Writing a children’s book is one of the most underappreciated, yet purest, forms of literary work an author can commit to. It’s what helps build up the next generation and serves as a child’s first interaction with the magic of writing.
However, children’s books require illustrations that can catch their attention, help describe the story when words aren’t clicking just yet, and spark their imaginations.
Every children’s book author needs a high-quality illustrator to make the project a success both financially and in terms of engaging kids through literature.
Here are 3 of the best children’s book illustration services you can leverage to make your book stand out.
1: MindStir
MindStir is our top recommendation. The company actually provides a number of services, but its children’s book illustration services are some of the finest you can get.
MindStir Media’s financial backing for this service allows it to hire the finest illustration professionals available and offer the best deals. So, you can get full-color interior illustrations in a style that is proven to help books jump off the shelf, and you don’t even have to spend that much. It’s easily the most cost-effective option available.
Another huge benefit of hiring MindStir is that it’s reliable. Not only does it have one of the industry’s best ratings, but it’s backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington and Mariel Hemingway; two of the most recognizable investors. Having such large names attached to the project in a meaningful way makes it a lot more credible than many of the smaller companies with less notable backing.
2: AuthorHouse
AuthorHouse is a smaller service that covers illustrations for a few different types of books. You’ll pay a starting price of $309 “per item”. So, you can expect the price to climb with larger projects, and that is before tax and other fees are added. That is fairly affordable in terms of full-fledged illustration services, though. The price gets you access to four distinct art styles, and all the illustrations are done by in-house artists. This is a big deal because in-house artists are easier to hold accountable, and if issues occur, you can reach a reasonable resolution faster and with a bit more reliability.
However, the real downside to this is that there are only four art styles available, and only one of them is suitable for children’s books. Essentially, every author who uses this service for children’s going to end up having a very similar-looking book.
3: XLibris
XLibris is an amazing service, but it’s higher on the price range spectrum, and it’s primarily focused on life-like artistic illustrations. That won’t work for many children’s books; although, the company does offer a bit of flexibility with the artistic styles it offers, and you might be able to get suitable illustrations even for whimsical books.
The price of this one starts at $389, and like AuthorHouse, all of the artists are in-house employees. So, you get the same benefits as you do with AuthorHouse in that regard.
This still falls to number three on our list because of the price and its more life-like focus, though.
