For some authors, how to commission an illustrator is something they only start figuring out after they’ve already found an artist, agreed on a price and, occasionally, wandered into a situation they really wish they’d handled differently.
As artwork becomes a bigger part of the Quibble experience, I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the relationship between authors and artists - and about how surprisingly little guidance there is for authors doing this for the first time.
I remember commissioning a cover artist myself years ago. In my case, it was thankfully a smooth experience. I found someone whose work I loved, we agreed on what we were doing, the process went well, and I ended up very happy with the result.
But that isn’t always how it goes. Usually, it starts with a picture in your head. You have a character. You know roughly what they look like. You find an artist whose work makes you think, Yep. That’s it. And then you realize you have absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to say next to stay out of trouble and get what you want for the right price.
How much does this cost? What exactly do I ask for? How many revisions are normal? Who owns the artwork? Do I pay upfront? What if the artist disappears into the mist?
Commissioning an illustrator doesn’t need to be complicated. But there is a process, and understanding it before you start can save you money, time and a considerable amount of head-scratching.
First, Decide What You Actually Need
Before looking for artists, figure out what you’re actually commissioning. That sounds obvious and simple enough, but many authors already struggle with this one.
Are you looking for a character portrait? A full scene? A map? A creature design? Ten illustrations for a series? A handful of visual assets you can use throughout your story?
Don’t only ask, “What artwork do I need?” Ask: “What parts of my world would become more interesting if readers could see them?” If you’ve published your story on Quibble, you’ll be surprised by how much visibility having more artwork will bring to your book compared to stories with none at all.
Maybe your protagonist has a distinctive appearance that readers would love to see. Maybe there’s a city you’ve spent fifty pages building in your head. Maybe your magic system has symbols, objects and creatures that would be far more memorable visually. Learn more about fantasy character art here.
You don’t have to commission all of it at once. In fact, you shouldn’t. But thinking about the story as a growing visual world changes what you’re looking for in an artist. You’re not necessarily hiring someone to make one nice picture. You may be looking for someone who can help you develop a visual language that readers can keep discovering as they move through the story.
That’s particularly interesting on Quibble, where visual material can sit alongside the story rather than disappearing into a folder on your laptop.
So, before you open fifty portfolio tabs, write down:
➤ What you want illustrated
➤ Which parts of the story or world they belong to
➤ How many pieces you need nowWhere you’ll use them
➤ Roughly when you need them
➤ Any important technical requirements
➤ Your approximate budget
You don’t need to have every detail figured out. You just need enough of a picture that another person can understand the job - and enough of an idea of where you’re going that the artist can help you get there.
Where to Find an Artist Whose Work Fits
Now comes the fun bit: falling down an enormous internet rabbit hole. There are plenty of places to look.
Illustrators.com is specifically focused on illustration and has resources for finding and commissioning professional illustrators.
Reedsy is particularly useful for authors because you can browse publishing professionals by service and genre, including book illustrators.
Upwork is a broader freelance marketplace with a large pool of illustrators and other creative professionals.
And Behance is useful when you want to browse portfolios and find artists whose visual style immediately clicks with what you’re trying to build.
You can also find artists directly through our Quibble Discord community. We have a growing group of artists and creators there, and we do our best to vet people who offer their services to authors. That said, we’re a community, not an art agency, so we can’t guarantee an artist’s work, availability or transaction. As a result, Quibble takes no commission from commissions arranged between authors and artists in the community.
Please always do your own due diligence, agree on terms clearly, and don’t send money blindly. Wherever you look, find artists whose existing work already resembles what you’re trying to achieve.
Portfolio first. Personality second. Price third. Obviously price matters, but you’re potentially choosing someone who will help shape how readers see your world. If you’re building a long-running story on Quibble, for example, you may eventually want the same artist working on characters, locations, creatures, objects and other pieces of the world. Consistency starts becoming valuable very quickly.
It’s also worth contacting more than one artist. Your first choice may be booked, unavailable for your timeline, outside your budget, or simply not interested in the project.
Illustration Pricing
There is no universal price for an illustration. That’s because you’re not really buying “a picture.” You’re commissioning a piece of creative work whose cost depends on things like complexity, experience, timeline, number of deliverables and usage rights.
A single character portrait and a fully rendered battle scene are not remotely the same job. And neither is a one-off image and an ongoing visual collaboration for a story.
If you know you want to build out your world over time, tell the artist that upfront. You don’t necessarily need to commission twenty illustrations today. But giving them the bigger picture can help both of you think about consistency, future work and how the visual identity of the story should develop.
The same applies to where the artwork will live. If you’re creating visual material specifically for the upcoming Quibble reading experience, you may want readers to encounter character art, maps, locations or objects as they move through the story - not simply use the images as promotional assets elsewhere.
Some illustrators charge hourly. Others quote per project or per illustration. This is why comparing quotes purely by the final number can be misleading. Instead, look at what the number actually includes.
Does it include sketches? Colour? Backgrounds? Source files? Revisions? Commercial usage? Rush delivery? A $300 illustration and a $600 illustration might be two completely different packages. Just ask. Seriously. Ask.
Agree on Payment, Revisions and Deadlines
Before work starts, please agree on the boring stuff. Get the payment schedule in writing. Clarify the deadline. Agree on how many revision rounds are included and what happens if you need additional changes. Also establish when you’ll provide feedback and how quickly the artist can expect a response.
And be specific with feedback. “Make it pop more” is not feedback. “Can we make the expression more suspicious and move the sword higher so the silhouette feels less static?” is feedback. The more concrete you can be, the easier it is for the artist to act on what you’re saying.
Give the Artist Room to Do Their Job
There is a strange temptation, especially when you’re deeply attached to your fictional characters, to micromanage the person you’ve hired to visualize them.
My advice: Try not to. Instead, try to just communicate the character and the world. The artist’s job is to interpret that information and turn it into an image. The best artists will know how. If you’ve hired someone because you love their work, give them enough room to bring their own judgment into the process.
You hired an artist. Let them be one.
Build an Ongoing Relationship With Your Artist
If you like working with an artist, keep working with them. This becomes particularly valuable when you’re building a series. A recurring artist learns your characters. They learn the visual rules of your world. They understand your references, your taste and the weird little details that matter to you.
The work gets easier. More importantly, it becomes more consistent. That can matter enormously when your story starts accumulating visual material: character portraits, locations, creatures, important objects, faction symbols, maps and scenes.
You are no longer commissioning isolated pictures. You’re gradually developing a visual language for the story. And soon you'll be able to put it on full display on Quibble!
Start by defining what you want illustrated, where the artwork will be used, your timeline and budget. Then find artists whose portfolios fit, send a clear brief, agree on pricing and usage rights, and put the key terms in writing.
Authors can find illustrators through specialist directories and marketplaces such as Illustrators.com, Reedsy, Upwork and Behance. You can also find artists through author and creator communities.
There is no standard price. Cost depends on the complexity of the artwork, the artist’s experience, the number of illustrations, deadlines, revisions and usage rights. Comparing the scope of each quote matters more than comparing the headline price alone.
Include what you want illustrated, relevant story and character context, visual references, dimensions or format, deadline, intended use and any important details the artist needs to preserve. A clear brief helps the artist understand both the image and its role in the story.
The strongest collaborations go beyond producing individual images. Authors provide the story, characters and world; artists interpret those elements visually and can help develop a consistent visual language across characters, locations, creatures, objects and other world-building elements.
