Bring Stories to Life with Finding Book Illustrator for Hire

The world of publishing, especially children’s literature, relies heavily on the talent of skilled book illustrators. Finding the right book illustrator for hire can be the key to transforming a manuscript into a captivating visual experience. At Deveo Studio, we understand the importance of this integral collaboration and are here to guide you through it.



Whether you’re an established author or a first-time writer, collaborating with a talented children’s book illustrator can bring your story to life. Hiring a book illustrator, particularly one specializing in children’s books, requires careful consideration and research. This is where understanding the nuances of illustration and the process of finding the correct creative matches is of paramount importance.

Defining the Art of Visual Storytelling

An illustrator is a visual storyteller; art accompanies the text to help explain it and add beauty to a book. Not merely artists, they are co-creative collaborators who bring to life an author’s words by changing them into full color, vibrancy, and full story through imagery for children’s readers.

Their art has to be interesting and readable and frequently carries as much importance in the story’s narration as the text. Besides drawing pictures, a book illustrator visualizes characters, settings, and moods to capture the meanings in the given story.

Role of a Book Illustrator for Hire

A book illustrator for hire would understand the story’s subtleties and translate them into compelling and engaging visuals. A good children’s book illustrator understands how pacing and composition can enhance the reading experience, knowing exactly when to draw the reader’s eye and how to build suspense visually. They are masters of visual storytelling, capable of weaving a compelling narrative through their artwork.

Find That Best Visual Partner

When hiring a book illustrator, define what style, tone, and target audience your book is for. Before proceeding with your search, think about which visual style of your story could be best served so you can zoom in on precisely what you’re looking for to communicate your idea more clearly.

The process to hire a children’s book illustrator includes-

  • Viewing portfolios
  • Discussing your vision and
  • Clear agreement.
  • Climax after the Hiring Process

An illustrator’s previous work should be thoroughly discussed to determine if his style suits your project. Discussions on your vision for the project should be open and continuous so that both the author and illustrator are on the same page.

A formal, written agreement will ensure that all parties are clear about payments, deadlines, and usage rights. You will better identify the right style for your project by knowing the different illustration styles (e.g., watercolor, digital, mixed media).

Hiring Tip

Many freelance illustrators for books are hired and work with authors and publishers. This way, writers can partner with a diverse range of talented illustrators. When interviewing potential children’s book illustrators, don’t be afraid to ask them questions about their process, experience, and rates.

The Difference Great Illustrations Make

A good illustration can stand out in the competitive market by its visuals and appeal to the reader’s attention. A book can give a young reader powerful emotions that will be recalled forever. The illustrations must complement the text and enhance each other for a seamless storytelling experience.

Often, children learn to understand stories first using images before they can fully comprehend the written word. Illustrations can explain complex ideas in ways that the written word cannot. A great book illustrator for hire can give your book a visual identity that will help it stand out in a crowded market.

Finding Your Creative Partner

  • Websites like Deveo Studio are great places to find various illustrators with varied techniques and expertise.
  • Professional organizations for illustrators can often provide directories or leads to reputable children’s book illustrators.
  • Consider attending book fairs or conferences where you might encounter potential children’s book illustrators.
  • Ask fellow authors for referrals; they may be able to recommend an illustrator they’ve had a positive experience with.

PS: Word-of-mouth recommendations are often a great way to find trusted and highly skilled creative partners.

  • Social media can also be a great way to discover illustrators whose style aligns with your vision for your book.

The Author-Illustrator Dynamic

The collaboration between the author and illustrator is crucial in creating a book, especially for children’s literature. It’s a relationship built on mutual respect, open communication, and a shared vision for the final product. A professional book illustrator for hire understands the importance of deadlines and communication throughout the project.



Book illustrators contribute to the cultural landscape by shaping how readers visualize stories and characters. They influence how children perceive the world around them, impacting their imagination and sense of understanding. Staying up-to-date with trends ensures your work is fresh and culturally relevant, helping your book appeal to modern readers.

Deveo Studio: Transformative Power of Illustration

Hiring the right book illustrator for hire, especially for children’s books, can be a transformative experience for your publishing journey. The right illustrator can turn a good story into an unforgettable one. The return on investment in exceptional artwork can far exceed the cost, as high-quality illustrations help make your book more visible, appealing, and likely to be purchased. At Deveo Studio, we believe in the power of collaboration and the transformative impact of powerful imagery. With a strong partnership between author and illustrator, a book can surpass expectations and connect with readers deeper, creating a lasting legacy of stories and art.

How much does it cost to hire an illustrator for a children’s book illustration?

If you’re reading this, you already have your story written and you’re ready to hire a children’s book illustrator. And yet, what budget will you need? How much does it actually cost?

Book illustration is special, and your sales depend on having great illustration and text layout formatting – so there’s a lot at stake in getting this right, and we imagine you’re looking for someone who ‘ gets’ how important this is to you.

After helping more then 400 authors to have their book illustrations and some of us are also parents, we know that a young audience is very visual, therefore the more lively your book looks, the more of a bestseller it will be.

You can either self publish and find an illustrator by yourself-but this will be time-consuming and with questionable reliability, with freelancers the price varies and you`ll never know how much does it cost until is actually completed- or you can choose a professional illustration studio like Deveo, which brings an expert editor and a professional illustrator on board.

Some illustrators and designers charge hourly rate prices; others have a set cost per illustration or project. Established companies generally offer special agreements.

