#kidlitart

PBDummy Step 2: Halfway check

2012-01-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

So, we’re two weeks into the four-week writing phase of creating a picture book dummy.

It’s hard work, isn’t it? Contrary to popular opinion (the people you meet at cocktail parties), writing picture books is not exactly an entry-level exercise into children’s publishing. In fact, it’s probably the most difficult genre in all of kidlit—so don’t beat yourself up if you’re struggling to find your way through a picture book manuscript.

For inspiration, we can’t do much better than directing you back to the resources listed in the Step 2 post: revisit the sites, flip back through the how-to books. Now that you’ve made a start, some piece of advice may jump out at you, or strike you in a different way.

If you’re lucky enough to have completed a viable draft already, use this remaining time to do one of two things: let the text rest unseen for a few days. Come back to it with fresh eyes after it’s marinated a bit. Or while you’re taking a break from your manuscript, put it in another reader’s hands—preferably someone who doesn’t have any idea what you were trying to say when you wrote it. Even better, have a third party read your story to a child in your target age group.

Things will change once you start developing the visual context of the story. Try thinking of it this way: your job as a writer is to prepare a foundation worthy of the beautiful artwork to come! :-)

Best of luck to all.

Transcript: 1/26/12

2012-01-26T22:17:00.001-05:00

Topic: Who decides winners? ALA, NYTimes or the man on the street?#kidlitart 1-26-12

Transcript: 1/19/12

2012-01-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

TOPIC: How do you protect your art online?#kidlitart 1-19-12

#PBDummy Challenge Step 2

2012-01-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

Note: You may sign up for the #kidlitart picture book dummy challenge through midnight, Eastern time, on January 16. You do not have to be registered to participate in the challenge--only to be eligible for the Agent Pitch Contest. Click here for sign-up and FAQs.

The following post is an edited version of last year's Step 2 post, which is also included in the #PBDummy ebook compiled by Wendy Martin.

Enjoy!

DRAFTING THE STORY

Now that you have an idea for the picture book, the emphasis for the next four weeks will be on writing the story. For the challenge, we’ll assume most of you are creating original text, but those of you illustrating existing folk tales for your portfolios, working on nonfiction, or developing concept books, all need to be concerned with story—even a wordless picture book requires a script!

Some of you may be participating in Julie Hedlund's #12x12in2012 challenge to draft one picture book a month during 2012. If so, consider this your February assignment!

How to write a story for children is beyond the scope of the picture book dummy challenge. There are excellent resources available, though—and the best advice is to READ, READ, READ! Read current picture books and classics. Read prize-winners and family favorites. Read aloud! Read to kids if you have ’em. Conventional wisdom says you must read at least 100 picture books before you attempt to write one.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Picture book plots are usually linear; they move forward through time (no flashbacks).

• Subplots may be implied (or carried through the illustrations), but the text adheres to a simple, single plot line.

• Picture books must have a child as the main character—a child or a child stand-in (a pet, furry woodland creature, etc.). An adult main character can work only if he/she exhibits childlike characteristics or behavior (Amelia Bedelia).

• Picture books address universal themes of childhood.

• Problems are solved by the main character, not by a wiser adult.

• Modern picture books are short: 500 words or less is not unusual.

• Beginning-middle-end structure results in a short story; a picture book plot contains tension that can be charted on a curve: rising action (exterior or interior) leading to a climax and quick resolution.

• Picture books most often use third-person point-of-view.

• Just as in a chapter book or novel, the main character should experience growth: change of attitude; newfound confidence; greater understanding, etc.

• Don’t be tempted to rhyme your text unless you’re willing to work to make the rhyme and meter perfect.

• There are exceptions to every “rule” about writing picture books!

Build your library:

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book: Vols. I, II & III , by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock
Volume I: Structure
Volume II: Word, Sentence, Scene, Story
Volume III: Figures of Speech
This series uses classic children’s books as examples to examine structure and grammatical building blocks.

How to Write a Children’s Book and Get It Published, by Barbara Seuling
Contains a useful section focused specifically on picture books.

How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books and Get Them Published, edited by Treld Pelkey Bicknell and Felicity Trotman
Though dated in regard to some business details (first published in 1988), this book contains valuable insights into genres and styles, as well as solid writing advice.

Writing for Children & Teens: A Crash Course, by Cynthea Liu
A breezy intro to the full spectrum of children’s books, with pithy comments on mistakes to avoid.

How to Write a Children's Picture Book, by Darcy Pattison
Ebook based on the popular series of posts, "30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book," from Darcy’s writing blog, Fiction Notes.

Picture Writing, by Anastasia Suen
A unique approach to writing visually.

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books, by Uri Shulevitz
A classic and still one of the best introductions to picture book creation.

