“Yeti cooked with flare...” First, that unintentional typo had me giggling, then it inspired this spot illo. Funny how one word can change the meaning!

So here’s my yeti, chilling out “alone” on his Nepalese hillside, cooking with flare(s)...

Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in 3 different children's books, all in different stages of done-ness and all for small publishers or self-publishers. (This is a sneak peek at one of them.)

Big plan for this year is to get ready to submit (and hopefully submit) to bigger publishers.

Been encountering technical difficulties and haven’t been able to post until now. I know this is late, but hopefully it can be included ... if not, that’s okay too ... just wanted to share with you all.

What if I was hired to illustrate a nonfiction / informational fiction picture book about yetis? That supposition fired my imagination, got me diving into internet research, and it snowballed from there!

Looking forward to feedback. Thanks so much!

Hi, @davidhohn, @Michael-Angelo-Go & @NessIllustration -- just thought I'd add a little clarification since I did (unfortunately) start out my freelancing art career on Elance (now Upwork -- NOT something I'd recommend, but that's a different story and at the time I needed a paycheck).

YES, Upwork is a nonnegotiable work-for-hire situation -- lousy terms. However, all the clients that I worked with on Upwork were more than happy to give me permission to show the artwork in my portfolio. (And honestly, that's all I would've used that artwork for anyway.)

Yes, the client probably did say 22-page book, and yes, they probably didn't know what they were doing. This is VERY common to see with newbie self-publishing authors.

And yes, self-publishing clients are the "boss", the editor, and the art director. Most of my clients had very little knowledge about the illustration process or the process of publishing a book, and most had no art experience. It does make the process a little challenging, to say the least.

A note about 24-page books. Most self-published authors choose to publish their books using print-on-demand services like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and Ingram Spark, which have a minimum page count of 24. PODs have different printing specs since they print books using inkjet printers rather than offset printers. They print in multiples of 4: 24, 28, 32 pages, etc. Both KDP & Ingram Spark require the last page of a book to be left blank for their use. So if you're hired to illustrate a 24-page PB that will be POD, you actually deliver 23 pages of content, as page 24 needs to be kept blank.

Hope this helps clear things up -- or muddy the waters???

@LauraA hello! Great responses above! Adding a little more to this convo -- I've been freelance illustrating for 11 years, mainly for self-published authors and very small publishers. And yes, you'll get a lot of requests from self-publishing authors!

First off, as others have said, don't be afraid to ask for what you're worth. You're going to possibly be spending hundreds of hours on a project, and you need to make sure your time is fairly compensated. In my experience, a professional client will be happy to pay going rates. Also in my experience, the authors who asked for a discount always turned into problem clients. It's a red flag to watch out for.

So how do you find those good, professional clients? As Ness said, sharing your fees up front will weed out a lot of requests. Another good practice I've found is asking to read the manuscript right off -- it will help you see if this is even a project you want to take on and it weeds out potential problem clients (it's amazing how many authors don't think it's necessary to share their story with an illustrator). Another good practice is to communicate your availability -- you want to work with a client who values your style enough to wait for it if need be and who appreciates professional behavior.

When approached by an author, this is my basic reply: "Thank you for your interest. I'd love to hear more about your project! Are you planning on self-publishing? Has the manuscript been professionally edited and is it ready for illustrations? Please share the manuscript so I can send you an accurate proposal and also see if this is a story I would be interested in illustrating (it will be kept completely confidential). Just so you know, my schedule is currently booked and my earliest opening is [month] 2021. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you!"

In my replies to requests, I always ask 1 to 3 questions, like: What is the budget? When is your target publication date? Are you self-publishing? Etc. This is to 1) let the potential client know that I approach projects in a professional, businesslike manner, 2) start communicating clearly from the outset, and 3) help me gauge their professionalism and experience.

As far as pricing, I do have a price sheet, but don't share that on my website. While I don't give discounts, I am willing to work with an author's budget, and there are ways to do that while staying close to my target hourly rate (reducing page count, reducing the size and number of illustrations, simplifying illustrations, etc.) If a client loves your style, wants to work with you and is willing to raise their budget to do so, they'll really appreciate it if you're willing to meet them halfway and negotiate a mutually-agreeable solution. Clients like that are usually a joy to work with, as they usually value communication and collaboration.

