For Picture Book Creators: 32 Page Standard - Why? How Many Pages For Story?

An explanation of why 32 pages is the standard for picture books, and what this means for picture book creators (hint: this does NOT mean all 32 pages are available for your story content).

***CORRECTION: The separate/colored ends are NOT glued to the first page of the book block, sorry!

When I mention my own books begin on pages 6-7, by the way, please remember that most of my books for Simon & Schuster are self-ended 40-page picture books. The decision to increase from 32 to 40 pages was made by my publisher, not by me. For pre-published picture book writers with no track record, I recommend sticking to the standard 32 page template; you can always discuss the possibility of increasing the page count after your mss has been acquired.

Also forgot to mention that my print-ready templates are just guidelines. Where the story content actually begins and ends can vary from one publisher to another, and one project to another. As I emphasized at the end of my session, read and analyze many picture books to get a sense of what's out there.

Some links I mentioned:

Creating Picture Books (lots of resources and free templates):
https://www.debbieohi.com/pbcreation

Debbie's Free Print-Ready Archive:
https://www.debbieohi.com/printready

Tara Lazar's post on picture book dummies, picture book construction, layouts:
https://taralazar.com/2009/02/22/picture-book-construction-know-your-layout/

Mireille Messier
https://www.mireille.ca/

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Software / hardware I used to create this livestream:

Ecamm Live (for the picture in picture feature, overlays, switching between scenes etc.)
https://www.ecamm.com/

Restream.io (how I streamed to Twitter, Periscope, FB Live, YouTube at same time):
https://restream.io/channel

Overhead camera: Canon M50

Overhead lighting: Homemade ring light! See my DIY video
https://youtu.be/4oMBBw7hBQM

Headshot webcam: an ancient Logitech whose model I can't recall, sorry

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** ABOUT ME:

I’m Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a children’s book writer and illustrator based in Canada. My illustrations have appeared in books by Judy Blume and Michael Ian Black, among others. I love encouraging creativity in young writers and illustrators. You can find out more at https://www.debbieohi.com/

Email newsletter: debbieohi.link/newsletter

Creating Picture Books resource (with free templates):
https://www.debbieohi.com/pbcreation

Free, print-ready stuff for educators and creators:
http://DebbieOhi.com/printready

Also please visit me on:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/inkyelbows
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/inkygirl/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DebbieOhi/

Видео For Picture Book Creators: 32 Page Standard - Why? How Many Pages For Story? канала Debbie Ridpath Ohi