Bite Sized Picture Book Process Part 5

‘Now imagine I am an idiot and say that again.’

When I first got into publishing I often found myself saying to my editor, ‘Now imagine I am an idiot and say that again. Thank you.’

Welcome, welcome, come on in. I made us a den under my desk, get yourself a cushion and I’ll quietly explain some of the secret language of picture book publishing so that you don’t have to declare yourself an idiot to your editor.

OK, I will try to channel my best dictionary corner voice. Here goes…

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Blad

In publishing, BLAD stands for Book Layout and Design. It's a mock-up of a book with the images and text in place, usually in full colour, so that you can check everything looks fine and dandy before it goes to print. You are checking for visual continuity, spelling, grammar, details that you might otherwise miss.

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Dummy Book

A ‘dummy’ is a mock-up of a proposed picture book. Usually made from printouts and sellotape. Sometimes the publisher will make one, sometimes the illustrator, sometimes no dummy is made at all. It’s a personal choice. Here are two I made for my book Smelly Peggy.

Dummy books

A dummy is useful for checking where your page turns go

You can use a page turn to hold back a surprise. For example:

‘Where is duck hiding?’ *page turn* ‘Here he is!’

A dummy book can help you with the pacing