How to Make a Book Series - Conceptualizing the Layout

Why would anybody go shopping for furniture without first knowing how big the room is? You have to know how large your fence is before you can start filling your corral and this is exactly what we will explore together in this post.

Conceptualizing the layout of your book BEFORE writing the content may seem like a step backwards to some, but it actually acts in the opposite direction. Drawing your fence line, so to speak, can help shape the content of your book and even inspire further creative elements. The reason is because planning helps to capture the future and bring it into the present so your ideas can become tangible.

Let's look at planning a layout for a book directed towards parenting.

First, you probably already have the content, or the text, written or at least a good idea of what you would like to communicate to your readers. Upon utilizing the Targeting Your Audience exercise, you have established that although this book is for children, it is the parents that will eventually buy your book. As such, you may want to put some 'tips' about parenting in the margins of your book, or you might start your chapters with a quote or two, or you might have pictures you want to include. These are all parts of your layout that you will need to account for when writing the book.

Other layout concerns include the size of your book, graphics, text flow, inserts, companion media product, marketing material, and much more. The sky is endless when it comes to "value ads" or elements of your book that give additional value to your consumer.

Try making a wish list of elements you would like to include in your book. Write them down and start to visualize how they would look in your book. Then, make a rough outline of how you would like to include them in each chapter. By doing this exercise you will have a foundation for your ideas to breath within.

As Winston Churchill said, "Let our advance worrying be our advance thinking and planning," and you will have far less emergencies to resolve down the line. They say 1 minute planned saves 10 minutes of wasted time, so you can be sure your planning efforts will not go to waste. Have fun while making your wish list and remember just because you wrote your outline down doesn't mean it is set in stone. It is okay to revise and adjust your outline because in the end, you are only building a stronger foundation for your creativity to come to life.

► TIP: You may consider taking a trip to your local bookstore and flipping through the pages of books similar to yours to see how other authors have creatively structured their work. This is very valuable research when it comes to creatively thinking about your own book!

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