This is what works for me so far, anyway. Hope you found some helpful tips. Your portfolio is lovely, by the way!

@davidhohn a few years ago I purchased an Epson WF-7610 large format scanner from Amazon for $150 (which is about the MSRP). A few months ago, it stopped printing (hey, it was known to be glitchy, but I work traditionally, needed a large format scanner, took a gamble, and got about 4 years out of it). So I went looking for a new scanner ... well, the pandemic happened! With so many people scrambling to set up home offices, printers and scanners are at a premium and prices have skyrocketed.

Epson is no longer manufacturing that all-in-one printer, it's completely sold out on the Epson site, and any new models of the WF-7610 are selling for $600. On eBay, I found some used working models selling for $200-$400. Long story short, the one I bought was purported to work perfectly but doesn't. It looks like I'll be searching for a new printer and scanner soon.

In my initial research, it looks like I'll need to spend around $180 for a decent large format printer and $250 for a 9x12-inch scanner with good reviews (large format images will need to be scanned and stitched together in Photoshop). This time around, I'm going to purchase separately to save money. According to my research, a large format scanner with good reviews will cost at least $1000, not something I can afford right now.

Hope this info helps someone who might be in a similar boat.

@davidhohn you're very welcome, and thanks for being the voice of reason and pointing out that freelancing comes in all forms.

Reading over my previous reply, it came across more negative than I intended (but, yeah, I'm not really a fan of Upwork, so that bias came through loud and clear!).

In the interests of sharing information so anyone reading this can come to their own informed decision, the following are some pros and cons of working on Upwork. (Disclaimer: this is based on my own personal experiences. Other freelancers have had other experiences and may have different opinions.)

PROS

• Jobs are posted in a way so you can easily find and bid on them.
• Upwork's escrow and payment protection services ensure that you'll get paid.
• You get to choose what jobs you apply for and work with clients from all over the world.
• You get to work from home and do what you love.

CONS

• The freelancer does not retain copyright. Upwork is a work-for-hire site and their general contract overrides an individual client/freelancer agreement. If a freelancer works on Upwork, they're agreeing to give away all rights to their work. If they want to show the work in a portfolio or on social, they need their client's written permission to do so.
• Upwork fees. For the first $500 (USD) you make with a client, Upwork takes 20% (i.e. you make $400); from $501 to $10,000 earnings, Upwork takes out 10%; from $10K up, there is a 5% Upwork fee.
• It takes a LONG time to get paid. Most of my jobs were fixed-price jobs where the milestone was funded in advance and the funds held in escrow. Once the client released those funds, it takes 5 business days for Upwork to release them to the freelancer, then it has to be transferred to your external bank account, so I wouldn't get the money until at least a week later. For me personally, this was a major downside of using Upwork.
• It's a "budget" type of site, so the prices for most jobs are well below market prices. (The last time I looked, most job postings for children's book illustration are $1,000 or less.)
• It's a worldwide marketplace. That could be a pro, but for most US-based freelancers, it's a con because of the higher cost of living in this country. It's difficult to earn a livable wage while competing for jobs with freelancers who live in a place with a lower cost of living.

For me, the cons column outweighs the pros and I'm no longer looking for work on Upwork but have been getting jobs from other sources, the majority of which have come from my SCBWI illustrator gallery. But everyone has different circumstances, and what doesn't work for me may work for you.

@miranda-hoover looking good! Love your color harmony.

For me, what feels off with the baby yeti is that its head and shoulders are a different silhouette than the mom yeti’s. The mom yeti was drawn very stylized with smooth lines, no separation between head and shoulders, which works beautifully for the character. But the baby has defined head and shoulder.

It seems that a juvenile yeti would mimic the same overall shape as its parent, only smaller and rounder and fuzzier/plumper. At least that’s how I see it.

Really looking forward to seeing this spot all finished! Two thumbs way up!

@Jeremiahbrown so many options here!

If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, it includes access to Adobe Fonts that you can use for commercial use. Other places to get free commercial use fonts are Google Fonts and fontsquirrel.com — but one thing to mention: you need to check on what license is offered with that font and make sure it covers everything you want to use it for. Sometimes paying for the exact font you want to use is the way to go — usually fonts are pretty affordable but they can get expensive. Fontspring is another font website that I recommend.

Some illustrators and book designers use hand lettered titles or even hand letter the entire text. Philip and Erin E. Stead create woodblock or monoprint titles for their books. Some illustrators (Dan Santat being one) have created their own handwritten font and use it in multiple books. “Millions of Cats” by Wanda Ga’g (generally considered to be the first children’s picture book) was entirely hand lettered. I’ve personally been hand lettering my own titles for the last few books I’ve worked on (using Procreate and/or traditionally with some Photoshop help), since it’s easier to achieve a cohesive composition that works with the byline and other fonts that may be used on the cover.

There is no one rule. It really seems to be what works best for each individual book.

@NessIllustration I had that same urge to crawl in the box, but resisted cuz I would've been joined by a hyperactive poodle!

Congratulations on your new "baby"! Hope that it print and scans bee-yoo-tifully for you. ️

@lpetiti yes, I also have an Adobe CC subscription. But since I've been subscribed for over a year, if at any point I wanted to cancel, I could without paying a cancellation fee. However, at this point, I still use it almost every day for work, so it's a legit business expense for me.

@lpetiti yes, a free trial to InDesign would work, but if you continue a subscription beyond a free trial, you agree to it for terms of one year. If you cancel an Adobe CC or single app subscription before the year is over, there is an early termination fee, and it can be a doozy. Just FYI for everyone.

@Braden-Hallett top sample would be my pick. Simpler is best. Much easier to read, especially in various sizes.

@Dima-Eichhorn you're so welcome! ️

(Oh, and of course, I always include 0.125" bleed with the trim size dimensions.)

Agreeing with Peter and Rachel: some cropping would really help bring focus to this piece.

Another thing to think about: what is the story you're telling here? The middle character seems to be looking off into the foreground, maybe at a firefly or a plant? Why are the other two characters' eyes closed? Perhaps makings some adjustments there might help with the storytelling.

Really love your loose rendering and lighting. Really sets a nice mood!

@Dima-Eichhorn hi!

If I'm only delivering illustration files, I deliver print-ready TIFF files that are the correct trim size (if spreads or full page illustrations), 300 dpi, with CMYK color profile. I also deliver JPEGs that the client can use digitally (like creating an ebook or marketing) -- these files don't have to be 300 dpi and should be in the RGB color mode.

If I'm also doing the book design and formatting the book for print (usually if I'm working with a very small publisher or self-publisher), then in addition to delivering the above files, I deliver print-ready PDFs following the printer's guidelines, a PDF for the cover and a PDF for the interior files. (Hint: all printers will provide their printing specs and a cover template on request.)

Hope this helps!

@lpetiti thanks! It's one of the things that helps me stay current with new releases and illustration trends.

@JoshSchouwstra adding "normal sized" objects to show scale is a great idea & gives us a clue as to how large the tree trunk is.

A few suggestions:

• What if the bark were smaller? Would that help add to the sense of scale?
• For me, the sign at the top is what's throwing the scale off and making the tree feel more normal or miniature scale. Do you need it? Maybe the sign over the door is all that's needed?

Just some things to think about. Loving this idea!

Seconding what @davidhohn said: Caldecott winners and librarians are a great resource! (If you want to check out Caldecott winners, the ALA website has a downloadable PDF of all Caldecott winning books here.)

The ALSC spring conference is all about illustration and current trends and is going to be held Friday, May 14, 2021. There is a cost to attend. But if you're interested, you can find out about it here.

Another resource I've found valuable in keeping up with contemporary illustrators and illustration trends is following book publishers, librarians, and bloggers/book reviewers on social media. Many of the reviewers are moms of small kids and share their kiddos' reactions to books and how they engage with the illustrations. You get a lot of good book recommendations too!