Children's Book Publishing Glossary

A sum of money paid to an author or illustrator before a book is published. It is advanced against future royalty earnings. In traditional publishing, the creator does not receive further royalty payments until the book has earned out the advance through sales.

An uncorrected proof sent to reviewers, librarians, and media contacts before a book's official publication date. ARCs are typically marked "not for sale" and may contain minor errors that will be corrected in the final print run. Building a review strategy around ARCs is one of the most effective pre-launch activities for self-published authors.

Written annotations in a manuscript that describe what the illustration on each page should show. Directed at the illustrator rather than the reader. Strong art notes are specific about scene and character but leave room for the illustrator's interpretation. Overly prescriptive art notes are one of the most common friction points between authors and illustrators.

In children's book design, asymmetry refers to a layout where elements are not mirrored on the page. Used strategically to create dynamic movement and guide the child's eye across the spread from left to right to encourage page-turning.

The machine-readable representation of a book's ISBN. For retail sale, barcodes must be placed on the back cover, typically bottom right. Amazon KDP generates these automatically, but professional cover designs often incorporate them manually to ensure they do not obscure vital artwork.

A printing term for when artwork extends beyond the trim line. The industry standard for KDP and IngramSpark is 0.125 inches (3mm) on all outer edges. This ensures that when the paper is cut to its final size, there are no white edges where the artwork stops short of the trim. Any background colour or pattern must extend into the bleed area.

A type of children's book printed on thick, durable paperboard rather than standard paper. Designed for infants and toddlers, these books feature self-ends where the cover is the same thickness as the interior pages. Board books cannot currently be produced through standard print-on-demand services like KDP or IngramSpark and typically require a specialist printer with a minimum print run.

A type of hardcover binding where the cover image is printed directly onto a paper wrap, which is then glued to the boards of the book's cover. This is the most common format for modern children's picture books in traditional publishing.

Stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). The colour model used for physical printing. All professional print files must be in CMYK. Screens display in RGB (light-based colour), which has a wider colour range than CMYK (ink-based colour). Files submitted in RGB will be converted by the printer, and the conversion can produce unexpected colour shifts, particularly in bright greens, blues, and oranges. Always design in CMYK from the start for print work.

Typically the verso (left-hand side) of the title page, containing the copyright notice, ISBN, publisher information, edition details, and any mandatory credits. For children's books, it often also includes the age range, recommended reading level, and a brief Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication note. The copyright page is legally required for commercial publication.

A measure of image resolution. For professional book printing, images must be 300 DPI at the final physical size. Lower resolutions produce pixelated or blurry illustrations at print size. A common mistake is working at 72 DPI (screen resolution) and assuming the print will look the same. Always set your document to 300 DPI before creating any artwork.

A handmade or digital prototype of a book used to test the pacing, layout, and flow of the story before final artwork is created. A dummy helps authors and illustrators visualise how much text fits on each page, where page turns land for maximum effect, and whether the pacing of the story works across 32 pages.

The pages glued to the inside of the front and back covers of a hardcover book. In high-quality picture books, these are often illustrated with patterns or motifs that complement the story. They are counted as part of the page total but do not carry page numbers.

The process of merging multiple layers of digital artwork and text into a single layer before generating a print-ready PDF. Required to prevent font errors, missing elements, or layer conflicts during the printing process. Always keep an unflattened working file as a backup before flattening for print.

The pages that appear before the main story begins. In a children's picture book, front matter typically includes the half-title page, the title page, and the copyright page. Some books add a dedication page. The front matter pages count toward the total page count even when not numbered.

The inside margin where two pages meet at the binding. In children's books, it is critical to keep important elements such as characters' faces, key text, and significant detail out of the gutter area, as the binding will pull the pages together and anything too close to the spine will be hidden or distorted. For spread illustrations, the gutter must be factored into the composition planning before a single brushstroke is placed.

A book bound with rigid boards covered in a printed and laminated paper wrap. Hardcover is the standard format for picture books in traditional publishing and commands a higher retail price. On print-on-demand platforms, hardcover files require different cover dimensions from paperback because the boards, hinges, and wrap add to the total cover size. Always generate a separate hardcover template from your platform's template tool rather than adapting a paperback file.

The first right-hand page inside the book, carrying only the book's title and nothing else. It precedes the full title page. In a standard 32-page picture book the half-title page is page 1 and is typically left as simple typography.

A set of data that characterises a colour input or output device. Using the correct ICC profile ensures that the colours in your file are interpreted correctly by the specific printing press used by KDP or IngramSpark. The most commonly required profiles for book printing are GRACoL 2006 (for sheet-fed offset) and SWOP (for web offset). IngramSpark specifically requires files to meet a 240% total ink limit under their profile.

A trade name under which a book is published. A single publishing house may have several imprints covering different genres or age ranges. Self-published authors often create their own imprint name to appear more professional in retail listings and library databases. Your imprint name goes on the title page and the copyright page in place of a traditional publisher's name.

International Standard Book Number. A unique 13-digit identifier for a book edition. Each format of your book requires its own ISBN: paperback, hardcover, and ebook each need a separate number. In the US, ISBNs are purchased through Bowker (myidentifiers.com). KDP offers free ISBNs but these lock distribution to Amazon. Purchasing your own ISBN gives you full control over the publisher name on record and allows distribution across all retailers. See the self-publishing guide for the full comparison.

