I’m buried in submissions at the press right now. And I’m also critiquing for a few conference events and workshops, plus I’m teaching my Writing Picture Books class again. All of that adds up to one thing…I’m reading a huge number of manuscripts this month, and the patterns get loud when you read at that volume.

The biggest issue I’m seeing is this. Many picture books begin with a warm-​up spread, which means the writing sets a scene or a mood, but the story itself hasn’t started moving yet.

From an industry standpoint, that opening spread carries extra weight. Editors and art directors read it as a signal of format awareness. In short, they want to immediately feel that you understand how little space a picture book has and how much work each spread needs to do.

The one question that fixes a lot

After creating your entire draft, return to your first spread and ask one question.

• What changed?

If the answer is “the reader learned background,” then you likely started one spread too early. If the answer is “a want appeared,” “a problem arrived,” or “a choice happened,” you started where the book starts.

If nothing changed, it’s usually because the opener is doing one of these jobs instead.

Common reasons nothing changed:
• Weather or scenery as a mood opener
• Routine or backstory before the break in the pattern
• A theme statement instead of a moment
• Character introduction without pressure
• Worldbuilding before want, problem, or decision

So cut the warm-​up spread. Make the first spread earn the turn.