How to Find A Good Illustrator For Your Children’s Book

One of the most important elements of a children’s book is the illustrations. In a children’s book, illustrations help bring the story to life in unique and fun ways. Children’s book illustrations are not only limited to one idea or even one type. Across the world, a wide variety of illustrations appear in children’s books of all kinds for all age groups. Authors who work with publishing houses often team with in-house illustrators to help bring their stories to life. Independent or self-published authors do not usually have that option, and often have to find the best illustrator for the job on their own. Fortunately, there are ways for an author to find a good illustrator for their children’s book.

Finding A Good Illustrator For A Children’s Book

Independent or self-published children’s book authors actually have a lot of control over who can create beautiful and expressive illustrations for their children’s book. Today, many children’s book authors consult various sources to find and eventually hire illustrators who may work on their book. Not only that, authors can keep searching until they find an illustrator who fits what they need for their story, instead of settling for the best option available.

Where can authors start searching? The internet is an excellent place to start searching for an illustrator, since many artists now host their portfolios online, where others can view their artwork. Some authors found their illustrator by searching artist portfolios after finding their contact information on social media. Social media is where many authors and illustrators meet these days. A lot of artists now post artwork directly to Twitter and Instagram and eventually congregate with potential clients. Authors who may want to find a children’s book illustrator right away could get good results there.

Authors should also look out for artists who can illustrate in a style suited to their story. Not all stories require the same style, even if the artist in question produces beautiful work. Take time to review an artist’s styles before contacting anyone for that reason.

Besides social media, many artists host personal websites where visitors can see in-depth portfolios, artist information, and commission details. It is important to thoroughly review this information before getting into contact with the illustrator in question.

What to Know Before Contacting an Illustrator

Before contacting a potential illustrator, it is important to know what to ask them about the impending children’s book illustration project. An author should figure out what they need first, right before starting anything else with any artist. One of the main things an author should know is the number of illustrations they need for their book. The amount of needed illustrations usually depends on the type of story in mind. Picture books generally need larger, detailed illustrations that could fill half a page or an entire page. Chapter books, on the other hand, usually have smaller illustrations.

The costs for the project also matter. Children’s books with a lot of illustrations generally require the author to invest money more into the project. It is also important to work with a professional illustrator, whether independent or not since they can be depended on to deliver the project on time. Avoid illustrators willing to work for exposure or revenue, as they could turn out to be unprofessional.

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