How much does book illustration cost?

Illustration is quoted per project, because a fully illustrated picture book and a single cover illustration are very different jobs. Send your manuscript and the number of pages you want illustrated, and we reply within 1 business day with a fixed quote. Cover design on its own starts from $600.

Do I see the characters before the pages are drawn?

Yes. Your illustrator sketches the main characters and the style first, and no page is painted until you approve the look. Pages then come in rounds, and nothing moves on until you sign off.

What illustration styles do you work in?

Flat vector, watercolor, textured digital, cartoon, and pencil or line art. You pick the style that fits your readers, and it stays the same across the whole book.

Can Nova lay out the text and publish the illustrated book?

Yes. Finished art is laid out with your text and sized for print and ebook. If Nova also publishes the book, the files go straight into formatting and distribution through retailer accounts in your name, and you keep your rights and 100% of retailer royalties.

Book illustration services: Illustrations drawn for the book you wrote.

Nova Publishers illustrates picture books, book covers, characters and line art for independent authors. You approve the characters before any page is drawn, and every piece is delivered ready for print and ebook.

Get an illustration quote Children's books

Quoted per project
Reply within 1 business day
Print and ebook ready

Picture books

Full spreads and single pages with room planned for your text, so the words and the art sit together on the printed page.

Ava and her friend under a sky of cloud unicorns, with story text set in the clouds — Ava joins the unicornsSpread · text in art

Two girls bounce on a trampoline at dusk under a glowing sky, with story text set in a cloud — Thea and Avery on the trampolineSpread · text in art

A grasshopper shouts Wheee as insects race on leaf boats down a stream — The leaf boat racePage

The same insects reach a forest finish line under a hand-lettered banner — At the finish linePage

A turtle, grasshopper and ladybug share muffins at an autumn picnic below a covered bridge — Autumn picnicPage

On a playground bench a boy tells a girl that flowers make your mom feel better — Flowers for MomPage · dialogue

A mother and son practise respectful listening, with labelled callouts like eye contact and calm posture — Home kindness lessonEducational

An open picture book with panels of a boy playing ball with his dog — A boy and his dogPanel spread

A worried boy holds his puppy in a dark forest full of watching eyes — Into the dark woodsPage · mood

A bearded woodsman stands in a forest surrounded by small round creatures, a fawn and a rabbit — The woodsman and the forest creaturesCharacter scene

Same characters, page after page.

A picture book only works when the boy on page 3 is the same boy on page 30. Your characters are designed first, then kept on model through every scene, down to the yellow monkey.

A mother kisses her son goodnight as he hugs a yellow toy monkey — Goodnight kissBedtime 1

The same mother rocks her son and his yellow monkey in a rocking chair — The rocking chairBedtime 2

Book covers

Illustrated covers with hand-set titles, built to read at thumbnail size on Amazon and on a bookstore shelf.

Cover of Brush My Hair by Taylor R. Murry, a smiling girl waving beside a purple hand-lettered title — Brush My Hair, by Taylor R. MurryChildren's cover

Bright coloring book cover with a rainbow and three children holding alphabet blocks — Children's coloring bookActivity cover

Characters & scenes

Flat vector, watercolor, textured digital and cartoon. Pick the style that fits your readers, and we hold it across the whole book.

Flat vector illustration of a royal couple in traditional dress under an ornate canopy — The royal coupleFlat vector

Flat vector illustration of a father wrapping his daughter in a towel at the beach — Beach dayFlat vector

A girl reads a glowing screen beside a sleeping cat, framed in a soft blue circle — Late-night readingTextured digital

Cartoon bird family sharing pie at a yellow checked dinner table — Dinner with the birdsCartoon

Watercolor scarecrow standing in a garden beside tall flowers and a cart wheel — Scarecrow in the gardenWatercolor

A small witch in a wide hat holds a glowing jack-o-lantern among pumpkins and stars — Little pumpkin witchCharacter design

Sketch & line art

Pencil, graphite and clean line work for chapter openers, poetry, memoir and coloring pages.

Line drawing of a young deer among leaves, ready for coloring — Deer and leavesLine art

Pencil study of a woman seen from behind, hair in a low bun — Portrait studyPencil

Graphite sketch of two hands reaching toward each other — Two handsGraphite

How it works

From your manuscript to finished pages

1
Send your story
Your manuscript, the number of pages you want illustrated and any references. We reply within 1 business day with a fixed quote.
2
Characters first
Your illustrator sketches the main characters and the style. You approve the look before any page is painted.
3
Pages in rounds
Layouts, then finished art, delivered in batches. You review each round and nothing moves on until you sign off.
4
Print-ready files
Final art laid out with your text, sized for print and ebook, and ready to publish through your own retailer accounts.

Questions

Book illustration questions, answered

How much does book illustration cost?: Illustration is quoted per project, because a fully illustrated picture book and a single cover illustration are very different jobs. Send your manuscript and the number of pages you want illustrated, and we reply within 1 business day with a fixed quote. Cover design on its own starts from $600.
Do I see the characters before the pages are drawn?: Yes. Your illustrator sketches the main characters and the style first, and no page is painted until you approve the look. Pages then come in rounds, and nothing moves on until you sign off.
What illustration styles do you work in?: Flat vector, watercolor, textured digital, cartoon, and pencil or line art. You pick the style that fits your readers, and it stays the same across the whole book.
Can Nova lay out the text and publish the illustrated book?: Yes. Finished art is laid out with your text and sized for print and ebook. If Nova also publishes the book, the files go straight into formatting and distribution through retailer accounts in your name, and you keep your rights and 100% of retailer royalties.

Have a story that needs pictures?

Send us your manuscript, or whatever part of it exists. We'll reply within 1 business day with a fixed quote for the illustrations your book needs.

Get an illustration quote See prices

Book illustration services: Illustrations drawn for the book you wrote.

Same characters, page after page.

Send your story

Characters first

Pages in rounds

Print-ready files

Have a story that needs pictures?