The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, by Nancy Lamb
Not specifically about picture books, but a fantastic reference for anyone writing for children.

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication, by Ann Whitford Paul
One of the newer entries in this category, and fast becoming a favorite.

Links to check out:

http://www.sudipta.com/writersresources/wheresthebeef.html

http://www.marisamontes.com/writing_picture_books.htm

http://www.memfox.net/so-you-want-to-write-a-picture-book.html

http://www.memfox.com/20-dos-and-20-donts.html

http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/Tips.html

http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/A66.html

http://shutta.com/storyskeletons.pdf

http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/illustratorsguide.html

http://www.cherylklein.com/cookie.html

http://cbaybooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/short-story-ms-vs-picture-book-ms-there.html

Transcript: 1/12/12

2012-01-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for the #PBDummy challenge, we're already underway, but there's still time to sign up! Click here for #PBDummy FAQs.

TOPIC: How do you get yourself started (and keep going)? Share strategies!
#kidlitart 1-12-12

#PBDummy Challenge Step 1

2012-01-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

Remember to register by January 15 to be eligible for the Agent Pitch contest at the close of the challenge. To register, leave a comment at the sign-up post.

PICK YOUR PROJECT

I suspect most of you who have signed on for this challenge have at least an idea in mind—something you’ve always thought would make a great picture book someday. If so, congratulations! Use this week to get yourself in picture book mode.

By that, I mean take your idea seriously. “Someday” is today. This is really happening. It’s commitment time. Prepare yourself mentally to give it all you’ve got.

The rest of you fall into one of two categories: 1) no idea; 2) too many ideas.

If you truly feel you have no viable picture idea, we can do no better than to point you toward the posts of Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo—that’s the Picture Book Idea Month challenge, in which participants aim to come up with one picture book idea a day for 30 days. It happens every November: Tara assembles an amazing group of authors, illustrators, booksellers and industry professionals whose sole focus is to provide inspiration for recognizing and capturing great picture book ideas.

Each guest post is a mini-tutorial on getting in touch with your muse. They’re all archived on Tara’s site . . . three years’ worth so far! (Hint: Go to the archives and click the month of November for 2009, 2010 and 2011.) If you immerse yourself in this material, there’s practically no way to avoid a picture book idea!

Now, suppose you have the opposite problem: you have file folders full of picture book ideas. You can’t walk down the street or turn on the radio without an idea popping out at you. Your task this week is to sift through until you find the handful that really speak to you on an emotional level. They may all be great ideas for someone: which are only for you?

Which ones could you be comfortable finding other homes for, and which one do you have to keep for yourself? Maybe it’s the runt of the litter—an idea only you can love. Maybe it’s the one that comes out wagging every time you visit the kennel. Creating a picture book is hard. You’ve got to love your idea even when it makes messes or needs to be walked in the rain.

By the way, this process of emotional investment applies equally those of you who are not particularly interested in developing an original story. A picture book dummy is a wonderful way to showcase your skills to an editor or art director who can give you someone else’s words to interpret. If that’s your goal, find a familiar fairy tale or fable in the public domain that you gives you that same emotional connection. In trying to establish a career, you’ll be up against hundreds of illustrators who draw or paint well: you must not only demonstrate competence with the format and with your chosen medium, you must be able to bring a unique sensibility to your interpretation of text. Pick a story that makes your sketching fingers itch!

Enough with the philosophy—it’s time to get this challenge started. We’re going to have a great time!

Ready? On your mark . . . get set . . . GO!

Join us this Thursday (January 12) at 9 pm EST for this week’s #kidlitart chat on beginnings and thresholds: why is that pencil sometimes just too heavy to pick up?

#PBDummy is now on Facebook!

Reminder: Wendy Martin has compiled the #PBDummy posts from the 2011 challenge into a handy ebook you can download for $5 here. You can also scroll back through and read the 2011 posts on this site: last year's challenge started in January of 2011. The first 25 participants who left a comment on the sign-up post will be receiving a link for a free download.

Transcript: 1/5/12

2012-01-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

Note: Click here for the #PBDummy sign-up and schedule. Register through January 15 to be eligible for the pitch contest at the close of the challenge.

TOPIC: Is there a dummy in your portfolio? Why or why not?#kidlitart 1-5-12

Everything you need to know about the Second Annual Kidlitart #PBDummy Challenge

2012-01-05T20:22:00.001-05:00

What is it?
A 25-week-long online group challenge to create and submit a picture book dummy.

Start date: January 9, 2012

End date: July 1, 2012

Who can join?Anyone! Though geared primarily toward author/illustrators, writers who are not artists can benefit from portions of the dummy exercise, and illustrators without an original manuscript can use the process to create a dummy portfolio piece.

