If you are not the illustrator, then you don't need to worry about providing artwork. In fact, when an author does include illustrations by a friend/neighbor/family member/talented professional with the submission, that's a tip-off that the author hasn't educated herself about the way children's book publishing works.

Why doesn't the publisher want you to submit illustrations with your story? Because it's the publisher who pays to print, distribute, and publicize your book, and if a publisher is going to shell out $20,000 or more to publish a book, the publisher wants to choose the illustrator whose style he or she thinks will complement the text. The publisher may also choose an illustrator based on marketing concerns. For example, she may want an established, well-known artist to illustrate your book so that the artist's name will catch the attention of book buyers when your name wouldn't.

Can you include illustration notes to the editor in your text? You shouldn't. The editor and art director are professionals with years of experience. They can envision the illustrations a book needs. 

Most beginning authors need to reconcile themselves to this fact: Once a publisher accepts a book, it's no longer "my" book, but "our" book: the author's, the illustrator's, the editor's, the art director's, the publicist's, the publisher's. It's everybody's book, and you have to try to let go.

I know that can be frustrating. So, what can you do? Write a story that only you can write, join a writers' group and revise your manuscript until it sings, query editors or agents, and when your manuscript is accepted, let go and focus on promoting your book and creating the next one.

Anna Olswanger

Literary Agent, Liza Dawson Associates

Author of Shlemiel Crooks (click to check out!)