How much do you pay for a children’s book illustration?

If you are publishing your first children’s book, choosing an illustrator should be your main focus. We know kids are very visual, therefore the more lively your book looks, the more of a bestseller it will be.

You can either self publish and find an illustrator by yourself-but this will be time-consuming and with questionable reliability- or you can choose a professional illustration studio or an illustration agency.

Some illustrators and designers use hourly rate prices; others have a set cost per illustration or project. Established companies generally offer special agreements. Self-publishers mostly seek One-Time Flat Fee. There are a lot of ways to establish pricing within the industry so it’s difficult to give a number, but to cover all possibilities, you can expect to pay for a book anywhere between $1000 to $10.000, according to the number of pages, illustrator’s experience and other special requirements you might have, according to The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines –which provides the current industry rates. The higher rates are, of course, for notorious illustrators with years in the industry. You pay for their experience, but for their name as well.

Self-publishing is not necessarily cheaper than using a publisher. Why? Because the amount of work the illustrator has to do is the same-working directly for you or for the publisher- so, as Sandra Salsbury, professional children’s illustrator says “any self respecting illustrator will expect to earn the same amount of money “.For a 32 page picture book, which is kind of a medium standard, you should pull out of the pocket around $2,500 - $5,000. Obviously there are illustrators out there with less experience who will do the work for less money, but except to get what you paid for. Illustrations that are not done right from the beginning, will become more expensive and more time consuing to redo then doing it right from the start.

The first things you will get by working with a studio like Deveo Media is professionalism and quality, while not necessarily paying more. To begin with, you must set your budget: what is the maximum amount you can spend on your book and how important is quality to you? Second, working with a studio gives you the opportunity of choosing between several illustrators the one that best matches your vision. Deveo Media Illustration & Animation studio offers a wide range of services, from illustration for concept Art, childrens books, comic books, graphic novels, covers or posters, to 2D and 3D Animations, enhanced products with Augmented Reality. You will find 12 talented illustrators and animators with a cumulative total of over 90 years of experience who offer the right quality for the right money.

If it’s not your first publishing, then you already know what you’re facing. But if you are a beginner, don’t look for bottom dollar. You don’t want to end up with mediocre work because, as good as your book may be, bad design will set you back.

We’re very easy to work with, contact us today to find how much will cost to illustrate and publish your book.