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Using illustrations and photos in my book

Photos and illustrations add something extra to your story. A picture often says more than a 1000 words. Sometimes, they are so significant that further comment is unnecessary. So do not underestimate the importance of images, give it all the space it needs.

Text-image ratio

Are you writing a novel? Then pictures are less important. People use their imagination here. They create a kind of world in their own mind. The cover is, of course, of great importance here. ” Don’t judge a book by its cover” when discussing people, in the literary world this could be quite the opposite.

In children, school, biography, – … books images provide an added value. You should, therefore, find a perfect balance between text and images. Too much text will bore the reader. You will thus lose his attention and with too little text you forget to add substance and depth to your story.

Own photos

Do you enjoy using your own photos?

Here are some tips:

• Try to leave some space in your photos. You can later add a title or text here.
• Take the size of your book into account. Take portrait or landscape photos.
• Edit your photos in Photoshop: convert them to gray scale, make them lighter, give them more color … The possibilities are endless.
• Do you use a model? Be sure to ask his or her (written) permission!

Professional photos

A good photographer will take your photos to a higher level. With the necessary information about the storylines and characters, he can go to work.

Let him also take your author picture. This is of great importance for the promotion and sales of your book. People like to stick a face to a book.

Stock photos

Do you find a photographer too expensive? Maybe you can even find the ideal pictures online?

Important to know: you can’t just pick pictures from the Internet and use them. Before doing so, you always need the permission of the photographer or illustrator.

Here are some websites to download stock photos:

• istockphoto
• shutterstock
• freeimages
• gettyimages
• stockvault
• photogen
• 123rf

Watch out! Read the terms on the websites before using the pictures.

Creative Commons

Sometimes, photographs and illustrations can be used for free under certain conditions. Creative Commons is a way to move away from the traditional copyright. They promote a free license under certain conditions. With a Creative Common license, you maintain your copyright as the author, but you give others permission to share your work, distribute and edit. For this purpose, using four terms of use:

1. Attribution
2. Non-commercial
3. No Derivatives
4. Share

Read more: Creativecommons

On to the next step: Finish my story