You have a great idea for a picture book. You are sure that your theme will be very useful for both children and parents. maybe you already wrote it. maybe you even have the illustrations ready. now what? how to turn your dream (or your microsoft word document) into a physical book for kids to enjoy?
We’ve got you covered! In this article we are going to talk about:
You are reading: How to make picture books
how to create an illustrated book step by step
Whether you’ve outlined, written, and illustrated your book, or are starting from scratch, here are all the steps in the process of creating a picture book.
set a goal for your picture book
I don’t think anyone writes a children’s book just to write a children’s book. they have something they want to share, something they want to teach, some pain they want to help a child and their family overcome, or they have a story to tell. so what is your reason?
Do you want to teach young children how to make friends, how to deal with pain, how to clean their room? or do you want to tell a story?
Decide exactly what you want to accomplish with your book. Not only will this help keep your mind clear as you write, it will make a difference at every stage of your publishing process.
In addition to deciding what you want your book to accomplish, find out who you want to use your book. establish your ideal reader: this can be a real child or a child you make up, but create an ideal reader specific to your book. How old is your ideal reader? What are they like and what is your family like? how do you spend your free time? Is there a particular niche this reader fits into? For example, if I were to write a children’s book, I would write it for my nephew, a smart, easily frustrated five-year-old who loves transformers, velociraptors, and polly pocket.
Having a specific reader in mind will help you speak at their level and understanding. It will also go a long way in helping you market your book, as you will know exactly who you are trying to attract.
outline your book
Whether fiction or nonfiction, an outline can streamline any book writing process. no matter how you draw. an outline is just a guide for the writer to complete drafts of it, so write it according to his own preferences and working style. you can make a traditional essay format outline, a mind map, or any form of outline that suits your way of writing.
for a picture book, you can outline it by page, like:
pages 1 and 2: introduce character a, zoom out to show that they are in their messy room
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pages 3 and 4: features his mother telling them to clean it up, shows the character looking overwhelmed by the mess
pages 5 and 6: full illustration of the character trying various solutions that don’t clean their room: pushing things under the bed, spreading the rug over the mess, trying to bribe their little brother to do it for them, etc. .
You might also find it helpful to create a storyboard the way directors do to map out their story before they shoot it. this technique helps you visualize each scene in relation to the others, even if your ultimate goal is not to make a movie.
Whatever outline format works best for you, take the time to plan your book before you write it. Not only will this keep you on track during the writing process, but it will also minimize your chances of getting stuck and giving up before you’ve finished a draft. think of it like a map. you don’t have to follow it all the time, but it’s nice to have in case you get lost.
write your book
get writing! If you’ve outlined your book, the first draft should be a relatively quick process. With an outline and goals in mind, your main struggle will likely be taking those ideas and turning them into something a child can understand and engage with without underestimating the child’s intelligence.
Illustrated books often break down aspects of life into child-friendly, easy-to-understand terms. You can use very simple explanations, relatable metaphors, and likeable characters to help children understand simple and complex topics.
If you have access to a child, it can be very helpful to pass concepts to them (mockup pages are a great way to do this) and assess how they interact with the story. See if your friend’s kid can read the story, or maybe send it to a nephew to get an idea of how he’s reacting to its content.
Also, take the time to look at other books in your genre with your target audience. see how they convey information to children, decide what you like and don’t like, and use it as you write to make sure you’re being intentional and accurate with your message and content. Children’s books use tropes and genre conventions in the same way as adult fiction, so being aware of this can help a lot.
illustrate your book
In a picture book, writing the story is only half the job. If you’re not producing your own illustrations, you’ll need to partner with an artist to create the visuals for your picture book. Finding an illustrator requires research and a general understanding of the market and industry. If you don’t know the standard fees of the average illustrator, you may be getting ripped off, so your first step is to do some research and find out how much an illustrator should cost for a project of your size and scope.
