Help with writing a technical brief for illustrating a book

A professional brief for your illustrator, from your own text, with no chaos and no overspending

Illustrations in a book are not decoration. They are part of the meaning, the logic and the impression the reader takes away. They set the rhythm of the pages, help the reader grasp complex ideas, strengthen the emotion and create the visual structure of the whole edition. This becomes critical when the book is being prepared for printing or for publication on Amazon, where competition is high and the quality of the presentation has a direct effect on sales. For most authors the problem is not a bad illustrator, it is the absence of a clear brief. Without a structure the artist interprets the text in their own way, the author judges the result intuitively and the revisions pile up. Costs grow, deadlines stretch and the final result becomes unpredictable. Help from specialists with writing a technical brief for illustrating a book speeds the process up and gets you the result you had in mind.

We create a professional brief for illustrating your book based on your finished text, so that the artist understands straight away what to draw, why, and how it has to work inside the book. The document takes the future book layout, the format of the edition and the technical parameters for printing or for publishing the book on Amazon into account.

Who this service suits

The service is especially relevant for anyone planning the full process: book layout, cover design, book printing or a launch through publishing on Amazon. When all the stages are connected, the illustrations have to be integrated into the system rather than exist on their own.

• authors who do not want to write the brief themselves and explain the obvious;
• experts and entrepreneurs for whom the book is part of their brand;
• non-fiction authors whose illustrations have to explain something rather than simply be there;
• those who have already had a bad experience with illustrators;
• those who value their time, their budget and a predictable result.

What you get as a result

You receive a finished, structured brief that can go straight to an illustrator or a studio. It is a working tool, not a set of abstract wishes.

The technical parameters cover the file formats, the colour model (CMYK or RGB), the resolution, the margins, the bleeds, the future book layout and the interaction with the cover design. This removes 70 to 80 per cent of the revisions before the drawing even starts.

Why this matters

Without a technical brief:

• the illustrator draws what they understood, interpreting the text as they see fit;
• the author corrects by feel, often without clear criteria;
• the budget and the deadlines grow because of repeated sketches and endless approvals;
• the result is unpredictable;
• problems appear at the book layout stage;
• technical errors can show up during printing.

All of this puts the whole project at risk, from the cover design to the final printing. The brief is your insurance. It is a quality management tool that makes the process predictable and professional.

Turnaround time and cost of the service

1. One illustration: 30 to 60 minutes of work, depending on the complexity of the text and the level of detail of the description;
2. An average book: 5 to 10 working days including the analysis of the text, building the illustration map and the final editing of the document;
3. Complex conceptual books are agreed individually.

The timing can be adjusted depending on the complexity of the text, the number of illustrations and how the work fits with the book layout and cover design stages.

The cost of developing a technical brief for the illustrations of a book:

• Basic for simple books, up to 10 illustrations, a basic description. Cost: from $150.
• PRO the most popular package, 15 to 30 illustrations, a full description plus style and references. Cost: from $300.
• Premium for brand and flagship books, 30 or more illustrations, deep analysis, strategy and scaling. Cost: from $700.

The final cost depends on the size and the complexity of the book. If the project calls for a complete approach, book printing, book layout, cover design and publishing on Amazon, we take every stage into account so that the result is systematic and professional.