The dress was casual but for the startlingly low price of $36.86 the information shared was priceless. Southern Breeze SCBWI put on the largest Illustrator’s day to date. Elizabeth Dulemba, the Southern Breeze Illustration Coordinator, organized this info and inspiration packed event with the help of amazing presenters Rick Lovell, Bill Mayer, Loraine Joyner, Brian Seidman, and Mark Braught. The cherry on the top was a drop by visit from the Coretta Scott King award winner Shadra Stickland. Illustrator’s and publishers descended upon the DeKalb County Public Library from as far away as Alabama and the mountains of Western North Carolina. With all the talent and dedication in one location a sort of magical soup of inspiration swirled around the auditorium and portfolio review. The magical and positive vibe of the event was not at all unlike the magic created by Dulemba’s character in her picturebook for iphone and ipad, Lula’s Brew. Perhaps there is a little witch in Dulemba too!
The day started off with a super informative and inspiring panel discussion lead by Rick Lovell and Bill Mayer. Between the two of them they have approximately 80 years of illustration industry experience so all ears were at attention. Both agreed that you have to be in it for the love because picturebooks do not pay well; you make more for illustrating book covers than picturebooks. They suggested that if you are an author/illustrator a literary agent is a great idea. However, if you only do illustration you can look into an art representative; though art reps take a much higher cut than literary agents. Both speakers agreed that the two most important things in an illustrator’s promotion kit are a website and quarterly postcard mailings. Regarding websites, they caution not to put too much of your illustrated manuscript online.
Technology and how it influences the industry of illustration became a hot topic of discussion. Lovell and Mayer said illustrators should have all the technical knowledge to digitize their work, and know the basics of animation for everything from book trailers, promotional websites, and interactive digital books.
They continue to show their traditional work in galleries, as there seems to be a growing market for original illustration pieces in galleries. Neither utilizes illustration directories in their promotion. In their opinon, printed directories have been outmoded by websites. Illustration Directories can be extremely expensive and had not been profitable for either of the speakers.
Next up was Loraine Joyner, the art director at Peachtree Publishers. Joyner was extremely giving of both her time and industry knowledge. It was so wonderful to have an industry leader give a view into what is actually happening as those submissions cross her desk. She was encouraging and gave insight into areas of the business which illustrators may not think of on their own. Before this meeting I was unsure whether or not industry professionals still reference printed illustration directories and I was torn about the level of production that should go into my mailings/presentations. Joyner answered both of these questions.
Unlike the previous speakers, Joyner still uses professional illustration directories. Picturebook is her favorite directory to reference when looking for new illustrators for a project. She also recommends that author/illustrators get an agent when possible. In her opinion, it is better to let an agent do the dirty work. According to Joyner, you should always try to negotiate your signing price, but do so diplomatically.
To launch her discussion of promotional mailing, Joyner emptied out a bag of the illustration postcards she had received in the past month. She noted that Peachtree Publishers was receiving fewer mailings and the work was getting stronger. Then she began to address the individual aspects of the submissions. She emphasized that you do not need to make your mailings too complicated or overly packaged. In her opinion, overly packaged submissions often portend weak illustrations. Joyner insisted that the most important thing when creating promotional mailings was just to make sure that the work is strong. She went on to show a few pieces that were over produced and nice which she had kept strictly because they were so well done and engaging.
At first my brain was a bit confused. On the one hand she kept the overly packaged submissions in her office. On the other hand she said not to make overly packaged submissions. After reflection my not entirely caffeinated brain caught up with what Joyner was saying. Sure, Joyner kept some of the overly produced stuff but she did not hire any of those illustrators for jobs. They just provided her with free expensive office decorations. She was saying that as illustrators we need to keep our eye on the bottom line. Don’t spend tons of money and time on overly produced promo kits. Instead, once the work is strong, illustrators need to build up recognition with repetition by getting postcards in front of art directors, and editors on a regular basis. If the work fits what they need for their list and they think they can make a profit, they will contact you. Even if you spend five months hand carving a wooden box with their initials to hold your illustrations they wont hire you if they don’t think it will sell or fit a project. This is a business.
