A scout at a mid-size board told us she gives a new book eleven seconds. We asked what happens in them. This note is her answer, tidied.
Seconds one to three: the opener
The first page is a claim about what you are for. A clean beauty frame says one thing, a moving editorial frame another. Whichever you lead with, the next two pages have to agree with it.
Seconds four to seven: the measurements
Verified numbers, recently dated. A book with beautiful pages and stale measurements reads as a booking risk, because the fitting is where it will fall apart.
A book is not a photo album. It is a casting argument, sequenced.
Seconds eight to eleven: the cut
Scouts count pages the way editors count adjectives. Thirty pages signals nobody could decide; eleven strong pages signals someone did the work before the meeting.
Build the book
The full build: audit, styled studio day, ruthless edit, printed comp cards.