Creativity, do you have what it takes?

Creativity is the spark of magic that turns the ordinary into the amazing.

Children’s book authors are very creative people. They have the ability to take a fragment of an idea and by just using their imagination fabricate a completely new world filled with unique characters. These characters will have dreams, a past and a new story to tell.

My main job as an illustrator of children’s books is to take that wonderful fantasy world the author has created and expand it even more. My job is to take their story and tell a little bit more about each scene. What happened just moments before the written action or what happens just after the action. My job is NOT to just illustrate the written action or repeat what is written on the page in a visual form. I must bring another dimension to the story.

To keep my mind flexible, it helps to exercise my creative muscles every day. I like to participate in online challenges to help me stay on schedule. I just finished Tara Lazar’s StoryStorm. This is a friendly challenge to come up with 30 new ideas for picture books one each day in January. My idea list this year has 36 ideas, last year I had over 40. That gives me a head start coming up with the perfect idea for the next picture book I want to write.

12 x 12 is another challenge by Julie Hedlund and Kelli Panique, that encourages authors to write 12 picture books from February to November. That’s more than one a month folks. I’m a fast first drafter, but my rewrites and editing take forever.

There are also challenges and competitions just for illustrators. Inktober by Jake Parker is every October and SCBWI has a monthly prompt called Draw This! for members. SVS Learn has monthly prompts at Critique Arena with personal critiques by Jake Parker, Will Terry and Steve Light. It’s a lot of fun to join in and have fun with other creative people.

I encourage you to participate: https://taralazar.com/tag/storystorm-registration/, https://www.12x12challenge.com/membership/, https://inktober.com/ https://www.svslearn.com/news/category/Critique+Arena, https://www.scbwi.org/calling-all-illustrators-2/

Surround yourself with talented creative people in your field

I’m talking about the world of writing and illustrating books for children. I’m pretty sure the same applies to other fields also, but my experience is in the wonderful world of children’s literature. We all need insightful feedback from professionals in the field and trusted and a talented critique group to grow in our art.

This week I was lucky enough to receive a critique on my children’s picture book dummy from the talented Cheryl Klein, editorial director at Lee & Low Books. My critique was in conjunction with the KS/MO–SCBWI Fall Conference. It was the most insightful and thorough critique I have ever received, and I have received many through the years. She is a very generous person with her time, experience, and talents. I sincerely thank you, Cheryl Klein.

Miss Josefina’s Pockets was written and illustrated by Dayne Sislen.

Every writer and/or illustrator needs a critique group. A group of talented and helpful people who understand your goals and are willing to read or look at your work with fresh eyes and give you constructive feedback. You may not agree with their assessment, but you need to step back and view your work through their fresh eyes. We all get too close to our own work and fail to see the weaknesses. A professional in the field can help you even more, because they understand children’s literature and are aware of current trend.

It’s also important to have experienced professional on your side when you self publish. I have professional illustrated 15 books for other authors and publishers since 2011. Each books takes me between 6 months and a year to finish. I work very closely with each author to bring their vision to the printed page. I also write and illustrate my own books when I have time between illustrating for other authors.

Below are a few of the books I have been privileged to illustrate for other authors:

“Harry & Larry’s Epic Adventure,” by Tracey O’Brien; “The Cow Cocoon”, by Rachel Nolen and Maria Price; “The Girl Who Found Christmas,” by Barbara Escher; and “There’s a Mouse on my Head,” by Donna Warwick.

If you would like more information about having me illustrate your book, contact me. I can also help you successfully navigate through the confusing world of self-publishing.

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All books shown above are illustrated by Dayne Sislen

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Dayne Sislen is a children’s book writer and picture book illustrator. #Picturebooks, #KidLit, #KidlitArt, St. Louis Picture book Illustrator, Member of SCBWI,

The Birth of a Picture Book III

Third in a series called, The Birth of a Picturebook: About the picture book The Cow Cocoon, written by Rachel Nolen and Maria Price. In Birth of a Picture Book I talked about writing the creative brief, the contract, then the character studies, the dummy, and the flat storyboard.

Inside spread, The Cow Cocoon.

After the contract is signed, the characters and page breaks are approved, everything starts to come together. Birth of a Picture Book II talked about planning and drawing the rough sketches and coloring the illustrations. In The Birth of a Picture Book III, I will talk about designing the text and putting everything together in a digital form that complies with your POD or printer’s exact specifications and other elements needed to promote a book.

