MG Book Covers, PB Layout, and Passive Income
3 Things I Learned This Week
I’m always reading about publishing children’s books. Lots! I have many “listening stations” where I check in for the latest info. It might be a tiny tidbit about how to format a fixed format picture book, or something about copyediting. My attitude is that I always need to be learning about what we do!
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.
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.
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.
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/