When someone opens one of my books, they noticed the illustrations immediately. 

Who does the Illustrations for your books?

Hello dear readers~

It’s been awhile since I’ve taken time to write a blog. So here we go.

Today I am answering a question I am asked quite often when it comes to my two books.

Readers love the illustrations. Which brings about the question: who creates them?

The short answer is I start them, and Tanya, and Mandi finish them.

It’s a team effort.

Sketch and Draft

I write the story, get everything right plot wise. Then when I am ready I sketch everything out.

I sketch it out in pencil or pen on sticky notes or in a sketch book first.

This process can take me a few hours, up to a few weeks.

Totally depends.

I’ve sketched one book in 2 to 3 weeks. “Grandma’s Magic Blanket”. I knew exactly what I wanted for this book so the sketches came out smooth.

Lily’s book, “Trunked by a Spirit” took me months of sketching to finish. It was a totally different book style and I had to be excruciatingly picky with each illustration.

A few things affected this pickiness level.

My budget was tight and this is a YA book, so I didn’t want it to be covered in illustrations.

*Next time you look at a book with illustrations, consider how each illustration contributes to the flow of the story. In my book, the illustrations are deliberately picked to help you enjoy the adventure even more.

I still enjoy reading YA books that have illustrations. Being a visual reader, the illustrations help bring the world to life in my head.

Thus, for my own books, I knew the pictures were going to be important to the reader.

Anywho~ Where was I?

I, the author, create all the illustrations first. I pick, sketch, re-sketch and do the entire process a few times. Once I am happy with the illustrations on paper. I reach out to my illustrator: Tanya.

Professional Artist Needed!

I spend months on apps such as Upwork, LinkedIn , Instagram, looking up and down for a Professional Illustrator.

Why?

I can clearly illustrate, why not save the money and do it all myself?

To be frank, I suck at computer animation/illustrating.

I spend all day working on a computer as it is, so when I attempted to illustrate my own work on computer I hated it.

It is more worth my time and money to hire a professional then to save a buck and do it myself.

The illustrations of both books were a team effort.

I created the first original draft. Tanya turns it into computer illustration magic. And Mandi created the cover and layout of “Trunked by a Spirit” using the illustrations already made.

I love this team of skilled artists!

Huge shoutout to Tanya M. and Mandi L. for their hard work helping me bring my books to life.

Outsourcing is worth it

When I first started my author journey. I decided to try saving every penny I could by doing all the work myself.

I wrote the story, illustrated it, colored it, purchased books and online course on how to market books. And so much more.

At this moment, I can say I tested everything in my power to do it all by myself first.

Which is why I now know I am not meant to do it all myself. It’s just not my road anymore.

I am not the best at these many different jobs in order to create and market a book.

Outsourcing to professionals for a good price is 100% worth it.

Some authors don’t need to outsource. My congrats and best wishes to them!

This is not my path. haha I need to help.

Money well spent. I can refocus my energy on what I do best. Write and get the original sketches going.

When I am asked, “Who does the Illustrations for your books?”. I reply best I can with something like, “I create all the sketches in pencil first. Then my team of illustrators take them and turn them into the magic you see in the final book.”

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed a small behind the scenes peak into my author world. Teamwork, hard-work, and trial and error. Thank you for reading and following along.

I am a self published Author of two books looking for people to share her stories with. Check out my books on amazon or on my blogs.

2 books down, cookies made, and who knows how many more to come.

Thank you for reading until the end. As a self published Author/blogger any and all support is appreciated!

Have a comment or thought to share? Type away in the comments. 🙂

Write on~

Cecilia