6. The next step is to design the text part of the book. The line work and painting part of the illustrations take a lot of time. During this time I also format the book’s text to make sure it fits perfectly on each page. If you are hiring an illustrator only, they may not want to do this part. I am both an illustrator and a graphic designer. I like to control the design of the pages and make sure the formatting conforms with exactly what the printer needs to print your book to the best of their ability.

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7. At this point you can see exactly what each page will look like when printed. Now is the time for serious nick-picking. It’s too late to make major changes at this time, but small adjustments can be made before the book goes to print. You want to find any issues before you get your final proofs from your printer. The longer you wait to make corrections the harder and more expensive things are to change.

8. When everything has been carefully checked and approved by the authors, I will upload the digital files to the printer of choice. I work with each printer to make sure the files are perfect for their purposes. Each printer has an exact set of specifications to follow. The last 1/3 payment is due upon approval of all the illustrations and digital files. When the proofs arrive, I carefully check all the artwork to make sure the printing will run smoothly.

9. Included with each picture book I illustrate I include: A digital image of the cover suitable for marketing and promotion, an isolated image of the main character taken from the cover to use for promotion, and the title image isolated. Written publication copyright is also included for all images when used to promote the book illustrated.

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10. Extras: Sometimes authors want extra illustrations to help with their promotions. I have designed and illustrated posters, bookmarks, brochures, banners for websites, author websites, package designs, and stuffed animals or character dolls. I also design and create logo designs for the new publishing company you are creating. These are separate jobs and are charged by the hour.

11. Become friends with each author I work for. It takes about 6 months to finish illustrating a picture book from a written contract to finished proofs. During that time I hope to form a lasting friendship and partnership with each author. I like to follow their publishing journeys and successes.

I hope you learned something from this series of blogs: The Birth of a Picture Book I, The Birth of a Picture Book II, and The Birth of a Picture Book III. You can contact me through my website: DayneSislen.com

The Cow Cocoon can be purchased after February 1, 2021 at: www.cowcocoon.com

If you have a picture book manuscript that needs illustration, design, and formatting contact me through my website: www.DayneSislen.com

The Birth of a Picture Book II

Continuing the story of The Birth of a Picturebook: The Cow Cocoon, written by Rachel Nolen and Maria Price. In Birth of a Picture Book I talked about writing the creative brief, the contract, then the character studies, the dummy, and flat storyboard. After the contract is signed, the characters and page breaks are approved, everything starts to come together.

4. It’s now time for the rough pencil full sized sketches for each spread. I really like this part. All the parts we have only talked about before come together in rough form. This is a good time for the authors to make final adjustments and re-think direction. Everything is easy to change at this point. The text may even need to be adjusted slightly to help the action on the page. The action must move from left to right on each spread. Surprises or revelations are anticipated with each page turn. This part takes a bit of time. It starts very rough with small sketches, then becomes more and more refined with each step. When this stage is completed to the author’s satisfaction, it’s time for the second 1/3 payment.

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5. Now after months of work, the final linework and color painting are started. In some illustrations the linework is very important and forms the basis for the illustrations, in other illustration styles, the color and tone are more important and the lines become covered up and incorporated into the painting. This stage takes me the longest time. The way I work is very time-consuming. I mostly work digitally but also incorporate traditional media for certain areas. Because the sky was almost another character in The Cow Cocoon, I used traditional watercolor for the sky in most of the illustrations.

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I like to first design the title text font and paint the cover so the authors can start doing early marketing for their book. Occasionally there may be slight tweaks to the cover later in the process because the characters sometimes evolve as the story is worked on. I give the authors updated versions of the cover as things change. I show the authors my progress at each step so there are no surprises at the end. It is very difficult and time consuming to change illustrations once they are colored. It’s much better to make changes at the rough and pencil stages.

I will continue the next steps of this picture book journey narrative in my next blog post on December 21, 2020. See The Birth of a Picture Book III. Also, read the previous post on this subject: The Birth of a Picture Book I

Go to www.cowcocoon.com after February 1, 2021 to get your copy

If you have a picture book that needs to be illustrated and designed, contact me through my website: www.DayneSislen.com

The joy of working with a children’s book illustrator.

Book by Donna Warwick, illustrated by Dayne Sislen

by Dayne Sislen

Working with a professional children’s book illustrator is a fun process, you will see your ideas, your characters and your words come to life on paper for the first time. If you are planning on self-publishing your manuscript using Print On Demand (POD) like KDP Print or IngramSpark or an independent printer, you WILL need professional illustrations for your children’s book. A professional illustrator will help guide you through the process of self-publishing your book.

