Looking for Carol Hinz’s post on picture book pagination? You can find an updated version of it at the Picture Book Builders blog!
How Picture Book Pagination Keeps Readers Turning the Pages
The Lerner Blog
The Lerner Blog
The Lerner Blog
Looking for Carol Hinz’s post on picture book pagination? You can find an updated version of it at the Picture Book Builders blog!
susanhughesspencer
This was such an interesting blog. When I write my picture book manuscripts, I paginate them. And more times than not, I submit them to my editors (at various publishing companies) with the pagination intact. But mainly because I know these editors and have worked with them for years. I believe they too like to see my thinking about pacing. However I also do critiques for clients, and I always recommend that they use pagination on their drafts to help them conceptualize the story and arrive at a well-paced flow but that they REMOVE the pagination when they submit to agents or editors. It’s always been commonly thought that most agents and editors do not prefer to receive paginated manuscripts!
carolhinz
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience Susan. I certainly acquire picture book manuscripts all the time that don’t have the pagination marked, but I find it pretty unobtrusive to have it marked. I will say that I don’t love when authors include a page breaks in their document–it’s a lot of scrolling!
stephaniebearce
Thanks for this great article! Really helpful.
carolhinz
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!
Laura J. Brown
Thank you, Carol! Your comments came as a surprise to me at the SCBWI-WI conference, but your explanation is enlightening. You make a good case for all writers to do this, at least as an exercise. I can also understand why some agents/editors might prefer to read the story without pagination, to make their own decisions on pacing and emphasis. I also can understand why an illustrator might chose different page turns as part of their vision for the book. Just one more thing to worry about when submitting a story.
carolhinz
You’re welcome, Laura! As short as picture books are, there’s definitely a lot to think about while putting them together!
Charles Waters
Thank you for this detailed blog post about the positives of pagination. Your points were well thought out and valid.
#hinzpower
#carolhinzrocks
#proudtobealerner
carolhinz
Thanks for reading, Charles! Your hashtags never fail to make my day!
Pingback: What Goes on a Picture Book Spread? | Mentors for Rent
Lindsay Hanson Metcalf
Your posts are always so enlightening. I have had several critiques in which editors have asked me to include pagination, so you’re not alone. Thank you!
carolhinz
Thank you so much, Lindsay–I’m glad to hear it!
Laura Purdie Salas
Just realized I’ve been sharing this with lots of writers but hadn’t commented myself! Love your thoughts on pagination, Carol. I think you are the first editor I’ve ever talked with who prefers to see a manuscript come in with page numbers indicated. I think it makes total sense. After hearing several editors say they don’t want that done, though, I feel pushy if I include them (unless, of course, said editor has proclaimed publicly to want them–that does make it easier!).
carolhinz
Ha! Thank you, Laura. I love that in your books, you are so aware of the format of the picture book itself and use that to help shape your text.
Alva Sachs
As an indie author/publisher, it was wonderful to finally hear from someone about this topic of pagination. With four award winning children’s books and my fifth just around the corner, one of my anticipations is to plan out my page breaks for the storyboard to follow. For some reason I do get the cadence, the flow, and sequencing of how the story is going to play out, like you said in a mere 32 pages. As a SCBWI member for over 10 years, one does hear many differences of opinions on books and the development of them. Thank you for sharing your insights. I wish I had heard about you, we would have done spectacular work together! Onwards, Alva
carolhinz
Alva, thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. Wishing you continued success with your books!
@luvthatword
Great thoughts, thank you! Looking forward to trying them out in a rough dummy (for pace, not art – I’m strictly a writer). Also looking forward to reading STRANGE FRUIT. It’s cataloged at my library as TEEN 782.42165G – the first picture book I’m aware of to be filed thus. I’ll be on the lookout for more. I’m also curious to see where it will be in my local book store.
I’ve seen some picture books start the story before the title page (e.g. Philip Stead’s Special Delivery and Only Fish in the Sea). Is that something a debut author could incorporate when thinking of pagination, do you think?
carolhinz
How interesting that STRANGE FRUIT is in the teen section at your library! We list it in our catalog as being for ages 8-12, but of course libraries can decide to shelve books however they think best serves their community.
The book GIANT SQUID comes to mind as another one that has the title page in an unexpected place. I guess as a general rule, I’d a debut author should stick with conventional title page placement when submitting a manuscript. That said, if you have manuscript where there’s a really strong narrative reason to put the title page in an unconventional spot, go for it! You just want to make sure it’s clear there’s a significant reason for what you’re doing so that it doesn’t look to an editor like you’re simply unfamiliar with standard picture book formatting.
Best wishes with your writing!
Pingback: Celebrate Picture Book Month with Lerner Publishing – NetGalley
C.M. Surrisi
This is a great post, Carol. I’m passing it around to all my picture book writer buddies.
carolhinz
Thank you so much, Cynthia! I love the idea that this might help someone with their manuscript!
Linda Zajac
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on pagination. I recently asked this question at a nonfiction conference in Florida and the editor didn’t care for pagination. So, I took it out of my manuscript. I definitely found it helpful in visualizing how much text would be on each page. It also gave me a better idea of scene changes. It was so useful to me, I will continue to plot out my stories this way, but depending on where the manuscript is headed, I may take it out. On the negative side, it’s a bit of a pain if you put in the page breaks too early and you have to revise.