Putting Together a Dummy the Smart Way

Ok. So you've poured your blood, sweat, and tears into a picture book dummy and it's time to present it to an art director, an editor, or maybe at a conference. How in the worldy world do you put that blasted thing together?!  Here are a few tips and tricks that have helped me and that hopefully will help you too. 

Woohoo! I've finished my roughs. Now what?!

1. Scan your roughs and label them.

After you've completed your rough sketches for your dummy (big pat on the back to you), scan them in full sized at 300dpi. In my case a spread's full size is 11x17. I try to label my roughs in the least confusing way possible. I use the picture book's initials and then the page number so that I can easily identify them and organize them. (So an example for my dummy would be MMWCUHB_4-5.tif)

2. Open up InDesign.

Truthfully, I knew next to nothing about Indesign before putting together a booklet. The program seems pretty intuitive, for this simple task. Create a 'new document.' Put in the number of pages you need in your dummy, and click the facing pages button.

When you open up your new document, it should look something like this.

3. Place Roughs in the empty pages

You can drag and drop files into the empty pages that you see above. Once you've inserted all your spreads, make sure that you right click on your rough -> click on Display Performance -> click on High Quality Display. If you don't some of your illustrations may end up looking pixelated. 

4. When emailing your dummy, export it as 180 dpi as a PDF.

And congratulations! You are done. Let's go celebrate with a cookie!

...oh wait. You want to print your dummy?!  Ok. Hold on. Just a few more steps. 

This is where it get's wacky, so pay attention!

5. Open up your individual spreads in Photoshop.

Open up the spreads and cut them in half. (No, really!) 

So this 11x17 spread will become...

two 8.5x11 pages.

6. Open up Indesign and create a New Document.

Only this time don't click 'facing pages.' 

Your document should look like this.

7. Drag and drop your divided spreads into the pages.

8. Export your pages as a 300 dpi PDF.

Do not click the spreads button.

9. Take the file to FedEx Kinkos to print.

Tell them to print your PDF file as a booklet. 

I am not sure why you need to have the pages separated, but anytime I have tried to print a booklet at Kinkos, they have always had me separate the spreads. The nice thing about having Kinkos print the dummy, is that they have a printer that will perfectly align the pages, the paper is nice and not too costly, and it gets stapled for you. Easy peasy. (Somewhat.)

Perfectly aligned pages. Yippee!

Now if you are heading to a conference, all we need to do is attach the dummy to your portfolio. (For this example, I'm using a screw post portfolio.)

10. Attach a string or ribbon to the dummy.

Take the printed dummy and open it at the centerfold. 

Use an x-acto knife and cut a slit in the pages about a 1/4 of an inch down.

Attach the string.

Tie a loop at the other end of your string.

Place the loop on one of the portfolio's posts.

Screw the portfolio back together.

Gently pull the string.

Voilà! All done. That wasn't too complicated, was it? ;)

Now, about that cookie... Nom! Nom! Nom!

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Interview by Meridth McKean Gimbel, a kidlit writer, artist, & champion taco cruncher who is currently building a time machine. They are also represented by Linda Pratt at Wernick & Pratt. You can follow their work at:

Portfolio | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Welcome Jessica Lanan!

Jessica Lanan was the recipient of the SCBWI Mentorship Award at the 2011 Summer Conference. The 2010 founders of Kidlit Artists would like to officially welcome Jessica to the blog, and ask her a few questions about the Mentorship experience and about what she is up to these days.

Kidlit Artists: Did the feedback you receive during the mentorship critiques either change or confirm the direction of your illustration? Are there any specific examples you can share? 

Jessica: The mentorship critique feedback guided my progress over the last year and provided me with new ideas to explore and a fresh perspective on my work. Some comments really confirmed things I had a feeling about but couldn't quite put into words. I remember David Diaz pointing out that so many of my figures were looking off into the distance or had their backs to the viewer, and he said that it was because I couldn't resolve how realistically I wanted to render their faces. I was avoiding the issue. That was totally an "aha" moment, and something I've been working to overcome this past year. On the confirming side, E.B. Lewis mostly had advice regarding actual watercolor technique. Here was this great watercolor painter giving me really helpful feedback and I thought "he's right--I can paint better than this." It was really motivating.

