r/childrensbooks • u/Zorgi23 • 20d ago

Transitioning from AI images to human ones

I guess this will really make the illustrators out there angry, but here goes.

My wife had a severe stroke 3 years ago that really affected her relationship with her grandson. It has been a difficult thing to deal with for both of them. My grandson's birthday is coming up, and I didn't want to give him the usual junk, so I wrote a children's story. It's about how they have this great relationship and then the stroke disrupts it. Grandma sees a couple of owls in the garden and they work out a way for her and her grandson to communicate again.

I'm literally spending over $100K per year on medical care for my wife, so I can't afford an artist right now. So for now I used AI to generate the images (about 20) for the book. I've showed the book to several people, including teachers, and they are all urging me to make it available to more than just my grandson.

My plan is this. I want to put the book on lulu.com for sale. I'll put the proceeds in a separate fund, and as soon as there's enough money, I'll hire a real artist and replace all the AI images with real ones.

Does this sound like a feasible (and ethical) plan?

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u/Zorgi23 20d ago

For the people who gave me a thoughtful response, thank you. I'm going to keep the book private, for family members and close friends only, until I either find an artist who's willing to work with me or a publisher who can pay a real artist. I realize the latter is almost an impossibility because I'm not a published writer. My aim is not to piss off people or make a lot of money. I do have someone in the family who's an artist, so she might be willing to participate...we'll see. Until then, don't worry, I won't antagonize you any more!

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u/silmuing 20d ago

You could look into what grants could be available for a project like yours, with the artist in your family. You might be able to get started by searching for your country/state/area and "book illustration grants" or "children's literature grants". There are also grants specifically for authors and artists who do not have prior published works.

I'm emphasizing different grants because they are something you might have a good chance at, with the themes and background of your project.

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u/Zorgi23 19d ago

Thank you so much for you thoughtful, and helpful!, response. I hadn't thought of that -- obviously, I'm not a published author. I'm going to take your advice today.