Thread: Illustrations by the author

Hi all. This is really a question for writers that have been published, or anyone that has worked, or knows someone that has worked, in the publishing industry.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through the first draft of my first novel, and I'm really keen to have it published. It is a young adult fantasy story with a reading level similar to the Harry Potter books. I am planning on doing a full colour illustrations for my book, and possibly including some of these when I finally submit my manuscript.
Do you think that having illustrations by the author make a good selling point? I assume they would make the book more expensive to produce, even if they are black and white 'etching' style drawing. Do you think that would interest publishers, or am I just wasting my time?
Cheers.

If you're going to self-publish, you can include any illustrations you like. They're not normally part of the standard contract for a novel. What I'd suggest is to finish your ms. and shop for an agent. Said agent might be able to broker your illustrations as part of your package (or to get another contract for the illos if the publisher finds that they're acceptable). You'll be wasting your time submitting directly to publishers-most of them don't take unsolicited manuscripts anymore.

Thanks, moderan. I plan on contacting agents with my manuscript, rather than publishers directly. At the moment I am far more proficient an artist than I am a writer, so my hope was that it would help make mine stand out form the crowd a bit. I had heard somewhere that books illustrated by the author were in higher demand, but I wonder if that only applies to already established authors.

I've wrestled with this decision myself. The only backdrop to an illustration would be that the image conjured by the reader might become compromised. I want my particular story to be a somewhat personal one, where someone can relate to something somewhere down the line. This also means the characters. I wouldn't want their take on a characters appearance to clash with my more definitive one. At the same time, like you, I am a passionate artist and I mostly draw characters and events tied to my story. Sometimes I feel that they can not be one without the other. This is how I feel anyway. Your own tale may merit a different train of thought.

The straightforward answer is, it depends how good they are. If you are an Aubrey Beardsley, an Arthur Rackham, or even half as good as those two, use yours...

Originally Posted by josh.townley

Thanks, moderan. I plan on contacting agents with my manuscript, rather than publishers directly. At the moment I am far more proficient an artist than I am a writer, so my hope was that it would help make mine stand out form the crowd a bit. I had heard somewhere that books illustrated by the author were in higher demand, but I wonder if that only applies to already established authors.

There isn't a doubt in my head that it only applies to established authors (or artists, as Bloggsworth points out). I'll have a similar property soon (webcomic to become graphic novel) and have explored the possibilities somewhat.
I can't think of many large-press-generated author-illustrated books outside of gns, cartoonist/artist autobiographies, and cartoon compilations. Some of Tolkien's have maps.
Illustrated books haven't (generally speaking) been a hot item. They've been done well, but the English-speaking cultures haven't taken to the form like some Eastern ones. Byron Preiss some years ago tried to promote a line of illustrated sf/fantasy books. They were fantastic-killer combinations like Ron Goulart and Alex Nino. Archie Goodwin had one that he wrote and drew. But they sold like ice cubes in Alaska.
It's a shame. I like them a lot. I always loved that feature in the sf magazines I grew up reading. But those big splash panels every ten pages or so can apparently mess with peoples' continuity.
But if you're advanced artistically, you can always try to contract to do the book jacket

Originally Posted by moderan

There isn't a doubt in my head that it only applies to established authors (or artists, as Bloggsworth points out). I'll have a similar property soon (webcomic to become graphic novel) and have explored the possibilities somewhat.
I can't think of many large-press-generated author-illustrated books outside of gns, cartoonist/artist autobiographies, and cartoon compilations. Some of Tolkien's have maps.
Illustrated books haven't (generally speaking) been a hot item. They've been done well, but the English-speaking cultures haven't taken to the form like some Eastern ones. Byron Preiss some years ago tried to promote a line of illustrated sf/fantasy books. They were fantastic-killer combinations like Ron Goulart and Alex Nino. Archie Goodwin had one that he wrote and drew. But they sold like ice cubes in Alaska.
It's a shame. I like them a lot. I always loved that feature in the sf magazines I grew up reading. But those big splash panels every ten pages or so can apparently mess with peoples' continuity.
But if you're advanced artistically, you can always try to contract to do the book jacket

I had planned to do full page, colour illustrations, but from what you're saying it could hinder rather than help my chances. I've been making money off my drawings since I was 16, so I'm fairly confident that I could do a good job, although I would need to adapt my style a bit. Here's a link to my deviantArt page: theangryfish on deviantART I don't plan on letting anyone else handle the book jacket if that opportunity ever arises. I am also quite experienced with Photoshop, and both my fiancé and brother are graphic designers, so that shouldn't be a problem, either. Some of the covers you see on books these days make me cringe.
Maybe I could get away with a small b/w sketch at the beginning of each chapter.

Although I haven't published, I've just finished a book of sixteen (now nine, in the 'finished' copy), with an accompanying illustration for each story. They're produced in a style similar to that of a continuous line drawing, but also somewhat sketchy at the same time.