Then it was onto our final speaker, Brian Seidman of New South Publishing. New South is an up and coming publisher. They produce the same amount of books as a midsize publisher but they have the staff of a small house. When presenting Seidman, Elizabeth Dulemba noted that New South has won critical acclaim for one of their recent books A Yellow Watermelon, by Ted M. Dunagan.She also commented that it might be easier for an up and coming illustrator to get published with New South rather than a larger house. New South publishes mainly southern books. Only ten percent of their books have interior illustrations. They do not always give picturebook illustrators royalties. All of their book jacket illustrations are done for a strictly flat fee. Ninety percent of the time New South prefers working with illustrators who are designer hybrids. Meaning that in this tough market, they want their illustrators to know how to do as much of the work of producing the book as possible. They want to build relationships with illustrator/designers. They acknowledge that no one is going to get rich working on one book with them; instead they prefer to develop an ally with whom they can create many publishing projects.
Seidman suggested that every aspiring illustrator learn the following software: Illustrator, Photoshop, In-design, Flash animation and have the ability to produce book trailers on youtube. New South will pay more attention to your submission if you have previously been published. For this reason Seidman recommends that illustrators build their professional portfolio, even if that means doing pro bono work for non-profits or organizations such as SCBWI. Along the same vein of preferring to work with illustrators capable of doing all the design and layout they also prefer it if the illustrator handles their own digitizing of the original artwork.
New South is a new publisher so they don’t operate under quite the same rules as some of the older houses. However, maybe that is a good thing. Like the phoenix they have been born from the ashes of the economy. So maybe their leaner, more direct approach to publishing will help them and their illustrators/authors succeed.
Before the day itself Mark Braught mentored attending illustrators through the process of creating a finished portfolio piece. These pieces were presented at the kick off of the portfolio overview. All who participated waxed poetic about how generous, helpful, insightful and inspiring the time working with Mark had been. As we looked around the room at everyone’s work on one project you could really feel the creative juices rising. We were all grateful for Mark’s generous giving of his time.
Portfolios ranged the gamut from a few loose originals to very slick presentations. The speakers went around the room and commented on every portfolio. The savvy illustrators in attendance learned not only from the comments about their own portfolio but also by listening to what was said about the work of others. Some of the most important comments overall were: “Make your submissions bold and cohesive.” “Possibly schedule a New York visit. Follow up. Send post cards.” “If you do get an agent… remember they work for you, not the other way around. Make sure they are doing the promotion etc that you expect.” “Participate in big illustration competitions. Participating in competitions gets you experience and hopefully credentials.”
At the end of the day everyone was invigorated by both the level of excellence exhibited by the speakers and that of the presented portfolios. Every speaker seemed to agree with the following: Have a website, keep yourself in front of industry professionals by doing quarterly postcard mailings, if you don’t already know… Learn how to use graphic applications such as Photoshop, In-design, Illustrator and Flash, and of course make strong compelling art.
This was a truly awesome illustrator event. The caliber of the work was high and the company was great. I made new illustrator friends and learned a ton. The critical discourse was rigorous but the environment was positive, supportive and encouraging. It was the perfect Illustrator’s Day. Now I am off to go create my next quarterly postcard mailing. See you at the next Southern Breeze SCBWI Illustrator's Day!
The day started off with a super informative and inspiring panel discussion lead by Rick Lovell and Bill Mayer. Between the two of them they have approximately 80 years of illustration industry experience so all ears were at attention. Both agreed that you have to be in it for the love because picturebooks do not pay well; you make more for illustrating book covers than picturebooks. They suggested that if you are an author/illustrator a literary agent is a great idea. However, if you only do illustration you can look into an art representative; though art reps take a much higher cut than literary agents. Both speakers agreed that the two most important things in an illustrator’s promotion kit are a website and quarterly postcard mailings. Regarding websites, they caution not to put too much of your illustrated manuscript online.
Technology and how it influences the industry of illustration became a hot topic of discussion. Lovell and Mayer said illustrators should have all the technical knowledge to digitize their work, and know the basics of animation for everything from book trailers, promotional websites, and interactive digital books.
They continue to show their traditional work in galleries, as there seems to be a growing market for original illustration pieces in galleries. Neither utilizes illustration directories in their promotion. In their opinon, printed directories have been outmoded by websites. Illustration Directories can be extremely expensive and had not been profitable for either of the speakers.
Next up was Loraine Joyner, the art director at Peachtree Publishers. Joyner was extremely giving of both her time and industry knowledge. It was so wonderful to have an industry leader give a view into what is actually happening as those submissions cross her desk. She was encouraging and gave insight into areas of the business which illustrators may not think of on their own. Before this meeting I was unsure whether or not industry professionals still reference printed illustration directories and I was torn about the level of production that should go into my mailings/presentations. Joyner answered both of these questions.
