One of the things that helps your book to stand out is the graphics. The cover is the main graphic associated with your book, but some books may require other illustrations. Plus, you can use illustrations and graphics in your marketing, on social media, and in other areas as well when you are promoting your book. In this guest post, author Kathleen Boucher shares her tips for finding stunning and affordable illustrations that will help your book stand out.
Imagine if you had a simple system that helped you to find illustrations that resonated with you and your target audience. Imagine if these illustrations made your book stand out from the crowd. Would that be worth something to you? Absolutely yes! Now imagine if these illustrations did not cost an arm and a leg. Bonus!
Hi, my name is Kathleen Boucher and I am going to share the system I use to find unique illustrations that resonate with the books I write. The system is so easy to use that I have no doubt in my mind you can put it into practice as soon as you finish this article.
Who am I and why should you listen to me? I am a registered nurse and I discovered a passion for empowering kids. I wrote A Simple Idea to Empower Kids: based on the power of love, choice and belief as well as A Simple Idea to Empower Kids: Teen’s Edition. Both books won awards.
Here is my system for finding unique illustrations.
- I am basing this on the assumption that you know what your content is and who your target audience is for the book you are writing.
- Go to fiverr.com and click on illustrations.
- Scroll through illustrations until you find at least three that you resonate strongly with.
- Pick the one you resonate with the most. This is extremely important; trust your sixth sense for this part. You want illustrations that resonate with your target audience. So see the book through the eyes of your target audience. You want them to be unique.
- Contact the illustrator and describe what your vision is for your book and who your target audience is. Establish a rapport with the illustrator.
- If he/she agrees to take the work and the price of the illustrations has been agreed upon, what I do next is send the illustrator the first page or first chapter. I ask the illustrator to draw what he/she FEELS after reading the script. Rarely have I been disappointed after doing this.
- The illustrator sends me back illustrations that are better than what I could have come up with.
- If by chance they do not resonate with you and do not make you feel that your book will stand out in a crowd, simply go to your next choice. Repeat steps 5 and 6.
- Ask permission from the illustrator to use the illustrations in the book that you are publishing. Print and save the email that grants you permission to use the illustrations. The publisher that you use will want a copy of the permission from the illustrator, or if you are self-published, it is good to have on hand just in case.
I told you the system is easy. It is also affordable, so there are no more excuses. Finish your book. Celebrate your life. All I ask of you is to have you share this system with others.
Kathleen Boucher is the award-winning author of A Simple Idea to Empower Kids: based on the power of love, choice and belief and A Simple Idea to Empower Kids: Teen’s Edition. You can find her at her website, GreatKids.me.