The Pictureless Picturebook Manifesto-A Writer’s Craft Book: Suggesting a New Format that Builds Bridges from Children’s Picturebooks to the Magic of Reading on One’s Own (Author Business Series 6)

This book is a call to action that starts with a classic 200-word manifesto of the type you might find nailed to the door of a cathedral or public building. It asks authors to write books for children in the experimental Pictureless Picturebook format, and it discusses the opportunity to do so in a series of author interviews, making the case for change.

Please note that the Pictureless Picturebook is not proposed as a replacement for the cherished tradition of children’s picturebooks.

Rather, the Pictureless Picturebook is presented as a natural bridge to transport children—each at the right time—from what becomes an overdependence on pictures... to the Magic of Reading on One’s Own.

It is, in other words, an alternative to the Early Reader and evolves with children as their reading skills grow.

Children who are used to being read to from traditional picturebooks, have developed listening and storytelling expectations that can be leveraged to help them learn to read. The new format is about authors learning to apply that leverage.

Writing and self-publishing in the new Pictureless Picturebook format is presented as both a business proposition and as something worth doing for the good of children.

Not only is it in the interest of their learning to read... but it may well expand the horizons of children’s literature itself—opening it to new possibilities, new worlds, and ways of seeing.

In the end, THE PICTURELESS PICTUREBOOK MANIFESTO is a writer’s craft book serving the professional needs and interests of authors who have a sense of adventure and are willing to explore a new way to write and self-publish for children.

Scroll to the top to purchase this book or download a free sample.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sage Merriman is author of seven books for children in the Books With No Pictures series. Sage is also the children’s book pen name of former small press editor and publisher, Ryan Petty.

Ryan was for many years the proprietor of Cold Mountain Press (Austin, Texas). Among the respected names he published were Allen Ginsberg, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Denise Levertov, Robert Bly, Joseph Bruchac, and two future National Poets Laureate: Ted Kooser and Donald Hall.

Ryan has also written and self-published AUTHOR BUSINESS PLANS MADE EASY and four other titles in an Author Business Series of books.