i think it is really tricky to sum up what the industry of book illustration is like because the experience for the illustrator seems to vary wildly from project to project. for emerging artists yet to make a name for themselves, self publishing seems to be a popular route. other artists work to commission, leaving limited scope for finding a personal connection to the subject matter. it also seems that illustrators who work in this industry have varied backgrounds and rarely just stick to illustrating books - they do lots of things. i think it's more common than i realised for the artists to control the text too, especially when it comes to artists books and graphic novels which seem to be the most exciting types of illustrated books at the moment. i could definitely see myself writing an illustrating a book of some kind, and trying to get it published. i think i have lots to say and perhaps the book format is a pretty good fit for me as an illustrator.