Black and white pictures/diagrams in a novel

Question · Mar 10, 2012

How would you go about convincing your publisher to put something like that in a book?

I've seen things like maps at the front of books and weird fonts in the actual body of the text (for signs, notes and whatever else the POV character happens to be reading). I've also seen weird page dividers (like crescent moons, elaborate swirls, etc). I just have no clue if you can actually ask the publisher for these things or if that's a no-no and it's just something they decide. I have no clue how difficult/expensive/unpleasant it would be for them to do this... would they mind at all?

I'm asking because I want crooked chapter titles, bats as dividers and one or two images in the actual text. They're not big things; one is a triangle with scribbly writing inside and another is a childish Mr. Potato Head-esque doodle of a girl (so not a big, black and white portrait of the Mona Lisa or anything xD). They're not things that need licenses either, and shouldn't take an artist (or even a regular person) more than a minute or two to make.

Anyway, I don't know how this works, and I'm not sure if I'd be stepping out of line by asking a publisher to do this kind of thing O_O!

leahzero · Mar 10, 2012

Changing the typeface and inserting basic graphics is not a big deal. The publisher has to purchase the rights to use these things in your book, which means it'll probably come down to the book designer's discretion. Designers usually work with libraries of fonts, graphics, photos, etc. that they've purchased the rights to. They can purchase additional material, but that depends on whether the publisher is willing to pay for the rights to use it. If you're flexible, your requests will probably be honored, as long as the designer/publisher doesn't feel they negatively impact the book. Good luck getting them to print the whole thing in Comic Sans.

As for actual art, that's slightly different. For existing images (e.g. non-stock photos), the publisher has to purchase the rights to use them in the book, which can be expensive. New art like maps has to be commissioned and the rights purchased as well. None of this is a huge deal, but it does create extra cost and work for the publisher (clearing the rights to avoid legal problems, finding an artist, etc.). So, being a business, the publisher may turn down requests for this type of thing if they don't feel the payoff is worth it.

Question · Mar 10, 2012

Thanks! That sounds fair enough

Black and white pictures/diagrams in a novel

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Soon I will be invincible

leahzero

The colors! THE COLORS!

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Soon I will be invincible