Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

Home | Pages | Archives

Have an Idea for a Novelty Book? Now What? by Abi Cushman (plus a giveaway)

September 3, 2021 11:39 am

by Abi Cushman

Do you have a really cool idea for a novelty book but don’t know where to start? Well, the truth is, when I got the idea for ANIMALS GO VROOM!, my picture book with die-cut windows, I had lots of experience reading novelty books but absolutely no experience making them. So I’m going to share with you what I learned along the way so you can turn YOUR idea into a real novelty book just like I did.

Here’s how to get started:

1.     Evaluate the Concept

The first step is to evaluate the concept. Is your idea kid-relatable? Unfortunately, small children may not be interested in your pull-the-tab book about tax preparation. I mean, I’d be clapping in delight to pull a tab to find out if I needed Form 8606 when filling out Line 4B on my 1040, but it may be a tough sell to a 2-year-old.

Make sure your idea is marketable. You might take an evergreen topic that kids and parents always look for, such as dinosaurs, transportation, or bedtime, but present it in a unique, appealing way.

Finally, does your book really need a novelty element? Don’t just add feathers because you think they’re pretty. You should be able to justify why a novelty element is central to the story or idea. Novelty elements cost a lot to produce, and publishers want to feel confident in their investment.

For example, in ANIMALS GO VROOM!, I combined two evergreen topics in a fresh way: animal sounds + transportation. I had thought about how words like Roar, Honk, or Screech could be used for both an animal sound and a vehicle sound, and how it might be fun to make a book where the reader had to guess who or what was making the sound. Die-cut holes that peeked through to the next spread and offered clues seemed like a fun, but intentional way to use a novelty element.

2.     Look at Mentor Texts

The next step is to see what novelty books are already out there. Make sure your concept really is fresh and not just new-to-you.

When you find books with novelty elements similar to yours, examine how the novelty element was incorporated into them. Look at how they set up and designed the pages. You may have to dismantle the book to see how things like pull tabs and spinners work.

When I was making ANIMALS GO VROOM!, I studied novelty picture books like Tupera Tupera’s POLAR BEAR’S UNDERWEAR and Simms Taback’s THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY, to get a better idea of how thick the paper was and how large the die-cuts were.

The other thing I looked at was page count. Typically, novelty board books are 5-10 spreads. They often do not have a title page, so you jump right into the action. The copyright info is on the back cover, and they’re usually smaller than picture books. Novelty picture books are usually 32 pages and you end up with about 12 spreads of main story content.

3.     Make a Rough Dummy

This is the step where you get to experiment and have fun! If you’re wondering, “Do I need to make a dummy if I’m not an illustrator?”, the answer is yes, absolutely. This is an important step not only so you can see for yourself if your idea actually works, but also to show other people your idea in action. Don’t worry about being messy or making ugly drawings at the beginning. You’re just trying to work out the functionality.

For ANIMALS GO VROOM!, I started with a few thumbnail drawings.

After that, I cut some printer paper in half and folded it to make a mini book. I cut some holes in the pages to see if the die-cuts would work. And truth-be-told, they did NOT line up at first. I had to make the rectangles larger sometimes or tape in little patches to make everything line up properly.

But it was fun to play and experiment and start to see it all come together. My initial dummy was full of tape, wite-out and messy drawings, but it was good enough to show a critique group and get feedback on it. And since it was so loose and messy, it made it easier to go back and make revisions to it because I wasn’t feeling precious about the art.

4.     Polish the Dummy and Submit!

If you’re not an illustrator, you don’t have to worry about wowing anyone with the caliber of your illustrations, but you should try to make the dummy as neat and legible as possible. You want editors and agents to see how the novelty element works and why it’s integral to the book. You can use an app on your phone like Genius Scan to take photos of the pages and it will convert it into a PDF.

If you do plan to illustrate the book, you’ll need to polish up the illustrations as well. Here is a sample from my larger, 9×9” dummy with neater drawings to show my agent (and eventually my editor and art director at Viking).

When I worked on the final art with Jim Hoover, the art director at Viking, we played around with different shapes for the die-cuts. I added a little wiggle room around the sound words and animal faces in the die-cut shapes to allow for any discrepancies in the cutting process. Once we got proofs back from the printer, we only needed to adjust the spacing and measurements on a couple of die-cuts. Here are the final tiger spreads:

So if you feel passionate about a novelty book idea, go for it! I can’t wait to see all your fun, inventive book concepts come to life. Even that Tax Prep for Toddlers book.

Thanks for the novel novelty tips, Abi! (I couldn’t resist.)

Blog readers, Penguin Random House is giving away a copy of ANIMALS GO VROOM!

Leave one comment to enter. A random winner will be selected in one week.

Good luck!

Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of ANIMALS GO VROOM! and SOAKED!, which was a Kids’ Indie Next Top Ten Pick for Summer 2020. She has also worked as a web designer for over 15 years, and runs two popular websites of her own: MyHouseRabbit.com, a pet rabbit care resource, and AnimalFactGuide.com, which was named a Great Website for Kids by the American Library Association. In her spare time, Abi enjoys running, playing tennis, and eating nachos. (Yes, at the same time.) She lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her husband and two kids.

To learn more about Abi and her books, visit her website at AbiCushman.com. If you like secrets, exclusive sneak peeks, wombats, and special giveaways, subscribe to her newsletter.

Share this:

Posted by Tara Lazar

Categories: Author-Illustrator

Tags: , ,

89 Responses to “Have an Idea for a Novelty Book? Now What? by Abi Cushman (plus a giveaway)”

  1. Thanks Abi for the step- by step tips. Your book looks and “sounds” amazing!

    By Mary Warth on September 3, 2021 at 11:46 am

  2. I’m lucky enough to have already purchased a signed copy of this adorable book! Can’t wait to give it to my two-year old vehicle/animal loving nephew!

    By Deb Adamson on September 3, 2021 at 11:48 am

    1. 🙂 Thanks, Deb!

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 1:22 pm

  3. This is such a helpful post! I have a novelty book manuscript that I haven’t done anything with yet, but it sounds like my next step is to make a dummy 🙂

    By calliebdean on September 3, 2021 at 11:48 am

  4. Love learning from you, Abi! This book is such fun!

    By rosecappelli on September 3, 2021 at 11:54 am

  5. I really enjoyed reading this had an idea recently and this made me realize it might be a great novelty book. Now to get to work…

    By Elyse Trevers on September 3, 2021 at 11:57 am

  6. Very helpful post, Abi. Thanks! Your book looks wonderful!

    By pathaap on September 3, 2021 at 11:58 am

  7. Great advice…thanks for sharing!

    By katiemillsgiorgio on September 3, 2021 at 12:04 pm

  8. Cool post! Thanks for the in detail info about how to do this!

    By Christine Pinto on September 3, 2021 at 12:05 pm

  9. Congratulations on your second book release! I loved seeing your process, it’s so helpful to have visuals to learn from, thanks Abi.

    By kskeesling on September 3, 2021 at 12:10 pm

  10. I love it! Thanks for sharing your process. I had an idea for a novelty book many moons ago, and then a book came out just like it and stole my idea 😉

    By Joy Wieder on September 3, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    1. Oh no! That’s happened to me too and it’s so disappointing. Though I suppose it validates that we do have great (publishable) ideas.

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 1:22 pm

  11. Your book sounds (absolutely delightful. The tips are great; I’ve been wondering about how to create a special effects book. Thank you!

    By diana patton on September 3, 2021 at 12:16 pm

  12. So cool! Thank you fur sharing this whole process!! And congrats!

    By Polly Renner on September 3, 2021 at 12:17 pm

  13. Thank you for showing all the steps in your process.

    By Susan Claus on September 3, 2021 at 12:21 pm

  14. Thank you Abi! This was so informative. Your post answered all of my questions about how to propose and submit a novelty book.

    By KIM NOLAN on September 3, 2021 at 12:25 pm

  15. What a wonderful post! Congratulations Abi.

    By lmconnors on September 3, 2021 at 12:25 pm

  16. Wonderful post! Congratulations Abi.

    By lmconnors on September 3, 2021 at 12:26 pm

  17. Very cool book and wonderful, practical advice for how to start. Thanks!

    By Linda Mitchell on September 3, 2021 at 12:28 pm

  18. This was so well done! Are lift-the-flap books considered novelty books? I started illustrating one. 🙂

    By rmscott99 on September 3, 2021 at 12:30 pm

  19. Looks delightful! Congrats!

    By Wendi Silvano on September 3, 2021 at 12:34 pm

  20. I would love to do a novelty book. Thank you so much for your great advice, Abi!

    By Stephanie Gibeault on September 3, 2021 at 12:35 pm

  21. This looks darling, Abi!

    By Jody Jensen Shaffer on September 3, 2021 at 12:39 pm

  22. Thank you, Abi! 🙂

    By Rebecca Guzinski on September 3, 2021 at 12:47 pm

  23. Well now I guess I’ll shelve my board book about planning for retirement! 😉 So fun to see the process, Abi. I just LOVE this book! I think I told you before my then-preschooler thought we should use yowling cats in ambulances instead of sirens to make things more fun! Awesome concept mash-up!

    By kirstenpendreigh on September 3, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    1. bwahaha! Perhaps we need to start a new line of novelty board books for Adulting. And yes! Haha I remember the yowling cats. It’s spot on.

