Do not index
Do not index
Naomi Goredema spent a decade writing children's books she couldn't illustrate.
She had 200 manuscripts sitting in folders on her computer. Stories from Zimbabwe, Brazil, Japan, and cultures around the world. Ancient tales she wanted to share with modern children. But every time she tried to create illustrations, the technical barriers stopped her cold.
Using Photoshop, InDesign, and Midjourney together, it took her 3 days to create a single character. And even then, the character would look different across illustrations. She couldn't maintain consistency.
Today, things are different.
Since March 2025, Naomi has illustrated 20 complete children's books. She built a multilingual publishing platform called Nandi Books. She's translating her stories into Arabic, German, French, and Chinese. And she's planning to quit her day job to pursue this full-time.
What changed? She discovered a tool that reduced her character creation time from 3 days to 30 seconds: Neolemon.
"I used to spend three days to make one character using Photoshop, InDesign, and Midjourney. Now it takes me 30 seconds, basically. You guys have changed the game."
Here's how one author's creative vision became reality after a decade of waiting.
The 10-Year Creative Bottleneck
Naomi started writing children's books at 19 while living in Zimbabwe.
Her mother recognized her passion early and invested in creative education. Naomi took Photoshop classes, learned design software, and studied illustration techniques. She moved from Zimbabwe to Switzerland, balancing work with her creative dreams.
But the technical challenges were overwhelming:
The old workflow:
- Write the story
- Sketch character concepts
- Design characters in Photoshop (days of work)
- Transfer to InDesign for layout
- Use Midjourney to generate scenes
- Manually edit everything for consistency
- Repeat for every single page
The problems:
- Characters looked different across illustrations
- Cultural details got lost or mixed up
- The process took so long that finishing one book felt impossible
- Balancing this with a full-time job was exhausting
"I also work at the same time, so it has taken a toll on me because you need time to do all these things. You come from work and you're just like, okay, where do I start?"
200 manuscripts accumulated over the years. Each one represented hours of writing, research, and cultural authenticity. But without illustrations, they stayed unpublished.
Why Hiring an Illustrator Wasn't the Answer
You might wonder: why not just commission professional illustrators?
Naomi tried. The problem wasn't cost (though that was significant). The problem was cultural authenticity.
"I don't think anyone could have understood what I was trying to do. When you explain to people, 'I want it like this,' they won't do it the right way. You're like, 'why are you making a Chinese person dress like an Indian person?' That doesn't make sense."
Her stories came from her travels across Brazil, Africa, Japan, and dozens of other cultures. She knew the details mattered. The clothing, the settings, the facial features, the cultural context. Getting those wrong would undermine the entire purpose of her books.
No illustrator could hold all that cultural knowledge. And explaining it in enough detail for accuracy? That took nearly as long as doing it herself.
She needed a solution that understood detailed cultural descriptions and could execute them precisely. Traditional tools and human illustrators couldn't deliver both.
Now she uses Neolemon every single day (and keeps buying more credits regularly to fulfill her creative goals).
The Breakthrough Moment
When Naomi tried Neolemon, she was skeptical. She'd already tried Midjourney and knew AI's limitations.
"I was like, hmm, let me try it. I used my other laptop... Then I used it and I was like, oh my goodness!"
The transformation:
Speed: 3 days → 30 seconds (99.8% reduction)
Consistency: Same character across every page
Cultural accuracy: AI understood detailed cultural descriptions
The tool did exactly what she'd spent a decade trying to accomplish manually.
The Results
With the illustration barrier removed, Naomi's creative output exploded:
- 20 books illustrated in 4 months
- 4 languages (Arabic, German, French, English, Chinese coming)
- 1 website built in 2 weeks: Nandi Books
- 200+ manuscripts ready to illustrate
She didn't just illustrate books—she built a complete publishing ecosystem focused on culturally authentic stories for children worldwide.
Beyond the Books
The time savings transformed Naomi's entire life:
✅ Plays polo
✅ Quality time with family and friends
✅ Charitable work in Zimbabwe
✅ Planning transition to full-time author
"I'm just so happy because now I have time to play polo... I'm going to quit my job very soon because the people that are coming up to me, seeing the website, they're like, 'can we sign you up?' I'm like, no, no, no. Let me do it on my own."
Publishers are approaching her. She's choosing independence—why give up creative control when the tools finally let her execute her vision?
What's next: This week she's releasing her first AI-illustrated collection. Next year, she's planning animation adaptations and using profits to support children's education in Zimbabwe.
What This Means for You
Naomi's story proves three things:
1. Technology can amplify creativity without requiring technical expertise
2. AI can preserve cultural authenticity when guided by cultural knowledge
3. Creative freedom enables life freedom when friction disappears
"You guys really changed the game.... As a person who was an author since I was 19, you couldn't do anything like this at all. I couldn't imagine anything like this."
Your Turn
If you have stories waiting to be illustrated, Naomi's journey poses a question:
How many years will you wait?
She waited 10 years while 200 manuscripts accumulated. Not because she lacked talent or vision—because the tools couldn't execute what she imagined.
When she found Neolemon, everything changed in 4 months: 20 books while working full-time.
Start your transformation:
- Visit Neolemon.com
- Try the free trial (no credit card required)
- Create your first character in 30 seconds
- See how quickly you can bring your stories to life
For step-by-step guidance on creating your own consistent characters, check out our user guides or watch our tutorial on creating children's book illustrations with character consistency.
Have a story waiting to come to life? Neolemon helps creators build consistent characters for children's books, animations, and educational content, so you can focus on the storytelling, not the struggle.
