The Picture Book Dummy: Made Easy

It's time to admit something:
No matter HOW many times I've done it, no matter how MANY of them I have published, no matter HOW I repeatedly try to convince my brain that page 1 really starts on page 6, I often begin a picture book all wrong.
Picture books, those lavishly colored, wildly intoxicating, altogether breathless mix of word and art, they follow a very specific format -- one necessitated by production techniques, cost considerations and, alas, literary tradition.
Of course there are execptions to the rule, but when we talk about a "picture book" we're speaking of a "32-pager" (or depending on how liquored up your editor is) a "40-pager". Think of it this way: you as the artist only have to worry about 15 spreads, a title page image, a single page finale and, of course, the cover. When the book is finished you'll have to create some really snazzy endpapers (those sheets that hold the pages of the front and back cover to the book), but don't worry about that right now -- an idea from those will come later.
So, now that you have written your picture book, your opus, your masterpiece that's gonna pull every kid in the country away from a 48" inch flat screen blasting 'Grand Theft Auto' into their eyeballs and deep into your story, you need to dummy the whole thing.
Use this dummy. Print it, follow it, don't deviate from it -- just make your books follow the "15 spreads and a finale page" rule.
It's as easy as that -- and you have NO idea how many times I've been off by a page or two.
Oh, wait -- one more thing: Just because you adhere to the traditional dummy it doesn't mean that your book will actually get published. At the end of the day, that's kinda the toughest part.
Start the easy way though -- with this.