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I am so excited to be in the process of completing my second children’s book! This has allowed me the recent opportunity to hire an illustrator for the first time, so I thought I would post my experience with the process so far.

With my first children’s book, scheduled to come out this summer, I worked with a very talented friend who in addition to having her BFA, is also currently working toward a second degree in the field of graphic design. She and I worked collaboratively on the project and it was not an employer/employee type of arrangement. For this second children’s book that will hopefully be out this fall, my fabulous friend was unfortunately swamped and she therefore recommended to me a classmate of hers who she felt is a top illustrator talent. I was definitely interested as I highly value her professional and personal opinion, so I gave her the go ahead to forward on my contact information. Within a few hours, I had a Facebook friend invite and a message from the illustrator. Right off the bat I was very impressed with the prompt contact from her. Next, I sent her the details of the project and she responded, again very quickly, with such enthusiasm and clear passion for what she does that I definitely felt this had serious potential!

After discussing details and information about the book, we met in person and officially got the ball rolling. What a great experience! She and I just seemed to “click”. We went over some concept sketches she had prepared, the timeline for the project, and other important elements. It went so smoothly and I think we both left feeling like this is going to be a great fit. I am so excited to see where we go and to see her bring the characters of the story to life!

From an author’s perspective, one thing I have learned from the experience of hiring an illustrator so far is that it is HUGELY important how passionate the illustrator is about what they do. Because she came on board with such sincere enthusiasm about the project, it has helped me as the author feel so much more confident in moving forward. I’m sure if any of you writers have been in the same boat, you know how important it is that you feel that your team, whether it consists of you and your illustrator, editor, agent, or whoever, is as invested in and excited about the story/project as you are. One other note I’ll make about this is that I was a little unsure how open she (or any illustrator) would be to me being somewhat particular or specific about scenes and characters. I was afraid she might feel creatively stifled by those kinds of parameters. She, however, put that worry to rest when she told me that she knew she would be able to create her artistic vision. But she said what her challenge and goal is is to create my vision. I was wowed!

Clearly pairing up with the right person for your project is key. Moving forward with mine, I’m confident and more excited than ever because my illustrator and I seem to see eye to eye. It looks like we’re going to make a great team! I’ll announce when the finished product will be released later this summer!

I’ll be posting other hopefully helpful info along the way! Stay tuned!