When writing picture books, is it proper protocol to include artistic suggestions or pagination?
I don’t know if it is proper protocol to do this. All I can say is that I have never done so. I think that this might be unnecessary because there is bound to be some re-writing with an editor if the book is accepted for publication, which would, of course, change pagination. I wouldn’t bother with artistic suggestions either, unless they are germane to the concept. Often, publishers prefer to keep the author and illustrator apart so that the unique artistic perspective of each is not muddied by the other. This makes sense to me. I certainly would not want an illustrator looking over my shoulder as I write and making suggestions as to how the story should go, and so, equally, I should trust the artistic vision of the illustrator and leave the art work to him or her. At times, after acceptance for publication, the publisher may ask me for my view of the artwork and I do think that I have been able to usefully contribute in establishing a general sense of what the art should be like. But
