A studio service
A series is a promise you have to keep.
One picture book is a project. A series is a commitment to a character, a look and a release rhythm that has to survive five volumes without drifting. We build the whole arc — the character bible, the cover system, the story structure that lets volume six exist — and then we build the volumes.
N° 01Why series fail
The second volume is where it usually falls apart.
Almost nobody plans a series before writing book one, which is why so many stop at two.
01
The character drifts
Without a reference sheet locking proportion, palette and silhouette, volume three quietly stops looking like volume one. Readers notice before they can say why, and a series that looks inconsistent reads as careless.
02
The covers don't read as a set
A series is bought on the shelf, in a row. If each cover was designed on its own, the group looks like unrelated books that happen to share a character — and the browsing reader never realises there are five.
03
Book one used up the premise
The most common structural mistake: the first story resolves the character's whole reason for existing. Series structure means deciding in advance what stays unresolved so the next volume has somewhere to go.
04
The gap kills the momentum
A series that publishes volume two eleven months later has lost the readers who finished volume one. Rhythm matters more than most authors expect, and it is a production question, not a writing one.
05
Nothing tells the reader there is more
Back matter, series branding on the spine and cover, and a consistent naming pattern are what turn one finished book into the next sale. They have to exist from volume one, not be retrofitted at volume four.
N° 02What we build
The parts that make it a set.
01
Character bible
Turnarounds, expression range, palette and scale references for every recurring character, so volume five is drawn from the same source as volume one rather than copied from it.
02
A cover system
One layout, one type treatment, one place the series name always sits — with enough variation per volume that they are not mistaken for reprints. Designed as a row, not one at a time.
03
World and cast
The recurring setting and the supporting characters who make later volumes possible. A series with one character and no world runs out of stories quickly.
04
Series arc
What changes across volumes and what deliberately does not, so each book stands alone for a new reader while still rewarding the one who has read them all.
05
Per-volume production
Each book taken through spreads, interior layout, cover and print-ready KDP files at your trim size — the same pipeline as a standalone, run against the series rules.
06
Second-language editions
A series translates well because the character work is already done. We produce the second-language editions against the same art, with typesetting redone rather than stretched to fit.
N° 03How it runs
The bible first, then the volumes.
01
Series design
Character bible, cover system and the arc across volumes. Nothing is illustrated until this is agreed, because this is the part that is expensive to change later.
02
Volume one, fully
The first book taken all the way to print-ready files. It sets every precedent the rest inherit, so it gets the most revision.
03
The rest, to rhythm
Subsequent volumes run against the established system, which is why they move faster than the first without looking rushed.
04
Shelf assets
Series branding, back matter that points to the next volume, and the cover set rendered together for listings and ads.
N° 04Peek inside
Little Lessons from Windy Hill.
Our own series: five volumes following Bramble, live on Amazon as Kindle and paperback editions, published between 17 and 29 August 2026. Shown in reading order. The German editions carry the same character into a second language.
N° 05Investment
Three ways to work together.
Series foundation
From $1,400
The design work a series needs before volume one is illustrated. Stands alone if you want to produce the volumes yourself.
- Character bible with turnarounds
- Supporting cast and world references
- Cover system and type treatment
- Series arc across planned volumes
- Naming and back-matter pattern
- Style guide for any illustrator
Foundation + three volumes
From $6,500
The usual starting point: enough volumes on the shelf for the series to read as a series to a browsing reader.
- Everything in Series foundation
- 3 volumes, fully illustrated
- 3 covers on one system
- Print-ready KDP interiors and covers
- Back matter linking the volumes
- 2 rounds of revisions per volume
Continuing series
From $1,600 / volume
Additional volumes once the foundation exists — the rate the system was built to make possible.
- Full volume against the series rules
- Cover on the established system
- Print-ready files
- Character consistency checks
- Optional second-language edition
- 1 round of revisions
N° 06Questions
The answers we give most often.
- How many volumes make a series?
- Three is the point where a browsing reader recognises it as a set rather than a book with a sequel. Five is where the shelf presence starts doing real work. You can begin with one, but the foundation should be built as though there will be more — retrofitting a series system onto an existing standalone is the expensive way round.
- Do I need the whole series planned before you start?
- You need the character, the world and a sense of what changes across volumes. You do not need every plot. The foundation stage is largely about deciding what stays fixed so the stories you have not written yet still fit.
- How fast can volumes come out?
- Faster after the first, because the character bible and cover system are already settled. Our own Windy Hill volumes went out across August 2026. The realistic constraint on your series is usually revision rounds and your own review time, not illustration.
- Can the series work in more than one language?
- Yes, and it is one of the better arguments for a series. The art carries over, so a second-language edition costs a fraction of the first. Typesetting is redone properly for the new language rather than stretched to fit the original layout.
- Who owns the character?
- You do — character designs, bible, art and files are yours in perpetuity, for any volume and any territory. We keep the right to show the work in our portfolio.
- What if I already have book one?
- Common, and workable. We start by building the bible and cover system from the existing book, which usually means redesigning the first cover so it belongs to the set. Volume one is often the odd one out precisely because it was made before there was a series.
Start your book
Have a character worth more than one book?
Tell us the character and roughly how many volumes you imagine. We'll come back with a series structure, a cover system and a fixed quote per volume.