Illustrated novels

OK, so I have a several novel drafts in the works, all of which I hope to theoretically publish one day. The thing is, I'm also a really talented artist, and I have specific visions of what I imagine the characters in my stories looking like. I always considered my art to be an inherent part of my storytelling. What I mean by that is, I have specific ideas of what the characters and settings look like, and I have lots of drawings of them. I feel like without that visual element, the story would be incomplete to anyone experiencing it.

As for why I don't want to make a graphic novel, or write a children's book? The stories I like to tell are NOT for kids, and I'd hate to junk the 50,000 word novel draft I've already written. I actually have multiple novel drafts I'm working on, and there's no way I'm going to scrap them and start them all over as comic books. Like I said, I enjoy writing AND drawing, and I'd like to create a story where those hobbies can complement each other. What should I do?

Just draw the pictures you want to draw? I can foresee this being a problem if you're intending to try and submit this to publishers in the future, who quite likely have their own standards as far as illustrations go. But if you're publishing this on your own, you can put in any damn thing you like.

As long as you accept that in the future you might need to change things (Like eliminating the illustrations) I say just make it in whichever way you want, right now. There's no reason not to, and changes can always be made later. You'd also hardly be the only author that has illustrations included, I think. *shrug*

Edited by AceofSpades on Feb 23rd 2021 at 1:09:37 PM

The question is, do any publishers exist who accept novel manuscripts that include illustrations?

That's research you'd have to do on your own, I think. It's pretty common in Japanese light novels, but relatively rare in American/Western publications.

Nuts. I've been doing a lot of research into the subject, and basically come up empty. The thing is, my writings more or less cover all the bases of a typical light novel, except that they were written in English by an American guy. What kind of market even is there for something like that?

If you decide to self publish, quite an active one on Amazon. But again, that's something you'd have to look up what their submission policy is. It seems like you're at the part where you need to start looking up various publishers, really, and the help that can be provided in this forum is probably limited.

You could try seeing if the companies that publish the light novels are potentially looking for submissions by American authors?

I've tried. Most of them aren't.

Just to clarify, are you attempting to write a Light Novel of your own? Because there are a lot of hurdles to overcome, especially for westerners.

I suppose you could call it that, though it doesn't use most of the tropes we associate with light novels.

Those hurdles may exist through traditional publishing, but if you self-publish you can basically do whatever you want. I wrote a first-draft novel last summer with the same goal of having illustrations peppered in and, if / when it's "done" enough to be published, I'll be self-publishing.

The thing is, self-published works are basically Kryptonite for traditional publishers who could actually get them widely read.

These days, self-publishing is a potential step toward getting well known enough to get the attention of a publisher. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. The main thing with self-publishing as a serious author is that you would want to partner with a professional artist to illustrate your book, and that costs money upfront.

Edited by DeMarquis on Feb 26th 2021 at 8:04:47 AM

Simply getting put out by a traditional publisher doesn't guarantee you anything. You still have to do most of your own marketing.

I'm interested in seeing your art, though. Do you have Instagram, Twitter, or Deviantart?

Edited by Wheezy on Mar 10th 2021 at 5:18:24 AM

I have Deviantart, but my best art is for sale on Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/FossilRecordGNS/explore?asc=u&page=1&sortOrder=recent

Edited by ElSquibbonator on Mar 23rd 2021 at 5:39:03 AM

I'm currently working through Amazon KDP, Ingramspark and Smashwords. Of the three, Ingramspark is probably the most restrictive and frustrating when working with manuscripts with multiple illustrations (like mine). Because if you want a surefire 'perfect' self-published print, you kinda need to use their book builder tool, which has a LOT of restrictions and doesn't like multiple illustrations much. (which I'm doing, just the same as you! Not for kids either! Adult audience!)

Amazon and Smashwords do have some standards with how they want their documents formatted, but accept the PDF regardless, but it is more on you if the printing goes wrong if you messed up somewhere with the PDF. That and when publishing, Amazon seems to not really have an option to set a future date and order 'author proofs' for yourself unlike Smashwords and Ingramspark while you accept preorders. They want it 'LIVE NOW!' and then you order your proofs then....after it's available for anyone to purchase. Kinda dumb.

Amazon handles Ebook and Paperback, Smashwords handles Ebook and Paperback and distributes to a bunch of retailers. Ingramspark does Ebook, Paperback AND HARDBACK(!!!) and distributes to the retailers Smashwords don't cover. (Barnes and Noble is its own beast on its own solitary island) I'm trying to do all three to get maximum coverage, but one downside is that you WILL NOT be getting 'exactly' the same book formatted if you were to buy from one option over another. The interior looks different across the board compared between Ingramspark, Amazon and Smashwords. So be wary of that.

Hope this post helped.