I am looking for an illustrator

[Quixote1818]

I may self publish a number of my children's books. They range from picture books to a 30 page chapter book. One got the attention of two New York publishers but they decided against my project.

I am looking for a very good, realistic illustrator who is just starting out and needs some exposure. Most of my books deal with nature and mountain scenes. I would pay you $1,000 up front for the picture book illustrations and then you would get 30% of the sales. When I say "up front" I mean before the book is published. I would need to see a few finished illustrations before I send payment. I want to start small and then work up to the longer books. The picture book would need about 18 illustrations. We could also negotiate these terms further. You would have to sign a contract.


Anyone interested? Do you know anyone who might be interested?

You can find out more about me here: www.richardsonphotos.com

[cleofus1]

1. hey

try lorien...she's the best...

[REP]

2. $55 per Illustration?!

Sales on vanity press books are notoriously low (think "friends and family") so you may not atrract top talent at that rate.

[Richard Steele]

3. Interested, and know some people who might be interested.

Just need some more info;
actually, a LOT more info:

Descriptions of the scenes you need illustrated,
and some ideas about the STYLE you have in mind
for the illustrations.

Post some pics of the STYLE of illustration you are hoping to include,
and I'll be happy to 'ask around'
amongst the NC Triangle's "Starving Artist Underground Network"

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. My mother in law is a WONDERFUL (and we are not even good

friends so I am not biased here) illustrator. I'm going to show her your query if you don't mind. She does awesome stuff, from the very fanciful on down.

[cleofus1]

5. heh

see what happens when you dangle 1000 clams in front of a bunch of artists...i think i'll go to blaines and get some colored gel pens and do some nature and mountain scenes...

[Strong Atheist]

6. Try ChavezSpeakstheTruth nt.

[cleofus1]

7. here's something by lorien

[cleofus1]

9. lorien is the best, no one compares...

[DS1]

8. 30% Are you nuts?

That's HUGH!

[Lorien]

10. Kinda tough with that budget

The average picture book fees are between $6,000-$10,000 for most illustrators, and most picture books sell less than 10,000 copies through major distributors (I'm a freelance illustrator who works with Disney, Scholastic, and Tangerine Press). since you are a professional photographer, you might look into Photoshopping some images instead, at least for the first few projects.

[cleofus1]

11. sorry lorien

i got carried away...

[Lorien]

12. Thanks for the thought :-)

:hi:

It usually take between six and twelve weeks to illustrate a picture book-more with highly detailed illustrations. If there are many changes it might take even longer. Some artists-the highly paid successful ones-can spend six months on a single book. I suspect that someone well versed in Photoshop or illustrator can slash that time by 2/3!

[Flaxbee]

13. how would you feel about using Russian artists?

I know a few excellent illustrators .... and $1,000 goes much farther in Russia than it does here (thought not as far as it used to). It would be pretty easy for me to arrange this - if you're interested, I'll be happy to ask around for you.