I usually start with character sketches for all major characters. Then I make preliminary pencil sketches to develop your story into spreads that move the action along. Your approval is needed for each step. Then I move into more finished drawings for final approval before committing to color. One-third of the total fee is due before each step of the process. The last 1/3 payment is due when I have completed everything to your approval and it is ready to send to your printer or publisher. I work in watercolor, pastel, gouache, oils and with digital brushes that replicate this media. We can discuss which media will work best for your needs. The illustrations for a whole book are usually worked on together, which actually saves time and money. Once I get rolling with the characters, the storyline and matching colors everything moves much faster and smoother. So doing one illustration at a time, isolated from the whole story will take more time and give a much inferior result.

Packaging everything: Putting all the finished illustrations and text together for printing or ebook setup is the last, big step. With my background in graphic design, I can help you here. I am able to deliver art in a publishable format, with the text and illustrations placed properly on the page, in a digital form ready for printing. I can create custom lettering and design the text to fit around the illustrations. I also work directly with your printer as a liaison to make sure the final book looks as good as it can with their equipment when it rolls off the presses.

Written by Vincent Immordino, illustrated by Dayne Sislen

Book covers are very important!
Never ever let the image that sells you book look amateurish or lackluster. In many cases the cover is all a customer sees before deciding to purchase your book.

Below is a list  of the main points for a cover:

• Be eye-catching
• Look professional
• Communicate the message of the book correctly
• Work well at a small size for Internet sales, catalogs and e-books
• Fit-in, or standout in a positive way in the marketplace for the specific genre

The perfect book cover design should hit the mark on all these points. Do people really judge a book by its cover? You bet they do.

Before I can give you a price on illustrating your book, I must see your professionally edited and formatted manuscript. If I feel your story will fit my style of illustration and I can create suitable illustrations that will best develop your story for you, I will agree to talk to you about your plans for the book. Picture books are traditionally 32 pages because of economical printing practices. That means I will be illustrating at least 12-16 full spread illustrations or 28 to 30 single pieces of artwork. That’s a lot of work, it usually takes me 4-8 months. This is how I make my living, it is my full-time job. Please set aside a reasonable budget and time schedule so your book can be illustrated to show off your wonderful story to its best advantage.

Written by Maggie Konopa, Illustrated by Dayne Sislen

Illustration by Dayne Sislen

An important word about Non-disclosure:
If you are worried about showing your manuscript to a stranger. I am very comfortable signing non-disclosure agreements (NDA) prior to seeing your manuscript. So there is no reason to worry about your story. This protects your ownership of your story and maintains confidentiality. I can even provide standard forms, that may be amended to include any additional concerns you may have.

Contract: Once we agree on my fee and delivery date, I will send you a plain language contract that spells out schedule, payment timing, and assignment of publishing copyright for self published works.

Illustrated by Dayne Sislen

The final step: After I receive your final approval and the final one-third payment, I will place all the finished illustration files for your book in a DropBox* folder and email you a link where you can pick them up. If you have decided I should also be the one to package the files of your book with all text in place and provide digital files to your printer, I’ll email you an electronic proof of your finished book for your approval. Once approval has been received from you on the electronic proof then I handle sending your book to print using your choice of book publishing services. Your book will then be available for sale on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel and independent booksellers (should you choose).

Would you like to talk about hiring an illustrator your children’s book idea? Contact Dayne Sislen, below.

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Yes, you really should hire a professional children’s book illustrator for your self-published book?

by Dayne Sislen

If you want your book to be able to compete with traditionally published books on the bookshelf and online you need a professional illustrator/designer to help. If you need help navigating the self-publishing process, you definitely need a professional illustrator/book designer.  If you want your book to reflect the high level of your writing it is very important that you find a professional children’s book illustrator/designer.

Some of the best current picture book covers on the market.

You’ve spent your time creating a fantastic manuscript for your picture book. You’ve hopefully, had your manuscript critiqued by critique groups, an editor and beta readers (who are not related to you), why do you need to spend money on a professional book designer and illustrator? Couldn’t that money better be spent on advertising or SEO for your author website? Why can’t I just have my teenaged neighbor illustrate my book?

It’s a known fact, book covers sell books.

If your book doesn’t look professional, if it doesn’t stand out on the shelf or the website of an online seller, forget it. All the advertising money in the world will not sell your book. After you make the “easy sells” to relatives and friends who want to help you out, your sales will come to a halt. If customers aren’t attracted to your book’s cover, they will not take a chance by buying it.

