I’ve spoken with authors who lost thousands of dollars to children’s book illustration scams, and I don’t want anyone else to fall into the same traps – especially when you can learn to spot them surprisingly easily!
Over the past few years, I’ve been part of several writing and illustrating communities, and I’ve seen just about every scam you can imagine.
In this blog, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to confidently hire an illustrator for your children’s book – without the stress or second-guessing.
So first things first, let’s talk about the main three categories of illustration scams you’re likely to run into:
- AI scammers
- Clipart scammers
- People who steal artwork from real illustrators and pass it off as their own
How to spot AI scams
There are two main ways to spot AI in a children’s book illustration. You can do it by:
- Learning to analyze AI art
- Looking at a whole portfolio instead of one piece (Which is something you should do regardless)
For the purpose of this demonstration, I AI generated an illustration that at a first glance looks completely legitimate. Let’s find the warning signs together:
- The girl: Her eyes(1) look off. She’s supposed to be looking at the puppy I would assume, but it isn’t clear where she’s looking. Her mouth(2) is off, almost like it was smeared, and the same goes for some of her hair(3). Her ear(4) has an extra line that shouldn’t be there.
- The background: The wooden posts(5) in the background have random lines scattered in places that don’t make sense. You can see in one area(6) it’s almost like the AI tried to emulate the classic wooden texture and stopped halfway through.
If you’ve been looking for an illustrator for a while now, you might instinctively be able to tell when something feels off. AI scams are unbelievably popular, but on the flipside I can now tell when an image is AI generated 99% of the time providing I zoom in enough.
If you still aren’t sure that you could spot these things yourself – relax. Luckily for you most AI scammers are pretty lazy and will do one or both of the following 90% of the time:
- They won’t put in the extra two seconds to get an art style that isn’t super generic. What that means is that if you see the same style across multiple different supposed artists, it’s time to take a closer look at their profile/socials.
- A whole lot of scammers don’t fix obvious mistakes. An extra limb for example or creepy, soulless eyes are somewhat common.
In my experience, generic 3D-style art scams pop up most often on Fiverr and in Facebook groups. Since real 3D-looking art takes time and skill, it usually costs more – so if someone’s offering highly detailed work dirt cheap, that’s a major red flag.
Here are some more ways to check:
Ask for progress shots of a single illustration: It can be an illustration that they choose themselves. While most illustrators don’t save progress shots for every single artwork, most of us have started to document our process at least a little. Of course if you’re commissioning a sample from them – make sure to ask for that from the get go.
If you’re dealing with a scammer, they most likely won’t take the time trying to put a filter on the artwork in question – and if they do it’s usually very obvious.
Ask if they have any speedpaints that you can watch: Again, not every artist will have those, but many do and it’s probably the easiest way to tell if their art isn’t AI generated.
How to Spot Clipart Scams
So first of all – what is clipart?
In this context, clipart refers to illustrations that have been either stolen or bought as part of pre-made art packs, then pasted together to create what looks like a custom image. These aren’t original illustrations – just recycled elements arranged to look like a full scene.
This type of scam used to be incredibly popular (especially on Fiverr), but nowadays most scammers switched over to AI, because as I mentioned previously – scammers tend to be very lazy.
Signs Someone Is Using Clipart
A major red flag is inconsistent visual styles across different elements of an illustration. For example:
- The sky might be a flat, cartoonish gradient, while the characters look hyper-realistic or 3D.
- The characters might be textured and minimalistic, but the trees in the background are heavily detailed and shaded.
- Shadows might be missing from certain objects or appear only on a few elements.
If anything looks like it was pasted in from somewhere else, there’s a strong chance it was.
Now you might be thinking to yourself – “Why should I care if it looks good in the end?”
Here’s why it matters:
- Legal issues. Many of those art elements come from packs that don’t allow commercial use, or worse, they were outright stolen. That means your book could run into copyright issues down the line.
- Lack of flexibility. If you want your character to do something specific – like cry, dance, or wear a different outfit – the scammer won’t be able to provide that unless there’s already a clipart piece that matches. You’re essentially stuck with what they have.
Luckily it isn’t as common as it used to be – but enough of it is still around that you should be able to spot it.
How to Spot Art Theft Scammers
In my opinion, this is one of the easiest scams to spot. The key thing to remember – and this applies to all types of art scams – is this: never judge by a single piece. Always look at their entire portfolio. A lot of scammers don’t bother making the stolen artworks look cohesive.
When Does It Get Trickier?
When a scammer has stolen an illustrator’s entire portfolio – sometimes even copying their name, bio, or branding. This can make them look more legitimate at a glance.
But even then, there is still a very simple way to check if the artwork is stolen:
- Do a reverse image search. Most scammers don’t dig deep – they’ll often take work from the first few artists that show up in a search. That means the original artist likely has a public presence, like a website, social media profile, or online shop.
- Pay attention to the questions they ask – if any. Did they ask about the scope of the project? Deadlines? If someone throws out a price without asking any questions, they’re likely a scammer. A legitimate illustrator won’t toss out random numbers – they’ll only provide a quote after fully understanding the scope of the work.
- Check if they have a dedicated portfolio website. Professional children’s book illustrators who have been in the business a while normally have one – and a scammer won’t bother making their own.
Be especially wary of promises to illustrate a full book in two weeks or a month. These kinds of promises often come from people who don’t realize that illustrating a children’s book typically takes 3 to 6 months – sometimes even longer.
Bonus – As I was writing this blog, a scammer messaged me on Facebook.
I had just posted asking authors who’ve been scammed to share their stories, hoping to learn more about tactics I might not be familiar with and guess who decided to chime in? That’s right – our friendly neighborhood scammer.
Which brings me to a point that applies to all kinds of scams: scammers usually just skim your posts. This works in your favor and is often the very first red flag, even before they share their “art.”
It doesn’t matter where you post that you are looking for a children’s book illustrator – Upwork, Facebook groups, Instagram –
If someone replies and it feels like they didn’t read a single word you wrote, look into it. Sometimes it’s just an inattentive illustrator, but even then, it might be better to keep looking for someone more engaged.
I can’t stress this enough: you do not want to be stuck with an illustrator who doesn’t communicate. Children’s book illustration takes months, and your story deserves to be brought to life exactly the way you envision it.
Stay safe out there, and if you’re not quite sure if you’ve found a scam – feel free to message me, I’ll take a look at it myself!
