Illustrator Job Description

My Career Path to a Published Author

Hello, I am Nathan Hale. I am a New York Times bestselling author and author-illustrator of graphic novels for young readers.

I chose this job because I have always wanted a job that involved drawing and creating and telling stories. When I was in high school, I started drawing a lot and I kind of made a goal that I would only take jobs that involve art. I jumped from mural painting and houses, doing display work for museums, to paid illustration. I went to art school and I began drawing. An author friend asked if I wanted to get involved on a graphic novel project. I said yes, and that was 14 years ago and I'm still working in graphic novels. 

Graphic Novelist Job Requirements

These books take up to a year to create. When you're creating a graphic novel, you're essentially drawing thousands of tiny compositions. So the main thing is time, time, and ability to draw and ability to write and explain things using the cartoon language. Not just words, but the ways cartoons work. If you are a cartoonist, you are going to spend about 10 hours a day drawing. I will sometimes draw up to 16 hours a day and that's every day. I don't get weekends, I don't get holidays. It is constantly drawing. BUT, you get to work wherever you want.

How Much Does an Author Make?

Early days, not much, and you only get paid twice a year. Your royalty's statement comes two times. You get paid to fall and you get paid in the spring. It took me until I had probably over 12 books out before I was making six figures. You gotta do it out of love and you got to put out a lot of books. Once you get a lot of books out though, the royalties continue to come in and it gets pretty comfortable. After a while, but it took a long time to get there. 

Writer Pros and Cons

The pros are you are telling stories. You're essentially like a movie director that doesn't have to work with anybody. You're telling the whole story and that's a really fun feeling if you like that kind of thing. The cons are, it's all you get to do. You have to think about it all the time. You draw it all the time. You don't get much free time, you don't get a lot of hobbies. You're just drawing all the time. But if you like that kind of thing, it's great.