When a children’s book illustrator is hired to work on a children’s book where all major points are covered under a contract like the date of completion, payment terms, delivery style, copyright ownership transfer etc, all this is covered under the illustrator for hire agreement. Many authors want that they should be the sole owner of the illustrations created by the children’s book illustrator. They also wish to pay one time payment for the children’s book illustrations without any future royalty. On the other hand, the illustrator also wants to be paid fairly for the artwork created by him / her. Also, the illustrator wants an assurance that the credit for illustrations should be given in the book. So, the illustrator for hire contract covers all points which are mutually accepted by the author as well as the children’s book illustrator. It is highly advisable to sign the illustrator for hire contract before the commencement of the illustration work. Some scope for additional work should be there in the illustrator for hire agreement because while the book is in making , an additional need for more illustrations / design work may arise. To cover such need, keeping a scope for future work can be beneficial. One more important point that should be covered in the illustrator for hire contract is the number of free revisions offered by the children book illustrator. Usually 1-2 free revisions should be provided but this is something which is best decided in the beginning itself when the illustrator for hire contract is being drafted.
It can be really challenging to find a suitable illustrator but once you find a good illustrator , who agrees with the terms and conditions mentioned in the illustrator for hire contract, you (author) can consider yourself very lucky. While developing the initial set of illustrations, it is important to get the character designing right. Every story is based on some main characters and the illustrator must be willing to work on the character designing , even if it includes some extra payment apart from the illustrations. It can also be mentioned in the illustrator for hire contract. Since the author is the one who has a vision about the story and illustrations, the approach by the author must be proactive where the illustrator is getting relevant inputs about the main characters. Once the main character designing is approved, the focus must be shifted to the main inside illustrations for the book. A suitable book size must be decided in the beginning itself so that the illustrator follows the size while creating the illustrations and there is no unnecessary hassle during publishing / printing. If the book size is not decided in the beginning itself, the children book illustrator may need to adjust illustration size later after all the illustrations have been completed which will not be a great idea. If the above mentioned points are taken into consideration, the author can draft a very suitable illustrator for hire contract which is beneficial for both the author as well as the children book illustrator. Also, the author will be able to start the illustration work in a very professional and comfortable manner with the assurance of getting a very high quality illustration work from a professional children book illustrator.
