: Re: Are illustrations in novels frowned upon? Lately I've been thinking that I don't know of a single novel that has illustrations in it. I've tried finding out the reason why, and came across

@Samaraweera193

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Books for young children --including novels --are almost always illustrated, and the younger the audience age, the more elaborate and central the illustrations. Middle grade novels frequently have at-least spot illustrations --and novel/graphic-novel hybrids like the Wimpy Kid series are not uncommon. Even young adult novels often have at least some illustrations, but it is rare in adult fiction. (The City of Dreaming Books series is a notable exception --it was illustrated by the author. However, it's a unique work, that would probably have been characterized as a children's book if it had been initially published in America.) There's also the occasional picture book aimed at adults, but these are very rare --Griffin & Sabine and Masquerade are the only two that come readily to mind for me.

The probable reason is that children demand illustrations in their books, but adults are perfectly content to read pure text. In other words, it's market-driven. There may be adult readers who like illustrations, but those pictures probably aren't selling extra copies like they are for children's books. That, in turn, means illustrations aren't likely to be something the publisher wants --they'd either have to be essential to the text or insisted upon by the author. In both cases, the author would probably already need to have some pull with the publisher --to either be a known seller, or to be considered an especially good bet. It's a similar situation with Author's Notes. Most publishers won't include these except as a favor to a well-known author. This may seem like excessive cheapness on the part of the publisher, but books typically have small profit margins, so shaving a few cents per copy can help.

Interestingly enough, adult non-fiction is more likely to be illustrated than fiction --perhaps the drier subject matter needs more help to be appealing! Also, as @Galastel mentioned, classic books are often re-released in lavishly illustrated editions. This is because there are already competing editions available, and the publisher needs something to distinguish their version from the pack (and potentially get book-lovers to shell out new money for a book that they already own). That's also why classics often get the full treatment in other ways --leatherbound editions, and so forth.

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