Book Sell Sheets

A chat with Susan Johnston Taylor about this book marketing tool.

I’ve never made a sell sheet for my books before. Partially because I was never sure what I would do with it! But then, somebody reached out to me and told me about a local bookstore they thought would love my Boo Crew books. And I thought, gee, I wish I had a sell sheet to send to them. A sell sheet! I started to dig. I posted a question to the 12x12 forum, and discovered that Susan Johnston Taylor actually freelance creates sell sheets for kidlit authors and illustrators! I invited her to share her expertise with us.

Here’s Susan’s sell sheet for her own book, Animals in Surprising Shades. Let’s dig in to what makes a great sell sheet and how to use one.

Susan’s sell sheet for her own book, Animals in Surprising Shades

Hello, Susan! Thank you so much for joining us this week on Kidlit Survival Guide. Could you introduce yourself to our readers?

I’m a freelance writer turned children’s book author living in Austin, Texas who aims to spread kindness and curiosity through her books. I also perform professionally as a singer/actor, so I like to say that I’m passionate about storytelling on the page and the stage.

My debut picture book, Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures, released in 2023 with Gnome Road Publishing and won a Crystal Kite Award. My next picture book, If Pets Wrote Poems, unleashes with Gnome Road in March 2026.

Since my degree is in communication, I really like the marketing and promotions side of author life, but I know many people dread it. I enjoy it so much that I also work part time in marketing and operations at the Writing Barn and I teach Canva for Authors through them.

Congratulations on your books—they look wonderful! And I had no idea you were also a performer, how fun! Okay, first up: What is a sell sheet?

Also called a one sheet, a sell sheet is a one-page marketing document that gives booksellers, event organizers, librarians and others an overview about your book and why they should order it for their store, book you for an author event, etc. It’s generally tailored to organizations like bookshops or libraries (business-to-business or B2B) rather than to individual consumers (business-to-consumer or B2C).

What makes for a great sell sheet?

A couple of things:

• Clear, readable text. Ideally, use a legible font in a reasonable size (at least 11 pt and possibly bigger) with lots of contrast between the color of the text and the background. Using different fonts for headings and subheadings can create visual interest, but everything should be readable and feel cohesive.

• A color palette that fits your book cover. Choosing the color palette is one of my favorite parts of the process. I draw inspiration from the book cover and the overall tone of the book. A funny picture book might call for vibrant colors, while an SEL picture book or a picture book biography might have darker, moodier hues.

• Contains a call to action and all your book’s key information. Who’s the publisher? Is this book already out or is it forthcoming? What’s it about? Who’s the author and/or illustrator and where can someone get more information? Why should people buy this book? (Marketing hooks like STEM, disability representation, etc. and ideally you’d include a few different hooks because different things will resonate with different people.) Also, what should people do next? Order your book for their indie bookstore? Download the educator guide? Something else? The answers to these questions should be easy to find.

What sort of approvals does an author need from the publisher on a sell sheet?

I would check with your publisher first to see if they’ve already created one that you can use. I would ask before using any interior illustrations, but I think it’s generally fine to include the cover, just not before any cover reveals that are planned.

How do you use sell sheets, or how have others you know used them?

If you’re emailing schools, libraries or bookstores about your book, you can include a link to your sell sheet for more information. If you’re doing in-person outreach in bookstores or you’re appearing at a trade show or conference for booksellers or librarians, you can hand out hard copies. It’s a marketing document that shows you’re treating your book as a business (which I hope you are). You can also put it on your website for any booksellers or educators who visit.

I work with a booking manager for school visits, so when she requested a flyer about my school visit offerings, I made a few tweaks to my sell sheet and sent her a PDF.

Tell us more about your service!

I know not everyone has the time or skills to create their own sell sheet, so I created a service where authors can hire me to create a sell sheet for them. (I would also love to work with small presses who don’t have someone in-house to do this. *hint, hint*)

Customers upload information about their book (cover image, synopsis, noteworthy reviews, creator bios, etc.) and any design requests via my Google Form and I email them a sell sheet draft as a PDF within a week. They can request changes (different colors, fonts, sizes, etc.) and when I deliver the final sell sheet PDF, I include an editable Canva link in case they want to update it later. For instance, if the book wins an award or gets a great review in a trade journal, they can add that themselves. I stick to Canva elements that are free so writers can download their updated sell sheet even if they don’t have Canva Pro.

I’m planning to add book trailer or cover reveal video services as well, since I’ve created a few of those for other authors and love that creative challenge.

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us, Susan. I’m excited to add sell sheets to my marketing toolkit.

If you’d like to learn more about Susan’s sell sheet service, check out her website:

Trying It Out

I was excited to ask Susan to create my sell sheet for me for THE BOO CREW AND THE PUMPKIN PATCH RESCUE (the second book in the the Boo Crew series, which releases this fall). I think it turned out great!

Sell sheet for THE BOO CREW AND THE PUMPKIN PATCH RESCUE

I’ve shared it with my publisher in case it’s useful for them, and now I have it to send out to stores when I run across one that I think might be interested in the book. In particular, I’m thinking of less typical book venues, since this one makes for a good seasonal/gift book. Thank you to Susan for putting it together!

More Sell Sheet Examples

Some 12x12 members also kindly offered to share their sell sheets with us as examples and inspiration! Below, find sell sheets for the following (don’t they make you want to buy their books??):

Gilbert and the Ghost by Heather Pierce Stigall

Sometimes Stormy by Amanda Davis

Iggy Who Breathes Fire by Carrie Kruck, who says “I used the selling points from my publisher's marketing plan on Edelweiss, and updated the sheets as reviews came in.”

Alpacas Make Terrible Librarians by Kristi Mahoney

And our own Christine Evans made one too for Dear Mr. G.

I hope you found some inspiration here to create your own sell sheet—and to use it! If you have created a sell sheet that you’re willing to share, please do!