Unlike the previous speakers, Joyner still uses professional illustration directories. Picturebook is her favorite directory to reference when looking for new illustrators for a project. She also recommends that author/illustrators get an agent when possible. In her opinion, it is better to let an agent do the dirty work. According to Joyner, you should always try to negotiate your signing price, but do so diplomatically.
To launch her discussion of promotional mailing, Joyner emptied out a bag of the illustration postcards she had received in the past month. She noted that Peachtree Publishers was receiving fewer mailings and the work was getting stronger. Then she began to address the individual aspects of the submissions. She emphasized that you do not need to make your mailings too complicated or overly packaged. In her opinion, overly packaged submissions often portend weak illustrations. Joyner insisted that the most important thing when creating promotional mailings was just to make sure that the work is strong. She went on to show a few pieces that were over produced and nice which she had kept strictly because they were so well done and engaging.
At first my brain was a bit confused. On the one hand she kept the overly packaged submissions in her office. On the other hand she said not to make overly packaged submissions. After reflection my not entirely caffeinated brain caught up with what Joyner was saying. Sure, Joyner kept some of the overly produced stuff but she did not hire any of those illustrators for jobs. They just provided her with free expensive office decorations. She was saying that as illustrators we need to keep our eye on the bottom line. Don’t spend tons of money and time on overly produced promo kits. Instead, once the work is strong, illustrators need to build up recognition with repetition by getting postcards in front of art directors, and editors on a regular basis. If the work fits what they need for their list and they think they can make a profit, they will contact you. Even if you spend five months hand carving a wooden box with their initials to hold your illustrations they wont hire you if they don’t think it will sell or fit a project. This is a business.
Then it was onto our final speaker, Brian Seidman of New South Publishing. New South is an up and coming publisher. They produce the same amount of books as a midsize publisher but they have the staff of a small house. When presenting Seidman, Elizabeth Dulemba noted that New South has won critical acclaim for one of their recent books A Yellow Watermelon, by Ted M. Dunagan.She also commented that it might be easier for an up and coming illustrator to get published with New South rather than a larger house. New South publishes mainly southern books. Only ten percent of their books have interior illustrations. They do not always give picturebook illustrators royalties. All of their book jacket illustrations are done for a strictly flat fee. Ninety percent of the time New South prefers working with illustrators who are designer hybrids. Meaning that in this tough market, they want their illustrators to know how to do as much of the work of producing the book as possible. They want to build relationships with illustrator/designers. They acknowledge that no one is going to get rich working on one book with them; instead they prefer to develop an ally with whom they can create many publishing projects.
Seidman suggested that every aspiring illustrator learn the following software: Illustrator, Photoshop, In-design, Flash animation and have the ability to produce book trailers on youtube. New South will pay more attention to your submission if you have previously been published. For this reason Seidman recommends that illustrators build their professional portfolio, even if that means doing pro bono work for non-profits or organizations such as SCBWI. Along the same vein of preferring to work with illustrators capable of doing all the design and layout they also prefer it if the illustrator handles their own digitizing of the original artwork.
New South is a new publisher so they don’t operate under quite the same rules as some of the older houses. However, maybe that is a good thing. Like the phoenix they have been born from the ashes of the economy. So maybe their leaner, more direct approach to publishing will help them and their illustrators/authors succeed.
Before the day itself Mark Braught mentored attending illustrators through the process of creating a finished portfolio piece. These pieces were presented at the kick off of the portfolio overview. All who participated waxed poetic about how generous, helpful, insightful and inspiring the time working with Mark had been. As we looked around the room at everyone’s work on one project you could really feel the creative juices rising. We were all grateful for Mark’s generous giving of his time.
Portfolios ranged the gamut from a few loose originals to very slick presentations. The speakers went around the room and commented on every portfolio. The savvy illustrators in attendance learned not only from the comments about their own portfolio but also by listening to what was said about the work of others. Some of the most important comments overall were: “Make your submissions bold and cohesive.” “Possibly schedule a New York visit. Follow up. Send post cards.” “If you do get an agent… remember they work for you, not the other way around. Make sure they are doing the promotion etc that you expect.” “Participate in big illustration competitions. Participating in competitions gets you experience and hopefully credentials.”
