You have a great idea for a children’s book. please write it down. you too. you know, with some work and an editor, you can take it to a place you love. but then what?
This is exactly where many children’s authors get stuck. they have the words they need for their picture book… but they are missing the pictures. We’ll explore how to find an illustrator for your children’s book in this guide.
You are reading: Find illustrators for children’s books
I get asked all the time, “how can I find a good quality, affordable artist for my book?”
This is one of my favorite questions because…
- I’m great at finding amazing illustrators within my budget and
- I love living vicariously through the authors I work with when they start seeing their words come to life through the skill of an illustrator. There is nothing like that.
but this is also a part of the editorial journey where many authors make mistakes. they settle for sticking to their budget, don’t have a proper contract (or no contract at all), or don’t know what to communicate to the illustrator, leading to publishing challenges and more expense later on.
Here’s how to find an illustrator for a children’s book:
- the importance of a good illustrator
- how much does an illustrator cost?
- what to look for in an illustrator
- where to find an illustrator
- how to hire an illustrator
- mitigate problems with illustrators
This article will prevent you from making those common mistakes. Below, we’ll cover the potential costs of hiring an illustrator, what to look for in a children’s book illustrator, where to find high-quality, affordable illustrators, how to hire that artist, and what to do if the relationship isn’t working out.
Do you need a good book illustrator?
The beauty of an illustrated book is the symbiosis between text and art.
neither words nor art should tell the story alone. they must trust each other to tell the whole story. therefore, hiring an illustrator is a bit like a marriage.
This person will be the other half of your story forever. Most of the time, it will be you who is behind your book, not the illustrator, and you don’t want to be behind something that embarrasses you.
When looking for the right illustrator, don’t settle. You’ll be so glad you didn’t.
how much does a children’s book illustrator cost?
You can spend at least $500 on a book illustrator if you know where to look and how to find a good illustrator.
Sometimes that $500 also includes the layout and design of the cover. this often surprises people, and it should.
It’s a low and fair price for those just starting out and working with a new artist who wants experience and also wants to get paid for their work, and I’ll explain how it works and other ways I compensate you. the illustrator below.
Illustrating a book is a lot of work. the artist brings his years of experience, skill, and creativity to a story he did not write, hoping to please the author and express his unique “voice” in the narrative. in fact, he is lucky to find a talented illustrator at a cheap price.
find an illustrator in the traditional publishing industry
In the traditional publishing industry, illustrators are typically hired by a publisher and assigned assignments when the book acquisition team determines they are the best fit for the book currently in production.
Once an illustrator has been chosen, the publisher can offer you an advance, a form of payment that will be settled once the book starts to sell. Once the advance has been paid, the illustrator will share the copyright with the author.
find an illustrator in the desktop publishing industry
In the desktop publishing industry, illustrators are contract labor contractors for the author. Once an illustrator is chosen, illustrators are generally paid a flat fee.
Most of the time, royalties are not part of the agreement, although it does happen.
Currently, print-on-demand publishing options like kdp or ingramspark do not allow royalty sharing within their platforms, which means that for an author to offer royalties to an illustrator, they must keep careful financial records and honor their commitment to the illustrator for this reason, most authors and illustrators simply accept a flat fee.
You will find a wide variety of prices among illustrators. to find an illustrator who is more experienced, experienced and published, the higher you will charge for the work of him. For example, I’ve seen illustrators of this caliber charge between $3,000 and $12,000.
Similarly, if an illustrator is just starting out or doesn’t have a couple of books published, they are likely to be less expensive. Another factor in price can be geography: if an illustrator lives in Eastern Europe instead of North America, and you pay in US dollars, your payment will go much further for that person.
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my personal favorite process is to use a platform like upwork.com and post a job. I include all the important details in my post, including the number of pages, time period, book synopsis, and what I’m looking for in an illustrator. I also set my budget.
This is how I attract the right person instead of having to search and find an illustrator. Getting your post discovered is a much more advantageous way to start the conversation, and you’re attracting a person who’s okay with your post, the payment, and what it includes.
Interested illustrators apply for my work and I review their offers. illustrators may bid above or below the listed budget price, depending on the project specifications in my listing. I find an illustrator whose style I love, within my budget, and hire him. it’s that easy.
