kindle version)

The statement argues that Art with a capital A should be the goal of children’s literature. I disagree. It is only one possible goal for children’s literature.

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Children’s Literature is Inclusive

One book that has repeatedly spoken into my writing career is Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. They address the idea of Art with a capital A, but instead of looking at the work, they focus on the Artist. Or, in our case, the children’s book author.

“’Artist’ [children’s book author] has gradually become a form of identity which (as every artist [children’s book author] knows) often carries with it as many drawbacks as benefits. Consider that if artist [children’s book author] equals self, then when (inevitably) you make flawed art, you are a flawed person, and when (worse yet) you make no art, you are no person at all! It seems far healthier to sidestep that vicious spiral by accepting many paths to successful artmaking—from reclusive to flamboyant, intuitive to intellectual, folk art to fine art. One of those is your path. (p. 7-8, Kindle version)

In other words, when Barnett says that only Art can become children’s literature, I reject that statement. His aesthetics may or may not create literature, just as mine may or may not create children’s literature. Certainly, his idea that Art is the goal is not helpful for me as a children’s book author. It doesn’t speak to my reality.

When Bayles and Orland say, “…when (inevitably) you make flawed art…”, they understand that the art making process is hard. Indeed, they help me understand that it is my (inevitable) flaws and mistakes that make it my art. As they say, “Art is made by ordinary people…The flawless creature wouldn’t need to make art.”

I understand that Barnett is talking to a wider audience about the necessity of considering the audience of children’s literature and bringing respect to the stories we tell. But I reject his criteria for deciding what constitutes Art and therefore, children’s literature. For me, the criteria is much more inclusive.

And for my writing career, his comments leave me stranded, with no way forward. There’s no way I can create Art with a capital A, because I’m a flawed creature. I know that every time I put a word onto a page.

With apologies to Bayles and Orland, this rewording helps me face the next story that I plan to write for kids:

It seems far healthier to sidestep that vicious spiral of narrowly defining children’s literature by accepting many paths to successful storytelling—from reclusive to flamboyant, intuitive to intellectual, folk art to fine art.

Barnett has written a book about children’s literature that expounds a certain viewpoint. He’s grasping for a higher standard for children’s literature, and I applaud that. But as a children’s book author, his emphasis on Art as children’s literature leaves me cold and unable to write. People complain about the surge in children’s books and suggest that the answer is fewer books. Instead, I think we need to accept the many paths to successful storytelling and find the ones that resonate with the kids we encounter.

What if Barnett got it all wrong?

What if children are a great audience for storytelling—from reclusive to flamboyant, intuitive to intellectual, folk art to fine art?

“Well, then we’d better do our best to make some good kids’ books.”(Mac Barnett, 2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature)

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Questions About Your Children’s Story

It begins with the story. When we publish a book, it lands in the midst of a tsunami of children’s books and the question is always how will your book be discovered? In today’s crowded market, how does your book stand out.

Wrong audience. Often, I think the audience for a book is adults, the parents or teachers, not the kid. Children’s book walk that fine line of appealing to kids, while also acknowledging that parents/teachers/adults will choose to pay for the book. The kid-appeal issue is crucial for your story to land in a kid’s heart. If your audience truly is the adults, then don’t write and publish a children’s picture book. Instead, write a story about surviving diabetes, choosing to be kind in a multicultural world, or loving and caring for an aging dog. In other word, think about your story’s theme. Does it appeal to kids, as written? Or will it appeal only to adults? The cure: Write for kids!

Bad writing. Children’s literature, especially picture books are short, focused stories where the writing itself matters. Stories should trip off the tongue and be a joy to read aloud. I avoid stories with bad rhyme, inept metaphors, or poor rhythm/hard to read. This is a matter of over-confidence, little experience with children’s books, lack of respect for the audience, or a dead ear for the lyricism of language. The cure: Writing classes, critique groups, and good editors.

Mediocre illustrations. Children’s picture books need the best of the best illustrations. Today’s digital artmaking can be excellent; and yet, so often, I find portfolios to be mediocre. There’s nothing exactly wrong with the illustrations, but they are forgettable. The use of color, line, texture, design, and so on are bland. I comb through portfolios looking for flashes of excellence, something different, something that will, well, “stand out in today’s crowded market.” The cure: art appreciation classes, art classes even if you’ll never be professional level because making art helps you understand the artist’s job, and never settling for mediocre.

The task of an indie publisher is to cast a vision that a certain story will reach the hearts of a certain audience. Then everything must bend in service of that vision. You must study your audience and their needs and preferences. The story, writing, and art must serve the audience.

Yes, there are many other things that a startup business needs to know, from publishing method to where to find editors to formatting the story. And so on and so on. Here’s my guide to getting started with all of that.

Or, try the Write a Book for Kids Series, which helps you write and publish for kids.

In the end, your startup company must commit to a certain, well-defined audience, and then find ways to serve that audience. Sure, you’ll make mistakes and have to correct problems. But keep your eye on your audience, because they are your North Star.

For paid subscribers, this last post will wrap up the stage of being on the front list. It moves to the backlist sometimes soon, depending on how you define front list and back list. Basically, it was published in 2025, so my attention is turning to launching 2026 and 2027 titles. Come and see what worked and what didn’t.

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