Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles book cover Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Cover
Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Cover

Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

I have been having a lot of fun working on my next book entitled Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. I have finally finished assembling a cover and the interior of the book, which has been transformed significantly since its inception.

Today, I submitted all of the files to be reviewed. As long as there are no issues with the files that I have created, I should get an approval to move forward with publishing Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles within the next few days.

If the files are denied, I will have to redo whatever needs to be fixed. If the files are approved, I plan to order a proof of the book, so that I can see the book in person before officially publishing it.

Hopefully, all will go well, and Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles will be available soon. Below is a picture of the cover that I created using the beautiful illustrations that Winda Mulyasari created for me. I am eager to see what it will look like printed on the book.

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles book cover

Stay tuned for more information about Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles! I plan to add free printable coloring pages and activity ideas to do along with the book to my “Fun Extras” page before Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles is officially published. Have a wonderful day!

 

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Reformatted Again

Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

I have received all of the final colored illustrations from Winda. Again, she has done a beautiful job with all of them. I am really excited to see them all together in Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had created a “dummy” for my book entitled Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles so that I knew what I wanted for the illustrations.  Once I received the sketches of the illustrations, I inserted them into my “dummy” and made a few changes with the story, which I wrote about in a different post. I have been looking through the latest dummy, and it still doesn’t feel quite right. Now that I have all of the colored illustrations, and I am putting them together as a book, I have decided to change the book layout even more. In my book, I plan to have the phrase “pickles, pickles, I like pickles” repeated numerous times throughout the story so that preschool aged children can partake in the reading of the story. I hope that this will make it more fun and enjoyable for them to “read”. As I was looking at my second dummy; however, I felt like the repetition was too repetitious. The children may still enjoy shouting out the phrase, but as an adult, I found myself purposely skipping over the phrase even as I was proofreading my story. That didn’t seem right to me. So, looking for some inspiration, I looked online for a list of children’s books that have repeated phrases in them. Once I had my list together, I went to the library and checked out 11 children’s books that include repeated phrases (and numerous other children’s books just for fun).  Thankfully, children’s books aren’t very long, so I was able to read through all of them in one night. As a result of my research, though, I have decided that the phrase is repeated too many times, which has led me to reformatting the layout again. Hopefully, I will have it just right when it is finally published for children and adults to enjoy together.

Stay tuned for more information about Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.

 

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles...picking cucumbers Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Colored Illustrations
Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Colored Illustrations

Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

I am continuing to work on the book entitled Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. I am really excited to say that I received all 20 colored illustrations for the book today. I think the illustrations turned out beautifully, although there are a few that will require minor changes. My wish is that these illustrations will be enjoyed by all of the adults and children who read Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. Below is an illustration for you to preview.

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles...picking cucumbers

Stay tuned for more information. Have a wonderful day!

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles...dill or bread & butter? Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Illustrations
Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Illustrations

Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Once I finished my “dummy” of Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles, I decided it was time to hire an illustrator. I really liked the illustrations that were created for Jobs of a Preschooler, and since I am looking for a similar style of illustrations for Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles, I decided to hire the same illustrator, Winda Mulyasari (listed as Winda Asimetri on Jobs of a Preschooler). I contacted her to see if she would be willing to do more illustrations for me. Once she agreed, I sent her details for all twenty illustrations needed for Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.

I did not give Winda specific details on how I wanted the main character in the book to look. Instead, I just told her that the main character is a young boy.  She sent me sketches, and (again) I am very happy with her work. Here is a sample of a sketch for an illustration that will be included in Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles:

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles...dill or bread & butter?

I decided to create a new “dummy”. To do this, I typed the words for Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles in an 8.5″x8.5″ template making sure to insert the words on the appropriate pages. Then, I inserted each of the sketches on the pages where they belonged. Just as when I had created the first dummy, I noticed that some of the words needed to be edited to fit the pictures better. I am very eager to see all of the completed illustrations in color, which I should receive from Winda within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for more posts about Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles and to find out when it will be published.

Have a wonderful day!

 

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles Dummy

Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

I am in the process of publishing my next book entitled Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. Before contacting an illustrator to draw the pictures for this book, I created a “dummy” so that I knew how the book would be laid out and what pictures I would need.

To create my dummy, I first typed and printed all of the words that will be included in the book. I made sure to put enough space between the sentences, and I cut the sentences into strips. Then, I cut computer paper into 8.5″x8.5″ squares since that is the size that the book will be once printed – I wanted to make sure I had an accurate idea of how much space the pictures and words would take on each of the pages. On the first three pages, I wrote “title page”, “copyright page”, and “dedication page”. Then, I began taping the various sentence strips on to the pages in the book where I thought they would fit and look best. Since I used tape, I was able to move them around as I saw fit. Some of the wording didn’t seem to flow well when I put it together, so I changed or deleted those words to make it sound better. Once I had the word strips in place, I went through the book and tried to imagine what pictures would look best for the particular words on each page. I wrote (not drew) my “picture ideas” on sticky notes and stuck them on each page, so that I could move them around if I wanted.  Then, I consulted my “team” (AKA my daughters) to get their opinions on if the words and picture ideas seemed to flow well together. Once we were satisfied with the look of the interior of the dummy, I finished it off with a front and back “cover” (cardboard cut to size).

Once I had my dummy completed, I felt I was ready to move on to hiring an illustrator to create the various pictures that I had envisioned.  Stay tuned for information about the illustrations of Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles.