As someone who is preparing to enter the industry in full force soon, it would be useful to understand a little of what I’m getting into. At least broadly. I have investigated several avenues to take as an illustrator and thought of some ways to show my work. Narrowing down where I could situate myself industry-wise also allows me to create portfolios with a specific audience (potential employer/collaborator) in mind. Identifying niches has also revealed some gaps I would like to fill in my portfolio.

Areas I am exploring, as stated in a previous post: Picture books, Graphic Novels, Table Top Games.

These all require whimsy and story, the things which I most enjoy about making art.

My focus has always been on storytelling in some form or fashion and I enjoy both the visual and written aspects of the craft. I plan to advertise both image-making and writing/development skills as I look for work and showcase my own projects. While graphic novels are the current focus of my studies, I will eventually work on updating my work in the other two areas as well. As I said, to remove gaps in my portfolio. I also acknowledge that I’m casting a fairly wide net here. I have no idea where I’ll end up working most yet, so I’m keeping my options open as of now.

I will be exploring how to approach each aspect of the industry by first researching how one approaches them and with what sort of work and later by actually sending inquires to agents and creative directors. When the time comes to actually approach said individuals, I have been advised to create individualized mini-portfolios with each discipline in mind in the form of single-page webpages (aka landing pages) for ease of access. I have the means to do so (with some help from my lovely website-savvy Mom) and it would be very convenient to be able to send a simple link with a specialized presentation. Picture book work to picture book agents, Graphic novel work to graphic novel editors, and character/creature/environment design work to game developers.

The landing page is technically and advertising tool. It’s the last step in an advertising “funnel” and functions as an elevator pitch. A convincing argument/sell. It’s supposed to be quick, extremely focused, and actionable. Each page will also be easy to replicate in an offline format/PDF file in case that particular entity does not like links in their emails. Cases where the requirements are so specific as to render my pre-made portfolios completely unusable will of course need special attention.

As of 2024, one can either publish with the help of an agency/publisher or self-publish.

Traditionally published writers must acquire an agent and create a compelling and marketable query for their book, along with the first ten pages of their manuscript. They might or might not get picked up, but if they are they then go through several editing/alpha reading/beta reading/proofreading/editing steps before their book actually sits on a shelf somewhere. All marketing and printing are taken care of by the publisher. The writer might be paid upfront and/or with royalties depending on contract.

In the case of illustrated books, the project can have either an author-illustrator or a team made up of and author and an illustrator. Some publishers accept portfolios, but most prefer to work through agencies. There are few in-house illustrators nowadays and most projects are on a freelance basis. I include this because I worked under the misconception that staying hired at a particular publisher was an obvious option. And it apparently isn’t. I suppose this is why researching like this is a good idea. In any case, a portfolio will have different requirements depending on the nature of the projects one wishes to take on, and most importantly for children’s book illustrators: age groups. Not all styles work for all age groups, though one does always need to know how to work with the text, be able to create sequential images, draw children and animals, and keep a level of consistency.

A book query/project pitch for an illustrated book will also require a sample of work, character designs, and often the entire script instead of just the ten pages.

A self-published book is all these steps but with a lot more work for the writer themselves: hunting for other editors and beta readers, marketing for oneself, arranging a printer (unless one prints-on-demand), shipping, payment, and again marketing. The author also endures the risk associated with the costs. Including whatever complications come up when using a platform like Amazon, which I was not bothered to fully look into.

Self-published books that also have images tend to be Kickstarter projects. This is its own can of worms, but is similar enough to the self-published book. If one is able to create a competent-looking project and raise money as well as a community of people already interested in purchasing the book, it has a greater chance of success. In a lot of ways, books with images have a leg up in this area, because pictures are easier to market than just words.

Graphic novels are in a funny place, because some editors/agencies do actually accept them but they still have something of a reputation to contend with in traditional publishing. It’s best to hunt down people who have expressed interest in representing graphic novels previously.

A graphic novel query is generally more involved because it needs the query itself, comp titles (published books similar to the one presented which were successfully distributed in the last five years), a synopsis, and a script (especially if the author has no previous experience in writing graphic novels). The comic does not have to be completely illustrated, but there needs to be a sample of art. If the author isn’t the same person illustrator, then the script needs to be written with the illustrator in mind in order to make the collaboration smoother.  It’s possible for an author to capture interest in a script without the aid of an illustrator, but it’s easier to pitch a project with images. Which is good news for me.

A query isn’t the same as a pitch package though. A pitch package is a slightly more involved PDF document with character sheets and pencil-stage pages. A query is just the email with elements as stated above. Most agents don’t require one to send the entire finished graphic novel, unlike regular novel manuscripts which do need to be finished.

Tabletop/board games are many and varied, but I am personally interested in ones that require a more complex level of illustration. Not necessarily collectibles, like Magic the Gathering, but also games like Catan or Ticket to Ride. The idea of exploring the board game possibility is relatively new to me and I’m not sure how much time I’ll invest in it yet. It’s just a possibility that popped up as I was looking into career opportunities for fantasy illustrators, but the idea has grown on me as I’ve looked into the details.

Making a board game is very different from making a book. They’re big group projects that take a long time and effort in different ways than making books are group projects that take time and effort. There are a lot of moving parts and a variety of elements (the cover/box, cards, tiles, game mats, the board itself, etc.) The storytelling is still prevalent, but the approach is different, as one has to think of the “player” as a different sort of participant than the “reader”. I would need to educate myself on “Game Mechanics” in order to understand how the game is constructed and just be familiar with the lingo of game design in general.