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 1:20 pm

  24. Loved learning about your process! So happy for your success!

    By Deborah Williams on September 3, 2021 at 1:01 pm

  25. So interesting to see how you constructed the book yourself!

    By supermario6 on September 3, 2021 at 1:02 pm

  26. Thanks for sharing how this book came about. It looks adorable!

    By Claire A. B. Freeland on September 3, 2021 at 1:04 pm

  27. Congrats, Abi, and thanks for sharing your process!

    By Teresa Rodrigues on September 3, 2021 at 1:18 pm

  28. Super informative post. Thanks, Abi!

    By K. Yin on September 3, 2021 at 1:26 pm

  29. What a fun post! Thanks for sharing.

    By authorlaurablog on September 3, 2021 at 1:35 pm

  30. What an informative post! Congratulations on making this fun book!

    By Kelly Zhang on September 3, 2021 at 2:01 pm

  31. Thank you! Great tips. And, congrats on your book!

    By Leslie Eva Tayloe on September 3, 2021 at 2:06 pm

  32. Our very dear Abi and her stories deserve a place in Story storm, a very good example of a very successful author and illustrator from Storyteller Academy. Go Abi!!!

    By aliciaminor on September 3, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    1. Thanks, Alicia! Yay Storyteller Academy!

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 6:26 pm

  33. Thank you for sharing! What a fun book!

    By Catherine on September 3, 2021 at 2:45 pm

  34. Congrats, Abi! This sounds adorable.

    By Susan Johnston Taylor on September 3, 2021 at 2:58 pm

  35. Loved reading this! I never knew how a book like this was created!

    By Cheryl Johnson on September 3, 2021 at 3:32 pm

  36. This sounds like such a fun book! I love how you did the die cuts.

    By Bethanny Parker on September 3, 2021 at 3:35 pm

  37. Loved reading this post! I’ve made a few novelty book dummies (having absolutely no idea what I was doing and not being an illustrator) but I was able to share them with my editor. And I’m happy to note that my dummies didn’t look any worse than Abi’s. 🙂 Anyway, I loved seeing the progression here from first idea to finished product.

    By serenagingoldallen on September 3, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    1. Yes when I make my early dummies, my main goal is making sure it functions the way I want and that it’s legible enough for other people to see what the idea is.

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 6:25 pm

  38. Terrific post! Thanks for all the information, presented in a way that was fun and easy to follow. Great job Abi and Tara!

    By susandilldetwiler on September 3, 2021 at 3:44 pm

  39. I have been wondering what kind of special work goes into the novelty books. Thanks for sharing for experience.

    By katiefischerwrites on September 3, 2021 at 4:43 pm

  40. Thanks for a glimpse into this fascinating process–can’t wait to see your latest (loved SOAKED)! And now I’m going to hop on over to your house rabbit website (I have a trio of house rabbits, volunteer with the rabbits @ my SPCA, and feature my rescued NZ white in one of my books)!

    By Nancy Furstinger on September 3, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    1. Oh hooray! Bunny people rock!

      By Abi Cushman on September 3, 2021 at 6:28 pm

  41. Loved Abi’s Soaked, so I know I’ll love Animals Go Vroom!

    By mlyablonaolcom on September 3, 2021 at 5:48 pm

  42. I love all the action verbs!

    By kathydoherty1 on September 3, 2021 at 5:50 pm

  43. fun concept; can picture reading this aloud and laughing with my little one!

    By chaunceyelephant on September 3, 2021 at 6:00 pm

  44. This looks adorable and I loved seeing the process! Very informative!

    By Penny Parker Klostermann on September 3, 2021 at 6:01 pm

  45. This was fantastic, Abi and Tara!

    Thank you for sharing your process!

    By Genevieve Gorback on September 3, 2021 at 7:19 pm

  46. What a clever idea! And thanks for sharing the very first sketches!

    By karen lee on September 3, 2021 at 7:45 pm

  47. Love the post, Abi 🙂 I’ve created novelty books and you did a GREAT job explaining the process 🙂 And the tax novelty? LOL!! ❤

    By writersideup on September 3, 2021 at 8:43 pm

  48. I love the cut-outs in the pictures in this book.

    By Linda on September 3, 2021 at 8:50 pm

  49. Thanks for the post, Abi! I love the progress pics from your adorable book.

    By Sarah Meade on September 3, 2021 at 9:11 pm

  50. What a fun idea. It’s always great to see the stages a book goes through on its way to the final version. Thanks for sharing all your tips for the process.

