Two of my most popular online classes, together taken by over 14,000 students on Skillshare, are now available in book format! Over 27 chapters, this book takes you through the entire process of writing, illustrating, and publishing a children’s picture book—including how to submit to traditional publishers or self-publish your own indie book!
Book Details:
Publisher: Might Could Studios
Publish Date: March 26, 2024
Ages: All ages, written for adults
Genre: Writing/Drawing/Publishing
ISBN: 978-0999403921
Picture books are an unusual art form, combining a unique blend of writing, illustrating, and designing. This book demystifies the picture book making process so you might could make your own!
Through 27 chapters with templates and exercises, I’ll guide you through the process of molding your jumbled-up story idea into the 32-page picture book structure. Using my book, We Are Fungi, as an example, I’ll show you how to do it all:
- writing your story idea,
- refining your manuscript,
- designing your characters,
- drawing your storyboards,
- crafting a book dummy,
- creating the final art,
From there, I’ll show you how to finish your book whether you want to focus on:
- Traditional Publishing: submitting your book dummy to publishers, or
- Self-Publishing: designing, distributing, and promoting your indie book!
27 Info-Packed Chapters
1. Intro to Picture Books
2. Elements of a Picture Book
3. Illustration Terminology
4. Plot Structure
5. How to Storyboard Your Plot
6. Point of View
7. Rhythm + Rhyme
8. Character Design (Writing)
9. Book Title + Blurb
10. Making a Writer’s Dummy
11. The First Page
12. The Last Page
13. Refining a Weak Manuscript
14. Character Design (Drawing)
15. Types of PB Illustrations
16. Drawing a Storyboard
17. Refining a Storyboard
18. Creating Sample Spreads
19. Submitting Your Book to Publishers
20. Creating the Final Artwork
21. Creating the Final Book Design File
22. Designing the Book Cover
23. Marketing Your Book
24. Self-Publishing Options
25. Printing + Publishing Setup
26. Book Launch Promotion
27. You Made a Book!
Plus there’s a bonus Resources page at the back of the book that includes more process, more examples, a Further Reading list, and Templates for you to use while making your own book!
What the Students Say…
I wanted to remake my two online classes as a book because I made those classes almost 10 years ago, and a lot has changed since then! Not only is the audio and video quality of those two classes poor compared to today’s standards, but I’ve also learned an enormous amount since I made that class—I’ve published 7 books, 4 of those traditionally published with Scholastic! This book has been expanded and updated with everything I’ve learned along the way.
Also, many of the books I read myself when learning to make picture books have since gone out of print or are now outdated with the new widespread access to design tools and print-on-demand. I also could not find a book that covered all 3 aspects of bookmaking: writing, illustrating and publishing.
All this to say: the content in Might Could Make a Book has been seriously upgraded from the class version, so this book is even better than the classes! Even so, reviews of the classes are glowing. Here are a few reviews from the online class version of this content.
“Likely the best class I have taken on skillshare. I was floored by the amount of information I received in this class. It was an entire college writing class in a nutshell and so user friendly with lots of examples and ideas. A phenomenal instructor! Looking for other classes that she teaches for sure! Thank you!”
–Cathie P., Picture Books I: Write Your Story student
“I’ve taken a few classes here for writing children’s books and this one by far is the best. it’s broken down and has A LOT of information. Perfect if you are like me and have never written anything before. There is amazing information on the structure of a good book. My favorite part was with everything she taught, she gave an example of a book that uses it.”
–Natasha J., Picture Books I: Write Your Story student
“I took a number of children’s books classes here on skillshare and out of all of these, Christine’s lessons are the most comprehensive, informative, and organized! I gleaned knowledge here that I didn’t from the other classes. Thanks for all your efforts in putting all this together :)”
–Annie Q., Picture Books I: Write Your Story student
“I’m a teacher who has always wanted to write a children’s book. I’ve searched on YouTube and Skillshare for tips on how to do it. This plus the instructor’s other courses are by far the best resources I’ve found. I love how she spends a lot of time planning and working on the big picture before getting into the details. Very helpful! Thank you!”
–Aaron H., Picture Books II: Illustrate a Story student
I really enjoyed this class! It has a lot of helpful tips and information about the step by step process of creating a picture book. I have previously taken a class on illustrating for children (at a much heftier price…) and it didn’t cover some of the things presented here. So thumbs up!!!
–Jessica A., Picture Books II: Illustrate a Story student
Very inspiring and simple to apply. Instructions are laid out in a common sense way that didn’t overwhelm the first time writer in me. Well done. Will definitely be recommending this class to my friends!
–Molly J., Picture Books I: Write Your Story student
About the Author
Christine Nishiyama is the author and/or illustrator of 7 books, including the 4-book Layla and the Bots series published by Scholastic. She also self-published the indie picture book, We Are Fungi. She has written 100s of essays on creativity, taught 25+ online classes to over 100,000 students, and has dedicated her career to making art and helping others do the same.