Why I Commissioned Character Art for My Novel

Character art of William, Aster and James. Illustration by Leni Kauffman.

Celebrate your wins, big or small. Finish a chapter? Celebrate. Get 50 words down on the page? Shout it from the rooftops. Finally typed “The End” on your manuscript? You get the point. Don’t wait until you get an agent or publish a book to toast all the hard work you’ve done to get there. I think it’s important to take pride in everything you’ve accomplished, and this is something I’ve been trying to embrace in my own life to make sure I don’t get too bogged down by doubts about my writing and thoughts about being behind on my goals.

So, last year, I decided to celebrate two writing wins: finishing my book and starting the querying process. When I turned 30 (cue Jamie Lee Curtis screaming “I’m like the crypt keeper”), I didn’t go wild with a huge party (hello, I am an introvert), but gifted myself something to honor all my writing milestones leading up to my birthday instead. I commissioned character art.

I’ve always envisioned having artwork of my first book characters nearby while I write as a reminder of why I started this journey in the first place. To encourage myself to keep going – and to prevent myself from banging my head against the keyboard too often. So, while many months had already passed since I finished my first book and began querying agents, I finally reached out to an artist to help me commemorate these moments.

Enter the fabulous Leni Kauffman, whose work I first discovered on Instagram (not knowing I’d actually already seen some of it in bookstores) through various authors I followed. She’s illustrated covers for so many big names in romance, and I absolutely love her style. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to commission character art from her (and yes, maybe a small part of me was trying to manifest my own book cover one day).

After I reached out to her, we worked together for a few months on the concept. I provided her with details about the characters I wanted to focus on, images of people who reminded me of them, and the setting I imagined them in. My book takes place in London, so we went with a simple London backdrop. She sent me sketches to review during the process and finally sent me this stunning artwork. She captured them all perfectly, and it was kind of surreal to see the characters who had spent so long in my head and on my pages there right in front of me.

Now, Aster, William and James are framed above my desk where I can see them daily. They’re a glimpse at what I’ve done and what I know I can do in the months to come if I just try. I don’t know if this trio will ever make it into the pages of a printed book one day or if any of my future characters will find their way to readers, but for now, I’m going to celebrate this win with them by my side.

So whether you’re commissioning your own character art or simply popping some bubbly, I encourage you all to find a way to celebrate your writing wins.