The most important thing about being an illustrator is that you make a good team. the story and illustrations work together to produce a narrative that children will find engaging and entertaining. if there is no cohesion between the story and the illustrations, it probably won’t work. Your illustrator should be someone who understands and cares about the messages you’re trying to convey, and whose style actively helps amplify their meaning. remember, you have to work together to tell the story, so while you don’t want to get ripped off, you also don’t want to skimp and miss out on a good artist.
You’re not just hiring a visual artist, you’re hiring the person who is going to tell the other half of your story. It’s wise to make sure everyone is on the same page with the same goals, and that you make sure your illustrator is someone you’re happy to work with before you sign any contracts. For more information, check out this guide on how to find a good illustrator.
devise a catchy title for your illustrated book
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Your main marketing tools to sell your book are the cover and title, so it’s vital that you spend a lot of time and research to make those elements the best they can be.
a headline should be catchy, snappy and compelling. The title should also clearly convey the content of the book. If a parent is looking for a book to explain COVID-19 to a child, Captain Corona and the 19 COVID Warriors book clearly addresses the topic he or she is looking for. While the book titled I Love You is also about Covid-19, a parent searching for that specific topic may not realize what it is about, as the topic is not clear from the title.
seeks a balance between clarity for parents and excitement for children. It doesn’t have to be purely medical or literal for both groups to participate: A Guide to Covid-19 for Kids is a great non-fiction title, but not a very compelling fiction title. Captain Corona will catch the eye of any superhero lover, while including Covid and the number 19 in the title will make it clear to parents that this is the book they are looking for.
Think about your title a bit, come up with a list of different ideas, and pass them on to other people to see what they think of and what makes them think when they read it.
produce your book
Once your book is written and illustrated, it’s time to produce the physical book. If you want to go the traditional publishing route, you’ll need to find an agent and sell your book. this can easily add years to the writing and formatting process.
The much quicker and more affordable option is to publish yourself, which will require you to do some interior formatting, cover design, sales, and printing. That may sound like a lot, but there’s no need to worry! we are here to help you every step of the way.
test your book
An essential part of publishing any good book is the beta reading process. even if you go through your own book a hundred times, you’re only getting one set of eyes on the book. you need fresh eyes and perspectives to gather feedback for reviews. The difference between the typical book beta reading process and the picture book beta reading process is that you have two main demographics to worry about: children and parents.
for a picture book, reach out to parents, teachers, and child care experts for their feedback. also pass it out to various groups of kids in your target demographic. If your book doesn’t have the impact or interpretation you were looking for, go back to the drawing board and see what you can change. maybe you find that the kids think the art is too scary, or that the parents are uncomfortable with some of the themes. kids may love some things that parents don’t freak out about; Do some testing to determine what balance you need to strike to make your message clear.
If your test readers don’t like it, chances are your real readers won’t like it either. make sure you get it right before you try to sell it to save yourself the pain and heartache of pulling a book off the shelves to remake it after you’ve gone through the whole process.
market your book
Whether you publish on your own or traditionally, the sale of your book depends primarily on you. How you decide to market a book depends on your target audience. With a picture book, your marketing will target parents and children. Most of your marketing efforts will be directed at parents, but some aspects, like the cover, should also be directed at children. If a child is browsing books in the store, what would catch his attention? Cover images should be representative of the book, target the right demographic, and entice a child or parent to open it to see the rest. Think of it like a logo: the title and cover represent the book as a whole and should give a good idea of the art style the reader should expect in the future, as well as the general tone of the upcoming work. a creepy children’s book should have a creepy cover, while an action book should have dynamic colors and punchy text.
conclusion
Picture books are an amazing way to connect parents with children, writer with reader, and child with community. I could say that they are the most important type of book. If you want to take the time to put together a picture book, why not take the time to get it right? Know what your goals are, craft your outline, write and illustrate the story, then recruit enough beta readers to make sure you hit your goal before launching it out into the world to find its home with kids and families.