Personally, I think as long as your ability to wield a pen is as good as your ability to write with one, then it can only improve the allure of your work.

if the illustrations are simply to accompany the writing, i'd say don't bother. you can be a great illustrator or a great writer but chances are remote that you're both. i get the feeling a lot of writers who want to illustrate their work are doing so simply because they do not possess the skill or confidence to 'write the images' into their work.

the problem with illustrating is you're denying the reader the right to use their full imagination. often this is to the detriment of the work. consider the scariest horror movies you've ever seen - often the most frightening aspects are the unseen. the monster in the closet is always more scary than the monster revealed. this is what makes writing so effective, it's ability to evoke a reader's emotions and innate ability to see things for themselves. and it doesn't just apply to monsters, but to everything for which there can be an emotional connection between the reader and the words. because your job, as a writer, is not to provide that emotional connection directly, but to facilitate it by providing the words, which function rather like triggers, a standard text-on-one-side-with-picture-on-the-other storybook is a difficult thing to do well, IMO.

on a more down-to-earth level just consider the potential 'can of worms' scenario with including illustrations. imagine if an agent/publisher was reading your novel and, for the purposes of argument, your hero was called 'Alan' and the story is about how Alan is a 'hero' who wants to win the heart of 'Jenny', the 'damsel in distress'. then imagine if the agent/publisher looks at the picture you drew of 'Alan' and, for whatever reason, thinks that his eyes look mean/ his smile looks cheesy/his hair is stupid/he's too ugly etc, etc, etc. imagine if you drew a picture of the damsel in distress and she looks like cross-eyed reincarnation of donatella versace. don't you think that might spoil the perception of the character in the eyes of your reader, whether it be the agent/publisher or the actual readership of your piece? it might sound flippant and silly, but people are generally pretty superficial and the point is that if go ahead and spell out exactly what something looks like by putting a face on it there's a real risk it won't get the reception it might have otherwise got if you'd allowed the reader to do it for themselves. one might argue that movies do exactly that, but consider that the setting, direction and casting of most successful movies is done through committee, using 'faces' that have been vetted by being used before (there's a reason why tom cruise is a millionaire, and it has nothing to do with his acting ability) and without the risk of suspect pencil-work. my point is only that, if your submit illustrations, you're raising the stakes and should evaluate whether or not to do it based on this.

that said, graphic novels are an exception to this position, since they are intended to be illustrated and therefore artistic merit is intended as an intrinsic part of the manuscript as opposed to an augmentation of it and agents/publishers judge them accordingly. i personally never read graphic novels, with the notable exceptions of watchmen and v for vendetta, which were both fine - mainly because the quality of the illustrations and the writing were equally superb. and there are exceptions in mainstream fiction where illustrations work well too. 'breakfast of champions' by kurt vonnegut, for instance, would be a far lesser book if it wasn't for his drawings. but in the traditional sense i wouldn't recommend it.

Originally Posted by luckyscars

if the illustrations are simply to accompany the writing, i'd say don't bother. you can be a great illustrator or a great writer but chances are remote that you're both. i get the feeling a lot of writers who want to illustrate their work are doing so simply because they do not possess the skill or confidence to 'write the images' into their work.

I stopped reading after this paragraph. Utter nonsense.

Originally Posted by luckyscars

the problem with illustrating is you're denying the reader the right to use their full imagination. often this is to the detriment of the work. consider the scariest horror movies you've ever seen - often the most frightening aspects are the unseen. the monster in the closet is always more scary than the monster revealed.

And the problem with not illustrating is that you're leaving a massive blank spot in the reader's mind.

I have difficulty visualizing things, and I doubt I'm the only one with that problem. There's a book I'm reading right now that has the protagonist on the cover, and she's the only one I can picture as I'm reading the story. There are other characters too, but they're just names to me. It's the same reason I would rather read a book after seeing its movie: I know what the places and characters look like, and I can visualize the story. Without explicit imagery, I have trouble doing that.

The reason your "monster remains unseen" justification works is that monsters in movies just aren't visually scary. The fear comes from what they do, not what they look like, and revealing the monster just says, "Hey guys, this is all it really was all along." That's detrimental because it's a letdown, not because our imaginations are so vivid.

Keep them separate. Publishers are businesses with different departments handling different aspects of the book. The editor who will be reading your book (and deciding whether or not to buy it) will not be the same person who is deciding on the look of the finished book if it is published. Your art work will not help in that buying decision at all. In fact, it will show the editor, and agent, that you are not a professional. It sounds like you are an accomplished artist, so it is possible you could sell your services as an illustrator for your book the the publisher, but that would be a transaction completely different than selling the book. When your book is finished, present it to agents. When you find an agent willing to handle the book, then let him or her know that you have illustrations which could accompany it.

If you try to sell the book and illustrations as a package you are putting yourself at a severe disadvantage. That's just not how the publishing business works.

You've all talked me out of sending illustrations with Seven Miles on a Dirt Road and A Missionary's Tale. I'm not an artist, but I enjoy painting, drawing, and photography, often combining the three as you can see in any issue of the WF Newsletter. I do all the illustrations and about half of them are combinations of different media. That's a different situation from illustrating a novel or series of stories. The Newsletter illustrations are there to lend some visual interest to the pages. Illustrations in a story would require a direct relationship with the story. Robbing the reader of the pleasure of forming his own image of the characters and settings would take away a big part of the reader's enjoyment of the story.

I have heard that publishers don't want illustrations, only the manuscript. If they publish, the artwork will be their responsibility and its a marketing domain that they will be better at I presume. I would just focus on your story and do the sketches as a secondary part of the work.

Originally Posted by luckyscars

imagine if an agent/publisher was reading your novel and, for the purposes of argument, your hero was called 'Alan' and the story is about how Alan is a 'hero' who wants to win the heart of 'Jenny', the 'damsel in distress'. then imagine if the agent/publisher looks at the picture you drew of 'Alan' and, for whatever reason, thinks that his eyes look mean/ his smile looks cheesy/his hair is stupid/he's too ugly etc, etc, etc.

Where may I find this boorish and brutish duo of agent and publisher? Cheesy-smiled, stupid-haired and ugly? They think I'm mean-eyed now? Wait until they are staring goggle-eyed at the business end of my descending fist!