Illustrations Made Simple: Plan, Save, and Succeed – Your Blueprint for Beautiful Illustrations
The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle – Issue #05
The quality of your book’s illustrations can make or break its success. I often get questions from authors about illustrations. It’s one of the biggest challenges for self-publishing authors for several reasons. Some are overwhelmed by the cost, and many don’t know where to start. How do you plan? Where do you find a good illustrator you can trust and afford?
The good news is, with a little guidance, you can get stunning, professional illustrations—within a budget.
Planning is the secret to getting high-quality illustrations that fit your vision and budget. Today, I’ll walk you through key strategies to help you navigate this process.
How to Plan your Illustrations for the Best Outcome and Budget
What Affects Illustration Costs?
Several factors influence the cost of illustrating your picture book. Being aware of these can help you plan your budget more effectively:
The Illustrator You Hire: Rates vary widely depending on the illustrator’s experience, reputation, and location. Established illustrators or those represented by agencies tend to charge more, while emerging talent might be more affordable.
The Illustration Style: The style you choose isn’t just about personal preference—it also impacts cost. Detailed, realistic styles typically cost more than simpler, minimalistic styles due to the time required to create them.
The Layout: The number and size of illustrations significantly affect your budget. A mix of smaller illustrations and full spreads can help balance quality and cost.
Page Count: The length of your book directly determines the number of illustrations needed. A standard 32-page picture book typically requires around 14 illustrations, but longer books with more pages will require additional artwork, increasing the cost.
You can play around with these factors to help you achieve beautiful illustrations that fit your vision and budget.
Types of illustrations
First, you should understand the types of illustrations you can include in your book. Here’s a quick explanation of the different types of illustrations:
The four types of illustrations. (Illustrations by GetYourBookIllustrations.)
- Spot Illustrations:
Small, standalone images without a background, often used to highlight a single object or character. These are great for adding visual interest without taking up much space. - Half-Page Illustrations:
Illustrations that fill half of a page. These usually have a simple background and provide more detail than a spot illustration but leave room for text on the same page. - Full-Page Illustrations:
Illustrations that fill an entire page from edge to edge, with full background and more detail. Text is typically placed over the image or on a facing page. - Spread Illustrations:
Illustrations that stretch across two facing pages, creating a single, seamless image across both pages. A picture book can have all spread illustrations, or if there are a mix of different types of illustrations, spreads are often used for pivotal or visually impactful moments in the story, allowing for more dramatic and expansive scenes.
It’s also important to understand that the type of illustration is not only about the size, but about what it contains. For example, don’t try to save money by asking your illustrator to create ten highly intricate “spot illustrations”. As a simple example, if they have to draw four kids on a playground showing swings, a seesaw and slide, with trees in the background, that doesn’t qualify as a spot illustration, no matter how small you make it in the book.
Picture Book Layouts
The most common layout for a picture book is 32 pages. This includes:
- 14 Spreads (28 Pages): These are dedicated to the story, with each spread being two facing pages.
- 4 Pages for Front and Back Matter: This includes the title page, copyright page, dedication, acknowledgments, or an author bio.
A 32-page picture book.
The story most usually starts on page 4 and ends on page 31. This equals 28 pages for the story, and page 1-3 and page 32 for front and back matter.
This format is standard because it works well with the printing process, which typically requires page counts divisible by 8. (You can also often print in increments of 4 pages, and with print on demand, even in increments of 2 pages, e.g. a book of 30 pages, 32 pages, 34 pages, etc.)
Alternative Layouts
While 32 pages is the norm, there are other options:
- 24 Pages (10 Spreads + Front/Back Matter): Often used for shorter stories, especially for younger readers.
- 40 Pages (18 Spreads + Front/Back Matter): Provides extra room for longer or more complex stories.
- 48 Pages (22 Spreads + Front/Back Matter): Rare but useful for educational or highly detailed picture books.
40 and 48 pages are usually used for nonfiction picture books and are considered a high page count for fiction picture books.
Choosing the right layout depends on your story length, pacing, and budget. Many authors stick to 32 pages as it’s the most economical and widely accepted by publishers.
Alright, now that you know the types of illustrations and picture book layouts, let’s get into…
Planning Your Picture Book for the Best Outcome and Budget
Step 1: Plan Your Budget
- Decide on Your Budget: Start by figuring out a ballpark budget for your book. For a 32-page picture book, industry averages suggest $1000 (low end)–$3,000 for simpler styles and $3,000–$10,000 for more detailed illustrations. Having a budget of $2500 or more will make the process much easier, as a lower budget means you most likely will have to find a cheap or inexperienced illustrator and this can lead to other complications. (More on that under 4. Find the right illustrator.)
- Calculate Per Illustration Costs: Divide your total budget by the number of illustrations you’ll need. For example, if your budget is $2,800 and you need 14 spreads, that gives you $200 per illustration. This will help you make informed decisions about the style and number of illustrations.
- Keep Costs in Perspective: Remember that the more detailed the style or the larger the illustration (e.g., spreads vs. spot illustrations), the higher the cost. Plan accordingly.
