Looking to get an illustrated book made up.

DangerMouse27

Hi folks.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to where I go from here. But I guess this could be the very place I've been looking for, maybe the very person who could help me is reading this right now.

I would like to have created an illustrated book on me and my girlfriends life and travels and bits and bobs that are personal to us.
It's a book that won't be published and as such it will be a one off, original. I would like to include funny moments with her family and mine. I would like to go for the style of the childrens book Let's find a bear. Or more apt would be Let's find a bar!

I'm almost certain that those titles are correct but a quick Google search should have my prospective creator formulating a better understanding of what I want.

I look forward to hearing some replies. And who knowa

DangerMouse27

And who knows.
Maybe a website or company already exists that could help me.

Any help will be greatly received.

Thanks.

looksee

There are two approaches to this. One is to do a scrap-book where photos, sections of text, tickets etc are stuck to pages. The other is to have the text set in a page layout program with images scanned in.

Printing is so easy now that anyone with a decent laser printer and a layout program could do the second one for you (from the point of view of just doing the actual printing). The binding will not look exactly like a commercial book unless you go to one of the self-publishing companies. I think you would be better to find a creative graphic designer locally, someone who has a small studio and is willing to put the time in for a one-off job. Binding it would be a whole job in itself.

Once you start you will find there are all sorts of angles that you probably have not completely thought through, the main one being who is going to do the actual writing? How much creative input are you looking for? Have you worked out how the pages will work visually? Are you looking for an illustrator or can it all be done with photographs? Do you have a good selection of suitable, printable photographs. Unless you have a clear idea of what you are aiming for it could be very expensive as you pay for time for the graphic designer to do and re-do the pages and book.

Del.Monte

A cheap, easy to use and very satisfying experience can be had using Blurb http://www.blurb.co.uk My youngest son produced his first book (a full colour hardback + dustwrapper) with Blurb - unaided - at the age of six.

redser7

Del.Monte wrote: »

A cheap, easy to use and very satisfying experience can be had using Blurb http://www.blurb.co.uk My youngest son produced his first book (a full colour hardback + dustwrapper) with Blurb - unaided - at the age of six.

You've just made a lot of grown adults cry into their keyboards there.

pocketse

I presume you're looking for a one off book so are trying to keep the cost down. Why not have a look at www.fiverr.com basically a website where people offer services starting at a fiver. Theres tons of illustrators on there. Find one you like and see if you can do a deal for the whole job ?

https://www.fiverr.com/search/gigs?acmpl=1&utf8=✓&search_in=category&source=guest-hp&locale=en&query=illustration&category=3&sub_category=50&page=1&layout=auto

Brian Lighthouse

Yeah, go for Blurb
Download it and publish up to 15 copies for next to nothing - $75 - I think.
My child published eight books with them.
No problem at all.
PS the child does not think she is a published author, however she does think that it was a cheap colour photocopying and binding service.

Del.Monte

Brian Lighthouse wrote: »

Yeah, go for Blurb
Download it and publish up to 15 copies for next to nothing - $75 - I think.
My child published eight books with them.
No problem at all.
PS the child does not think she is a published author, however she does think that it was a cheap colour photocopying and binding service.

Pedantic. Your child is a self-published author and in good company with plenty of well known names http://www.simonteakettle.com/famousauthors.htm

Lyaiera

Del.Monte wrote: »

Pedantic. Your child is a self-published author and in good company with plenty of well known names http://www.simonteakettle.com/famousauthors.htm

This is such a weird thing to get your head around as a self-published author. On the one hand there's a lot of traditional legitimacy in having your book picked up by an agent and publisher, and printed, and in Waterstones. Especially when all it takes to self-publish is to upload a document or two to Amazon.

With all that being said though, the reality is people I don't know, in some part of the world I don't know have downloaded my book, read it from start to finish and taken enjoyment from the experience.

Even if sales aren't amazing, I have to keep in mind that there's someone in Canada, or the US, or the UK who has read my book and rated it five stars out of five because the few hours they spent with it brought them happiness. And as an author that should give far more validity than the idea a publisher thinks you'll sell.

Brian Lighthouse

Call me old-fashioned but being published to me means that your work was scrutinised by an editor and they decided to take a risk and put their money into backing you.
That's the way I see it.

Brian Lighthouse

Del.Monte wrote: »

Pedantic. Your child is a self-published author and in good company with plenty of well known names http://www.simonteakettle.com/famousauthors.htm

Yeah, agreed, she is a SELF-published author, but she still doesn't consider herself published.
The people on that list were good. Although wasn't Ulysses funded by Sylvia Beach in 1922 after she read the serialisation of it in an American magazine devoted to experimental writing?

Brian Lighthouse

Lyaiera wrote: »

This is such a weird thing to get your head around as a self-published author. On the one hand there's a lot of traditional legitimacy in having your book picked up by an agent and publisher, and printed, and in Waterstones. Especially when all it takes to self-publish is to upload a document or two to Amazon.

With all that being said though, the reality is people I don't know, in some part of the world I don't know have downloaded my book, read it from start to finish and taken enjoyment from the experience.

Even if sales aren't amazing, I have to keep in mind that there's someone in Canada, or the US, or the UK who has read my book and rated it five stars out of five because the few hours they spent with it brought them happiness. And as an author that should give far more validity than the idea a publisher thinks you'll sell.

Well done, that's a good feeling. Send it off to a publisher and get some feedback from them. You'd never know.
Don't just send it anywhere, do a bit of research and send it to someone who publishes the type of book you have written.
Best of luck with it, if you choose to go down that road.