<![CDATA[Marnie Reynolds-Bourque

<![CDATA[Marnie Reynolds-Bourque - Blog -MRB]]>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:19:00 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[So you need an illustrator?]]>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:02:05 GMThttps://www.artistmarnie.com/blog--mrb/so-you-need-an-illustratorYou finished your book! Congratulations! And now you are thinking, "How do I find an illustrator?"
If you cannot illustrate your own book, then you need to find a reputable illustrator. Illustrations can make or break a book. Remember the old saying “you get what you pay for?” That saying definitely applies here. I would not recommend going cheap on an illustrator, you may regret it. Make sure to do your research. Look at different styles and know what you want your book to look like. Illustrators are not mind readers, and they do want to create for you, and not disappoint.
Once one is selected, make sure to have a good contract, as I have heard lots of horror stories about illustrators not finishing projects, or authors not happy with illustrations. It is not common, but illustrators can also sometimes ask for royalties. I would not recommend a contract with that clause, as it is hard to be on the hook to calculate their share from profits. Besides that headache, you may not make much, and do you really want to share what you do make? I certainly would not want to, and personally would not accept a share of royalties as payment.
Tips on deciding on an illustrator:

Look at books that you enjoy, and take note of the style of the illustrations.
Ask other authors who they hired and their experience.
Be wary of places such as "fiver" often the illustrators use clip art for books which is not a good look. In addition, much of the art is stolen. Not something you want for your book.
Have a good contract. Do not pay all up front.
Beware of illustrators that want royalties. Besides trying to keep track of what to pay them, do you want to share your profits?
Have dates for submissions to keep illustrator on track or be sure to have good communication.
Be careful giving them too much direction. I often say that an artist is like a horse being reined in. If you are too stringent you may stifle creativity.
How will you receive illustrations? Formatted in a book? Separate images? Paper?

It is very important how you receive your illustrations. If you are computer savvy, then getting raw images to crop and size would not be an issue. But if you are not savvy this could be a nightmare that you have to hire a formatter for. And that is yet another cost. If you do decide to try yourself, I have found Photoshop elements to be great for cropping and editing. YouTube is a fountain of information to learn how to do what you need.
When I illustrate a book for a client, I do it all. I take their text, and with my illustrations create a manuscript. I then create the separate cover files, and once finished will give them a thumb drive with all the files ready to go. Once they receive their files, they can upload the files to publish their book. I try to make it easy for them, and will sometimes incl

You have heard that saying "Never judge a book by its cover?" Well, that is a great saying, but no one listens to it. Your cover has to be wonderful. This is a tough one as I have loved some covers that I have done, and then the book doesn't sell. So, I have to redo the cover. I now create my cover, then upload it to a Facebook group for book covers and they critique it. And even if I hate what they say, I listen. Because they know their subject and they are right! It is not fun to hear that people do not like what you did. But you need this feedback. And you MUST listen to be successful. I will say it again... you MUST listen to critiques.
If you do not have the skills or software to create a cover yourself, I highly recommend getcovers.com. I have even used them! And they are so reasonable! They charge $35 for a cover. What a bargain! I use them for the font and title of my books often as they really do a wonderful job!
If you are still wanting to create your own cover, please click here to download cover templates from KDP. You must know your size of book to proceed. Their template will guide you to create a cover that works.
Good luck in your illustrator search, and don't forget the most important thing... Don't give up!

#findinganillustrator #bookcreation

]]><![CDATA[Ready to create a book?]]>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:30:40 GMThttps://www.artistmarnie.com/blog--mrb/ready-to-create-a-bookReady to start your book?

You have an idea for a book and now need to know how to proceed.
First off, congratulations on having an idea! That is actually pretty wonderful because no book can be started without it. I know that after I finish a book, I always worry about whether another idea will come.

The first step I would suggest is to format your book. I create my books in Microsoft word. Yes, people will tell you that you need InDesign and other expensive software. And they are probably right, but honestly new authors do not typically have the funds to purchase all this software. Being a swamp Yankee and thrifty, I figured out how to create my books with word, photoshop elements and procreate. All quite reasonable products.

But back to word. Unfortunately, this is where you must make a decision that you would probably rather make later. And that is the size of your book. I suggest going with something standard and easy to mail. And then sticking with that size so all your books are the same size. You don’t have to; I just think they look nice this way when put all together.

So, to decide on your size, perhaps visit a bookstore or library and do some research on what size you like. And once you pick a size visit the kdp page to settle on the size.
To choose a book size please visit here: Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins (amazon.com)

Once you pick your size, you must setup your file. I suggest visiting here to see for yourself anything I may have missed. The link brings you to amazons own set up page with videos and lots of help.
If you want to simply press on, please open your word document and set up the page size. The image below shows where to go. When you setup your word file, you have to set margins up for bleed. Bleed is the how the image goes to the edge of page so when book is trimmed there is no white or missing images. Later you will see the bleed when you do a preview in kdp when proofing your book. But that is much later, lets return to setup! Follow the image below and set up your book. Most of the time it is picking a size and adding .125 to the page.

For instance, I create 8 x 10 books. So my page set up is 8.13 (.125 rounds up to .13) by 10.25. Why is the it .25? Because you have to double it for the top and bottom bleeds.
Below is the dialog box when it opens up, and the yellow shows where you have to input your information. DO NOT miss the bottom! Sometimes this is only set to the page you are on. And it is a problem if half your document has the wrong size.

The last thing I have set up is for margins. Here is the dialog box for that. Again, please do not miss the whole document box.

Once you have set your document up, you should be ready to go!
Now you must decide how many pages. A book length should typically be divided into 4 to work correctly. I think amazon does not worry too much about this, but if you plan on going to other distributors, printers it could be possibly a problem. I set my books to 32 typically.
So now it is time to finally do the fun stuff!

Your first page should be set up as the title page, this is where you also will sign your book when asked. Then copyright page and then dedication page. You can also combine these pages as well. I set mine up like this, so my first pages are a spread.
I also set up my text as text boxes so that I can move the text where I want it.
Go to insert, then text box. Sometimes it will come with a line around it. If it does right click on the box and then format shape. Hit no line and it will disappear.

As for illustrations, if possible, have your illustrator create your images to the document size. I find that this helps with your text placement as well. If you cannot get the illustrator to crop you can do it yourself using photoshop elements. Elements is basically a slimmed down version of photoshop that is much cheaper. It can be tough to learn, but you can learn a lot through YouTube tutorials.
When you insert the image, right click on it, hit the little icon that pops up, (highlighted in yellow)then click on the lower right icon. This puts your image in the middle of page and makes it possible to easily adjust it to fit the page. I will typically right click on the image, then use the little circles to make it fit to page.

Both cover and manuscript should be in pdf format. You can easily export from word to pdf. To export to a pdf go to file, then export. *** Make sure to have folders and a place to export to that you will be able to find your files later.

Your cover file needs to be a separate pdf as well. Once both files are ready, you will head to the KDP site and upload them to your bookshelf.
So those are some of the tricks that I have learned along the way, and I hope that they help you as well! If you have any questions, please comment below or contact me and I will do my best to answer.
As always the most important advice I have to give is…

There are tons of information online in Facebook groups and other places. And me! Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Good luck with the creation of your book!

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