Illustration notes by authors of children books: Boon or Bane by Ashok Rajagopalan

There is always some confusion in the minds of authors when it comes to writing illustration notes for manuscripts of children's books. Experienced  children book illustrator and author of the famed Gajapati Kulapathi series, Ashok Rajagopalan, gives some gyan on the same. 

1.       What kind of children books require illustration notes from an author?

Any book where a picture has to give specific information may require illustration notes. Sometimes the note may only be helpful references for costume, architecture, etc. For some books, the author, respecting the reader's intelligence, and not wishing to spell everything out verbally, may intend to convey some information through text, and some through visuals. Then a note is needed.

2.       Do illustrators in general welcome illustration notes from authors of fiction pictorial books?  From an author’s perspective he/she writes an illustration note to help the illustrator get a glimpse of what is in the author’s mind.

Illustrators would love freedom with the responsibility. Good illustrators add value to the book and sometimes lift the level of quality beyond the author's expectations. Ideally, the illustrator should be given freedom to interpret the text visually. It needn't always be what the author has in mind initially. Why should the story be limited to the confines of the writer's imagination?

3.        What should an author add and/or avoid in an illustration note?

The author should be precise and concise. Only that which is critical to the story, and not communicated in the actual text need figure in the illustration note. If in doubt, leave it out.

4.        How should an author add an illustration note to a picture book manuscript? Right at the top or end of the manuscript? Should the font size and type should be the same as the rest of the manuscript?

If it's a general note on the style of illustration, not specific to any page, it can appear in the top. If specific to a page or picture, it can appear in a different font and colour, or within brackets, next to the relevant text.

5.        Can you think of any picture books you have illustrated whose end result has been enhanced due to illustration notes from an author?
    
                                               

The manuscript goes to the illustrator from the editor's table, not the writer's. Editors understand illustrators better than authors, and will include a note only when it's strictly necessary. In one book, 'Dosa' written by Sandhya Rao and published by Tulika Publishers, there was a picture where a dog is shown. There was no mention of a dog in the text. In this case, they had to tell me to put a dog there, or I wouldn't have known what to draw for that page!

6.        Anything else an author should keep in mind while writing illustration notes for picture books?

When you submit a manuscript to a publisher, there's no need to include a note to the illustrator, unless it is absolutely necessary. The editor will see to that. When you give someone a job, and that someone is a skilled worker, you insult her by telling her exactly what to do. It's best to curb that tendency, unless, as in the case of the dog, it is absolutely necessary. Your text will be a good illustrator's note by itself.

To know more about Ashok Rajagopalan click here.

Check out Ashok’s books at http://amzn.to/2tq8zaB