We all know the old phrase, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” It’s true, the big publishers believe covers sell books. They spend mega marketing dollars testing out covers for their big-name authors.

Will a red background sell better than a yellow background? Should the main image be a close-up of the main character or show the character at a distance? As an indie author, you probably don’t have the funds or the ability to test market different covers. But ask any author who had a poorly selling book with a bargain-basement cover about the turn around in sales when they hire a professional cover designer/illustrator to design and illustrate a new an improved cover. The results are amazing.

The cover of your book is the first thing buyers see. From this first impression, they will judge the quality of your writing. Is this fair? No. But it’s a fact.

A few children’s books I have designed & illustrated.

Professional designers and illustrators can also help you to navigate the confusing and sometimes dangerous self-publishing process. They can save you thousands of dollars on printing and unneeded services that predatory and unscrupulous “publishers” try to convince you to purchase.

What do you have to lose? A lot if you don’t at least talk to a professional designer/illustrator about your picture book or chapter book cover. I suggest you contact a book designer/illustrator who is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI.org) a well-respected international organization dedicated to promoting quality in children’s literature. In the SCBWI illustrator gallery, you can search by name, region (not all states bring results if they are part of larger regions, medium, style, etc. I am an active member of SCBWI and I am proudly listed under the KS/MO region.

You can contact me by sending an email (below). I would be happy to talk about your picture book illustrations.

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Can a professional children’s book illustrator help an indie author sell books?

By Dayne Sislen

The cover of your book is the first thing buyers see. From this first impression, they will judge the quality of your writing. This isn’t fair but it’s a fact.

We all know the old phrase, ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ Is it true? The big publishers believe covers sell books. They spend mega marketing dollars testing out covers for their big-name authors. Will a red background sell better than a yellow background? Should the main image be a close-up of the main character or show the character at a distance with a background added?

As an indie/self-publishing author, you probably don’t have the funds or the ability to test market different covers. But ask any author who had a poorly selling book with a bargain basement cover about the turn around in sales when they finally hire a professional cover designer to design and illustrate a new an improved cover. The results are amazing.

Your picture book cover will either make or break your book sales.

You’ve spent many months if not years working on your book. Rewriting it over and over until every word is perfect. But customers will not buy your perfectly written book if they do not find the cover appealing. I can’t stress how important a book cover is to sales and promotion of a book.

Most books are purchased in bookstores and online. The only way a customer can choose a book is by looking at the cover and reading the limited text on the back cover. When you promote your book, what will customers see first? That’s right, it’s the cover. A book cover is not the place to save money. Using an unskilled illustrator or designer on the cover will doom your book no matter how skillfully it is written. I have not read the bad example books shown below. I’m sure the writing is much better than the cover is leading customers to believe.

1. Customers will not purchase a book online with a bad or unreadable book cover.
2.  Reviewers will not consent to review a book with a bad book cover.
3.  Bookstores will not take you seriously. Forget about being asked to do a book signing.
4.  Libraries will not want your book on their shelves.
5.  You will be at a disadvantage when attending author events.
6.  Magazine editors will say no to featuring your book on their pages.
7.  You will not even have success by hiring a publicist. Even they can’t overcome the problem of a bad book cover.

What is the difference?

1. Professional book covers are easier to read at a reduced size because the title is designed by a graphic designer.
2. They look professional because they are designed by someone who is trained to work with illustration and text.
3. Magazines and newspapers love to review them and show them on their pages.
4.  Customers in bookstores snatch them up.
5.  Reviewers are can’t wait to review them.
6.  Amazon shoppers are attracted to them and pop them into their shopping cart.
7.  Marketing these professionally designed and illustrated books is easier because the cover sells the book.

Which type of cover do you want for your book?

When I illustrate a picture book for an author, I usually design and illustrate not only the cover but every page in the book. That way you know you will not lose your young picture book reader halfway through your book. Each page is designed around your text. Below are a few of the picture book covers I have designed for self-publishing authors.

A Picture book I illustrated for Donna Warwick

A Picture book I illustrated for Leila Leidke

SPECIAL NOTE:  The above information is for self-publishing or indie authors. If you are thinking about submitting to one of the top 10 traditional publishers and their imprints, you do NOT need to submit your manuscript with illustrations.  The traditional publisher will choose an illustrator for you. They will provide the illustrations and pay for them, but you probably will not have any control over the process. Showing a traditional publisher your manuscript with illustrations may hurt your chances of being traditionally published. I love to work directly with publishers and art directors of these large publishers, but they are the ones who control this process and hire the illustrators.

