Book illustration, for any genre.
A studio team across children's, scene, educational and storybook art — scoped to your manuscript, not to a template. Pick the illustrator, lock the brief, sign off the schedule.
Key facts
- Service
- Book illustration across children's, scene, educational and storybook genres.
- Starting price
- From $260 per illustration.
- Typical turnaround
- 2 to 12 weeks depending on scope and spread count.
- Output
- Print-ready artwork, source files and a release for commercial use.
- Specialty
- Illustrator matched to genre from a studio of nine working artists.
- Revisions
- Two revision rounds per illustration plus thirty days of corrections after sign-off.
A scoped art package, matched to the book.
From a single chapter opener to a 32-spread picture book — the brief defines the scope, not a fixed-price bundle.
- Illustrator matched to genre. Children's, literary, educational, cookery, comics-leaning — picked from a studio of nine.
- Style sheet first. One representative test piece locks palette, line and rendering before the rest is begun.
- Two revision rounds per piece. Plus character lock so corrections happen on sketch, not finished art.
- Manuscript-keyed art. Each illustration tied to a manuscript passage, named for the production team.
- Print & digital exports. 300dpi CMYK with bleed for print, RGB at retailer sizes for digital, plus an audiobook square if needed.
- Layered source files. PSD, Procreate or Illustrator masters handed over alongside the flattened deliverables.
- Publisher-spec ready. Trim, bleed, colour profile and file naming match your production editor's brief.
- Full rights transfer. Worldwide copyright in artwork transfers on final payment, no licence-creep clauses.
Five steps, signed off by you.
The reading.
Manuscript read, scope agreed, illustrator matched. Proposal in 48 hours.
Style sheet.
One representative test piece, palette and line locked before scale-up.
Roughs.
Every illustration thumbnailed, keyed to its manuscript passage, sequence-checked.
Inks & colour.
Full rendering in batches, two revisions per piece, slow proofing pass before sign-off.
Delivery.
Source files, print & digital exports, asset map, rights transfer document.
Books we have illustrated recently.
Six from the last eighteen months — across children's, scene, educational and storybook art.
What clients say after delivery.
Verified clients from the last twelve months. Names changed on request, never quotes.
Three editions, fixed price.
Each edition is a scope, not a template. We adjust the brief; the price doesn't move once we've agreed it.
Light set
- Up to 6 illustrations or figures
- Style sheet first
- Two revisions per piece
- Print & digital exports
Standard book
- Up to 24 spreads or illustrations
- Character lock & style sheet
- Hand-lettered display text
- Print-ready CMYK with bleed
- Publisher-spec ready file handover
Full package
- Cover, interiors and end-papers
- Character bible & series style guide
- Reserved illustrator for 12 months
- Animation-ready PNG sequences on request
Bespoke briefs welcome. Tell us about your manuscript and we'll write back with a fixed quote in 48 hours.
Four promises, written in.
Layered PSD, Procreate or Illustrator masters handed over alongside the flattened deliverables — no locked files.
Worldwide copyright in artwork transfers on final payment. Audiobook art, ad creative, merchandise — no asking.
Two distinct directions on every illustration, taken to colour rough — not three thumbnails we already favour one of.
Two formal rounds per piece, plus a slow proofing pass before sign-off. We redraw rather than over-polish.
More about our book illustration work.
Our book illustration services are the umbrella above the studio's picture-book, middle-grade, novel and non-fiction illustration work. If you need a book illustrator for hire — for a single cover, a single spread, a full picture book or a multi-title series — this is the team. We work with self-published authors, hybrid imprints and trade publishers across the year, and most projects ship in four to twelve weeks depending on scope.
What professional book illustration includes that freelance commissions often don't
Professional book illustration is more than the drawings. It includes the character sheet, the spread thumbnails, the consistency check across every page, the print-ready file prep at CMYK, the ebook export at RGB, the spine and back-cover artwork where the book runs to print, and the rights paperwork on final payment. An illustration studio handles those steps as part of the contract; a single freelancer often charges them separately or forgets them entirely.
Custom book art is a different job from licensed stock illustration. We don't pull from libraries or generate the work through a model — every piece is drawn or painted from the brief, with revisions held against the original sketch. The work is unique to your book and stays unique to it. Copyright is assigned to you in full at sign-off so the artwork can be reused for marketing, merchandise or any second edition without paying again.
When you need full book illustration rather than spot pieces
Full book illustration — a picture book, a graphic non-fiction title, an illustrated memoir — is a long contract and a careful one. We assign a lead illustrator for the whole book, hold a fortnightly review cadence, and ship the work in batches so you see consistency across spreads before final art is committed. The studio has shipped more than 30 full-book illustration projects since 2023.
Deliverables: all artwork at print and ebook resolution, layered source on request, a character sheet, alt text for accessible publishing, and full copyright assignment on final payment.
Questions we are asked.
Short, honest answers. Anything else, send to contact@ebookwriting.ai.
What does the starting figure include?
At ebookwriting.ai, the starting illustration fee of $260 covers a defined set of book illustrations — interiors, chapter openers, or marginalia — with concept sketches, two revision rounds per piece, and final delivery in both print and digital formats.
How long does book illustration take?
Six to fourteen weeks, depending on illustration count and finish. The schedule is built around character lock, then spread production, then a slow proofing pass — written into your proposal before work begins.
What if an illustration isn't quite right?
Two revision rounds per illustration are included. We lock character design and palette at the start so corrections happen on sketch rather than finished art, and we'll redraw rather than over-polish anything that isn't landing.
Who owns the illustrations?
You do. Full rights for print, digital, and audiobook art use transfer to you on final payment. The layered source files are handed over at the end of the project.
What deliverables do I receive?
Layered source files, flattened high-resolution masters, print-ready CMYK exports with bleed, RGB exports for digital use, and a short style document for future illustrators continuing the series.
Can you work directly with my publisher's production team?
Yes. We're used to delivering against publisher specs — trim size, bleed, colour profile, file naming — and we'll liaise directly with your production editor if you'd rather not sit in the middle of the file handover.
Often paired with this.
One studio, any genre.
A 15-minute discovery call, a written proposal in 48 hours, a fixed-price quote that includes every revision in scope.