USING PRESENTATION SOFTWARE TO MAKE PICTURE BOOK DUMMIES
For picture book writers who can't draw, like me... and it's sustainable.
The picture book dummies I make are crude, messy and anything but picture perfect. My arts and crafts training extend only till folding a letter into an envelope. In spite of my laboured cutting, pasting, folding and colouring, I just couldn’t make the dummy presentable or something I could take into a class to read.
That’s when I figured out a shortcut. I wondered whether I could use Microsoft PowerPoint as a tool for making picture book dummies. Other presentation software are available - like Google Slides, Apple’s Keynote.
Step 1: Open a blank presentation.
The first slide usually comes up as a title slide. That’s what you need too. Enter the title of the book and the author name here. There is a feeling of joy and pride when you do this.
Step 2: Insert a new slide
Step 3: Choose the kind of layout you want – if you are going to create the dummy with sample images, then choose a template that has an image.
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you complete all the slides for the picture book.
Tip: You can open your story draft in another window and cut and paste lines, slide by slide.
Step6: View the slideshow to see the running presentation.
Tip: Save the presentation before you proceed further.
After you view the slideshow, you might want to rearrange the slides. You might have to remove a page or add a new one.
Check for page-turns. Do they work?
Tip: Save the presentation before you proceed further.
Why should you use a presentation software for creating a picture book dummy?
* Doing a dummy on the PC saves time and effort.
* It is easy to cut and paste text from a Word Document into a PowerPoint Presentation.
* It is easy to decide the number of slides and rearrange them.
* Creating a standard template is easy.
* Redoing the dummy, as and when the story changes is painless.
And it’s sustainable too!
Here is a very useful blogpost from Tara Lazar.