Hello there.
I'm assuming you are not an editor at a traditional publishing house. If you are please e-mail me directly at mary@maryuhles.com
I AM assuming you've come to this page because you've written a children's book, or are working on writing one, or have a great idea for one, and thought the next thing you needed was an illustrator. So you clicked around the internet, found my site, and followed the link to this page. I'm sure you have many questions, primary among them being "how much do I charge?"
First let me congratulate you on wanting to write for kids. Goodness knows that great ideas and kids stick together like peanut butter and marshmallows... er, I mean Krazy Glue and Silly Putty... anyway what I'm trying to say is that great ideas make kids and books stick together. But let me get back to how "being published" works:
You don't need an illustrator.
You need a publisher.
The publisher finds the illustrator.
The publisher finds the illustrator after you have written, and rewritten, and critiqued, and rewritten again your story. After you have submitted it and been rejected and submitted it again, and again, and again. After you have finally sold it and then gone through the editor's revisions, after all of that the editor will choose an illustrator who will help sell your book. And the publisher pays the illustrator so you don't have to worry about how much I charge!
That is how traditional publishing works. I always recommend becoming a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There you will find an answer to every question you have..... and thousands of other people in the same place, also trying to get their stories heard.
If for some reason you are considering self publishing, then I won't discourage you, but in that case you WILL be in charge of paying the illustrator. While I cannot quote jobs without seeing specifics, such as how many and how complex the illustrations would be, I can say that it is more than a hundred bucks. C'mon I have a mortgage to pay too.
At any rate I hope this helps and doesn't discourage you. Good luck with your stories and maybe someday I will be your illustrator.
1 comment:
Love that you don't discourage self-publishing, but do encourage going the traditional route with rewrites, critiques, rewrites, etc. Too many post a book after one draft and do themselves and their potential readers a great disservice. Not many stand up for the traditional method like you have, without discouraging. Nice post.
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