People with a rich imagination and sensitivity. People who like to write their own stories and draw pictures. People who can work steadily. People who are easily absorbed in things.

The job of a picture book artist is to create picture books, books whose content is centered on pictures. The target audience is children who encounter books for the first time, such as babies who cannot yet read or children who have just learned to read. Recently, however, many picture books are being created for adults. Picture books with "pop-up" characters and backgrounds that pop out when the pages are opened are popular with both children and adults. Some picture book authors write both pictures and text, while others only draw pictures or write text. The process of creating a picture book begins with thinking about what kind of work it will be. Sometimes picture book authors come up with the content themselves, while other times they are given the subject matter by the publisher. Once the content of the book is decided, the illustrations and text are written. Some authors write the text to match the pictures they have already drawn, while others draw the pictures to match the text. There are various ways to draw pictures, such as using crayons and paints, paper cutouts, prints, photographs, and computer graphics. Once both pictures and text are completed, the artist decides on the design of the book, such as where the text will be placed on the picture, and then prints the book. In this way, the picture book author puts all of his or her skills and sensibilities into a single book. What is necessary for such a picture book author is the ability to create ideas that children will find interesting and draw pictures that will leave a strong impression rather than just being good. It is also important to have the ability to write texts that are unique to picture books and express what you want to convey in a small number of words. There are few people who make a living as best-selling picture book authors. Many manga artists and illustrators publish their works as picture book authors, housewives illustrate picture books, and many people combine their work with other careers.

There are no special qualifications to become a picture book author. All you need is the skill to draw pictures and the ability to write. If you are not confident in self-study and want to learn the basics of drawing pictures, go to an art college or vocational school to acquire the skills. If you can apply the skills you learn there to create various types of pictures, it will be useful for creating picture books. What is important, however, is to create unique pictures that match the content of the picture book. Whether or not you have graduated from an art school is not important. On the other hand, picture book text is unique in that it is expressed in a small number of words. If you want to improve your writing skills, you can attend a picture book writing course or take a correspondence course on picture books that you can learn at home. Reading many picture books and copying their pictures and sentences is also a good way to improve your skills. In addition, as an exercise in generating ideas for picture book subjects, look carefully at your surroundings on a daily basis and look for things that would be interesting to make into picture books.

Many picture book authors make their debut by winning a prize in a picture book contest or submitting their illustrations to a publishing company, which recognizes their talent. Some picture book contests are held not only by publishing companies, but also by ordinary companies. The winning entries are sometimes published, and if they are well-received, there is a good chance that they will lead to the next book. For those who are not good at drawing, there are also contests for writing only. In addition, Itabashi Ward in Tokyo, which focuses on picture books, holds a contest for translating English and Italian picture books into Japanese. On the other hand, submitting a book to a publishing company is a great learning experience, as you can hear directly from the editor what he or she thinks of the book and what he or she would like to note. However, most publishers nowadays limit the sending of books by mail, so there are fewer opportunities to hear directly from the editors. It seems that in both competitions and book submissions, there is a growing demand for artists with unique and rich ideas and expressive abilities that publishers are eager to hear from them. It is not easy to make a living only as a picture book author, but a good picture book will surely catch someone's attention. Unlike manga and novels, picture books rarely sell millions of copies at once, but there are many picture books that have become long sellers and have been read for many years. If you make an effort to create a good picture book, chances are that one day you will get a chance.

Currently, fewer people are reading books, books are not selling well, and the declining birthrate, which is reducing the number of children, is also a problem. Despite this, sales of children's books are increasing. In particular, sales of picture books and the number of books published are increasing, and sales of long sellers are particularly strong. In addition, the range of picture book subjects is expanding, and the content of picture books is diversifying. On the other hand, the publishing industry is seeing an increase in digitized books that can be read on smartphones and tablets, but picture books are still mostly printed on paper. Many picture books are created with the size and feel of the paper in mind, as well as the behavior of turning the pages. Some people are concerned that this will diminish the pleasure of actually holding the book in one's hands. However, digitalized picture books also have the advantage of adding digital features such as an automatic reading-out function, sound and moving pictures, and other methods of expression unique to digital books. In the future, sales of both paperback and digital picture books are likely to grow as they take advantage of their respective merits. Picture book authors may be required to have ideas and skills to take advantage of the advantages of each.

The average annual income is between 4.24 and 7.9 million yen. Since most picture book authors work freelance, their source of income is book royalties and magazine subscription fees. Therefore, until they become successful, they often work as illustrators and other jobs to make ends meet.

If you do not work for a company, you are free to set your own schedule. However, I am so busy that I cannot take time off before the deadline.

Company office or, in the case of freelancers who do not work for a company, their own home workplace.

It's a chart that shows at a glance the main routes to getting a job as a picture book artist!