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.