DAVID SALARIYA Book Creator • Designer • Author • Illustrator • Publisher
Blog Archive
David Salariya
Welcome to my blog archive - a growing collection of reflections, publishing insights, creative philosophies, and the odd historical rabbit hole. Click any title to read more, or browse by theme to find your way in to posts about publishing, creativity, history, and the behind-the-scenes journeys of books and the makers of books.
Writing & Creativity
Thoughts and practical advice on how ideas grow; from sketchbooks to sentences, from thumbnail to finished spreads. These posts explore the backstory of storytelling, illustration, typography, and the messy joy of creative thinking.
How to Design Children's Books with the Perfect Page Turn
What Are The Best Font Choices For Children's Book Text?
How Does Graphic Design Influence and Change the World?
Names – The Significance of Identity
Graphic Novels and Children's Literacy
Publishing
Here you'll find the nuts, bolts, and banana skins of the book world. From AI to advances, ethics to editing, I explore the strange machinery behind publishing, and what it means to be a maker of books in publishing today.
AI in Publishing: One Rule for Amazon, Another for the Rest?
Why Erasing the Creator Always Backfires
Why Business Leaders Get Creativity Wrong
Why Trauma Memoirs Are Taking Over the Publishing
Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
Publishing vs Content Creation
Publishing Jargon Decoded
What Software Should I Use to Design a Children's Book?
Pulped by Progress: From Gutenberg's Press to Generative AI
The Truth About Literary Prizes
So You Want to Work in Publishing?
When Books Kill
The Problems with the 1993 Commercial Agents Directive
Proposals for the UK 1988 Copyright Act
Rewrite, Replace or Respect? The Writer's Dilemma
Book Advances and Royalties Explained
How to Succeed as a Freelance Illustrator or Writer
How Much Does it Cost to Publish a Children's Book?
Author & Illustrator Journeys
Conversations, interviews with fellow travellers. These posts shine a light on the people behind the pages, illustrators, editors, and maverick makers whose stories deserve to be to be told.
A Ghost in My Own Books
Behind the Pages: Patricia Borlenghi
Behind the Pages: Shirley Willis
David Antram: Maverick Illustrator
Peter Cook: Encyclopaedias & CD-ROMs
Carolyn Scrace: Top 10 Inspirations
David Salariya Interview – Words and Pictures
Making Books for Children
For those looking to create books for young readers, or wondering how it’s done, this section gathers how-to guides, design tips, educational insights, and reflections from my years in children's publishing.
Essential Steps to Publishing Your Children's Book
How to Publish a Children’s Book in the UK
Do Publishers Find Illustrators?
20 Tips for Writing Dialogue
How to Write for Reluctant Readers
How Do I Write for Children with SEND?
How to Create and Design Illustrated Non-Fiction
How Do Children’s Authors Use Pacing?
What to Expect from a Children’s Book Editor
How Long Should a Children's Manuscript Be?
Marketing for Self-Published Children’s Books
Place Your Book in Schools and Libraries
How to Write Christmas Stories for Children
What Comes After ‘Once Upon a Time’?
How to Handle Difficult Topics
Create Your Own 'You Wouldn’t Want To Be…' Workshop
Exploring Immersive Settings
Children’s Book Trends in 2025
World Book Day Around The World
Whose Book is it Anyway? Celebrity Authors
Mistakes New Children's Author's Make -and How to Avoid Them
Create and Design Illustrated Non-Fiction
Pulp History & Cultural Oddities
A slightly skewed lens on the past, where pulp, print, pop culture, and personal history collide. Expect Gatsby, comics, revolutions, and the curious rise and fall of forgotten publishers.
Why Peter Pan has stood the test of Time
Why The Great Gatsby Still Matters
Make America Great Again – When Was It Great?
Can the USA Bring Manufacturing Home?
Reader’s Digest: Digested History
Gurdial Singh Salariya & Amritsar
The Secret Journal of Victor Frankenstein
You Wouldn’t Want To Be… Created in 1999
"You Wouldn’t Want To Be..." Revisited
Reflections & Philosophy
Occasional dispatches from the footnotes, resistance, or recovery. These are more personal essays, meditations on rejection, persistence, storytelling, and the inner life of a working writer and creative.
The Universe is Made of Stories, Not Atoms
An Egg is a Dream
Embracing Imperfections
Suffering With A Smile
The Art of Rejection
Why Are Children Falling Out of Love with Reading?
It’s Only a Book!
In Conversation with Dr. Elesa Zehndorfer
Why Authors Use Pen Names
How Do I Protect My IP as a Children’s Author?
