Done-for-You
Picture Book Ghostwriting
Professional picture book construction from idea to final manuscript.
Picture books are among the most demanding forms in publishing. With limited word count and enormous conceptual pressure, they require precision at every level—idea, emotional arc, language, and structure. Picture book ghostwriting exists for projects that need authorship-level execution from the start: shaping the concept, building the arc, and drafting the manuscript with professional acquisition standards in mind.
WHAT picture book ghostwriting IS … AND ISN’T
This is not:
A brainstorming session or idea consult
A light rewrite of an existing manuscript
A collaborative “let’s see where it goes” drafting experiment
A shortcut around learning the picture book form
This is:
Authorship-level development of a picture book from concept to manuscript
Strategic shaping of emotional arc, structure, and language
Original drafting with page turns, pacing, and illustration space in mind
A process grounded in real acquisition standards and editorial practice
I don’t generate a clever premise and hand it off. I build a picture book that understands its form, audience, and market—with your unique vision as my guiding star.
Picture book ghostwriting is best suited for creators who:
Have a strong picture book idea but no workable draft
Want professional execution rather than trial-and-error writing and revision
Value editorial judgment informed by real acquisition experience
Are prepared for a collaborative, decision-driven process
This service is often a good fit for:
Writers transitioning into picture books from other categories
Industry-adjacent creators with a clear concept but limited time
Authors with repeated near-misses who recognize the issue is execution
Clients who want to stay creatively involved without carrying the manuscript alone
This is not an entry-level service, and it’s not designed for casual experimentation. It’s for picture book ideas that need to be built correctly from the start—and for creators who are ready to trust that process.
WHO THIS SERVICE IS FOR
What I focus on in picture book ghostwriting
Every picture book ghostwriting project is different, but my focus consistently includes:
Concept strength: Pressure-testing the idea to ensure it can sustain a full 32-or-40-page arc and offers a clear reason for existing in today’s market.
Emotional arc: Designing a deliberate emotional journey that resonates with the target audience, even when the external stakes are small or quiet.
Character motivation: Establishing a protagonist who wants something specific and emotionally meaningful, so the story is driven from the inside out.
Conflict and momentum: Engineering forward movement on every spread—whether through action, tension, humor, or emotional escalation.
Language precision: Crafting text where every word is intentional, doing narrative, emotional, and visual work simultaneously.
Page turns and pacing: Building rhythm, surprise, and payoff across spreads, with careful attention to how illustration and text interact.
Market awareness: Shaping the manuscript with real acquisition standards in mind—without flattening the book’s voice or core idea.
Picture book ghostwriting is fundamentally different from revising an existing draft. Because the manuscript is built from the ground up, every decision—conceptual, emotional, linguistic—has to be intentional from the start. This process is designed to produce a picture book that earns its existence in a competitive market.
How done-for-you picture book GHOSTWRITING works
We begin by pressure-testing your idea itself. Together, we clarify what kind of picture book yours wants to be—narrative, conceptual, lyrical, humorous, or hybrid—and whether the concept can sustain the full picture book treatment. We define the emotional core, the audience, and the book’s reason for being now. Before drafting begins, I establish the emotional journey of the book. Even in the smallest stories, something must shift. We identify the main character’s want, the internal or external tension driving the story, and the emotional payoff the reader should experience by the end. This is what separates publishable picture books from well-written vignettes. I will also design a working structure that accounts for pacing, page turns, escalation, and visual storytelling. This includes thinking in spreads, not paragraphs—where surprises land, where quiet beats belong, and how momentum builds across the book. Picture books live or die on rhythm, and that rhythm is engineered here, in collaboration with your intention and vision. Once we’re aligned on concept and execution, I will write the initial draft.
Step One: concept and alignment
I craft the manuscript with extreme attention to language economy, cadence, and subtext. Every word is doing multiple jobs: advancing story, supporting illustration, and reinforcing emotional clarity. Drafting may involve multiple internal passes before the manuscript is ready for your review. You’ll see a manuscript that understands picture books as a distinct art form, rather than a prose story squeezed into 500 words.
Step Two: drafting
Once the draft is shared, we move into refinement. This phase focuses on tightening language, sharpening emotional beats, and ensuring cohesion across both plot and character arcs. Revisions are deliberate and contained, aimed at polish and precision rather than reimagining the book’s foundation. This is where the manuscript becomes editor-ready.
Step Three: refinement
At the conclusion of the project, you receive a finished picture book manuscript aligned with professional acquisition standards. If helpful, I’ll also offer guidance on positioning, submission readiness, or independent publishing next steps. The goal is clarity—about the manuscript itself and what to do with it next. Every ghostwritten picture book project also includes a professionally crafted query letter that leverages my years of experience as a former literary agent.
Step Four: Strategy and Guidance
Picture book ghostwriting is highly specialized, intensive work, and I take on a very limited number of these projects each year. Not every strong idea is the right fit for this level of collaboration, and not every creator wants—or needs—authorship-level support. Before moving forward, I assess:
The strength and sustainability of the concept
Whether ghostwriting is the appropriate solution (versus revision or consulting)
Alignment around process, expectations, and creative authority
If we’re a good fit, we’ll continue with clarity about scope, timeline, and collaboration. If not, I’ll point you toward a more appropriate next step. This selectivity isn’t about gatekeeping—it’s about ensuring that when we do work together, the project receives the focus, care, and execution it deserves.
fit and availability
about ownership and collaboration
Picture book ghostwriting does not mean disappearance. You remain creatively involved at the level that makes sense for you—whether that’s high-level concept direction, feedback on emotional beats, or response rounds on drafted text. My role is to build the manuscript with precision, keep the process moving, and ensure the final book reflects your intent while fully honoring the demands of the picture book form. Trust and clarity are essential. This work only succeeds when we are aligned on vision, boundaries, and expectations from the outset. Once my discrete role concludes, you own all intellectual property and work product, and the manuscript is entirely yours to submit, develop, or place as you choose.
Picture book ghostwriting engagements begin at $20,000. This reflects the depth of conceptual development, authorship-level drafting, and category-specific expertise required to build a picture book from the ground up to professional acquisition standards. Pricing is calibrated to the scope and complexity of the project, and all engagements are taken on selectively to ensure the level of focus and care this work demands.
INVESTMENT
Want revision OF an existing draft instead?
If you already have a drafted picture book manuscript and what you need is professional executional revision rather than full authorship, Done-for-you picture book revision may be the better fit. This option is designed for manuscripts that are conceptually sound but need sharper emotional arcs, clearer motivation, stronger pacing, or more precise language to meet acquisition standards—without rebuilding the book from the ground up.
“Mary is highly professional and a delight to work with. She gets right into the hearts and minds of the characters, inspires you in a way that you have no alternative but to give your best. I recommend her to aspiring and expert writers.”
“Mary has a gift. She takes the story she is given, as an entire entity and picks it apart in a way that truly teaches the writer why elements work or don’t work together. If you are serious about getting published, then Mary Kole is the one to do this with. She is a partner, literature expert and knows what works and what doesn’t. I highly recommend her to any expert or aspiring writer.”