illustrator needed for children's book

M

MattH77

New Member
Hello!

Hope I'm in the right thread! I'm Matt. I'm a teacher in the UK and have written a children's book that I would like to self-publish, probably on Amazon Books. I need an illustrator.

My story is about a young boy (5-6 years old) who learns the importance of covering his mouth when he coughs and sneezes! I've read the story to several classes and it has been well received. Indeed I can honestly say that I've not read a story to children that has received quite so many laughs. Two of my friends and fellow teachers have had similarly positive responses. This is why I've finally decided to try and take the next step.

If you think you might be interested in illustrating my story and receiving a percentage of any sales we make please feel free to drop me a line.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Matt
 
Hello, I have an illustrator who works with me from time to time for children's books, who I would highly recommend. We would not be interested in your percentage of sales proposal, but if you are able to pay for the illustrations you require, we may very well be able to help with this.
 
Thanks for the reply but I'm a newly qualified teacher so unfortunately cannot afford to pay an illustrator upfront. I'm going to have to rely on someone seeing the value of my story and taking a gamble on the partnership approach I'm afraid.
 
Hi Matt,

Similar to CLHB, I would be happy to quote on some illustrations at a competitive rate, but would not be interested in going the royalties route as it is too much of a risk. You're asking
the illustrator to do the majority of the work with no guarantee of seeing any money. I have no experience of using Amazon Books, but you may be better off starting with a self-publishing
house who would help with the design, marketing and printing etc.
 
Yes Wardy has summed it up perfectly. No matter how good the story is, it does not guarantee sufficient sales. I am very familiar with the self publishing process, especially with Amazon and Self-publishing Houses. I would advice you to avoid a self-publishing house; they will offer you the world, but they don't often get things right or do things the way they should be done properly. They tend to cut corners to maximise their profits. You may as well save the money you would pay them and pay a professional illustrator to do the work as you would like it done, and then self publish, through Amazon as you have planned to. I would highly recommend both my illustrator and Wardy.

When you self-publish yourself you have more control over EVERYTHING, as opposed to a self-publishing house.

If you are able to save, at the very least you can state your proposed budget and see who can do the illustrations for you at the price you will be able to afford. Obviously, we are professionals, so it would need to be a fairly realistic figure.
 
Thanks guys. I really appreciate your guidance. In an ideal world I would love to pay upfront for an illustrator as there are so many fantastic artists out there to choose from. Unfortunately though having just finished uni and starting out as a teacher I just don't have the funds right now. Perhaps that might change in the future. In the meantime I'm still hopefully I can catch the eye of an ambitious artist willing to take a punt. We'll see I guess!!...
 
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