Illustration for a series of children's books

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUSINESS:
We are a new children's publisher.

INDUSTRY:
Publishing

DESIGN DETAILS - ILLUSTRATION FOR A SELECTION OF STORIES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS:
There are about 15 stories in total, of varying lengths. They are being edited for a modern children's audience (7 - 12 years old) and will be published as a series of about 9 books. The final number of stories and books are subject to confirmation.

The first two stories (14,000 words each) are now ready for illustrating.

We expect the remaining stories to be ready by about end-October however please allow us some flexibility on this if necessary.

The books will be paperbacks. The book dimensions will be 129 mm (Width) x 198 mm (Height).

INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS & STYLE
- The illustrations for the interior of the books will be in BLACK & WHITE.
- I'm looking for a loose, lively, expressive, quirky, fluid, hand-drawn style.
- Must convey the Arabian context in the depiction of people, places and objects.
- Must also convey the sense of magic, mischief, enchantment and adventure.
- Please see the URLs which will take you to two Pinterest boards with examples you may be inspired by.
- I'd like a mixture of full-page, half-page and spot illustrations for placing throughout each of the stories, to break up the text and capture key moments in the stories.
- The illustrator must read each of the stories and suggest which parts to illustrate.

COVER ILLUSTRATIONS & STYLE
- I will also need a FULL COLOUR cover illustration for each book.
- The cover illustrations are to go across the front cover, spine & back cover.
- The style of the cover illustration must reflect the style of the interior illustrations.

BOOK SPECIFICATIONS
- TARGET AGE GROUP: Children 7 - 12 years old
- BOOK DIMENSIONS: 129 mm (Width) x 198 mm (Height)
- BINDING: Paperback
- COVER: Paper stock & finish (matt/gloss) - to be decided
- PAPER STOCK: to be decided
- SPINE: To be confirmed when we know the final page count of each book and the paper stock
- WORD COUNT (first story): 14,000 words
- WORD COUNT (second story): 14,000 words
- WORD COUNT (remaining stories): to be confirmed

DELIVERY
- We will liaise with the book designer and printer as to the required file formats and image resolution.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Children 7 - 12 years old

IDEAS FOR THE VISUAL STYLE:
Loose, lively, expressive, quirky, fluid, hand-drawn style.

THINGS TO AVOID:
Stock images, clip art, 3rd party IP, public domain material, anything requiring licenses or royalty payments, anything violent, sexual, racist, derogatory or offensive in any way.

PREFERRED COLOURS:
Black & white for the interior illustrations, colour for the cover illustrations (vibrant colours but not garish).

URLs TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM:
https://www.pinterest.com/cavelle0344/illustrations/
https://www.pinterest.com/cavelle0344/covers/

WHERE THE DESIGN WILL BE USED:
Print, web, social media, e-books, merchandise.

EXTRA NOTES:
HOW TO PROCEED
1/ I would like to proceed on a story-by-story basis but on the understanding that you will complete the entire project of 15 stories and 9 cover illustrations (approximate) and ensure a consistent style across the series as a whole.
2/ We discuss & agree an illustration style, either from your existing portfolio of work or from somewhere else.
3/ We agree a fixed price per illustration, specified as a full-page, half-page or spot illustration.
4/ We agree a fixed price for each full colour cover illustration, to go across the front cover, spine & back cover.
5/ I specify the number & size of illustrations for each story.
6/ You produce one drawing/sketch in the first instance, to confirm I'm happy with the result.
7/ You produce the remaining drawings for the first story and the cover illustration for the first book.
8/ Please show all work as it progresses, to confirm we are on the right track.
9/ We continue on a story-by-story/book-by-book basis until all stories/books are complete.

BUDGET
- Please provide a fixed price for each black & white illustration for the interior (specified as a full-page, half-page or spot illustration).
- Please provide a fixed price for each full-colour cover illustration, to go across the front cover, spine and back cover.

TIMESCALE
- Please indicate how long you need to complete the first book, based on our agreement of the number, size & style of illustrations and the work to be done.
- Please provide an indication of your availability for working on the entire project - i.e. illustrations for approximately 15 STORIES & 9 COVERS (number & size of illustrations per story to be confirmed).

**If you are also able to do the book cover designs and the interior design, layout & typesetting please let me know as I'd be interested in discussing this too. But please be prepared to show samples of your work in these areas.**