Jacinta Read

Hurrah! The creative process is a wonderful thing and something to be proud of and cherish. As a fellow artist/writer/book lover, I am proud to be on your cheer squad!

There are several different ways you can bring your children’s book idea to fruition. There are also several good books out there (I’ve listed a couple at the end of this article) that can help you figure this out.

The following is my nutshell explanation that I have decided to write because this is a topic that comes up often when people hear about what I do for a living. Please note that this is an ever-shifting landscape, and I might be wrong about any or all of this. This is just me taking a stab at putting a range of the points that come up often in one place.

You have two main choices: traditional publishing or self-publishing.

There are pros and cons to both.

Do I need to find an illustrator?

Many hopeful children’s writers believe they need to find an illustrator before they can approach a literary agent or publisher. This is not the case. Unless you are a writer/illustrator in one or your book project began as a collaboration with a partner you feel very strongly about working with, it’s probably best to proceed as a writer only.

Publishers have access to huge databases filled with talented professional illustrators and designers. The best part of leaving the illustration question to the professionals is that you are not expected to foot the bill or provide creative direction throughout the process. The challenge with taking this route is that you will be expected to release creative control of the visual aspect of your project. It is also worth mentioning here that the industry standard for a picture book illustrator is to receive equal credit for the finished work. That means an equally prominent name placement on the cover and 50% of the book’s earnings.

Would samples help my pitch?

Some authors feel that it can be helpful to have an artist create a couple of sample pages, character sketches, or even dummy books (for pop-up books especially) to present to agents or publishers in hopes of making a stronger pitch. If you are sure you want to do this, please understand that it is right to pay your artist for their work, especially if you cannot promise that they will be chosen for the actual project if the publisher offers you a deal. If however, you can secure the book deal for the artist who made your samples, they (or their agent) should work out a fair contract that accounts for their work on the samples.

If you want to commission me to make a sample pack for your pitch, please email my agent, Don. He will provide a list of options to peruse at your convenience.

Why not just stick to traditional publishing then?

Getting the attention of an agent or a publisher can be difficult. As is the case in so many industries, success is never guaranteed and is not reliably related to the quality of the work. Avoiding discouragement can be the biggest challenge. There are many possible reasons the process might not move as fast as you’d like it to. It could be that your story idea needs refining, or the writing isn’t hitting the mark. Perhaps the subject or angle is not what publishers want at this moment. Sometimes, the stars don’t align even though the manuscript is great. This is especially hard because rarely can anyone give you a clear explanation.

With all this in mind, you might decide to explore self-publishing. The one advantage of this route is that you have more power to make things happen. You are no longer at the mercy of a publishing team. The disadvantage is that you are enlisting for a huge amount of work to do in terms of researching your self-publishing options (there are several), pricing, preparing your files to upload, and marketing and selling the book. All these puzzle pieces can be outsourced, but it requires time, money, and project management.

I’ve decided to self-publish. Do I need to find an illustrator now?

Soon. The good news is, if you decide to pursue self-publication, there’s never been an easier time to make this happen. The bad news is it still requires a lot of hard work.

You will need:

A perfectly polished, edited, proof-read manuscript.[1]
The book layout (what size will it be, which words on which page, what picture and where? How many pages in total, what font(s), paper, what type of cover and binding… the list goes on…)
An illustrator[2] who will interpret your story and create pictures specifically for this project and then hand them over to…
A graphic designer[3] who puts everything together with an expert eye for detail, according to the specifications of whichever platform you decide to go with.

What if I just want to make a couple of copies to give to someone special?

Great! A custom book is a special gift indeed. It’s also extravagantly costly and labor-intensive, but nobody’s judging. I believe some companies specialize in putting certain names or character traits into existing story templates. If, however, it’s your book that you want to make a couple of copies of, there is, again, good and bad news.

The good news is that you don’t have to worry about marketing or worldwide distribution.

The bad news is that you still need the aforementioned puzzle pieces. Sorry.

I hope this has been helpful!

Feel free to post any questions on things I have missed.