As happy as I was to see my latest children’s book selling, I wanted to reach more readers. The numbers told me that parents and educators saw value in my message. How can I reach more children? By making the book more appealing to consumers and by breathing life into the illustrations.
A beautiful cover attracts the buyer. A parent or a teacher want to see books that look professional and thoughtful. Children, on the other hand, need more. They want to be brought into the story, to be part of that world. They want to identify with the characters, the setting, and the plot. Illustrations help young readers with that.
My own artistic abilities are limited. When I started writing my books, it was for my own kiddos. They loved the artwork. It was personal to them. Now that I’m sharing these stories with a wider audience, I want to engage new readers with higher quality illustrations. I took to Facebook in search of help.
I posted a message in a Facebook group asking for illustrators. I specifically asked them to provide samples of their work. I had been burned in the past! After considering many, many submissions, I settled on Bruce Giannini. You can find him here https://www.facebook.com/bruce.giannini. I was pleased with his work and his professionalism.
I have a few more projects in the works, and I feel very optimistic about using professional illustrators in the future. Watch out Amazon! It’s about to get real!
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