Let's talk about the world of children's books! It's an amazing job to write and illustrate books that other people will read. It is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of work.
Welcome to the World of Edrick the Inventor!
by Author and Illustrator Craig Kunce
Writing the Story
- How many of you have written a story?
- Where do stories come from? I like to write and draw what I know.
- How long did it take to write your story? I like a lot of "wait time"
- Sometimes I start with words, sometimes I start with pictures
- Sharing it with the world… What if no one likes it? What if I fail?
Drawing the Pictures
- First, I read the words in the story—over and over and over
- How can I tell the story with just pictures?
- What elements would help me tell my story?
- I think about the story, its settings, characters, seasons, viewer's perspective…
- Find photos, actual places or things you can look at to draw your pictures from. The swing set in Edrick's first book is from a park I played in when I was young. The backyard scene below is from my own backyard.
Next, I mock up the book.
This shows me how the book will look when it's finished. It really helps me to see how the two page spreads will go together, how the pictures will flow, and how the pictures will look when the book is trimmed to its final size.
Rough Sketch (get your ideas down on paper)
Black and white line work (keep perfecting and cleaning up your sketch)
Final (choose your color scheme and paint your final piece)
Printing Books
My books are printed on a huge printing press on large sheets of paper. Each side has 12 pages. Both sides of a press sheet are printed to include all the pages.
Half of a press sheet (12 pages, 6 on each side)
Making Books
There are several steps—here they are…
Press sheets are folded down to make what is called a signature.
All the inside pages are folded and sewn together (with a Singer sewing machine)
The cover (board) uses thick pieces of cardboard to make it strong and durable
Here is the book cover before the pages are glued in
Next, the sewn signature is glued into the cover
…and a finished book is made!
Where Can I Sell My Books?
