Not sure if anyone here is in the know, but I've read several articles regarding illustrated childrens books which clearly state publishers are NOT interested in accepting both illustrations AND writing in the one package. They'll always choose their own artist for a piece of writing, or vice versa. Does this sound likely? If the writing is good, and the illustrations are good, surely a compromise could be made...what do you think?

It is true that children's books are often written by a team. The reason is that often a writer is not a good illustrator and an illustrator is not a good writer. Publishers often, not always, do the matchmaking between the written material and the illustrated material. This isn't a hard and fast rule, however. There are many books, including the gorgeous "Stellaluna," that were illustrated and written by one person. I'd say if you have an idea and can both write and illustrate it, go for it. I would suggest you might look at the publishers' guidelines. They may want the illustrations submitted separately from the text (in other words...they may not want it perfectly laid out on the initial submittal). From a library point of view, there is a huge thirst for good children's books out there. It's a wonderful thing to see parents checking out 20-30 illustrated books a week so they can read to their children.

It hurts when someone tries to put you in a box either as a writer or as an artist...Isn't it your creation sounds like more of a call for on demand publishing if the artist wants to do both.

It isn't a point of putting people in a box. It is simply a fact that, unlike many people on this forum, not everyone in the writing world is good at both writing and illustration. Many people don't have an interest in doing both. Many people prefer to work with a person that has a stronger talent in one or the other so the combination of their abilities results in a better result. Other people have many talents, can do both, and more power to them. I admire and stand in awe of the people who are multi-talented, but we aren't all that lucky. I hope anyone who has the talent to do both has the opportunity to pursue their dream. But I would wish the same for someone is strong in writing, or strong in illustration, and not necessarily strong in both. It is not a case of trying to box people up but, rather, to enjoy the best they have to offer.

Yep, good points dialyn.

On the other hand (well, other hands are what I do best in...smile), why should a publisher NOT review a book with writing and illustrations? The writing and illustration could be by separate people in a combined effort. Additionally, why look at a book submittal and say, "Drat, illustrations AND writing!", and throw it in the pile right next to the reject pile? I'd think someone could look at this sort of submission and eliminate the illustrations rather quickly and just say, "We love the writing but the illustrations fall below what we expect. We will accept the writing and have one of our illustrators complete it." I dunno, just a thought.

That's my thinking the author and illustrator could be their own team, say a husband and wife team, or two people that just communicate very well across space and time to come up with their own effort. I might add that even though he was noted most for his sculpture and painting, Michelangelo was also a poet. Artistic talent shouldn't necessarily be boxed just by a general rule of thumb.

Attached Link: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/authors.html

Of course if you have a duel personality . . . ;] Here is a great site that lists childrens books; many are written and illustrated by a single author. Just a suggestion why not contact some of the author/illustrators listed on the site? Get their views on the market. How did they get their first break? Did they self publish? Do they have an agent? How hard is it break into the childrens market as both an author and illustrator? When in doubt, go to the source :) Dee-Marie

I suspect any publisher's editor will buy anything that he/she thinks will sell. As long as you abide by the submission guidelines, go for it. jon

Hello! I've been away for Easter! I'm back! I've had an experience with an illustrator... She is a friend of mine, she studied as illustrator and she is pretty clever... (At least I like how she draw)... _________________________________ Once I met her in the street, we are neighbours, and she was sad... 'What's the matter?' I asked. She told me that she was sending her sketches to one publisher after another because she wanted to illustrate children's books, bur every publisher refused to take in consideration her work since it wasn't presented together with a story, where could she find a story to illustrate? I wasn't sure I could help her, but I told I had written a few fairy tales and if she needed one... She liked the idea, liked my story, and produced some good illustrations for it. A short time after she rang me: all the publishers were refusing to consider her work because they didn't need the story, they wanted the illustrator to illustrate some stories they already had. She offered to do so. They answered that they must see a sample of her drawing fiest. She referred to the illustrated story we had sent. They answered they didn't need the story. She sent some loose drawings. They told they refused to take in consideration her work since it wasn't presented together with a story. She was quite desperate. I began to think that they weren't interested in her drawing after all, and instead of telling her so they are producing those silly contraddicting excuses. (I was also slightly surprised that all the publishers were using more or less the same excuses, and even now I really cannot give an explanation for such a poor variety of excuses) The time passed, my friend tried other jobs, as secretary and so on, but continued to follow the children world, working as a volunteer... Once she asked me if she could use my story for a show, of course I gave her permission... They put it on scenes, making the actors reading my story while others were moving big panels on the background where they had put posters of her illustrations about it. I couldn't go to see the result, but she told me it was amazing... So amazing that the publisher who was sponsoring the manifestation became interested in her work and wanted to see the illustrated story... My friend explained that she had already sent him the story, but that it was refused (Well, she said this only when the job relationship was already granted, but I put it here because it sounds better). The answer: "Oh, we got tousands of works, we cannot read everything, so we have some standard refusing letters..." (This explains the sillyness of the excuses, but still doesn't explain why no publisher seems capable of thinking about a more intelligent one, or simply a different one.) Then began a period of hard work, because the publisher liked the whole, but wanted the written part shorter and more illustrations... So we started to work together, I changing and cutting the story, she making new pictures... Both happy, because it's exciting to think your work can really been published! The excitement didn't last for me. At the end the publisher chose to keep some illustrations and recicling them for another story he already had... Of couse I'm happy I helped her somehow, but... This is the end of the story: my friend is now working as illustrator, I'm not working as a writer and still looking for someone to publish my works. _______________________________________ Okay, forgive me this piece, I was in the mood of writing, and this thread brought back remembrances...

Wow! Makes one think it might be easier to form your own publishing company.