We have all heard that old saying, and I was wondering, in an adult Science Fiction, would it be okay to have illustrations. I remember reading H.G. Wells or even Edison's conquest of mars and seeing drawings on pages here and there. Would you consider it a crutch, or a cop out, or are illustrations something that are still done, and if so what precautions should be taken when using them? I come from writing comic books and have a few very good artists wondering if I would be interested in them doing work on my novel.
Nothing beats a good illustration in my opinion. I grew up reading books with illustrations, as well as watching lots of films that flare the imagination. Hell, even the cover art alone is enough to sell me a book, sometimes. I actually came across the 1989 film of the BFG the other day on YouTube. And when watching it, I couldn't believe how unique and inspiring the art was in it. I would say give it a try. Though, I'm no expert on the matter.
That's what I was feeling. I want it to play against the novel. My main character sees the world as this bleak dystopian universe, but its only because his job as a detective drags him through the nasty of it all. so as the character describes the pain and misery of the world my illustrations could show more of the Utopian society the character is protecting. His bleak feelings of the world set against the Utopian society he isn't allowed to be apart of.
That sounds interesting to be honest, but you'd have to word it well or readers might get confused seeing an illustration of a utopia after a groggy detective mutters on about the cruelties of life.
Early in the book he discusses that with his partner. They are looking on at what man has created and talking about the nitty gritty that makes it work, and several times through out the story the mc admits his ashy view and other characters discuss the beauty of it all.
Don't rule it out just because it's unfashionable or frowned upon by purists. Be that breath of fresh air.
There are practical considerations, especially if your illustrations would be in colour - a lot more expensive to print books with colour illustrations than black and white print. I don't know if you're planning on publishing, but if you are, you might want to keep that in mind. Less of a price issue with ebooks, but it'll be harder to control how/where/if images display, so still not a simple thing.
Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell series of detective novels set in the early twentieth-century have an illustration at the beginning of each chapter, but I can't say they add much to the reading experience. Mostly a novelty, I think.
This reminds me of The Hobbit - "Graphic" text adventure on the Sinclair Spectrum. Now that a text adventure was on a computer that had graphic capabilities, they decided to spice it up with some pictures...in very basic colours (2 choices of blue, 1 of everything else) with massive pixels; and it all took ages to draw. And it did that every time you returned to that location!!!!!
I don't know of many modern books written for the YA or adult market that contain illustrations. If you're thinking of submitting your manuscript to a publisher, including illustrations with your manuscript may increase your chance of rejection. Publishers tend to use their own in-house illustrators. That being said, illustrations could be an interesting addition to a novel depending on how they're done/implemented, though keep in mind that some readers prefer to imagine the world/characters/whatever in their minds and wouldn't really be interested in seeing illustrations. If I had to offer advice, I would say that you shouldn't include any illustrations; like BayView said, they increase the cost of publication and could end up making the publication process more difficult for you. As an aside, there are some special/uncommon/rare editions of older books (late 19th century-ish) that have illustrations by famous artists. These editions tend to sell for a lot of money. Next time you're in a used bookstore, keep an eye out for these. You may even find one for a reasonable price.
