Onboarding Authors
The #1 way clients find me is through my website. It is ranked fairly high in search engine results and so many authors find me by searching for things like “Christian Children’s Book Illustrator” or “Children’s Book Illustrators in Kansas City”. I share more information about how to get found on the internet here.
Building Trust is Your Number One Goal!
In this article, I will talk about how I respond after I receive a submission from an author through my website in my email inbox. After illustrating nearly 30 books and working a ton of different kinds of illustration jobs, a natural process of onboarding clients has developed. The main goal is to build trust with your new clients. Everything you say and do when interacting with an author is about giving them a reason to trust YOU to be their illustrator.
Responding Effectively through Emails
I will provide my 1st and 2nd email templates for you to download at the end of this article. You can see exactly what I say to clients when they first reach out to me. After the second email, I usually have clients ready and willing to sign a contract almost every time. You are welcome to pattern your own emails after my sample emails.
10 Things To Include in Your 1st Email
Here are 10 things to include to make sure an author will immediately choose you to illustrate their book:
Make it Personal. When using a ‘form letter’ it can save you time but you never want to make a client feel like a number. In order to make it personal, make sure to add their name and a personal opening statement when you can.
Position Yourself as the ‘Guide’. Most of the clients I get are 1st time authors. For some reason the first thing an aspiring author does is contact an illustrator before anyone else. It seems like the first logical step. This is a HUGE opportunity to provide the answers they are looking for to the questions they have not yet thought of asking!
Divert the conversation to the BIGGER PICTURE. I acknowledge their request for information about illustration and then very quickly I turn the conversation to getting their book made as a whole. I tell them that I stick to what I am good at, and that is illustration, but they are going to need other professionals to get a book made. They will need a ‘Team’ to create a really good book.
I bring on an Editor. At this point, many authors already have an editor helping them with their story. However, there are different kinds of editors. One kind of editor helps them with the correct grammar and spelling while another helps with concepts, word count and organizing a story in to pages.
Hello_________,
Is this your first book? Do you have an ideal audience for your book? What are your plans for your book?
It would be helpful to me if you could send me your manuscript (or a summary and a sample of it) so that I can prepare an official quote for you. I always keep any stories sent to me confidential.
The first thing I always recommend to authors who contact me asking about illustrations is to also reach out to a book designer. If you don't already have someone in mind who has experience in designing books, I recommend a company that I work with called TLC Book Design.
You don't have to work with them to work with me, but I recommend you look into bringing on some more professionals on your team such as an editor and a designer. The reason for this is because I like to focus on what I do best: Illustrating. I don't offer designing or formatting services and those are what really makes a book look 'next level' and not amateur. The people at TLC are there to guide you through the process of refining your manuscript, adding text and layout, getting an ISBN number, printing and distribution and much more. If you can imagine building a house and getting a contractor to manage the project by hiring your builders, electrician, plumbers and roofers... that is what TLC does. Your alternative is to hire all these people yourself and play the part of your own project manager, which some authors do with success!
All of this is a lot to think about. I actually wrote a blog about getting started, if that helps. Feel free to check it out:
After you check out my article on the first steps for a first-time author (forgive me if you are not a first-time author), you might want to know about my process of illustrating a book and what it is like working with me. I have another article where I explain all that with visual examples. Here is the link:
https://www.bethsniderart.com/blog/2023/8/4/what-is-it-like-working-with-me-as-your-illustrator
As soon as I get an idea of your story and read your manuscript, I will have exactly what I need to prepare a custom price quote. Your manuscript doesn't have to be perfect or edited, I just need to know what I'm illustrating! This will include a page rate and an outline as to how you can build a book to suit your needs.
If you would like a price quote or you would like to ask more questions please let me know! I'd love to talk more. I am open to chatting on the phone too, if you would like that.
Blessings,
_____________ (Signed your name)