I am very excited to announce that in 2024, I will be starting a new series here on my blog all about back matter in picture books! When we talk about picture books, we don’t talk about the back matter as much as we talk about storytelling and craft, but back matter can be the cherry on top of a good story if done well.
With my Back Matter Break Down series, I would love to create a place that really examines this special part of picture books. I will write posts going through the back matter of different picture books, examining what they do in relation to the main text, highlighting unique approaches, and studying what separates good back matter from spectacular back matter. We’ll get into the nitty gritty, but I also hope to do interviews with authors who can share their insights about writing back matter, and give us a behind-the-scenes look into their process of creating this aspect of their books.
Stay tuned for the first post sometime in January 2024!
P.S. If you’re an author who’d like to be interviewed about your back matter, just get in touch! I’m still figuring a lot of things out about this series, so hopefully we can work together!
And if you have any suggestions of books with back matter you want me to break down, leave a comment and let me know!
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Judy Campbell-Smith 