New writers:
Children’s book projects tend to get completed more easily, more quickly, and with results of a higher quality when you thoroughly edit the text of your story BEFORE you commission illustrations from an artist (or make them yourself).
I understand you may be excited and eager to move forward with getting your project finished and published (as most of us are!).
However, I encourage you to wait. Do things one step at a time. There’s no need to rush. Doing a single step at a time helps you create a higher quality finished product.
Here are the steps as I tell them to my book coaching clients:
- Write your story.
- Do at least one round of self-revisions (including age-appropriate alphas, if you’re so inclined).
- Hire a professional developmental editor to partner with so they can help you strengthen the structure of your story. This is normally dirt cheap (compared to novels) since children’s books have so little text!
- Hire a copy editor to correct grammatical issues within the text.
At THIS POINT, after the above steps have been completed, is the time to look for an illustrator and commission images to accompany the story that you told (not the other way around!).
A lot of time is wasted when people commission illustrations for a piece they haven’t written yet (yes, I’ve seen this happen, unfortunately), or try to complete the editing of the story and the creation of the illustrations at the same time.
As changes are made to the text, the alterations may need to be reflected in the artwork. For example, if you change what someone is wearing, how many apples are on a table, what kinds of animals are on a farm, or what kind of dog the main character has, all of these are small text changes that can translate into major illustration changes. That also means these changes can end up costing you extra money. You’ll likely need to pay the illustrator additional cash to make the illustrations match your text.
While I’m always willing to help people who have fumbled this part of the book development process, it would be so much less stressful for you to prevent this issue instead of needing someone to help you fix it after the mistake is made.
Try doing a single step at a time, in order, so that you can create a superior finished product (and have an easier time doing it)!
