First, I am in not in the business of turning work away or dissuading you from using my art in your book. I will gladly accept your money and do some great work for you, but I do feel obligated to tell you this.
I am not a publisher or writer. I cannot speak first-hand about the preferences or practices of publishers, editors, or art directors. I can only pass along information which I have gathered from reading writers market books and other publishing industry sources.
From what I understand:
If you intend to submit your manuscript to a publisher, most prefer to assign an illustrator to a book project IF they are indeed interested in publishing. Most prefer NOT to have the story illustrated when submitted unless you are the author AND illustrator. Rough concept drawings are acceptable if they clearly help to clarify and promote the manuscript, but don't be dissapointed if they go an entirely different direction on illustrations. I have only dealt with publishers from the illustrators point of view, but I can understand their position.
Check this out in more detail if you are uncertain. The information is all over the internet and in writers market type publications. My advice would have to be, If you plan to go the submission route, save your illustration money. If though, you plan to self publish, bypass the publishers and take your shot…
Now then… to answer your questions, which are most likely these:
How muchwill it cost?
We will negotiate that based on the the project. You can get an estimate by clicking here. Volume discounts may apply.
What do you get?
You will receive prints of the illustrations, and the art will be prepared for print and sent to your printer. I don't usually sell or give any kind of rights to the originals, the rough sketches, the concept drawings, or use of the illustrations in any format other than the book as it was originaly printed. Promotional use is not a problem.
How do you pay for this?
Books and covers (a group of 5 or more illustrations):
1/3 of price at agreement to proceed
1/3 at approval of rough concept drawings
1/3 on delivery of finished art.
Single illustrations or a group of 4 or less:
1/2 of the total price at agreement to proceed
1/2 on delivery of finished art.
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WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
FIRST STEP
Begin by submitting an estimate request form which should give the basic info. Once you've gotten an estimate, and it fits into your budget get your info together and contact me. An Email with a brief description and a "Howdy" should do initially. After that I'm going to want specific details in order to give you a firm price.
NEXT STEP
Your next stop is going to need to be with a print representative. Your print rep will become your new best friend. He/she can tell you what it's going to cost to print your book, which will in turn determine critical info such as page and art size as well as the number of illustrations needed either in the books interior pages or on the cover.
If you're using one of the online publishing methods, such as Lulu.com, you'll need to get that account setup and plug in the book info (page count, size, bindery method, etc. If you don't have a printer chosen yet, I can point you to some very good ones.
At the end of that process, either with a human or virtual print rep, you should have a very firm idea of your costs and what you will need from me.
GETTING A FIRM PRICE FROM ME
I'll want to know several things:
What is your page size?
What are your Illustration sizes and how many of each size. (full page art, 1/2 page, 1/4 page, two page spreads, etc.)
Which style of illustration do you like? Is it full color or single?
What kind of liscensing do you want? What kind of liscensing do you want?
Liscensing is the rights you have for use of the art in printing, and what the limitations are. Normaly I sell First North American print rights for the lifetime on that particular book imprint. Foer most authors, it ismore than adequate. Not included are: Foreign or World publication rights, electronic rights, or complete transfer of rights. Additional liscensing can raise the price by as much as 300% depending on what is wanted.
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If your book is a comic book, or graphic novel, I'm going to want to know a little about the story. If I can read the script or a portion of it, that would be even better. I'll want to know if you want me to Pencil, Ink, Letter, color or any combination of these.
Note: It's going to have to be a REALLY good script before I'm willing to jump onboard.
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