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Step 2: Plan Your Book Layout
Create a Storyboard or Book Dummy: Use these tools to map out your text and, if you like, illustrations. A book dummy is especially helpful because it mimics the structure of your book, allowing you to test pacing, page turns, and text placement. It’s a fantastic tool to revise and improve your manuscript. It has the added benefit that it can help you envision the flow of your book, meaning you can get more clarity on which text to put on which spread, and thus it can help you work out the layout of your book and how many illustrations you’ll need.
Steps to make your own book dummy.
An example of a book dummy. You don’t need to include any illustrations.
- Avoid Common Layout Issues:
- Don’t place two key scenes on the same spread.
- Avoid resolving tension on the right-hand page of a spread; keep the resolution on the next page for better pacing.
- Visualize Your Illustration Layout: Use your layout to decide the size and type of illustrations you’ll need—spot illustrations, half-pages, full pages, or spreads. Mixing sizes can save costs while creating variety.
- Leave Room for Creativity: Avoid dictating every detail of each illustration. Give your illustrator the freedom to bring their expertise and creativity to the table.
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Step 3: Save with Strategic Planning
If your budget feels tight, there are several ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality:
- Choose Simpler Styles: A more minimalistic or less detailed style can reduce costs significantly while still being engaging (think of Mo Willems’ work as an example).
An example of Mo Willems’ illustrations on the left, and a simple illustration style by GetYourBookIllustrations for Raya Finds a New Home by Aja Jordan on the right.
If you compare the simple illustrations above to this cover for The Tree Spot by Cassandra Troughton (illustrated and designed by GetyourBookIllustrations), you can see why simple illustrations can be more affordable, since they are faster to create.
- Adjust Illustration Types: Replace some full spreads with half-pages or spot illustrations. These are quicker for illustrators to create and therefore cost less.
- Simplify Elements: Reduce the number of characters or background details in complex illustrations. For example, a single character with a simple background is more affordable than a detailed crowd scene, and can sometimes be just as, or more, powerful.
- Combine Scenes: Look at your book dummy to see if any pages can be combined, reducing the total number of illustrations. Be cautious not to overdo this, as it may affect pacing.
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Step 4: Find the Right Illustrator
Finding the perfect illustrator for your book is about more than just loving their portfolio.
I will go into how to do this (and how to work with them) in-depth in next week’s instalment of The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle.
By:
- budgeting wisely
- planning your layout carefully, and
- working with the right illustrator
you’ll set yourself up for success—creating a book that’s beautiful and professionally polished. Let your illustrator shine, and don’t be afraid to mix creativity with practical planning.
A stunning book doesn’t have to require a big budget—it requires smart planning
While you need a decent budget for your book, the most expensive illustrator is not automatically the best. You can get stunning illustrations by working with an illustrator who suits your budget, provided you plan well and allow them creative freedom. Some of the simplest illustration styles are timeless classics, proving that simplicity can be just as captivating.
Also, many authors assume that every page of their picture book needs to be covered in elaborate, full-page illustrations. But simpler layouts, like spot or half-page illustrations, can be just as engaging—if not more.
Smart planning—like mixing illustration types, simplifying complex scenes, and working with emerging illustrators—can achieve the same stunning results without breaking the bank. Budget-friendly doesn’t mean low quality; it means being intentional with your choices.
Minimal illustrations can be powerful. Illustration by GetYourBookIllustrations for Embaby Elio by Christina Oberon.
Real-Life Examples
When Kristyn Poleski approached me for GetYourBookIllustrations to illustrate her beautiful story, Just Like You, we needed to work out a layout that would work with her budget. We worked out a combination of spread illustrations, full page illustrations, half page illustrations and spot illustrations. We were a bit lucky in that her story happens to be in the Arctic, and the white snow could easily and perfectly fade to a white empty space of text, but truthfully, this can be done with any story in any setting. We were also able to offset the whiter spreads with a few colourful illustrations
By including a few spreads and full page illustrations, a book can still feel lush and wonderful, even with numerous spot and half-page illustrations.
An interior spread of Just Like You, showing a spot illustration on the left and a half-page illustration on the right (expanded slightly to fill most of the page).
An interior spread of Just Like You, showing a full-page illustration on the left and a half-page illustration on the right.
Another excellent example is The Awesome Animals series by Kelly Tills. She came to GetYourBookIllustrations for simple illustrations and then designed the books herself, and they look amazing! (I only recommend this if you’re really pro at designing, though. But you can still follow her lead in terms of the simplicity of her books.)
The Awesome Animal series by Kelly Tills.
An interior spread of Pigs Never Sweat.
So, as you can see, there are ways to create an amazing book within your budget!
Over to you!
If you’re looking for beautiful illustrations and book and cover design, or if you’re feeling stuck, check out the resources at GetYourBookIllustrations.com or schedule a free consultation!
If you have questions, I’d be happy to hear from you.
Planning your illustrations can feel overwhelming, but with this information and a clear plan, it’s definitely manageable—and even fun! Remember, you want to publish a book that makes you proud, and the right illustrations will make it unforgettable. Good luck!
