Am I the right children's book designer and publishing consultant for you?
Hello, I’m Melinda!
I’m a book designer and publishing consultant with 10+ years of experience. I specialize in children’s picture books and chapter books, and I love to educate authors on the complete book creation process.
Let’s find out if we are good fit.
I am the right children's book designer and publishing consultant if you . . .
1) understand that good things take time
Timeline expectations:
From stem to sternum, picture books require a minimum of 6 months for the editing, design, and illustration stage
and a minimum of 3 months for the professional printing process. Nothing is a one-and-done. Each big step has multiple small steps.
2) want your boundaries respected and you also respect your team members’ boundaries
Common boundaries include:
- communicating during standard business hours
- communicating through email for best organizational purposes
- receiving a response within two business days for any unscheduled requests
- respecting holidays, vacations, etc.
3) value the editing process
All manuscripts should receive:
- a developmental edit
- a copy edit
- a proofread
4) have a business mindset
A business mindset is a way of thinking that involves making decisions and navigating situations with the goal of supporting a business’s objectives, vision, and profitability. It’s a way of thinking that can help you identify opportunities, take calculated risks, and constantly strive for growth.
- Goal-oriented
- Risk-taking
- Embrace change
- Creative and strategic
- Never stop learning
- Seek feedback
- Strategic planning
- Anti-fragile
- Focus on what you can control
5) seek to hire an illustrator who has experience illustrating children's books
Processes are a large part of what makes someone a professional. It is impossible to gauge an illustrator’s professionalism by one piece of completed art. It is imperative that I approve the illustrator, because I go way below the surface and discover if the illustrator works professionally.
I require a Zoom call with the illustrator before agreeing to work with them, and the following is a starter list of questions.
- Does the illustrator have any completed book projects (any genre but desired genre is best) I can look at? I need to evaluate how the illustrator ties a whole book together, specifically how characters are depicted at multiple angles and POVs.
- What are the illustrator’s processes? Is the illustrator willing to conform to our processes or combine our process where it makes sense?
- What equipment and software are the illustrator using? This is extremely important, because if the illustrator is not using a good setup, the illustrator won’t be able to do what we ask of them. For example, if the illustrator just has the cheapest iPad and is also using ProCreate, they won’t have the ability to work in a large canvas with lots of layers. Additionally, if the illustrator is using something like ClipStudio, that also creates issues with the workflow.
6) expect industry-standard software and equipment to be used
Offset printing and professional printing in general is a manufacturing process. Therefore software that has been built to work with these manufacturing processes is required to produce a quality book.
While Canva and other low-cost alternatives can be hacked for print-on-demand projects, I contacted Canva’s support team directly. They said their app is NOT designed to do interior layout for print books. The exception is that they “offer templates for a photobook that is available for prints.”
Additionally, “print book” is not even listed as an option in their design templates, so that should tell you something right there.
I use the Adobe suite. It’s a suite because it is designed to work together.
I use the following Adobe products in the book creation process.
Adobe InDesign is the book layout software. The artwork is imported into Adobe InDesign, and then all text is created within Adobe InDesign. While the illustrator needs to know how much room to allow for the text, text should never be permanently set on the illustration. That’s not the illustrator’s responsibility. It’s the book designer’s.
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are for image creation and modification. ProCreate can be used, and it does have some great options that PS and Illustrator don’t have.
Adobe Bridge is an asset organizer.
Adobe Reader is a part of the editing process, allowing the proofreader to digitally mark-up the files, which integrates with Adobe InDesign.
7) want your book to compete with traditionally published books
Books for children are a tactile experience. They are seeing the world with fresh eyes, and we want to give them the best experience we can. This is achieved by making every page count, whether that is the artwork at face value, the paper it is printed on, the binding method, the special features that we choose to include, or the carefully curated words per page.
We want to deliver them a carefully crafted book.
We also want the bookstores, distributors, and marketers to have what they need to help your book ensure its highest level of success: barcodes, shelf shout, a good spine presentation, proper use of white space, using color theory, and so much more.
So, what do you think?
Am I the right fit for your author-publishing journey? If so, book a fit call, get to know each other a bit, and talk shop.