Kidlit Artists: Getting such specific and direct feedback on your work, did you find the experience enlightening? Affirming? Confusing? Conflicting? _______ (fill in the blank)? Why?

Jessica: It was a little bit of everything! There was some conflicting information, but I actually found it useful--it made me stop and really think about the direction I wanted to go in. I realized that at the end of the day I have to trust myself and choose my own path. Hearing positive feedback in addition to the constructive critique was also very helpful, since I sometimes focus too much on my weaknesses and keep myself from putting my work out there as much as I should. ("I can't send this dummy book... it's not PERFECT yet...") It was great to have these industry pros who I look up to saying "hey, you wouldn't be here if we didn't believe in you." If there are other kidlit illustrators in my town, I haven't found any of them, so having that community support and feedback meant a lot to me.

Kidlit Artists: Have you seen a shift in your work since you were mentored?

Jessica: I've been tackling some new challenges, particularly working on developing richer characters and emotional impact. My work tends toward the more realist side, and I've realized over the past year that if I'm going in this direction I have to really buckle down and do the work that realism requires, so for me that's meant a lot of hours working on technical stuff. I don't have any formal illustration or watercolor training so I'm going back to the books (and figure-drawing classes) to try to improve my craft from the bottom up. Basically, I'm leaving less to chance. It takes more time, but I think it's worth the extra effort.

 Kidlit Artists: What kinds of projects are you working on now?

Jessica: I have a new dummy book that is coming to life--I'm three pages away from finishing it. It's something really close to my heart and is full of so much of my childhood experience. It's been exciting to watch it grow from this vague idea into a visual story. Now I just have to hope someone else loves it as much as I do and wants to publish it! I'm also working on expanding my portfolio in new directions, which is just incredibly fun. There's nothing so exciting as having a picture in my mind and making it come to life on paper so I can share it with everyone. 





Kidlit Artists: Is there any type of illustration (or other work) that you’re hoping for in the near future?

Jessica: I'd love to do another book, especially one as a writer/illustrator. Since childhood I've always thought of the crafting of children's books as one of the coolest things a human being can do. (Step aside, Nobel Prizewinners and Olympic Medalists...) Maybe that sounds strange to some, but taking a beautiful idea and turning it into this rich visual and emotional experience and sharing it with as many young people as possible? What's better than that?

Kidlit Artists: Last, please tell us where we can find you online. 

Jessica: I have a blog and online portfolio at http://jessicalanan.com
You can also follow me on my sometimes-neglected Twitter feed: (@jalanan)
Or follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lananillustration

Thanks for joining, Jessica!

Picture Book Dummy Challenge at #kidlitart - by Eliza Wheeler

modifyremoveorganizepost follow up

I was recently introduced to #kidlitart on Twitter, thanks to Debbie's recent interview on the blog here (how cool is that? Learning about awesome new stuff on our own blog!). I'm pretty new to Twitter, and have found it to be a bit awkward, not knowing quite what to use it for, how to get involved, what to say . . .the usual newbie shyness. But after reading Debbie's interview with Bonnie Adamson, founder of the group #kidlitart, I decided to join in on one of their Thursday night live chat sessions. Each Thursday night at 9pm est, illustrators across the country join in and have a chat, via Twitter, about various topics related to writing and illustrating children's books. After following for a bit and jumping in here or there, it was actually fun! Being able to connect with illustrators from all over was so invigorating - it got me really excited to be on Twitter.

I also learned of the new activity going on at #kidlitart, the Picture Book Dummy Challenge - going on right now. They are in their second week of the challenge, but it's not too late to jump in! If you have a picture book story you've been meaning to get to the dummy stage, it may motivate you to have other illustrators to discuss with and encourage, going through the same thing at the same time.

To get caught up, start reading about the challenge here:

http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/2011/01/ready-set-go.html
http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/2011/01/ready-for-step-2.html

Can't wait to get to some dummying with you all!
~Eliza

Picture Book Dummy comic - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

If you're not sure what a picture book dummy IS, check out Dummies For Smarties by Sarah Brannen.