Can I participate without attending kidlitart Twitter chats?
Yes, the challenge steps will be posted here on the blog--but we encourage you to take advantage of all avenues for joining in the discussion: leave comments here; drop by #kidlitart at 9 pm Eastern on Thursday nights; and check in with your Twitter colleagues any time via the challenge hashtag: #PBDummy. (Our thanks to illustrator Diandra Mae for again allowing us to use the clever twibbon she designed for the first Picture Book Dummy Challenge! Download yours here.)

Do I have to post my work online?
No! We will be discussing the steps in general terms. If you wish to receive feedback or critiques on specific ideas or artwork, you are free to exchange messages or post images with trusted partners in protected venues. DO NOT post original artwork in comments here: please be mindful of the nature of the internet and use caution when posting art ANYWHERE.

What if I don’t want to create a picture book dummy? Will I be left out of #kidlitart until July?Not at all! This year, most of the challenge activity will take place here on the blog or via the #PBDummy hashtag. We will schedule a progress chat to correspond with each of the nine steps, but the remainder of the chats will cover the entire range of topics of interest to picture book illustrators and friends of the genre.

Are there any rules for the challenge?
No rules at all for participating. The idea is to have a great time while accomplishing something useful. If you’ve ever taken part in a similar challenge, you know the value of community: checking in regularly, encouraging others, allowing yourself to be held accountable to a schedule—all this will help you get the most from the experience.

This year, we have added a sign-up procedure for those of you interested in the endgame (see below). If you want to be considered for the agent review at the close of the challenge, you must register by leaving a comment at the close of this post.

You will have until January 15 to decide if you want to make your participation “official.” This relates ONLY to the query contest outlined below. If you decide not to sign up publicly, or come to the challenge late, you can still participate and enjoy the reward of a finished dummy for your portfolio! Only those who have signed up by January 15, however, will be eligible for the Super Agent Query Review at the close of the challenge.

*STAY TUNED for a special offer for the first 25 participants to sign up!*

Tell me more about this Super Agent Query Review.
At the close of the challenge, you will be given an opportunity to post a query of your project. (This is entirely voluntary!) An agent will review the queries, pick the three most promising, and provide an in-depth critique of each of the corresponding dummies.

Professional feedback! Exciting, yes? And even if you opt out of the query contest, or don’t get picked for the professional critique, you still have the satisfaction of having conquered the picture book dummy challenge . . . plus a valuable addition to your portfolio. Win-win!

So pull out your #PiBoIdMo stash, dust off those concept sketches you’ve been hoarding since art school, and join us as we commit to getting it done!

Oh, one more thing! Remember we asked you to stay tuned for a special offer? Wendy has compiled the wit and wisdom of the challenge posts from the 2011 #PBDummy challenge into an attractive ebook, which she is offering FREE to the first 25 challenge participants to sign up. This pdf download includes transcripts of guest chats with picture book author Tara Lazar and illustrators Ward Jenkins, Dani Jones and Tara Larsen Chang, along with helpful links and suggestions for further research at each step in the dummy challenge.

Full disclosure: The original posts are still up, for those who don’t mind scrolling through the blog archives, but Wendy has distilled the information into a handy package that would make a great addition to your reference library. The pdf is available on Wendy’s site for a modest fee of $5. A portion of each sale will be donated to Brushes for Vincent, a charity providing art supplies to children who would otherwise be without any.

HOW WE BREAK THIS DOWN
Each step in the challenge will be introduced* by a post here on the kidlitart blog. Greg Matusic has started things off with a great inspirational post on why you should consider joining the fun, and we will be hosting other talented folks from the picture book community at intervals throughout the challenge.

You are invited to check in via the comments section at any time to share your progress or ask questions . . . and there will be a “How’s it going?” chat scheduled at the close of each step in the process, to keep us on course.

*To avoid repeating ourselves, you will be directed to either the archived post from last year, or to the pdf compilation, for links and tips associated with each step.

THE SCHEDULE

STEP 1: Pick your project (1 week) Jan. 9-Jan. 15

STEP 2: Draft the story (4 weeks) Jan. 16-Feb. 12

STEP 3: Develop the characters (2 weeks) Feb. 13-Feb. 26

STEP 4: Storyboard text and art (2 weeks) Feb. 27-Mar. 11

STEP 5: Render tight, full-size sketches (8 weeks) Mar. 12-May 6

STEP 6: Produce final art of two spreads (4 weeks) Mar. 12-May 6

STEP 7: Assemble the dummy (2 weeks ) Jun. 4-Jun. 17

STEP 8: Research submissions; prepare dummy package (1 week) Jun. 18-Jun. 24

STEP 9: Submit (1 week) Jun. 25-Jul. 1

That’s it! Nine easy steps to dummy success. Ready to get started?Sign up in the comments section below and bookmark this site: Step 1 launches Monday, January 9.

Good luck!

