Opinions on Authors sending fully illustrated books with paid for illustrations to publishers

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Nathalie-Kranich I’d say they’re shooting themselves at the foot. Now, they have a lesser chance of getting published than had they submitted with manuscript only.

[Melissa_Bailey]

@NessIllustration Yes! Exactly. @Nyrryl-Cadiz and @Nathalie-Kranich said it. Many of the authors I work with haven't done much research about the children's book market, if any. They don't know how the industry works, don't read current books in their genre, don't know popular children's book authors, and some haven't heard of SCBWI. They go to Facebook and YouTube to learn and are told that writing and publishing children's books is easy. They go to Fiverr and similar freelance services marketplaces to hire affordable illustrators. Programs like Canva and platforms like KDP make it easy for virtual DIY publishing. So it's no surprise when they don't know anything about the submission process for traditional publishing.

This isn't every author I work with. Some are very knowledgeable. I don't want to stereotype anyone, but many self-publishers fit the above pattern.

[Mimi Simon]

I don't understand why publishers don't like author illustrator teams as a rule. If i was an author I'd definitely want to choose the illustrator myself and work with him directly. I'd think theres nothing more disappointing for an author than their story getting published with illustrations they don't like or with illustration that don't communicate what they envisioned.

[NessIllustration]

@Mimi-Simon Tthe main problem is that most authors don't know much about what makes good art, or especially what makes good picture book illustration, what skills to look out for in a portfolio, what style fits their manuscript's tone, or what styles are trendy and sell well at the moment.

It would be like me interviewing someone for a lab science job Most authors are not at all equipped to make this decision!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Melissa_Bailey so true. If a potential self publishing client does not know what a 'double-spread' or 'manuscript' is, I immediately know they did not do their research, best to proceed with extreme caution.

[Mimi Simon]

@NessIllustration I believe you (never underestimate peoples ignorance lol) but honestly I find that inascusasble. Authors writing picture books are working specifically in a visual medium. If they are not educating themselves on what makes picture books, good/popular/trendy/appealing etc as a whole including the art (which is half or more of a picture book) why the hell are they trying to work in this business? As an artist I study what makes good stories and what kind of stories are popular and what kind of art works with what kind of stories. Why should it be any different for authors?

[NessIllustration]

@Mimi-Simon I agree with you! Most authors really don't do enough (if at all) research about the industry, the publishing process, and the art. For the art specifically, there's this tendency mostly by authors and readers to devalue the work of illustrators. Many articles about picture books, reviews, book signing events, interviews etc focus entirely on writers, with illustrators often forgotten and treated like a hired hand like the printer is

So it's a bigger problem, but even though the authors should do more research, it's also true art directors will still know more about art and be better equipped to make this decision. Just like how we encourage authors to get their manuscript professionally edited instead of trying to do it all themselves, art directors are experts at this and results will often be optimal if the author lets them do them thing - no matter how much research they've done.

[kayleenartlover]

I have a similar question, what should you submit if you want to be both author and illustrator? What would it look like if it’s not a manuscript or a book dummy? Is it one of those or somewhere inbetween?

[Melissa_Bailey]

@kayleenartlover If you want to be the author and illustrator of your book, agents and publishers expect to see a book dummy. Some agents request that you query first before sending a book dummy, but most ask that author-illustrators send a dummy with their query. Publishers expect to see dummies in submissions from author-illustrators.

Either way, if you're an author-illustrator, you should have a dummy ready before submitting.

[kayleenartlover]

@Melissa_Bailey Thanks! I’m learning about book dummy’s and SVS’s writing course will probably cover queries so I’m sure I’ll learn about what those look like eventually.

[Melissa_Bailey]

@kayleenartlover if you're an SCBWI member, there is a chapter about how to create book dummies in their Essential Guide to Publishing For Children, a free digital download for all members. There is also a chapter about query letters.

Jane Friedman and Upstart Crow Literary have also written good articles about writing query letters.