Hello!
I am a writer/illustrator keen to submit my first picture book proposal to literary agents. I've seen that most agents prefer to receive picture book proposals as text manuscripts only. Is this correct and if so, can you help explain their rationale here? Is it so agents/publishers retain the ability to match authors with illustrators, or is there another reason? I have artwork prepared alongside text but don't want to submit all if that's not the standard way things are done. Any insight would be really appreciated, thank you!
Makes sense. Thanks so much for these responses, really helpful! Cheers!
Unfortunately there is no definite, 100% accurate answer I can give you for this as it really does depend on the agent as well as the writer/illustrator in question. Agents work on behalf of their clients so will fight tooth and nail for the writer/illustrator. So if you have strong beliefs on something and your agent agrees to its commercial viability, then they will do their best to work with the publisher and find a solution that pleases everyone. Your opinions and creative direction will definitely be taken into account, but as with the nature of the publishing industry, the writer/illustrator needs to have a certain amount of flexibility.
Writers & Artists
Thanks so much! Really helpful feedback and the article you linked was great.
As a quick follow up to this - if agents mostly prefer to pair authors with their own illustrators, to what extent does the author retain influence over the creative vision of their work? For example, if I am an author with a clear vision of illustration style and content is this normally taken into account, or is it the agent/publisher that makes these decisions?
Or to use the film analogy - is it the agent/publisher or the author that acts as 'director'?
I'm sure this will likely vary and depend upon individual conversations, but is there an industry norm?
Thanks again!