    By marty bellis on September 3, 2021 at 9:24 pm

  51. My son will love this when it comes out! I love how you paired the animal and vehicle sounds! So creative!

    By Marcia Berneger on September 3, 2021 at 9:45 pm

  52. Thanks for sharing, Abi. Love your concept book idea. I appreciate the advice.

    By Chelle Martin on September 3, 2021 at 9:46 pm

  53. My son will love this book when it comes out! I love how you paired the animal and vehicle sounds. So creative!

    By Marcia Berneger on September 3, 2021 at 9:47 pm

  54. Funny AND Informative. Both the post AND the book! Thanks!

    By Varda Livney on September 3, 2021 at 11:35 pm

  55. What a fun book! Thanks so much for sharing your process, Abi. Congratulations to you.

    By evelynchristensen on September 4, 2021 at 9:44 am

  56. Abi, I make tactile books for my students who have visual impairments and or blindness. I think they would love a book where they get to guess that the sound on one page creatively matches the tactile image on the next page. Off to the drawing(creating) board . . .

    Thanks for the idea!

    By Jan Milusich on September 4, 2021 at 10:08 am

    1. Wow! That would be awesome. Go for it!

      By Abi Cushman on September 4, 2021 at 12:35 pm

  57. I love this concept! And thanks for the tutorial on beginning the process for a novelty book.

    By Rebecca Van Slyke on September 4, 2021 at 11:43 am

  58. Congratulations Abi! I’m looking forward to reading ANIMALS GO VROOM! Thank you for sharing your insightful tips!

    By chardixon47 on September 4, 2021 at 3:24 pm

  59. This looks adorable, Abe! I can’t wait to see it in real life. Thanks for the novelty book tips, too!

    By Heather Stigall on September 4, 2021 at 3:50 pm

  60. I loved hearing about the process! So creative. Thanks for sharing, Abi!

    By Janet Johnson on September 4, 2021 at 5:50 pm

  61. I loved hearing about the process! So creative. Thanks for sharing, Abi!

    By Janet Johnson on September 4, 2021 at 5:50 pm

  62. Love your explanation of the process and what a clever idea. Good Luck.

    By Stephen S. Martin on September 4, 2021 at 6:07 pm

  63. Thanks for sharing the process you have used, Abi! So clever! Congratulations! 🙂

    By seschipper on September 4, 2021 at 9:38 pm

  64. This is such a cute concept. Looking forward to reading this one!!

    By Christina Frigo on September 4, 2021 at 9:59 pm

  65. So much fun, Abi and Tara! I just loved this post and your boo, Abi!

    By Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez on September 5, 2021 at 1:23 am

  66. I can’t wait to read this book! My son is going to love it.

    By kaleegwarjanski on September 5, 2021 at 6:43 am

  67. Yay, Abi! Thanks for the tips.

    By Amy Benoit on September 5, 2021 at 12:00 pm

  68. I appreciate your reminder to look at what has already been done… another excuse for my personal library. 🙂

    By Kris H on September 5, 2021 at 2:51 pm

  69. This book is sheer genius! Congrats, Abi!

    By Lori Alexander on September 5, 2021 at 6:15 pm

  70. Abi! Thank you so much! I love your book and your idea of using sound words in two ways. I have had a novelty book idea churning around for quite some time, but haven’t dared to send it out since I can’t illustrate the functional side of it well. Your informative article is very encouraging! I will get it out there and give it a try! Thank you!

    By writeremmcbride on September 5, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    1. Awesome- yes! Make a dummy and have fun with it!

      By Abi on September 7, 2021 at 4:59 pm

  71. Thanks, Abi, for showing how this book came to life. It is so fun!

    By Monica Acker on September 5, 2021 at 7:18 pm

  72. This concept is fabulous! Congrats and thanks for sharing your tips.

    By Carol Gordon Ekster on September 6, 2021 at 4:34 pm

  73. This is such a fun-sounding book!!

    By Karan Greene on September 6, 2021 at 11:57 pm

  74. Wow. Timing is everything. I’ve just been thinking about novelty and board books (and, in fact, began writing one this morning), and now I find this email from days ago. It’s just what I need to hear! Thanks Tara and Abi!

    By caroljoymunro on September 7, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    1. Hooray! That’s awesome, Carol!

      By Abi on September 7, 2021 at 5:03 pm

  75. I love this concept, can’t wait to see the book.

    By Kassy Keppol on September 7, 2021 at 2:16 pm

  76. You’ve got my wheels turning. Maybe even for the tax book.

    By TL Fales on September 8, 2021 at 10:28 pm

  77. Excellent post. I loved seeing your dummy in its stages. And very clever idea, too! Looking forward to seeing the book.

    By Lynn Becker on September 9, 2021 at 1:47 pm

  78. Great post of tips! Congrats on your book!

    By tinamcho on September 11, 2021 at 5:14 pm

  79. Woohoo! Love all the roars and fun sounds for children…& the adult reader.
    Congrats and peace! Alicia

    By Alicia Shawn Gagnon on September 15, 2021 at 3:21 pm

  80. Thanks for the tips! I know a special one-year old who would love this book!

    By Peggy Archer on January 20, 2022 at 5:09 pm

Leave a Reply

Mobile Site | Full Site

Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.