butterflies

Redesigning A Picture Book

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

The purpose of a redesign is to improve the quality of a project in visuals, text, or both.

My debut picture book, Where Do Butterflies Go at Night? was released, to my great excitement, in August 2022. Unfortunately, two years later, my small Australian publisher advised me they were going out of business. The result? My beautiful book would disappear off the face of the Earth.

Was there anything I could do?The only option was to purchase the art and rights, and self-publish the book myself. The original book was published hardcover, 8.5″ x 11″. In looking at my possibilities, POD (print-on-demand) offered only one size in common – 8.5″ x 8.5″ – between two different printers if I wanted the option of soft and hard covers.

This required a redesign in format, and some major changes in the artwork itself, but also offered an opportunity for additional creativity.

One of the important changes I made in a redesign was to make it more clear what the book is about by rebalancing the title text. In the initial cover, the book’s subject is unclear unless you come up close. I added 2nd Edition to my redesigned book, so it was known that this was not the same publisher, and also enlarged the names of the author (me) and illustrator (Stella Maris Mongodi).

I also set up the interior of the book to more closely resemble a traditional picture book. One of those additions was a half-title page. I also included a dedication page up front, and bios for Stella and me in the back, none of which were included in the original book, but which I felt deserved to be there.

The book also has back matter, providing information about butterflies, their importance as pollinators, and ways a child reader can help them, thereby making a difference in the world. I redesigned this spread to make it lighter and more readable.

One of the greatest challenges in redesigning “Butterflies” was recreating Stella’s beautiful art into a different size and format., as mentioned above. Here I am deeply grateful for my artistic talent which enabled me to make these changes, and to Stella, who was willing, with her approval along the way, for me to make the changes to her original art.

This sometimes required cropping from the outer edges of the spreads, but often cropping from the inner edges where the outside needed to remain intact, and digital repainting to make it all work. My goal here was to make the final book look like that’s exactly how Stella created it. One of our favorite spreads is below. Hopefully you can’t tell what may be missing from the original spread!

And so ends the tour of what a redesign looks like, the challenges and happy results. If interested in a redesign of one of your projects (need not be a book), please feel free to contact me.

If interested in purchasing Where Do Butterflies Go at Night, 2nd Edition you can find it here on Amazon.

Promoting Your Children’s Book

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There are many ways to promote a book, but some are a little more spectacular than others.

Pictured here is my debut picture book, “Where Do Butterflies Go at Night?” The artwork by illustrator Stella Maris-Mongodi is so rich, and truly magical.

I wanted to capitalize on that and get the book’s image, plus information about it, into the hands of those who would want to sell it – butterfly gardens and conservatories. And what better way than to send it to them?

I created a postcard for a mailing – a perfect 5 x 7″ size that won’t get lost in the incoming mail; have done some research; and have a list of these organizations to send to. The plus with this book is that it also has back matter addressing the importance of butterflies as pollinators. Something a butterfly conservatory may want to share with its patrons by way of education.

Digital promotion is very important, of course, but it’s much easier to ignore and delete an email than it is to toss away a gorgeous piece of art in your hands. A piece of art that may also bring an organization more money.

If I can help you promote your book, please let me know.

Self-Publishing VII – More on Illustration

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Let’s take a moment to talk about the importance of illustration – good illustration – when self-publishing your book.

Here is an example of spectacular illustration, and I can proudly say that this – Where Do Butterflies Go at Night? – is my own debut picture book, and yes, it is traditionally published. But …

… this illustrator provides amazing art to both publishers and individuals alike. In fact, she, Stella Mongodi, has illustrated more picture books for self-publishing individuals than anything else.

One of the things I often see in self-published picture books is less-than-spectacular art. Why is that? Many first-time authors are excited about being published and appearing on Amazon, but when it comes to the art, they want to save money. I have come across this numerous times. The result? Not the best looking book!

The question is, do you want to sell your book? If you do, you will need to be prepared to pay a good illustrator and a good designer. You are competing with many, many other titles whose artwork is both eye-catching and professional. And those are the books that sell!

Next, you ideally want an illustrator who has some experience in picture books, or who can render illustrations to the size you require. If you’re doing an 8 x 8″ book, they should understand how a 2-page spread will lay out, how the art will fit in that format, and know what a bleed and a gutter is. As a children’s book designer, I spend a lot of time, which must be charged to the client, fixing and adjusting artwork that could have been done correctly initially. A good illustrator is so important, and It also helps greatly when you work with a good designer from the beginning.

The takeaway here? Do things in the proper order if you’re new to all this – a designer first to help with a dummy, book size, etc., and illustrator next. When the artwork is done, the designer will pull it all together for you. And be willing to invest what it takes to make your book shine and stand out in a crowd!!

Pictured here are the bookmarks I designed for my book. If interested, Butterflies is currently available for pre-order on bookshop.org, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.