Blueberry Illustrations was started in the year 2011 with the primary motive of providing children’s book illustration services to the authors. We continued to provide just the illustration service for the initial few years and then it was decided in the year 2014 that we will provide a full range of illustrations as well as publishing services. Currently, we are offering children’s book illustrations, book cover design, book layout, book editing, self-publishing ( Hardcover, Paperback, and e-book formats) & book promotion ( social media promotion, authors’ website, and book trailer). The most important aspect of any children’s book is the illustration. We offer more than 50 styles of illustrations under two categories (style number-based illustration styles and character-based illustration styles). We really feel that if the author can get a huge variety of illustration styles, it will be easy for the author to choose the right children’s book illustrator. It is very important to choose the correct illustrator so that the story written by the author gets proper justice in terms of the illustrations.
The first thing which is noticed in any children’s book is the cover illustration as well as the book’s inside illustrations. The point to note here is that the target audience here is in the age group of 2-10 or close to that range. The visual appeal of the book is very important. Secondly, it is a fact for all children’s books that the story must be good in order for it to do well. The point to understand here is that all children’s books are understood through the illustrations which are present inside the book.
So, how do you actually select an illustrator for your children’s book? The term is choosing an “illustrator for hire”. When you get into an agreement with a children’s book illustrator under the “illustrator for hire agreement” it means that the illustrator will waive all the rights/ownership as far as the illustrations are concerned. The children’s book illustrations created by the illustrator will be the property of the author (with full copyright ownership of the illustrations and other designs created by the illustrator). The illustrator-for-hire agreement also includes other important terms like approximate completion date of work, number of free revisions in the illustrations, payment terms, undertaking for providing only original artwork, and likely approach towards any changes to the contract. It is best to hire the children’s book illustrator under the illustrator for hire contract only as it acts as a strong foundation which is beneficial for both the author as well as the picture book illustrator. One of the most important things that an author needs to inform the book illustrator is that all the work will be carried out under the standard “work for hire agreement only”.
Some of the major challenges handled by the authors are selecting a suitable children’s book illustrator. One thing which must be kept in mind while selecting a children’s book illustrator is that every children’s book illustrator has a different illustration style. While every illustrator can add variety to his / her illustration style but it has a range to which variety can be added. We cannot select an illustrator whose original style is around realistic book illustrations whereas the children’s book story demands a cartoon style. It is better to select a children’s book illustrator who has good hands at drawing Cartoon based illustrations. So, the author must make all the right effort in the beginning to select a suitable children’s book illustrator. It is all right to spend more time in the beginning (which might be a bit difficult but it is totally worth it) rather than regretting later and realizing that the wrong illustrator has been selected. So, a good story combined with great illustrations will ensure a big success for the book. Then of course the next step comes into play which includes the layout/formatting, self-publishing, and book promotion.