doppelspiel

I might be putting too much effort into this but if it changes just one person's approach to this delicate matter, it will be enough. Please don't buy stock photos and modify them. Please. Children's books are not a leaflet laying on a table in the waiting room of a dentist encouraging kids to floss.

If you write children's books you are on a mission. You are contributing to what their perception of our world is. You are triggering their imagination. You are building their taste by what they see in your books. Stock photos are terrible. A kitsch that shouldn't get passed on to another generations. People very often visually recreate what they're used to in childhood. If you subject them to seeing just crap from the very beginning, you'll make them think that using Comic Sans as a decoration is a good idea. (Just an example.)

I have to strongly disagree with Warlizard and say that something like Where the Wild Things Are is the way it is supposed to be. Where the Wild Things Are is a book done with a lot of love for the children that shows through the visible effort to make it beautiful. Books are art. Kids don't read very much. You have to make it beautiful to capture their souls and feed their eyes. Please don't cheat and ruin your books with stock imagery. It is not fair towards the children.

How do I know? I am a visual artist and among other things, I create illustrations. I am very concerned with taste and what is being served to people who are not artists and/or young. Children's books are not about you getting it published just any possible way. It is a true gift to someone's life. If you make a beautiful book, it will end up someone's most favourite book in their life. You may never find out but it is a hidden gift back to you for the effort you put into it. You can never achieve that by buying cute stock photos.

And the actual advice where to get started? Google an art school in your area. Pair up with an art student. Many art schools require students to have online portfolios. Almost every single one of them will have a tumblr to show their works online. Focus on the younger ones if you can't afford to pay a lot or at all: they might do it for free just to add to their CV. That is how most people get started anyways. Or maybe not even that. These things can be done through the internet. Use Pinterest to google for beautiful book illustrations and find out the names of those illustrators. Get inspired. Find someone who you feel will visually support your words. I am not aware of people in your area whatever that might be but if you do struggle to find someone (which I doubt really) PM me and I can help you find someone from the school that I studied at.

There is a good reason why Le Petit Prince is one of the best books ever published. It is so beautiful it brought millions to cry. It is because de Saint-Exupéry cared.

I think you might be too 'in' the story to make anything comprehensible out of it. Someone should read it and build it. Maybe a smart film maker. Then you might ask for a grant to make it happen. I'm part of a project where a book might be about to go to a film, so those are my tips. If there is too much, maybe you can make it into a short series. Options are endless once you give it a shape!

Hi. I didn't read the book yet but I am planning to do so, just now I read the story in one of the comments. Sounds amusing and I enjoyed your writing.

How many of those chronicles did you sell?

I would encourage you to pair with a film maker.