Now, having been in the industry for a long time and having many illustrator friends, I know that starting out with $500 as a new illustrator looking to grow your portfolio of experience isn’t a lot of money. I also know how much effort it takes to sell a children’s book and how long it will take me to “pay off” the cost of my illustrator in book sales.
Because of this, I find other ways to “surprise and delight” my illustrator by supplementing their payment.
This is my compensation plan to supplement my illustrator’s fee:
- I offer my illustrator the option to purchase books at wholesale prices. This means that I am willing to send you books directly from KDP or Ingramspark at my author cost, to sell for profit. we work out the details of exchanging money, and they can host or attend their own live events and showcase our book. this is money for them and more marketing for our book.
- I send my illustrators a hardcover and paperback copy of our book once it’s finished. I don’t tell them I’m going to do this, it’s a surprise. they can wear this in their purse or just put it on their shelf like the achievement that it is!
- I allow you to use images or pages from our book in your art portfolio.
- I promote them throughout the book. I include them on the cover, title page, copyright information, dedication page, and an illustrator page at the back of the book.
- I talk about them where want me to go when I pay an author a visit at a school, library, or bookstore, I brag about them like they’re my best friends (and after a book project together, I often feel like they are!) this builds awareness and new fans for my illustrator
- I recommend them to all the authors that I think would be a good fit, giving them more work and recognition.
This has been such a successful approach that many of my illustrators now make a full-time professional living from their art. my first illustrator lived in romania. this was the first illustrated and published book of his. he did amazing, as you can see. I promoted it a lot using the bullet points above.
by the time i was ready for the sequel a few years later, he had illustrated so many of my clients’ books, his fee had increased from $500/project to $3500/project and he moved to london! I’m so proud of her!
Another value of working with budding artists in this way is knowing that I have to be a part of developing someone’s skill and career to earn a real living wage.
action step: determine your budget and compensation plan
what to look for in a children’s book illustrator
Like I said before, hiring an illustrator is a bit like a marriage commitment: it’s for the life of your book. here are some steps to follow when looking for an illustrator.
#1 – know the details of your book
When hiring your illustrator, make sure you know the details of your book first. this will guide you in what you need. for example, you want to know
- the size of your printed book: 8.5×8.5? 8×10? 6×9?
- how many pages or illustrations you will need. Do you want artwork on the title page or dedication page or somewhere else? include it in the count.
- where you want to publish: kdp, ingramspark, lulu, a novelty press, etc.
- what formats you want to publish: hardcover, paperback, ebook, etc.
- the timeframe within which you want the book to be completed, as this will affect the publication date
- your budget: what is the maximum amount you are willing or able to to pay?
#2 – know your style preference
investigate! find art styles you like in other books or portfolios. keep a list of the illustrators that stand out for you. ask yourself what you like about those styles so you can be clear on what you’re looking for in your own illustrator.
does a color palette appeal to you? how realistic versus cartoonish is the artwork?
A living medium (such as watercolor or pen and ink) versus digital art? individual style?
#3 – know your offer
By offer, I don’t just mean the financial compensation they are willing to work for. I mean, what do they bring to the table?
Here are some questions to ask and find the answers when trying to find an illustrator:
- have you illustrated a published book before?
- what tools do you use?
- can you format the book for publication?
- can design and create a formatted cover?
- Do they respond to your communication in a timely and clear manner?
- Can they be taught?
- Do they work well on time?
- Has your artwork been generally appropriate for children?
- are you an artist or an illustrator? these are not the same. make sure they understand children’s book illustration (and the dynamics and differences from normal “art”)
You can learn this about your potential illustrator by reading available reviews, perusing their social media accounts and portfolios, searching their name on amazon (or google), and asking their app follow-up questions.
I enter a keyword at the bottom of my job posting and ask interested candidates to start their application with the keyword. this tells me right away whether or not a potential illustrator read the entire application before applying.
When a potential artist doesn’t use the keyword, I kindly bring it up and ask if this is what I should expect if we work together, just to set a clear boundary early on.
action step: list your book details and style preferences.
where to find children’s book illustrators
there are many great places to find illustrators. I already mentioned my favorite, upwork.com, but there are a variety of other places. below is just a sample to get you started.
