Top 10 Author Tips for Picture Books

1. 🎓 Start With the Heart

Every good picture book has a thing—a lesson, a vibe, a little soul. Think teamwork, not giving up, or “home is where the heart is.” It doesn’t have to be preachy, just something warm that makes a kid go, “Aww” and a grown-up go, “True.”

2. 🌟 Name That Character!

Kids LOVE names. Captain Mildew? Iconic. (He probably smells like a wet mop and seaweed stew.) Don’t leave your stars anonymous—name your toucans, toads, trolls, and turnips. Funny names, rhymey names, weirdly appropriate names—go wild.

Bonus joy: when you reveal a character’s name through speech!“Oi, Moldy! You forgot your hat!” = way more fun than,‘This is Mold the Toucan.’

3. 🌀 Keep It Simple, Silly

Picture books are bite-sized for a reason. One conflict, one twist, one “uh-oh!” moment is plenty. Think: the monster who won’t go to bed. Or the penguin who wants to fly. No subplots, no flashbacks—save those for your adult thriller career.

4. 👀 Show, Don’t Tell

Let the pictures do the heavy lifting. You don’t need to describe every leaf and cloud—your illustrator’s got this. Use speech, action, and fun to imply what’s going on.

Instead of: “This is Minnie Mouse. She had big ears and wore a red dress.”Try: “Minnie, your polka-dots are on backwards again!”

5. 🐛 Use Silly, Squiggly Words

Read-aloud magic lives in the squishy-sploshy-snickerdoodle words. Anything that wobbles on the tongue or makes a grown-up giggle gets a gold star. Think: splat, whoosh, squizzle, wigglewobble, kabloooie!

6. 🎨 Let the Pictures Breathe

Every page doesn’t have to be jam-packed. Mix it up with full spreads, half spreads, spot illustrations, speech bubbles, and even oddly-shaped art (hello, floating teacups!). Pacing and visual variety keep kids flipping pages—and asking for "again!"

7. 📚 Want to Go Fancy? Go Hardback

Paperback’s fine, but if you’re aiming for the gift market (aka Grandma’s bookshelf), you’ll want hardback. That means… 🥁 IngramSpark. It’s the go-to for hardcover print-on-demand, but beware—it’s a formatting jungle in there.

Don’t stress—we can help with that. We offer formatting services to make sure your files are spot-on and won’t get rejected or printed all wonky. Let us wrestle the tech stuff while you write your next masterpiece.

8. 📏 Understand Book Sizes (Yep, It Matters)

Most picture books stick to 24, 32, or 40 pages. Why? It works best for printing, binding, and page-turny rhythm. You can throw in wordless spreads or double up verses on a page to match your story’s flow. Your printer will thank you.

9. 🧪 Test It on a Tiny Human (or Two)

Got a kid handy? Borrow one (safely). Read your story aloud and watch what happens. Do they giggle? Drift off? Ask questions? The best feedback isn’t always verbal—it’s in the wiggles, the gasps, the wide-eyed stares. Bonus points if they demand, “Again!”

10. 🚀 Done Is Better Than Perfect

Seriously. Don’t let perfection slow your roll. You can tweak and twiddle forever, but eventually, you’ve gotta press go. Picture books are iterative—get that first one out into the world and learn as you go. Future You will be braver, better, and possibly holding a shiny hardback with your name on it.

And hey—we’re here if you need a hand. We offer manuscript reviews for that all-important professional tick of approval. We’re also pros at that IngramSpark formatting wizardry. You focus on the magic—we’ll handle the fiddly stuff.