I got this comment and thought it needed to be a separate post:
Tamar Asks: 32 pages? Not clear
Thank you for your posts. They have been very helpful.
It isn’t clear to me from your posting of a 32 page book being standard, how many pages of text that translates into for the author.
Or does it just mean that an author should aim for a book that she tells the publisher is going to be 32 pages, and they break it up. Or does she break it up herself.
Thank you and looking forward to your response.
Darcy Answers: 32 pages of finished book, 5 (or less) pages of manuscript text
Thanks for the question!
Book. There will be short segments of text on each page (or double-page spread).
Manuscript. If you translate that to standard manuscript pages, that’s 5 pages or less of text. When you send in the mss to a publisher, you send it in standard manuscript format (5 pages or so). When the text is laid out for the picture book, the editor, art director and illustrator will divide it into the segments that go on each page.
You will see me suggest that you divide your text into 14-28 segments, anticipating how it will be laid out in a picture book. That is strictly to help the author revise and polish the text. When you send in the mss, it should be in standard mss format.
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