I’ve just started working on illustrating and designing a new children’s book, eeeeeee! Now that the contract was signed, the deposit received, and I’m ready to put pencil to paper, and thought I’d share my process as it’s happening.

1) Setup :  30 minutes
• Printing out copy of contract
• Print out and fill out time sheet
• Print out manuscript
• Set up a folder on my laptop to organize files created and received along the way
2) Analyzing the story : 2 hours
• Reading through the story to determine how much text will go on each page
• Underline key visual imagery to be included in illustration mentioned in story
• Make notes for ideas for imagery I have while reading the story
• Sketch thumbnails of the layout with notes on rough concepts for each spread

3) Gathering Imagery : 30 minutes
• Using Google Images to find imagery to use as reference and inspiration

4) Preparing proof for author : 1 hour
• Scanned any thumbnails
• Created book layout in InDesign
• Inserted the text and scanned images into the layout according to my thumbnails
• Described each page on digital “sticky notes” on each page
• Emailed author a PDF proof of the concepts for review

Time spent so far : 3.5 hours
Materials : pen, 8 pieces of recycled printer paper, ipad, and InDesign on laptop.

Next up over the next couple weeks are more detailed sketches…

This is a great article for authors / childrens book illustrators who want to get their books out there digitally. To sum up, authors are making their e-books available through app stores at affordable prices… and making it big.

E-books are the next generation of self-publishing… or e-publishing. It’s inexpensive to create an e-book, and as easy as creating a PDF… do a quick google search and there are many articles on how to build your own e-book. I also love the fact that the impact on the environment is low… you aren’t wasting paper by printing thousands of books, are saving the cost of fuel in distributing the books, etc. Because authors are saving on the up front costs of printing their books, as well as publishing themselves and cutting out the middle-men (printers, publishers & shipping), they are able to price their books lower and reach a wider audience.

“While traditional novelists only see a very small amount of royalties on their book if it’s not a best seller, Hocking gets 70% of all money from her book sales. Since she sells around 100,000 copies of her books per month, that’s a lot of money.”

I bought my first e-book this week (Ready, Set, Green : Treehugger.com), and I must say I was miffed that it was priced the same as the printed paper version… if I have the choice between a paper book and a digital book at the same price, I would pick the paper book hands down. It just doesn’t make sense why publishers would price these e-books at the same price as printed books if they are saving so much money on printing & distribution. (Who wants to spend a lot of money on something that can be duplicated with as little effort as typing Apple-C-Apple-V?)
There are ebooks also available as iPad apps for kids… iBook comes with a free copy of Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh, and in the app store there are many free picture books for kids (The Grouchies by Debbie Wagenbach.) Children’s book authors/illustrators have a great opportunity to add e-books alongside their printed book offerings.

P.S. If anyone comes across a great how-to for building a picture e-book, please let me know! I’m going to give it a go myself at some point on my own picture books, but being on maternity leave it’s not exactly a high priority over changing diapers at the moment ;)

“Kindle indie author is making millions by selling the App Store way” via Geek.com

“The picture books that do the best are a real marriage of writing and illustration.”
– Kenny Brechner, book shop owner (via Publisher Weekly Article)

This is a really interesting article over at Publisher’s Weekly (by Karen Springen) debunking a sensationalized article posted at the New York Times claiming picture books are in decline. It is a great read for children’s book illustrators as it goes into a lot of depth on what can affect children’s book sales, who is buying and reading books, and a lot of valuable insight into the industry.
I love that this article touches on the misconception that picture books are for children only up to about 3 years old… that they are in fact often appropriate for much older kids (and in my case, even adults!)

I also really liked how the article addresses the introduction of electronic media :

“Kids are omnivorous,” she (Kristen McLean) said. “We’ve lived with this idea of television is bad, books are good. What we’re finding is that it’s all reinforcing literacy. The kids who are reading a lot are also the kids who are participating online, are blogging, are involved in lots of different media.”

I know this to be true of my three-year-old… she knows how to use my ipad and turn on the playstation, but those things haven’t stopped her from looking at her picture books for hours. Ultimately I think that it comes down to supply & demand… as parents if we feel picture books are important for our kids, they will be available to meet our demands.

Tom Krause, author of “The Little Boy’s Smile,” recently sent me this link to a reading of our story up on YouTube… enjoy!

I had the pleasure of receiving a copy of “The Cutest Face” by Toronto illustrator & Author, Rebecca Zak. I grew up in the Toronto area, and the best complement I can give this book is that it truly captures the “diversity & equity” of the classroom experience I experienced then, and students still enjoy now.

