Studio Journal
A short guide for families and small publishers who are thinking about commissioning a custom picture book but are not sure what to bring to the first call.
Most first consultations are not about polished pitches or finished manuscripts. They are about finding out whether a story idea has enough shape to become a book. When you know what to prepare, the conversation becomes far more useful for both sides.
For a custom storybook commission, the starting point is usually a rough idea: a child who loves mice, a family inside joke, a classroom theme. That is enough. What helps is having a few concrete anchors ready so the illustrator can ask the right questions and sketch a direction that fits.
Here is what makes a first call productive, based on the commissions we handle most often.
You do not need a full outline. A single sentence about the main character and the problem they face is enough to begin. For example: a shy mouse who wants to invite the whole meadow to his birthday but is afraid no one will come. That gives the illustrator a character, a setting, and a conflict to work with.
If the story is for a specific child, mention their age, favourite animals, and any details that should appear in the art. Those small notes often shape the visual world more than a long plot summary.
Do you imagine a quiet bedtime read with soft watercolor washes, or a livelier story with more ink linework and playful details? Bringing two or three reference books that feel close to what you have in mind helps more than describing a mood in abstract words.
We can also suggest directions if you are unsure. The point is to leave the call with a clearer sense of the visual language, not to have it fully decided in advance.
A standard picture book is usually 32 pages, but custom commissions can be shorter. Knowing whether you want a printed book, a digital file, or both changes how we plan the layout and the amount of illustration work involved.
If you are a school or a small publisher, it also helps to mention the intended use: a classroom read-aloud, a library addition, or a gift edition. That context affects pacing and how much text sits on each page.
Illustration takes time, especially when it involves multiple rounds of character sketches and color studies. A rough sense of your deadline helps us plan a realistic schedule. It is also useful to know who will be giving feedback along the way, so we can keep the revision process simple.
Within a few days, you will receive a short summary of the direction we discussed, along with a rough estimate of the page count and the next steps. From there, we usually start with character sketches before moving to full page art. That first round is where the story really begins to take visual shape.
If you are still deciding between a full custom book and a simpler format, the next post compares the options in more detail.