How I work

I tailor the way I work to best support the unique needs of each clients. Traditional publishing professionals and self-publishing authors often require different timelines, communication structures, and deliverables, so I adapt my process to help each project move forward. While the way we work together may differ, the goal is always the same, a clear, collaborative experience that leads to a strong final result.

Traditional Publishing
(Editors & Art Directors)

I'm represented by Daniel Cramer at Page Turner Literary Agency, I kindly request that individuals who work at traditional publishing houses, small presses, or indie presses reach out through my agent with project requests.

Self-Publishing (Authors)

I work with self-publishing authors through Reedsy. You can find out more about all my service offerings and pricing on my profile.

At this time, I do not accept royalty deals with self-publishing authors. I only work with self-publishing clients on a flat-fee, work-for-hire basis.

My Illustration Process

Whether you’re a traditional publishing professional or a self-publishing author, my illustration process remains the same. Thoughtful and collaborative from start to finish. Every project receives the same level of care, quality, and thorough review.

Character Design

I start by exploring character design of all major, reoccuring characters through sketches. I create a character lineup that I will use as refrence as I work through the book.

Sketches

Each page and the cover start with thumbnail sketches to explore different compositions. Once I've landed on a thumbnail sketch I like, I will work it up into a rough sketch. Rough sketches are a good reflection of what the final art will look like in terms of composition, size of characters, and poses. Details and background elements in rough sketches may be loose and less developed than in the final artwork. The rough sketch phase is also where most of the editing happens for me. I may get feedback and edit or completly redraw a rough sketch a few times before I'm ready to move to final art.

Final Art

Using the rough sketch as my guide, I carefully render each final illustration for the story in it's own high-resolution document.

Book Design

Depending on the needs of my client, I wil either hand artwork over to them to lay out the final book, or I will take care of the book layout including typesetting, positioning illustrations, and running prepress on the files.

image of curriculum materials for preschools & daycare
image of bookstore interior
image of tattoo sketches on a desk
image of tattoo sketches on a desk
image of curriculum materials for preschools & daycare

Drop Taylor a note.

Questions, ideas, or event requests? Taylor would love to hear from you. Fill out the form below or reach out totaylor(at)woolleystories(dot)com

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preschool group story-time session
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