February 5, 2009
How Do YOU Make Your Book Dummy's?
I've taken a couple classes about writing and illustrating picture books (which I'm so happy I did!) and one of the first topics covered is how to make a book dummy. There doesn't seem to be any any right or wrong way to do it, but I'm just curious how you prefer to make yours? I've seen everything from simple printed black and white pages stapled down the center to fabric-bound hardcovers with full color illustrations. What method works best for you? For publishers? What would say is the one thing you wish you knew about making book dummy's from the start? I'm curious to here your answers. I'll be sharing my techniques with you too.
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I should do a post about this.
ReplyDeleteNow, I haven't sent many of mine out yet, so I don't know if this is a GOOD way to do it, but I scan all my sketches into the ol' computer, cut drawing paper down to a strip the correct width and 2x as long as I need it, then flip the images around before I print to get them to line up correctly from page to page. I have been making a cover out of some type of board, but I'm thinking in the furture I will just use super heavyweight paper and staple the whole thing together down the middle.
Then I make seperate copies of the finished color artwork. The whole dummy itself is black and white.
This is a confusing topic. There are so many specifics about how to format a manuscript, it gets frustrating that all the info you can find on dummies is basically "make one". :P
Thanks, Lily. You're right, it's confusing and complex, and there seems to be no limit to how to make a dummy. I like to include 2 or 3 color samples inside the dummy, and leave the rest of the illo's black and white. Of course I always use scanned artwork, never originals. I'll be learning a new technique (new to me anyway) for binding black illustration board (for front and back covers) with cloth. I'll share 'how to' on Wednesday!
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