The #Picturesmeanbusiness campaign to ensure that children’s book illustrators are properly credited for their work on book covers is seeking the help of Literary agents and Illustration agents. #Picturesmeanbusiness’ Sarah McIntyre says:

‘Sales of illustrated chapter books are booming – David Walliams’s and Tony Ross’s illustrated novel is at the top of the overall UK sales chart today, 9 October  – but many illustrators are getting cut out of almost all career-advancing publicity.

One of the main reasons is that illustrators (particularly of illustrated fiction, or so-called ‘chapter books’ or ‘middle grade books’) aren’t getting their names on the front covers of their books. While they’re often credited on the back cover or inside the book, it’s the front cover that does the publicity rounds, and what readers and reviewers use to judge who created it. If the illustrator’s name isn’t on the front cover, they’re far less likely to get proper recognition in metadata, so their books won’t be searchable online. They may get left out of award lists. Their names may not be included at all in Advance Information sheets sent to reviewers (as noted by Fiona Noble at The Bookseller*).

Here’s where we need your help! We need you agents to unite in your efforts to make sure that in contracts, illustrators get a guarantee that their names will be on the front covers of the books they illustrate.’

Illustration Sarah McIntyre

See more