In terms of age groups, there are different considerations to be made such as dexterity, problem solving ability and even hazards, if one makes games for smaller children.

Unlike books, I have no real inclination to actually design entire games/head the project. I would purely act as an illustrator, so I would have to approach game designers (rather than publishers or manufacturers or even agents) with my portfolio, because they are usually the ones who come up with the project in the first place. Like in illustrated books, few publishers nowadays have in-house artists and instead hire freelancers. Unlike books, artists very rarely receive royalties when illustrating for games.

I had not realized how popular board games are nowadays. I grew up playing them in my family and community, but I still had the impression that it was a bit of a niche hobby. I’ve heard the words “golden age of boardgames” or other similar sentiments be expressed in multiple places, a surprising assessment given the highly digital world we’re living in right now. Not that video games are decreasing in popularity any. It’s just strange to think about.

Apparently, the best place to fund successful board games nowadays is Kickstarter. It’s one of the most successful categories on there, so it would by no means be a grasping at straws to say that there is real opportunity for illustrators here. This is most likely an understatement, but I’m still new at this concept so I’m being cautious. In any case, being familiar with how Kickstarter works would benefit me even if I don’t head the project, because there could be certain requirements of an illustrator made by the designer or publisher depending on what strategy they’re using to fund the project.

I have yet to even try making cards or re-designing a well-known game, so this is all speculation for the future at the moment. But I think my skillset can easily translate with a bit of work.

The target audience problem is two-fold. I want to address both the issue of target audience related to the literal book/product and “audience” of possible customers in order to form strategies for showcasing my own portfolio.

Readers/Viewers

Both the query and the pitch package need to show that the author has an understanding of their audience. This means understanding what the people reading the query want (a product with minimal levels of risk), what the people buying the book want (in the case of children’s books, parents who want to encourage their kids to read), and what the readers want (both parents and kids, though this is dependent on age range).

A book is written and illustrated differently based on age range. Understanding this is vital, because one needs to understand the person they are writing (and illustrating) for in order to have a story they will enjoy reading. And it will be easier to advertise for. That is also a thing. Publishers and agents tend to really care about that. So will the author, especially if they’re self-publishing or want to actually see some of that royalty money.

To make gross generalizations: Books for smaller children are about learning new concepts in a safe environment (be it animals, kindness, or Big Emotions) and are designed with rounded shapes, expressive faces, and bright colors. Pictures are predominant and these are books are read by the parent. This is important, because words read aloud are different from words just… read.

Middle grade books are about exploring the world outside that safe space and then returning. There is significantly more text and the kid will often read these themselves. Images are less predominant and can involve sharper design choices and black-and-white pictures (mostly because printing color is expensive). These will often be in first-person, because it’s easier for the reader to put themselves in the shoes of the main character this way, and will have a more complex story structure along with multiple characters. Though the important bits of the story will focus on a single person the kid can project onto.

Young Adult (YA) books are rarely illustrated and tend to be coming-of-age stories. They are learning about being their own person, growing beyond the assumptions they had as a child, whilst also contending with a world that seems to be deliberately stacked against them. The covers can have interesting illustrations, but they vary depending on genera. The plots and character arcs are obviously more complex. Another thing to mention is that these books can also be purchased by the kids themselves, as opposed to the other books which are usually bought by the parents for the kids.

If we’re talking comics, similar rules apply for child readers. Teenage audiences will prefer a realistic, figurative approach. Artsy, abstract, media-mixing comics are mostly for artsy adults. Manga is its own thing and I don’t know enough about it to really write about it.

Exact age ranges are debatable, but a good rule of thumb is: 0-10 for kid’s books (0-3 for board books, 3-8 for picture books, 5-9 for early readers, 7-10 for chapter books), 8-12 for middle grade, 13 and up for YA (young adult). The books themselves will often feature a character of the same age as the target audience if perhaps a year or two older for early readers and up. It’s important to know to whom one is writing and illustrating for because the problems of the main character must in some way also be the problems of the reader. At least abstractly. Though it’s easier to make the similarity as literal as possible which is why a lot of these books like to choose a school-like setting even if their world is full of magic or space aliens.

There are also a lot of other aspects one must consider: such as subject matter relevant for each developmental stage, the “darkness level” of difficult themes, writing style, vocab words, word count, and voice. Character voice is especially important for middle grade and up because those stories are told from the perspective of the main character, who is basically the reader’s peer and has the same interior struggles as well as the broadening but limited knowledge of the adult world. An author who is not able to empathize with kids or teenagers of that particular age will be hard-pressed in writing their struggles, mess-ups, and interpersonal relationships. It’s advised to never write a teenaged character like an adult or a pre-teen like a teenager, even if the author is tempted to give their characters a break by granting them the ability to make decisions the way a person with a fully-formed frontal lobe would make.

Commissioners

The people I would be making portfolios and project presentations for are basically: agents, writers, game developers, creative directors (for comic projects and for games), and possibly publishers depending on whether or not they accept cold emails. Understanding who I’m contacting and what they are looking for is important when planning portfolios and coming up with projects. Figuring out how to approach book queries has been especially enlightening. I am now able to think ahead and make modifications to my story-building approach. Portfolio-wise, I am better equipped to evaluate what I have and what other people are looking for. In the next section, I will make an analysis of my work, compare and contrast with other portfolios and then make a list of projects/images I would like to complete said portfolio with. In Part Five, I will attempt a book query for Verner’s Tale.