How I Met an Illustrator and Accidentally Became a Children's Author
OK, kind of by accident.
The hardest thing about publishing a children’s book you’ve written?
Getting it illustrated.
Unless you are one of the rare breeds of writer who is also a professional illustrator, you’ll need someone to help you make your book look like… well, a children’s book.
Without vibrant and funny images, your picture book or mid-grade reader won’t interest kids at all.
As an author, your illustration choices are as follows:
Get an agent and sell the book to a publisher
(This is extremely hard and likely to take years)
Hire an illustrator through a marketplace like Fiverr, Upwork or Reedsy
(This is daunting, and is a huge upfront cost)
Use AI
(💩💩💩)
Persuade an illustrator to join your project, working in exchange for royalties.
(This is extremely difficult, as most freelancers prefer guaranteed payment)
I settled on Option 4.
This is NOT just because I’m a cheapskate who doesn’t believe in his project.
Quite the opposite: I’m a cheapskate who believes wholeheartedly in The A-Z of Rotten Uncles.
In fact, I opted for this method because I wanted to form a creative partnership with someone whose work I love and who will put 100% into promoting the book. Luckily, Caterina understands my sense of humour and thinks the book will interest Italian nieces and nephews too. We’ll publish in both languages simultaneously (and hope to translate the book into more languages in 2025).
How I met Caterina Baldi:
It was late 2019, and I was bouncing around countries trying to write a novel and figure out how avoid working for evil English language academies ever again. I set up shop online, and along came an Italian illustrator wanting to translate some of her stories into English. Although she primarily provides illustrations for other writers, Caterina dreams up her own stories too.
We did some online lessons where I assessed Caterina’s writing. We discussed which elements of English she could improve. I much preferred talking about writing than talking about grammar (so did she), and in one lesson, something amazing happened. Caterina asked, “Can we workshop a children’s story I’m working on?”
“Sure, I said.” Then we proceeded to shape the structure and direction of the picture book, the character motivations, and the nuances of the machines and contraptions involved. If I remember right it was about controlling the weather and was based in a very wet and foggy London.
Something sparked in my writing brain, and I realised how fun it would be to write for kids (not just my nieces) and work with another writer.
Though we haven’t done lessons together for quite a while, Caterina and I have kept in touch. In covid times, Caterina attended the story discussion club and writing workshops I ran online, even getting some flash fiction published in English. She joined my online community and published her own children’s book, all while travelling the world and figuring out how to keep being her own boss.
I’ll share more about how our book project came into being in another post, but really, it was because of Caterina. I wrote the manuscript a while back and lamented not having illustrations for each of the 26 bad uncles. I wasn’t planning on publishing the book. How could I without thousands of pounds to hire an illustrator?
A few months ago, I asked if she’d like to read it. Then, I plucked up the courage and popped the question: Will you work with me?
It’s not easy to find someone willing to work for future gain — a 50/50 split of the proceeds. Luckily, she said ‘yes’.
And more than just believing in a joint project, it’s important that authors and illustrators can work together. Not all writers have experience with how designers operate (the time and process involved) and struggle to use effective briefs. My past efforts in self-publishing and traditional publishing have taught me a lot, and my work with Caterina over the years proves we’re a good team.
Next time, you’ll get to hear her side of the story.
I’ll publish my full interview (in English and Italian) with Caterina Baldi.
Thanks for reading.
Be nice to your niblings.
Phil
P.S. I’m back in the UK this month and can post copies of my latest and greatest.
I'll apply my John Hancock and send my thrilling novella, Before. During. After., straight to your abode.
Price, £20 inc. P&P.
Plus, I'll include a copy of my last book, a thought-provoking exploration of time. Two signed books for a score!
Request a copy via philipcharterauthor@gmail.com and I’ll get right back to you.
Sounds like a great creative partnership!
The A-Z of Rotten Uncles sounds brilliant -- can't wait to read (and see the pictures!). Your assessment of authors' options for finding an illustrator is spot on. So glad you found a creative collaborator in Caterina!