Is the expectation when writing a young child's book to already have this illustrated prior to submission to agents/publishers, or would the words and design direction be sufficient?
Is the expectation when writing a young child's book to already have this illustrated prior to submission to agents/publishers, or would the words and design direction be sufficient?
It depends on who you are sending the submission package to. If you are just an author giving an manuscript its really ok if you don't have artistic samples. If you are an author/illustrator and are pitching the entire project to be done by yourself. Have samples + book dummy + manuscript + cover letter + notes card for them to send back to you + an envelop to mail it all back to you (mailing pre-paid by you) also NEVER SEND ORIGINAL ART WORK!
Its great if you do attach art, but make sure that is actually done by someone who knows the industry. Know if you do have art with the submission, you might have to pay the artist for the samples "not the publisher." The publisher might inquire about having the original illustrator/artist doing the work or they might hire someone completely different. Its their call. If you do attach art samples make sure that they are the publisher standards for submission. You can find the standards for artists submissions through the publishers website. Always do you homework on who you are sending submissions to. Remember Publishers / Editors / Art Directors are people, and usually they are exceptionally nice. They have the standards to make it easer for them to find the actual good stories from the rubbish submissions. Their goal is to make new literature for kids, not to eat your
literary soul.
Good Luck,
From Illustrator Liz Cleaves
It would be a bonus, I think. But if your story is good enough without the illustrations, I don't see the problem!
There's a big call for writer / illustrators at the moment, but you can certainly still submit stories without doing your own illustrations - think the Yearbook has more info on this, but you can also search message boards like Absolute Write. Good luck!