#5 Illustrating It Yourself

Or Your Friend, or your child, or your spouse, illustrate it.

Unless you (or your friend, etc.) are an accomplished artist, I would never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never recommend that you try to illustrate your own picture book.

WHY?

1. Because publishers already have a great pool of talent at their fingertips. There are artists out there just yearning to be called and asked to help illustrate a picture book. Publishers must have hundreds of them, so they really don't need your drawings.

2. When an editor reads a picture book manuscript, we like to see the images in our head. Sometimes we may have very different ideas of what we might think the pictures should look like than you do.

3. It's a pain photocopying the artwork in full color anyway.

4. Realize that the pictures you thought were masterpieces look like this:

compared to professional artists that look like this:

BUT WHAT IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST?

Then go ahead and submit your pictures. However, be prepared for a few things:

1. That the editors may feel that while your pictures are good, they may not express depth or motion that they feel the story needs.

or

2. They look too commericial. (A word thrown around a lot. What this means is that they look too slick, like Strawberry Shortcake, or Spongebob Squarepants.)

or

3. They just don't match what the editor had in mind for the story.

So if you are an artist and a writer, be prepared for the possibility that the editor may like your drawings, but not your story, or s/he may like your story, but not your drawings. What you decide to do in that situation is always your call, but remember that it helps to be flexible. If you're unwilling to compromise, it may end any possible relationship you might have with the house and limit your options in the future.