As many of my readers are aware, I mentor a fantastic group of women in Central Texas through our weekly meeting of my Creative Writing for Women Small Group. (If you are interested in connecting and joining us, I'll post the link below.)
Okay! With all that intro out of the way, let's talk about something that has been coming up a lot! Cue thriller music! The conversation goes a little like this: "I wrote a children's book, and now I don't know what to do with it! Help!!!"
First, I recommend that you go to the bookstore and have a look at all the competition. Look for art, shapes, sizes, and colors, and take pictures of the books you like. Make notes! This little exercise will be super helpful when you start looking for an artist.
Once you have done that, start imagining how your story will look on the page and how much text you think will be on those pages. This will help you get a basic (not set in stone) idea of how many illustrations you will need. This info is vital when talking to your artist so they can estimate your needs quicker. Also, when getting your quote for your art, you want to avoid having sticker shock when the artist tells you how much it will cost. You want to be a good and fair negotiator. As an illustrator, I have been pretty insulted by "perspective" clients who didn't do their homework before contacting me and had no idea how much they were asking for so little. Don't be that client!
All books are different; yours will be no exception. Remain flexible, and next, start looking at storyboard ideas, so you will better grasp what will happen after you find that happy artist (or if you plan to illustrate your book yourself).
If you are looking for an example of prices and rates, I did a random internet search, and this company had a pretty good explanation. You can look through their portfolio, too, and see some of their work so you can see what your budget gets.
For the sake of an example of Storyboards, I have added a few I easily found on Pinterest (which I highly recommend this app to help you create mood boards for your projects!)
To find out more about the Creative Writing for Women Small Group, click here!
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