Do I need to fully illustrate my picture book?

by Jason Fingland
9th September 2021

I've finished writing a picture book, which relies heavily on the interaction of illustration and text. I've fully illustrated 5 spreads, sketched out the illustrations for the rest of the book and laid out the pages as I believe they should work. 

Is now a good time to start submitting to agents/publishers? Or should I fully illustrate the book before submitting?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

Thanks for getting back to me, Lorraine. I appreciate the help!

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Jason
Fingland
140 points
Developing your craft
Fiction
Comic
Middle Grade (Children's)
Picture Books (Children's)
Short stories
Jason Fingland
20/09/2021

Hi Jason, the usual rule of thumb is that if you haven't finished the book and a publisher asks for it, you'll miss your slot. They won't wait for you. Far better to have the whole thing finished and polished and as good as you can possibly make it before sending it off to anyone for their consideration. Your book, as you say, needs illustration and text together to work, so you must have the finished product available. Publishers won't take it on trust that you can come up with the goods.

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Lorraine
Swoboda
1105 points
Practical publishing
Fiction
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Historical
Romance
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Food, Drink and Cookery
Lorraine Swoboda
14/09/2021