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One of the benefits of being a children’s book school student with a desktop publishing school is that we include a list of recommended partners for each author! With special offers and access, plus tried, tested, and loved illustrators, our authors have a head start in finding the illustrator that’s the best fit.
We also have all the templates you need to post a job, track and hire an illustrator.
- instagram (try hashtags like #illustrator or #illustratorwant or #kidlitartist to get started)
- facebook (join groups like children’s book authors and illustrators or just search for “illustrator”)
- fiverr
- upwork
- getyourbookillustrations.com
- 1000storybooks.com
Action Step: Using the links above, make a list of illustrators (and where you found them/how to contact them) to contact.
how to hire an illustrator
Whatever platform you choose to hire an illustrator, make sure you have a good contract with agreed terms and conditions.
We have a template for this at the Children’s Book School.
Your illustrator’s contract should define:
- roles of all involved
- compensation
- the nature of the independent contractor relationship
- ownership and rights to the work of art
- deadlines
- review policy
- results
- communication policy
- work credit
- applicable law
- severability
- non-delivery clause
- termination or cancellation
- non-disclosure
Action Step: Choose your illustrator and send them a good contract to sign before money is exchanged or work begins.
what if your illustrator isn’t working?
Most of the time, this relationship is magical. both the author and the illustrator are very accomplished, satisfied and proud of their teamwork.
But every now and then, no matter how well you’ve planned and prepared, the relationship just doesn’t mesh well. I’ve coached a handful of writers on how to respond to an illustrator relationship that isn’t a good fit.
Two things are always my priority in these situations.
- the author is proud (and not ashamed) of the finished product
- the illustrator as a person and professional and their career and skill development opportunity
If it is determined that an illustrator is simply not providing the agreed-upon quality of work, you have to politely let them go. one of my students really struggled with this.
felt bad because her artist was really trying to provide good illustrations but just didn’t have the skill she promised. my student was torn between settling for less than art for her book so as not to disappoint or hurt the artist, or letting her go.
At the end of our conversation, this student (who had a whole book series planned) decided to let her illustrator go. she did it with love and they parted on good terms and fairly (falling into the details of her orientation contract).
My student immediately found another artist who was a perfect fit. he did the entire series at record speed with the level of quality my student wanted. he later he was so glad he hadn’t decided on the artwork, even though it meant an awkward conversation and a possible delay in the deadline.
here’s the thing: it can feel good to settle on disappointing art to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or letting them go. but the reality is that this is not love at all.
As we partner with people in professional and personal development, we must be lovingly honest. if that artist is going to grow in his career, he has to know the extent of his ability. they have to be willing to learn, grow and invest themselves. but if nobody wants to be honest with them, how will they know? when we withhold our feedback out of fear, we actually cause more harm and potentially stunt your professional growth. Now see, I’m saying “kindly” and “lovingly” in our honesty. develop and encourage them, even when you recognize that they are not the best fit for your project as you both hoped.
And remember, just because they’re struggling doesn’t mean you have to let them go. are they trainable? willing to learn? quick to implement your suggestions? then this is also an opportunity for them to gain skills and experience with your book, as long as you are proud of the art in the end.
Action Step: If the partnership is struggling, determine if you need to let them go as your illustrator, or if there is coachability and potential to love your book by the end of your partnership.
are you ready to find your illustrator? start today!
You have everything you need to get started! an idea on how to budget and offer fair compensation, what to look for in an illustrator, where to find one, how to hire one, and what to do if it’s not a good match. If you follow the action steps, you’ll be way ahead of other authors trying to find an artist.
If you’d like to publish a children’s picture book, we’d love to help. we have a whole community of authors, like you, who invest in their stories to put them in the hands of children. We can change the world through our children, bringing them good stories!
We can help you get your book into children’s hands as soon as possible, but only if you take action now.
Have you hired an illustrator before? What was your main takeaway from the experience? leave it below so we can all benefit from them!
Disclosure: Some of the links above may contain affiliate associations, which means that, at no additional cost to you, Desktop Publishing School may earn a commission if you click through to make a purchase.
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