Your Wonderful Story Into a Book

YOUR WONDERFUL STORY INTO A BEAUTIFUL BOOK

Hello fellow Author. If you’re reading this, then you have probably finished writing your amazing story and are now wondering how to make it into the beautiful book that it deserves to be. Here at FromLucy&Co we are excited to offer the ultimate package to a limited number of serious indie authors.

ABOUT ME

My name is Lucy Tapper. I am a successful author and illustrator. In the last 10 years I have created over 140 books. Some of my books are published by traditional publishers, others are self-published. I have created a niche for myself by specialising in personalised occasion books. I sell all over the English-speaking world working with printers in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada as well as having multiple license agreements worldwide. My company has become very successful, employing six members of extremely talented full-time staff including two illustration graduates and a digital coordinator. Don’t just take my word for it, please do your research, Google me, look at my work and reviews on Etsy, Amazon and anywhere else you can find me online!

Working in the gifting world means we must be relevant, quick at responding to the market, on trend, and original. We have found our content and unique style has always equaled sales!

WORK WITH ME

My journey as an indie author has not always been easy. I have learned A LOT along the way. I have so much experience, talent, passion and love to share. For the very first time ever I am offering a full book production service to a limited number of carefully selected indie authors.

If I feel your story has the potential to be very saleable, and that you are serious about becoming a commercially successful author, I will put my name and reputation to your book. I will be an integral part of the illustration process, personally overseeing EVERY single element of it, alongside my incredible team.

A great story is nothing without great illustration. Likewise, great illustration is nothing without a great story.

If you are interested, please read on and learn all about what is involved when creating a children’s book. Do your research and consider your next step very carefully. In this world you get what you pay for. Even if you decide against working with me, it is useful to understand the huge amount of work involved. There is a lot more to this than just getting someone to draw some pictures.

THE PROCESS – How It Works

After creating 140 books, my team and I have had to come up with the most effective and efficient system to create a beautiful children’s book. This is the way that we produce all our books and it works brilliantly for us.  

Here I break down the whole process so you can understand exactly what to expect. Unlike many illustrators out there I provide the whole package, without any hidden costs at all. For £6,000 ($7,500) we do it all, from the initial sketches, illustrations and front cover, we also do all the formatting, text placement and getting it print ready, we even provide you with printed copies!  

I understand this is a huge investment, and I aim to make it as enjoyable and exciting as possible for you with no unexpected surprises or hidden costs, leaving you to focus on marketing and building your audience.

STAGE ONE - Payment 1 due £2,000/$2,500
(1 – 2 weeks)

At this stage we will work closely together. This is where you will get to give the most input and really have the opportunity to be a part of the whole process.

THE STORY (words)

If we are at this stage then you will have finished your wonderful story and I will love it enough to be invested in bringing it to life! When I am working on a story, I approach it from an illustrator’s perspective, I am always thinking of pace and how much of the story can be told by pictures. Always remember, when writing a children’s book, the challenge is to tell a full story in the fewest possible words, this is why the illustration is SO important! When I receive your story, I will work out the best way to break it up and what should go on each page. This is a big part of my job, so don’t worry about it, trust my experience on this.

CONTRACTS (Legal stuff)

I will provide you with a contract that we will both sign. This will protect us both and ensure that all expectations are clearly set out. It will break down the payment schedule and the timings. While all artists own the copyright of their images, I will grant you exclusive rights for your independent book publication. In a nutshell this means that I will not use any images from your book for anything of my own and I will not get royalties from your independent book sales. However, if your book ever gets picked up by a major publisher/film maker/toy maker etc then a new contract between them/you and me will need to be negotiated (which would be a very good problem to have!).

MOOD BOARD

The next stage will be for me to get an idea of the feel and look you are hoping for. I will invite you to collaborate on a Pinterest board, and all you need to do is go through and pin any images that you like. This will give me an idea of your vision.

CHARACTER DESIGN

Based on your mood board I will come up with the character design(s) for your story. I will initially provide you with sketches, then after your feedback I will work on a full colour version in a few different poses. You will see your character come to life!

THUMBNAILS

For me, this is the MOST IMPORTANT stage in a book’s creation. Once we have finalised the character(s) I will work out the whole layout of your story. All 32 pages of it! The drawings will be little scribbly sketches, and may not look too impressive, but this is where I do all of the thinking. I figure out the flow, which spreads will be full-bleed spreads, full-bleed pages, vignettes, and pages with spot art. This is when I ensure that the book is balanced, well-paced, professional and a true page-turner! I also work out where the text will go, I cannot emphasise how important this is, it is something that so many illustrators do as an afterthought. 

This is your opportunity to make any major changes. Once you have signed off the thumbnails and the character design you just need to sit back, relax and wait, while I get to work!

STAGE TWO - Payment 2 due £2,000/$2,500
(1-2 months)

This is where my team and I will work on the book. This takes time. Every single element will be done from scratch, by hand. You can be confident that all images are originals, we never ever use clipart or A.I.

CHARACTERS

Using the thumbnails, we will draw all of the characters from every page in the book. Once we are ‘in the zone’ with a character, we like to really get to ‘know them’ so we illustrate them all in one go, to ensure the colours are the same and that they are all completely coherent. We will provide you with some of these images as we go, so that you can use them in any initial marketing you are planning.

BACKGROUNDS

Once the characters are complete, they need a world to live in! This takes time but is really exciting. We will send a few of these spreads over to you as we go, so that you can be a part of the whole process, and again, you can use them in your marketing campaigns and to build your audience. Your chance to make changes was at the thumbnail stage, so only small essential changes can be made at this time. Trust us, we know what we’re doing!

STAGE THREE
(1-2 weeks)

This is the final stage when the whole project comes together!

COVER DESIGN

The cover is always the last piece of the puzzle. It is EXTREMELY important and needs to be perfect. We work hard on this using all the elements from within the book to create a truly eye-catching cover. We understand that this is what is going to sell your book, so we take our time to get this right.

PROOF READING AND SIGN OFF

We will send a PDF of the whole book over to you to look over VERY carefully. You need to check and double check, and triple check the spellings.

Final payment due £2,000/$2,500

PRINT READY

Once you are happy with the book and we have done any necessary changes, we will ensure that your book is completely print ready and also prepared for KPD (Amazon print on demand). We will email you the print-ready files and send you 10 complimentary physical copies for your friends and family. Your book file will be ready for you to send over to your own printer, or if you prefer, you can use our trusted printers (in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada) for your own hard copies.

If you would like to be considered, please send us an email to info@fromlucy.com with a little bit of information about you and a synopsis of your story.

I’m looking forward to bringing your words to life! 

FromLucy x