Self-Publishing: Some Helpful Hints About Illustrations and Hiring Illustrators
Well, it’s been a definite learning curve for me. I’ve made mistakes, and have learned valuable lessons from them. I know it seems like an easy process, and that it looks like everything came together nicely, but it is rarely the case.
One of the first major mistakes I made was when I decided to hire an illustrator. I figured I could find someone on my own and based on the art I saw, I would be able to hire that person. The first author I hired had no experience with children’s books. There are several mistakes here. One is that she was very inexperienced. The other was that we did not sign a written contract. Both would turn out to be major mistakes on my part. There is a special kind of art with regard to a children’s book. It must be able to tell the story with or without the aid of the text. Experienced professional illustrators know this and that is why their prices may be higher than those who are inexperienced. This is no time to pinch pennies. It is your project and it should reflect the time and effort you have put into it. This mistake cost me both time and money.
When an illustrator is hired, they earn a commission. That commission is typically expected to be split into 2 equal payments. Half of the agreed upon commission is due before any work is even done. That basically covers costs incurred by the illustrator in gathering supplies and of course their time used in the process.The other half is due upon completion of the illustrations. Without a contract, this process was going in the wrong direction. There were no numbers attached to the project as far as how many illustrations there would be. Also, there was no time limit as to when the job would be completed. All of this should be agreed upon and settled when creating the contract. There should also be a clause in the contract that some illustrations can be altered or changed before publishing. Now, that would be a ridiculous request to change all of them, but a number can always be agreed upon ahead of time - just in case there are edits made to the text and the illustrations have to be changed. Make sure that your contract also includes the cover art. Sometimes the cover art can be a page from the book that is enlarged or used for both the cover and for one of the illustrations in the story.
Don’t be afraid to ask the illustrator for an audition piece. Meet with your potential illustrator and get a feel for what your illustrations might look like. Some illustrators are willing to do a sketch or maybe a full blown color illustration as an audition piece. If you are using a professional children’s book illustrator, it won’t hurt to ask if this is a possibility. This can be done as you are looking at samples for the illustrator’s portfolio of his or her past work.
Remember, this process takes time. Many illustrators have full time jobs and will be doing their commissioned work after hours and on their days off. Settle on a reasonable time limit and realize things come up and the dates may need to be adjusted. Best of luck if you are taking on this challenge. Please keep in touch and reach out so I can offer encouragement with the process.
~Annette~