Rebecca’s illustrations are beautifully done, her command of realism with oil paints is really great… and she captures that “class photo” feel with little touches like the curtain in the background, the children’s poses, and variety of expressions.

The story itself is sweet, feels like a book of complements to each of the children in Rebecca’s class, appreciating them for who they are as individuals. The icing on the cake is how she pulls it together at the end, with “how cute everyone looks altogether” in their class photo.
The book itself has a lovely feel to it, is hardcover and the paper has a lovely feel to it. It is printed on paper “From Well Managed Forests” approved by the FSC. The book was designed by Dave Zak.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to share in the enjoyment of diversity with their children.

We might be reading Hera too many books (just two or three a day) as she has started narrating what she is doing! The last couple weeks, Hera has been ending most things she says with “said Mommy.” She says things like: “Have a glass of water, said Horton the Elephant?” or “I go to the library, said Mommy?” Hmmm, might have to crack the playdough out more often.

I was pleased to discover that the first four stories of Little Land Adventures, which I illustrated a few years ago, has now been divided into four separate books. Little Bird, Little Pig, Little Iguana, and Little Raccoon are now available on Amazon.com for $9.99 each. (Have a sneak peak at the illustrations inside.)

Question: How do you show publishers glitter throughout illustrations? Answer: Typically you would show this in a separate printout simply in black. If you have design software such as InDesign, the easiest way to do this is to create a layer for the illustration and text, and a separate layer for the glitter/foil. Then you just block in the area you want glittered in black on that separate layer. Otherwise, you can simply tell the publisher in your cover letter that you want the book to have glitter throughout. You can send a small sample of it with glitter hand applied on a copy of the illustration, but I wouldn’t recommend mocking up the whole book this way… if your book gets picked up by the Publisher, then you can discuss your ideas for the rest of the book. (I’ve posted screen shots with examples of foil and emboss on a real greeting card mockup here.)
Question : Who decides the shape of the book (square, landscape, portrait etc.) - the illustrator or the publisher? Answer : The publisher usually has specific sizes they work with, but there is some flexibility there if the illustrator has their own great ideas!

Question : I plan on approaching publishers with my finished artwork… what if they want a square book when i have drawn on a rectangular page, or vice versa? will i have to redo all my illustrations? Answer : I wouldn’t recommend submitting your manuscript with all the artwork finished… a potential problem with the size is the least of your worries, as most publishers don’t like to receive the illustrations and manuscript together. In most cases either the illustrator can’t write, or the author can’t draw! Occasionally you get a person who can do both, but it’s best if you submit the two separately. If you want to send one sample of your illustration that would go with the book that would be alright. Also… Publishers have a wealth of experience, and their tips and feedback can actually improve your illustrations, so illustrating the book after the manuscript is accepted is a great way to go.

Question: Does the publisher/ author tell u what media they want u to use? Answer: Usually publishers select an illustrator based on their style… so if they hire you, they already like the media and style you use! If you have more than one style, they will tell you which they were drawn to. Often there is flexibility there if you feel your illustrations would look better in a different media, that’s open for discussion with the publisher.

Just received an email from a fellow illustrator with some questions about sending samples to publishers…
Question : I have recently written and illustrated a children’s book that has been rejected across the board. But aside from, I am deeply interested in illustrating books that other authors have written. Would you be able to offer any advice as to how else I could go about getting recognized in the industry? I have sent illustration samples to almost 200 publishing companies and still nothing.

Answer : Thanks for your letter… Would love to give you heaps of advice, but am a full time mum now so haven’t much time on my hands…

The main tip I have is to make sure you are doing research so that you are sending samples to publishers who actually handle children’s books, and that you comply to the way they want manuscripts sent. (Publisher Catalogues is an extensive online database.)

Publishers don’t really want illustrations and manuscripts sent together… they often find either the illustrator cant write, or the author can’t draw! (See my notes from a meeting with Omnibus Books Editor here.) Try submitting your samples and manuscripts separately.

Also… Have patience! Sometimes your samples just arrive at the wrong time… It took me two years of sending samples out to get my first kids book job. Publishers often have their books planned for a couple years in advance, so they may just not have the work yet.

You can also include a response card in your samples, so that they can tick it’s been received, or even leave a comment if your work isn’t suitable for the types of books they publish.

I’ve also posted lots of tips for illustrators including ideas for how to send samples and approach publishers.