Best of luck with your publishing journey. Contact me for a bid on illustrating your manuscript if you are interested. I also help self-publishing authors navigate the treacherous waters when searching for a reputable printer and how to avoid predatory publishers.

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Holiday gift idea for the talented writer on your list.

When I tell people I meet I illustrate children’s books, they almost always say they have always wanted to write a children’s book. Many parents and grandparents already have great children’s book ideas from the stories they have invented for their little ones. Most tell me they have a great idea for a picture book but have no idea where to start.

“Don’t Be a Pig in a Panic!” picture book I illustrated for Leila Leidke

I work with new authors all the time. I know what it takes to get your manuscript ready for publishing, find and hire a professional illustrator to bring your picture book to life with great illustrations, design an exciting cover, and put everything together ready to print. The printing of the book using Print on Demand services such as IngramSpark or Createspace ( now KDP Print) is practically free. The illustrations for the book do need to be paid for, but it’s money well spent. A good illustrator/book designer can help you navigate the entire process so you get the most professional end product.

What a great gift idea for yourself or someone you love! A chance to bring your story to life in a printed and published book to share with your family and sell on Amazon. You can even arrange to have your book available in your local library and in your favorite bookstores.

Contact me if you want to finally publish your story idea or make a gift of a book illustration package to a talented friend or relative so they can publish their own story idea.

“There’s a Mouse On My Head!” picture book I illustrated for Donna Warwick

Visit my website: http://www.DayneSislen.com

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Fact: Well designed book covers sell children’s books

by Dayne Sislen

We all know the old phrase, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Is it true? The big publishers believe covers sell books. They spend mega marketing dollars testing out covers for their big-name authors. Will a red background sell better than a yellow background? Should the main image be a close-up of the main character or show the character at a distance?

As an indie author, you probably don’t have the funds or the ability to test market different covers. But ask any author who had a poorly selling book with a bargain basement cover about the turn around in sales when they hire a professional cover designer to design and illustrate a new an improved cover. The results are amazing.

The cover of your book is the first thing buyers see. From this first impression, they will judge the quality of your writing. Is this fair? No. But it’s a fact.

Today I want to talk about what goes into designing a cover for the chapter book “Little Dreamer” by Nell Jones. The author and I discussed what she wanted to show on the cover. We considered many scenes some are shown below, but many more that are not shown here. We tried Little D dreaming about becoming an astronaut. And we tried Little D giving a picture to her teacher Miss Amelia. But most of all we agreed that Little D should be dreaming of her future while in her classroom.

So the final cover design shows Little D in her classroom daydreaming about her future instead of listening to her teacher Miss Amelia. The caterpillar represents her metamorphosis from a young girl to a young woman throughout the story. The window frame and wall of her classroom have dissolved to reveal the boundless world that is available to dreamers.

Colors were given special consideration. Of course, red, bright orange and green colors jump off the shelf. But in this situation, we felt a softer color scheme would show the dreamy quality best. Just because a bright color jumps out at a potential customer is not the best reason to use it. The color scheme must fit the tone and subject of the story. This is a chapter book, so it has a little older audience. I have shown the artwork on the left and the book cover with all text on the right.

 

If you are interested in talking to me about illustrating your children’s book or designing a cover for you, contact me by using the form below.

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Creating the main characters for children’s books

Bringing the main character for a chapter book to life.

When I illustrate books for other authors it is a collaborative process. I want the author to love the characters I create for them as much as I do. Many of my clients send me photos of people they know that they would like the characters to resemble. I say resemble because I don’t create portraits for each page. That would require many photos from many angles of each character and take much too much time to get them just right.

This is the picture I was given for the young Little D for the latest book I illustrated.Yes, the image was this blurry and very small. From this image I had to create the main character.

It took many rounds of sketches until I finally found the right look for Little D that I was happy with and the client loved.

On the next blog post, I will show you how the cover is planned and put together to print.

I illustrate picture books and chapter books for publishers and self-publishing authors. If you would like to talk about illustrating your picture book or chapter book use the form below to contact me.

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Becoming a chapter book

In my last post titled “The Birth of a Chapter Book”, I talked about the process of breaking down the pages to make sure your story will fit on the number of pages available and to make sure the illustrations are distributed throughout the book.

