Rule review
Spread word counts and style: Lisbon vs final Rabat PDF
This update ignores the working-directory 20-spread Rabat manuscript. Rabat is counted from the externally created English PDF in 01_book_in_rabat/final_book/. A French PDF was not present in this worktree.
Lisbon average
62
words per story spread
Final Rabat average
49
words per story spread
Words to cut from Lisbon
169
to match Rabat density
Recommended target
40-60
soft max 70
Recommendation
The final Rabat PDF is a better benchmark than the old 20-spread working manuscript. It has 13 story spreads and lands at 637 story words total, or 49 words per spread. Lisbon has 13 spreads and 806 story words, or 62 words per spread.
Rule change: aim for 40-60 words per spread. Allow up to 70 for rhythm or a climactic beat. Treat 70+ as a density warning and 75+ as an editorial review flag.
- id: spread-word-target
category: spread
status: current
title: Per-spread word target
rule: Aim for 40-60 words per spread. Allow up to 70 when rhythm, repetition, or a climactic beat benefits.
notes:
- Treat 70+ words as a density warning.
- Treat 75+ words as an editorial review flag, not an automatic failure.
- Sound-effect-only lines can breathe, but they still count toward page density.
- If a spread needs more than 70 words, consider splitting the beat, cutting explanation, or moving detail into the illustration.
Book-Level Stats
| Book source | Story spreads | Story words | Average | Median | Min | Max | > 60 | > 70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon latest full-text integrated prompts | 13 | 806 | 62 | 65 | 47 | 73 | 8 | 1 |
| Final Rabat English PDF story pages | 13 | 637 | 49 | 46 | 40 | 64 | 2 | 0 |
Counting method: Rabat story spreads are paired PDF pages 4-5, 6-7, through 28-29. The author/brand preamble and learning/back-cover postamble are excluded. Counts include sound-effect words.
Usable Insights
What Rabat does better for density
- It separates many jokes into image-first or sound-effect-first moments, so not every beat needs full prose.
- The longest story spread is only 64 words; nothing reaches the old 75-word ceiling.
- It uses short exclamations, staggered lines, and image-only facing pages to make the story feel fast.
What Lisbon should keep but tighten
- Lisbon has strong clue sequencing, but many spreads carry setup, action, sound, and explanation together.
- Eight Lisbon spreads are above 60 words; those are the natural first-pass trim candidates.
- To match Rabat, Lisbon would cut about 13 words per spread on average, mostly from explanatory connective tissue.
Style Comparison
| Dimension | Final Rabat English PDF | Lisbon full-text integrated proof | Rule insight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typography | Uses embedded display/body fonts including Squick, Michegar, Bookmania, and Sansita. Sound effects get expressive lettering. | Uses prompted Nunito for integrated page text. It is consistent and readable, but flatter and less designed. | Keep Nunito as the default body-text direction, but add a rule that sound effects and emphasis should get deliberate expressive treatment. |
| Layout rhythm | Alternates text-heavy pages, image-only pages, large sound effects, and full-page illustrations. | Most spreads combine full story text with illustration in one integrated composition. | Future prompts should specify the text role: full text, short caption, sound-effect moment, or image-only beat. |
| Image uniqueness | Scenes vary by camera distance, text placement, city anchor, and physical gag. The same character pair feels active in different ways. | Lisbon has charming consistency, but repeated tram/street geometry and similar text blocks make several spreads feel visually related. | Track repeated motifs and require a fresh visual job per spread. |
| Humor | Physical comedy is immediate: Kiki knots, basket lands, horse snorts, Toto becomes the nest mold. | Lisbon humor is gentler and clue-led. It has good sounds, but fewer big physical laugh beats. | Each story should include several draw-it-now physical comedy beats, not only warm mystery or tour beats. |
| Production polish | Looks like a designed book, with page-level typography decisions and back matter integrated into the product. | Looks like a strong AI proof and image set, but the typography and layout are still doing too much inside each generated image. | Separate manuscript density rules from final layout rules. The manuscript can be short even when the page design is rich. |
Visual Reference
Final Rabat PDF thumbnails
Lisbon full-text integrated proof thumbnails
Final Rabat Story Spread Counts
Source: 01_book_in_rabat/final_book/Toto in Rabat - english (Digital).pdf. Story spreads are paired PDF pages.
| Story spread | PDF pages | Story cue | Words | Density | Relative length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4-5 | Opening in Rabat | 40 | target | |
| 2 | 6-7 | Kiki lands and searches | 50 | target | |
| 3 | 8-9 | Crash and tangled legs | 41 | target | |
| 4 | 10-11 | Names and invitation | 52 | target | |
| 5 | 12-13 | Kasbah setup | 44 | target | |
| 6 | 14-15 | Windy Kasbah view | 53 | target | |
| 7 | 16-17 | Medina basket gag | 62 | watch | |
| 8 | 18-19 | Babbouche and noise | 53 | target | |
| 9 | 20-21 | Mausoleum arrival | 45 | target | |
| 10 | 22-23 | Horse tickle | 46 | target | |
| 11 | 24-25 | Chellah setup | 42 | target | |
| 12 | 26-27 | Storks and nest problem | 64 | watch | |
| 13 | 28-29 | Round nest and farewell | 45 | target |
Lisbon Spread Counts
Source: 20260429091655-lisbon-book/experiments/full_text_integrated_book_v02/prompts/. Spread 9 uses the later v03 prompt file.
| Spread | Title / first line | Words | Density | Relative length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisbon was all hills and sunshine. | 47 | target | |
| 2 | Halfway up a bright, bumpy lane, Toto heard a very tiny sound. | 66 | watch | |
| 3 | Toto rolled closer. | 55 | target | |
| 4 | The golden crumb led them to a bakery window. | 61 | watch | |
| 5 | Next they found a blue chip shining near a wall of painted tiles. | 60 | target | |
| 6 | "I know!" said Toto. "Maybe the bell is hiding in a tile." | 69 | watch | |
| 7 | They hurried after the yellow tram. | 57 | target | |
| 8 | The cork shop smelled warm and woody. | 73 | review | |
| 9 | Marta pointed. | 70 | watch | |
| 10 | Marta climbed onto Toto's red backpack. | 51 | target | |
| 11 | "Stop!" squeaked Marta. | 67 | watch | |
| 12 | Marta clipped the bell back onto her blue-tile satchel. | 65 | watch | |
| 13 | At sunset, they sat at a miradouro high above the red roofs. | 65 | watch |