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Making children’s book dummies can be a frustrating process-pages buckled, type cut off, spines not lining up—to a point where you don’t want to make dummies at all. But as an illustrator of children’s books, you know that making dummies is an essential part of the process. Here’s a step-by-step guide for making a 32-page picture-book dummy with, hopefully, less fuss:

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Manuscript
2 small binder clips
Sketches
Pencil
Glue stick
Metal ruler
X-acto knife
Cutting mat*
* Paper trimmers work too, but the knife/mat method gives you more control.

BEFORE STARTING

Decide what size your book will be. Some illustrators choose to make dummies at one hundred percent, others create smaller dummies. Making dummies at a smaller size reduces photocopying costs. At fifty or sixty percent, you can usually fit a full spread on a sheet of 11” by 8.5” piece of paper.

Set your manuscript in a basic typeface such as Times or Helvetica and at a smaller size suited to the size of the dummy. The width of the text on any single line cannot exceed the width of a single dummy page, so make sure you give the text some room.

Illustrators usually include one or two finished color samples with the submission package. Some paste the color spreads directly into the dummy, and some include separate printouts. It’s your choice.

ASSEMBLY

1. Photocopy your manuscript and each spread of your sketches. Don’t forget to include title page, copyright/dedication page and end papers. End papers are used to adhere the pages of a book to its cover. Not all illustrators use or show end papers, but they can be a way to tell more of your story visually.

2 & 2b. Cut each spread to dummy size.

3. Fold each spread in half.

TIP:  Make an extra copy of everthing in case of mistakes.

4. Mark the back of each spread with page numbers to keep track. Most picture books follow this sequence:

1 Title Page
2&3 Copyright/Dedication/half title
4&5 Opening spread for story
6&7 Second spread
And so on …
32 Last page of story

TIP: Odd-numbered pages appear on the right and even-numbered pages on the left of a book. If you use end papers, don’t include them in the page count, even though they’ll appear at the front and back of the dummy.

5. Cut the manuscript into blocks of text. Lay out the spreads and decide where each block of text will go. Try to evenly distribute the words unless the context of the story calls for something different.

6. Glue your text to the pages.
1 Comments on Crafting A Book Dummy, last added: 5/16/2012