When I started with the author, Nell Jones, all the illustrations ended up in the first 10 pages. After that, the illustrations popped up every 8-9 full pages of text. Some early chapter books use a small black and white illustration at every chapter heading, but Nell wanted to have full-page illustrations in black and white every few pages.

The text had to break at the right places so the illustrations would make sense. I had to figure out roughly how many words would fit on a page and where the page breaks would come. This meant that some of the author’s favorite scenes had to be eliminated and other illustrations had to be added later on in the story so everything would even out.

The images the author sent to use for inspiration for the characters.

Before I started the pencils for each spread, the author sent me photos of what she wanted the main characters to look like. My characters didn’t have to be exactly the same, but at least a resemblance to the photos.  In some cases the photos were small and blurry, so I did my best.

My next blog post on this subject will show how the actual illustrations developed from rough pencils to finished.

 

 

 

 

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The birth of a chapter book.

I am very lucky to be working as the illustrator with children’s book author Nell Jones on a new chapter book Called Little Dreamer. It will be the first book in the Institute of Higher Fun and Learning Series. Many authors I work with prefer to keep their covers a secret until publication date. When that is the case,  I can’t share anything I am working on.

Nell has agreed with me that the sooner friends and potentials customers can become a part of the process the better. Nell’s book will not be published for several months, but we are going to share the process.

You will be able to see the step-by-step process involved in creating a children’s book. Below to the left is the finished cover. To the right is the rough pencil created for the cover

Nell and I have worked together to develop the characters and the scenes. Nell even sent me photos of some people she knew that looked liked her characters. Nell lives in Ogalala, Nebraska and I live in St. Louis Missouri, so this means a lot of emails and phone calls back and forth.

We have been working together since early May. A lot of details about the breakdown of pages and how many illustrations were needed had to be settled before I even started on the rough pencils. Below is an early sample of the method we used to break down what pages would be text and what pages would be illustrations.

In future blogs, I will continue with our step-by-step creative process of illustrating a children’s book.

Is your your self-published children’s book doomed for failure?

Some self-published children’s books look unprofessional because of the poor quality of the illustrations. It won’t matter that your book is well written, has great characters, and a terrific plot. Customers will only see the cover. All your hard work will be judged not worthy in a few seconds.

Self-published children’s books need professional illustrations. I encourage you to hire a professional illustrator/designer to present your book in the very best possible light. Hiring a professional will give your book an advantage over books illustrated by amateurs. So give your book a fighting chance and find a pro to do the job. It is important for self-publishing authors to choose their illustrator carefully. After all, with a picture book, the illustrator is telling one-half of your story. The illustration on the cover and the cover design will either encourage or discourage customers to pick up and buy your book. The inside illustrations will keep a child’s attention on the story and please the reader of the book.

A beautifully illustrated cover will add credibility to your picture book. Reviewers will be more likely to give it their time. Parents and grandparents will pick your book up off the shelf (or the Amazon page) and want to buy it.

If you are self-publishing a picture book you might wonder why children’s books need illustrations. Most authors really don’t want to spend the extra money to hire a professional illustrator. There is one very popular children’s book on the market now called “The Book With No Pictures” by B.J. Novak. It doesn’t use pictures but it does rely on cleverly designed typography to keep kids interested.  The words on the page graphically whisper and scream silly words. A professional book designer was used for the book.

Other than that one book, I can’t think of any other children’s book without pictures. Chapter books have only a few illustrations. The cover, of course, and maybe at each chapter heading. The illustrations are there to just add a touch of interest and break up large areas of text. Lately, there is a movement to add more illustrations to newer chapter books. Some old favorites are being republished with more illustrations. Kids love them.

Examples of chapter books

Picture books are entirely different. The illustrations in picture books play a major role. The illustrations provide visual clues that are important to understanding the story. On each page, the illustrations act together with only a few carefully chosen words to create a complete story that is understood by children and enjoyed by parents.

Don’t doom your picture book to failure. Contact a professional children’s book illustrator to present your book in the most desirable way.

Examples of picture books

There are many places to find professional illustrators. Try these websites: The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s website (SCBWI), The Children’s Book Artists,  Childrens illustrators, and Upwork.

I am listed on the SCBWI’s website (Dayne Sislen). I also have a website portfolio: http://DayneSislen.com

Contact me using the form below. I am happy to talk to you about your book. I am a professional children’s book illustrator and book designer with experience with picture books and chapter books. I promise not to share or abuse your contact information.

A few of the covers I have illustrated and designed.

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