I didn’t realise most authors don’t get to meet the illustrators of their books until the book launch. They don’t even discuss the book together one on one. Publishers will actively keep them apart because invariably what happens if they do get together is the illustrator will suggest the author change their text and the author will tell the illustrator to change their art.
Publishers don’t want them influencing each other because there is magic in the interpretation. The illustrator will gain so much more from the writer’s text than even the writer.
Likewise, everyone who reads our work will have their own interpretation of it. As writers we need to give our readers room to imagine. We don’t have to lay down every minute detail. We need to create mood and atmosphere, but the real magic happens in the reader’s mind.
What's been your experience of this phenomenon (picture books, movie adaptations, cover art etc)?
