How to Communicate with Your Children’s Book Illustrator So Your Story Comes to Life

Written By Kristen Riggle

If you haven’t hired your illustrator yet, start here: [How to Hire an Illustrator for Your Children’s Book].

But once you’re ready to start working with one — this post is for you.

It can be tempting to put all the creative decisions on the illustrator’s plate, especially if you don’t consider yourself a visual person, 

but if you’re really honest with yourself, I’m sure there is something that you picture in your mind when you read your story and if you do your best to describe that to your illustrator, the end result will be closer to what you envisioned.

Because however in tune you are with your illustrator, they cannot read your mind so never fall back on assumptions.

Start With Your Story Vision

  • Mockup book (As simple as folded computer paper and text chunks taped on each page)

    This is an important piece to know your page and illustration count as well as text placement

  • Determine your page count and the number of illustrations you will need (refer to mockup book)

  • Where will the text sit on each page (refer to mockup book)

  • Decide on your book dimensions  

  • What scenes you envision on each page.

Even rough sketches or simple notes help a lot!

Share Character Details

Don’t just describe appearance.

Physical Details:

  • How old they are

  • What they look like

  • What they wear

Emotional Details:

  • Character’s personality

  • What that character is going through

  • What feeling needs to be conveyed

  • Specific expressions that matter

Use Reference Photos & Mood Boards

You can send:

  • Real-life inspiration photos

  • Artwork styles you love

  • Color palettes

  • A Pinterest boardUse Reference Photos & Mood Boards

    • Sketches and notes that you’ve already drafted out

    • Reference photos of inspiration

    • Personal photos (ex: people/places/animals you would like certain characters or backgrounds to look like)

    • Pinterest board highlighting photos of all sorts of things you’d like your book to emulate (ex: illustration style, color palette, composition, etc.)

Talk about your Cover

Your cover is marketing.

It should:

  • Reflect your book’s tone

  • Be clear at thumbnail size

  • Leave space for the title

  • Create visual contrast

Discuss your ideas openly before final sketches begin.

Ensure you get the right image sizes

There are 2 main requirements for best image quality:

  1. Make sure image files are Hi-Res (at least 300 dpi)

  2. Artwork should be made a few inches larger than your desired book dimensions. If your illustrator is working digitally, then you’ll have more flexibility as long as it’s vectorized.

Your illustrator will be so thankful to know about the things you love and hope for ahead of time so that they can either work them in or ask you follow up questions or even have helpful suggestions to run by you before they begin. 

Of course the illustrator will naturally have to fill in some gaps, but giving them all these important details will set you both up for a more successful collaboration and provide a better chance of your story coming to life as beautiful as you could have ever imagined!

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not visual enough to explain what I want,” I promise you — you can learn this.

Inside Publish That Picture Book, I walk you through this entire collaboration process in a clear, organized way so you feel prepared and confident.

Your story deserves to be illustrated well. 💛

Kristen Riggle
Next

How to Hire an Illustrator for Your Children’s Book (A Step-by-Step Guide for Indie Authors)