Self-publishers mostly seek One-Time Flat Fee. So you know how much it costs and you also have all the rights at the end. You get all the royalties. There are a lot of ways to establish pricing within the industry so it’s difficult to give a number. Best way is to book a free consultation with one of our experienced consultants and find how much would cost to have the book published on major sites like Amazon, Barnes&Nobles, Lulu or IngramSpark.

Click here to schedule a call with an expert and have a free consultation call and get your childrens book budget estimate. (editing, illustations, formatting and publishing)

But to cover all possibilities, you can expect to pay for a book anywhere between $1000 to $10.000, according to the number of pages, illustrator’s experience and other special requirements you might have.

According to The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines –which provides the current industry prices. The higher rates are, of course, for notorious illustrators with years in the industry. You pay for their experience, but for their name as well.

Self-publishing is not necessarily cheaper than using a publisher.

Why? Because the amount of work the illustrator has to do is the same-working directly for you or for the publisher- so, as Sandra Salsbury, professional children’s illustrator says “any self respecting illustrator will expect to earn the same amount of money “.

For a 32 page picture book, which is kind of a medium standard, you should pull out of the pocket around $2,500 – $5,000. Obviously there are illustrators out there with less experience who will do the work for less money, but except to get what you paid for. Illustrations that are not done right from the beginning, will become more expensive and more time consuming to redo then doing it right from the start.

The first things you will get by working with a studio like Deveo is proven professionalism and quality, while not necessarily paying more. To begin with, you must set your budget: what is the maximum amount you can spend on your book and how important is quality to you?

Second, working with a studio gives you the opportunity of choosing between several illustrators the one that best matches your vision. Deveo Studio offers a wide range of services, from illustration for concept Art, childrens books, comic books, graphic novels, to formatting your children’s book and publishing it online via Amazon, Lulu, IngramSpark and Barnes&Nobles. You will find 18 talented illustrators and animators with a cumulative total of over 90 years of experience who offer the right quality for the right money.

If it’s not your first publishing, then you already know what you’re facing. But if you are a beginner, don’t look for bottom dollar. You don’t want to end up with mediocre work because, as good as your book may be, bad design will set you back.

We’re very easy to work with , so click here and contact Us Today for A Free Consultation and find how much would cost to have your children’s book illustrations.

How to find an illustrator for my childrens book or graphic novel?

Once you’ve finished putting all your awesome ideas on paper and have yourself a story, one task still remains to be done: How to find an illustrator for your book?

There are a few options you can choose from: through a specialized agency, through freelancing websites, simply Google it or working with an illustration studio.

Most agencies offer a wide range of styles and an even wider range of illustrators (up to hundreds), all of them working internationally with centers on every continent, from Europe to Asia and America, although it is fair to mention that London seems to be the field leader.

Working with a big agency has quite a few advantages, including great customer care so you won’t have to worry about delays or unexpected changes in your original agreement. However, you might also consider the downsides: because they act as an intermediary between you and the illustrator, the price will be higher ; also, you will probably not get that personal touch many writers want, since big agencies have to handle hundreds of projects at the same time and, like it or not, you will just be one of them.

Another option to find an illustrator for your childrens book is to use a freelancing website where you can contact the illustrators directly In this case, by eliminating the intermediary you will cut out a part of the cost, but it comes with a risk: being scammed.

On a freelancing website, basically, anyone can offer a service, but not everyone is reliable. Illustrators might ditch you if they get a better offer, if they don’t like a certain condition of the job or simply out of lack of professionalism. If you do go for a freelancer, make sure you ask for references from previous employers and don’t pay all the money up front. And in general, with a post on such a site, you can have over 100 applicants. Some of them are new, others don’t even read the description and sign up for as many projects as possible. You will have to look at each one, just counting to 100 seems complicated, but imagine what it would be like to look over 100 messages, to negotiate with each one and in the end maybe you won’t know who to choose for anyone guarantees that it will finish the project on time and within your expectations.

You can also take the common way of “Google it” for illustrators’ personal pages, which might or might not get you good and reliable ones. If you do trust your selection skills more than anyone else’s, you can choose this option, but be prepared for a time-consuming process. The great part about Google is that you can find anything; and the bad part about Google is that you can find anything; the key is in the selection.

A studio specialized in Childrens Book Illustrations, on the other hand might be the best of both worlds: they provide the reliability of a company, while offering economic prices than mainstream agencies.

Deveo Media Studio is good example of medium-sized experienced studios with in-house editors, illustrators and book producers. We have a smaller number of illustrators than agencies, and we focus on having as many different styles as possible, therefore you will not find ten illustrators in a studio giving you the same version of a character.

For your project you get a dedicated editor. He will give you all the information you need. From the size of the book, to proofreading and editing the story. Once in illustration production starts, an art director will make sure that the illustrations are coherent from page to page and the illustrated story complements the script. At the end, you will have the book published on the most important websites: Amazon, Lulu, Ingram Spark and Barnes & Nobles.

For your project, you have Free meeting with one of our experienced consultants. You can set up a phone meeting right now, [click here to schedule a Free consultation meeting]

Any option is a good option as long as it gives you what you want. Set your priorities and start searching: for time-economy-go with a studio or agency, for money-economy-choose a studio or a freelancer, for quality before everything-remember to check his references.

Click here Contact Us Today for A Free Consultation and a Free budget estimate.