Some pages ask for more than text.
A map at the front of a fantasy novel, a small mark above every chapter, a technical diagram a paragraph can't quite carry on its own: the right interior art doesn't decorate your book, it does work the prose can't. Our illustrators read your manuscript first, then draw for it.
Illustration for the book you're actually writing, not a picture book
This service is built for adult and general audience titles: a fantasy novel that needs a world map, a mystery that wants a floor plan diagram, a memoir that benefits from a handful of spot illustrations marking each part, a technical or how to book that needs figures a reader can actually follow. It is not for children's picture books, where illustration carries most of the storytelling. That's a distinct discipline with its own page on this site.
We start by reading enough of your manuscript to understand where art is doing real work and where it would just be decoration. Some books need a single map. Others want a spot illustration opening every chapter, or a run of full page scenes at key turns. We scope to what the book needs, not a fixed package.
Every piece your interior might need, handled by one illustrator
Style Development
Before any final art, we develop a visual style matched to your book's tone: line only ink work reads very differently from a softer wash, and the right choice depends on your genre and your voice.
Character Design
Reference sheets for recurring figures, so a character drawn on page 12 still looks like themselves on page 240: hairstyle, build, and signature details locked in early.
Storyboards & Scene Composition
For full page or multi panel pieces, there's a rough storyboard pass first, so the composition, angle, and focal point are agreed before final linework begins.
Spot Illustrations
Small chapter heading marks, section dividers, or margin art: understated pieces that give a manuscript a designed feel without competing with the text.
Full Page Illustrations & Diagrams
Fantasy maps, floor plans, technical figures, and standalone scene pieces, drawn to sit cleanly on their own page or bleed to the edge, whichever your layout calls for.
Print Ready Delivery
Final art delivered at print resolution in the color mode and file format your printer or layout software needs: no last minute conversion scramble before proof.
From manuscript read to print ready art
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Manuscript Read & Scope
We read the relevant sections of your manuscript and map out where illustration will genuinely help: a short list, not a guess at a page count.
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Style Samples
Your illustrator sketches two or three style directions on a single piece, so you're choosing between real options before any final art begins.
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Rough Sketches
Every piece starts as a loose composition sketch, with figures blocked in and layout settled, so structural changes happen while they're still cheap to make.
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Revision Round
You mark up the sketches directly with notes on composition, detail, or emphasis before your illustrator moves to final line and color.
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Final Art
Sketches are taken to finished linework, shading, and color, matching the style approved earlier across every piece in the set.
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Print Ready Files
Final delivery in the resolution, format, and color mode your book's interior layout requires, sized to your trim.
One book, one visual world
A map, a set of chapter marks, and a handful of full page scenes should all look like they came from the same hand, because they did. We keep a style sheet for every project, the same way our editors keep one for prose, so linework, shading and detail stay consistent from the first illustration to the last.
Plate II: The Illustrator's Table
WordsWorth Atelier · MDCCCXLII
Genres where interior art earns its place
Illustration helps some books far more than others: these are where it tends to matter most.
Often paired with interior illustration
What it's like to work with an illustrator here
“The style samples made the decision easy: I knew what my map would look like long before it was final.”
Sample testimonial, pending a verified quote
“My chapter marks feel like part of the book, not stickers pasted on top of it.”
Sample testimonial, pending a verified quote
“Every character looked like themselves from the first page to the last, which I honestly hadn't expected to matter this much.”
Sample testimonial, pending a verified quote
Tell us where your book could use some art
Send us your manuscript, or just the sections you're considering illustrating, and we'll recommend a scope before anything is final.
No obligation: we'll tell you honestly if your book needs one illustration or a dozen.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, this service is for interior illustration in adult and general audience fiction and nonfiction: maps, spot art, diagrams and full page scenes. Picture book illustration is a different craft with its own dedicated service on this site.
There's no fixed number: it depends entirely on the book. Some titles need one map. Others want a spot illustration at every chapter opening, or a run of full page pieces at major turns. We scope this together after reading your manuscript.
Yes, world and territory maps are one of the most common requests for this service. We'll work from your manuscript's geography, any notes or rough sketches you already have, and your preferred level of detail.
That's the point of the style sample stage: before any final art is drawn, your illustrator sketches a few style directions so you can choose the one that actually fits your genre and voice, rather than receiving a single default look.
Yes. For any book with recurring figures, we build a character reference sheet early in the project, so proportions, features and signature details stay consistent no matter how many pieces they appear in.
Final art is delivered at print resolution in the color mode and file format your layout software or printer requires: typically high resolution TIFF or vector files, sized to your book's trim. We'll confirm specifics against your printer's requirements before final delivery.
Revisions happen at the sketch stage, before final linework and color, which is where structural changes are still inexpensive to make. Smaller adjustments to finished art are handled case by case; we'll always tell you plainly what a change involves before starting it.
Yes. For nonfiction and how to titles we draw clean, labeled diagrams and figures alongside, or instead of, narrative scene illustration, matched to the same visual style as the rest of your interior.
Start Your Project
Tell us about your project and a member of our team will follow up shortly.