Amazon's self-publishing platform for print and ebook. Allows authors to upload and sell books worldwide with no upfront cost using print-on-demand technology. KDP uses its own paper thickness values to calculate spine width and cover dimensions, which differ from IngramSpark. The two platforms cannot share the same cover file if your book is more than approximately 80 pages.

A thin protective film applied to the outside of a book cover after printing. Gloss lamination produces a shiny, light-reflective finish that makes colours appear more vivid and saturated. Matte lamination produces a flat, non-reflective finish with a tactile quality that reads as more premium and literary. Both protect the cover from scuffing and moisture. Most print-on-demand platforms offer one or both options. Matte lamination has become the standard for children's picture books at the premium end of the market.

The area between the content and the edge of the page. Keeping text within the margins ensures nothing is cut off during trimming or hidden by the binding. The safe zone for text in a KDP or IngramSpark paperback is at least 0.25 inches from the trim edge on the outside edges and at least 0.375 inches from the spine edge.

The data about your book used by retailers and databases to catalogue and surface it in search results. In publishing, metadata includes your title, subtitle, author name, description, BISAC category codes, keywords, and language. Optimised metadata is one of the most high-leverage activities for self-published authors because it determines how discoverable your book is on Amazon, in libraries, and in school systems.

The amount the publisher actually receives from a sale after the retailer's or distributor's discount is deducted. Royalties in traditional contracts are often calculated as a percentage of net receipts rather than of the cover price. A 10% royalty on net receipts with a 55% wholesale discount means the author earns 10% of 45% of the list price, not 10% of the list price. Understanding the basis of royalty calculations is essential before signing any publishing contract.

A traditional commercial printing method where ink is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket and then onto paper. Offset produces superior colour accuracy and consistency compared to digital print-on-demand, particularly for full-colour illustrations. It requires a minimum print run (typically 500 to 1,000 copies) and higher upfront cost, but the per-unit cost drops significantly at volume. Most traditionally published picture books are printed offset. Board books always require offset printing.

A printing technology where copies are printed only when an order is received. This eliminates upfront printing costs and the need to hold inventory. KDP and IngramSpark are both print-on-demand platforms. POD unit costs are higher than offset printing, which reduces the royalty per sale, but the zero upfront cost and zero inventory risk make it the standard starting point for most self-published authors.

Two facing pages in an open book. Most children's picture books are designed across 32 pages, giving 16 spreads plus front and back matter. An illustration may span across both pages of a spread as a single composition, or each page may carry its own image. Spread planning is one of the first and most important decisions in picture book production. See the custom spread request page if you want to see how this works in practice.

Images made of pixels, such as JPEGs, PNGs, and PSDs. Most digital illustrations are raster-based. Because they are pixel-dependent, they cannot be scaled up without losing quality. This is why setting the correct document size and resolution (300 DPI) before creating any artwork is critical. If you scale a raster illustration up after the fact, the result will be blurry at print.

A distribution status that determines whether bookstores and libraries can send unsold copies back to the publisher for a refund. Most physical bookstores will only stock a book if it is marked returnable, because they cannot risk holding inventory they cannot return. On IngramSpark, setting your book as returnable is one of the most important decisions for physical retail distribution. KDP books sold through Amazon are not typically stocked by independent retailers.

The edge of the book visible when shelved. The width of the spine is determined by the page count multiplied by the paper thickness per page (the PPI value) for your chosen paper type. Use the cover size calculator to get the exact spine width for KDP and IngramSpark before designing your cover. KDP requires a minimum of 79 pages before any text or graphics can appear on the spine.

A series of small, rough sketches showing the sequence of events and spread layouts across a book. It is the planning document an illustrator uses before committing to final artwork. A storyboard prevents the most expensive mistake in picture book production: discovering at the final artwork stage that the pacing is wrong or a key scene has no room in the page plan.

The final physical dimensions of the book after printing and cutting. Common trim sizes for children's picture books include 8.5" x 8.5" (square, the most popular format on KDP), 8" x 10" (portrait), and 11" x 8.5" (landscape, available on IngramSpark). The trim size determines your full cover dimensions once bleed and spine are added. Use the cover size calculator to convert your trim size and page count into exact cover file dimensions.

The art and technique of arranging type. In children's books, typography must be legible for the target age group, complement the illustration style rather than fight it, and sit in the layout as a considered design element rather than an afterthought. Font choice, size, colour, and placement are all part of the illustration brief when I work with authors on picture book illustration projects.

Images created using mathematical paths rather than pixels, typically produced in Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer. Vector artwork can be scaled to any size without any loss of quality. Used for logos, typography elements, and certain clean modern illustration styles. Unlike raster images, vectors can be embedded in a PDF and printed at any scale without pixelation.

The percentage of the list price given to a bookstore or wholesaler as their margin. The standard discount required by most independent bookstores is 55%. At this discount rate, a book priced at $15.99 yields the publisher $7.20 before printing costs. On IngramSpark, setting your discount at 55% and marking the book as returnable are the two conditions that make physical bookstore stocking possible.