At the end of the day everyone was invigorated by both the level of excellence exhibited by the speakers and that of the presented portfolios. Every speaker seemed to agree with the following: Have a website, keep yourself in front of industry professionals by doing quarterly postcard mailings, if you don’t already know… Learn how to use graphic applications such as Photoshop, In-design, Illustrator and Flash, and of course make strong compelling art.
This was a truly awesome illustrator event. The caliber of the work was high and the company was great. I made new illustrator friends and learned a ton. The critical discourse was rigorous but the environment was positive, supportive and encouraging. It was the perfect Illustrator’s Day. Now I am off to go create my next quarterly postcard mailing. See you at the next Southern Breeze SCBWI Illustrator's Day!
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Kung Fu Weenie 09/17/2010
The project I am currently working on is titled Kung Fu Weenie
Imagine Classic Kung Fu Movie in picture book form with Weenie dog as the beleaguered hero.
I grew up loving old Kung Fu movies. We had a lot of weird tv stations when I was little because our tv was... hmmmmm... How should I say this? Heck it was stolen. Long story but a guy owed my dad and so he got us cracked satellite tv.
We had a lot of foreign channels and my favorites were the untranslated Kung Fu movies. I would sit far too close to the screen and make up the words of what the characters were saying. Some times I would play a long with my "My Little Ponies".
A typical young Lauren translation would go something like this.
Bad Guy: "Ha ha ha! Now I steal from stupid Cotton Candy Acres!"
Good Guy: "What's this!? A Thief?! You have stolen from Cotton Candy Acres for the last time! Now you will pay with your life!"
I was always overly dramatic so there were many pony deaths. Sometimes I buried them and dug them up weeks later after they were all covered in dirt and stuff. Then they would attack cotton candy acres as Evil Pony Zombie hordes. Ha hahaha. Zombie Ponies still make me laugh.... Hey Publishers and agents. I am looking for representation. If you like what you see, email me.
Imagine Classic Kung Fu Movie in picture book form with Weenie dog as the beleaguered hero.
I grew up loving old Kung Fu movies. We had a lot of weird tv stations when I was little because our tv was... hmmmmm... How should I say this? Heck it was stolen. Long story but a guy owed my dad and so he got us cracked satellite tv.
We had a lot of foreign channels and my favorites were the untranslated Kung Fu movies. I would sit far too close to the screen and make up the words of what the characters were saying. Some times I would play a long with my "My Little Ponies".
A typical young Lauren translation would go something like this.
Bad Guy: "Ha ha ha! Now I steal from stupid Cotton Candy Acres!"
Good Guy: "What's this!? A Thief?! You have stolen from Cotton Candy Acres for the last time! Now you will pay with your life!"
I was always overly dramatic so there were many pony deaths. Sometimes I buried them and dug them up weeks later after they were all covered in dirt and stuff. Then they would attack cotton candy acres as Evil Pony Zombie hordes. Ha hahaha. Zombie Ponies still make me laugh.... Hey Publishers and agents. I am looking for representation. If you like what you see, email me.
Word Count and Great Picturebooks 09/17/2010
One of my favorite professors in Grad school was a brilliant spoken word poet. He encouraged me to memorize the words of my favorite picturebooks so that I could internalize there vocal rhythm.
Recently I have been rereading some of my "How to Write Picturebooks" books. Many of them suggest transcribing favorite contemporary picturebooks into word documents. This too is a helpful method of dissecting the rhythm, flow and length of the words in picturebooks. What I have been discovering is that the books that I personally really respond to are under not 700 words but 459 words.
Before any naysayers claim that this is a sign of our society breaking down and our attention spans oozing out of our brains as we become more and more plugged in...
One of my absolute favorite books from childhood is "Harry the Dirty Dog". I use it with the third graders I tutor in reading and excluding the sequence about the coal chute they all can relate to and love the story. "Harry the Dirty Dog" is a whopping 459 words. It's original pub date is 1956.
Recently I have been rereading some of my "How to Write Picturebooks" books. Many of them suggest transcribing favorite contemporary picturebooks into word documents. This too is a helpful method of dissecting the rhythm, flow and length of the words in picturebooks. What I have been discovering is that the books that I personally really respond to are under not 700 words but 459 words.
Before any naysayers claim that this is a sign of our society breaking down and our attention spans oozing out of our brains as we become more and more plugged in...
One of my absolute favorite books from childhood is "Harry the Dirty Dog". I use it with the third graders I tutor in reading and excluding the sequence about the coal chute they all can relate to and love the story. "Harry the Dirty Dog" is a whopping 459 words. It's original pub date is 1956.
