Hiring an illustrator is stressful.
What starts out as a focused online search soon turns into a Google rabbit hole of images and drawings and paintings and bios and costs and procedures. To say its dizzying would be an understatement.
Once your eyes are able to focus again and you finally come across a sample illustration that speaks to you, an image that you can imagine bringing your words to life, the courting begins. Because you can’t just pick an illustrator. It’s like online dating; you both have to swipe right to see if this is going to work.
An illustrator will want to read your book before they commit to illustrating it. It makes perfect sense. They need to know if their images will be a fit. But it’s terrifying! You feel so vulnerable sending your story, the story you poured your blood, sweat and tears into, to a perfect stranger. What if they write back and tell you that your book is absolute garbage and they want nothing to do with it? Or worse, what if they really like it and just steal your words to make their own book???
All these thoughts were going through my mind when I sent my first choice illustrator my story. As I waited for her response, my heart thumped in my chest and I prepared myself for rejection. (Thank god I’m not online dating. I couldn’t handle the stress!)
When Christina Dill emailed me back saying she would take the job, I was thrilled! When she sent me some of her sketches based on the drawing ideas I emailed her, I was beyond elated.
Anyone who can take my drawings and produce what she has sent me (see below), deserves more money that I can afford to pay her!
(And these are just her sketches!!! Not even the final product!)
Safe to say I’ll be hiring an illustrator for all the books I write!
I am so excited about what Christina is creating and how she is bringing my words to life. I can’t wait to share more images with you (and a pre-sale link!) soon.