Greg Matusic kicks off the Kidlitart Picture Book Dummy Challenge with a success story

2012-01-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

So you have a story in mind and you’re thinking about creating a picture bookdummy (PBDummy)? That’s awesome! You’ve definitely come to the right place.The KidLitArt Picture Book Dummy Challenge is a wonderful, hands-on,community-supported, 25-week online challenge to create and submit a rough,semi-complete version of your story.

Speaking of stories, here’s one you may relate to…

There once was (and still is) a guy who wanted to write and illustrate picturebooks. We’ll call him Greg, because that’s his name.Greg held a day job as a web and print designer. He was also a freelanceillustrator when time and opportunity permitted. Greg also authored andillustrated picture books as gifts for his wife and son and was often told that hisartwork and writing would be perfect for picture book industry.

He agreed, buthe wasn’t sure how to get started.So Greg headed to the Internet and researched picture book authors andillustrators, publishers and agents, websites and blogs. He learned a great dealabout writing and illustrating picture books, but he still wasn’t sure how to getstarted.

Then one dark and stormy late-December night Greg came across a tweetannouncing the KidLitArt 2011 Picture Book Dummy Challenge. Picture Book?Cool! Challenge? Yes! Dummy? Hey!

Greg bookmarked the site, followed the organizers on Twitter and anxiouslyawaited the start of the Picture Book Dummy Challenge.And you know what happened 25 weeks later? He had written and illustrated aPBDummy.

The End? Not really…

Yes, that story is about me. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started the 2011Picture Book Dummy Challenge, but I followed the schedule (for the most part)and put in a lot of effort and time.

Even though I haven’t been handed a fat stackof cash for the publishing rights (yet) I couldn’t be happier with the rewards:

• Completion of a submission-ready PBDummy titled “Pirates GoShopping."

• I won a contest within the Challenge in which we were asked to write a“pitch” for our PB. The prize was a free picture book critique with JenniferMattson of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency who gave me some verypositive feedback.

• I submitted my PBDummy and was accepted to the Eastern NY SCBWI’sMaster Class Retreat on Picture Books (aka: Falling Leaves) where Ischmoozed with a number of picture book authors, illustrators, publishinghouse Editors and an Art Director. I also received extremely positive,constructive critiques from my peers, the Editors and the AD. A few of theEditors wanted to see a revised version of “Pirates Go Shopping” and I wasalso asked to submit a few stories with illustrations for one of thepublishing house’s “Young Reader’s” series.

The knowledge and experience that I gained from last year’s Picture BookDummy Challenge has been invaluable. Here are some of the things I learned ordiscovered along the way that really stood out:

Your Story Idea: Love It or Leave It
I changed my story idea four times before finally returning to my original idea –“Pirates Go Shopping”. I thought I had found a better (more marketable) idea,followed by a few more that I thought were even better (and even moremarketable). But the ideas felt a bit forced and the Challenge soon became toomuch like “work”. I still think they’re fine ideas, but I didn’t love them nearly asmuch as “Pirates Go Shopping."

25 Weeks is a Long Time
The Picture Book Dummy Challenge is set up with a number of goals and subchallengesthat lead up to the completion of your PBDummy. I’m not very fond ofthe adage “life gets in the way”, but to be honest – it kind of does. If you haven’treached a particular goal on the day it’s scheduled to be completed, no worries,you can finish it when time permits. And if things are going well, feel free to jumpahead. You can get a whole lot done in a 25-week period.

25 Weeks Flies By!
Like I said, you can get a whole lot done in a 25-week period. But week 25 creepsup on you pretty quickly. While it’s always nice to step away from a project for alittle while, make sure you step back to it or you may find yourself too far behindto keep up with the rest of the group.

Join us for the Weekly Thursday Night #KidLitArt Twitter Chats
The #KidLitArt twitter chats are not only a lot of fun and informative, but theycan help to keep you on track through the Challenge. Newcomers will be amazedby the sense of community and the eagerness of the participants to help oneanother. It’s an extremely close and very giving group of talentedauthor/illustrators. Make sure you take full advantage of these chats.

Keep Your Eyes Open
Visit libraries and bookshops to check out new and classic picture books and notewhich publishers offer styles similar to yours. Surf the web to see what’s trendingin popular culture. Browse through magazines to find a new color palette. Checkthe daily comics and discover a new way to draw a nose. In other words, keepyour eyes open! You’ll never know where you’ll find the inspiration for your nextgreat idea.

Be Social
Social settings, both real and virtual, provide terrific venues for you to spend timewith and learn from your fellow picture book authors and illustrators. Join theSCBWI (or at least attend some of the fantastic SCBWI-sponsored events), readand comment on the blogs of your author/illustrator peers, friend them onFacebook, and of course follow them on Twitter – the unofficial Internet home ofpicture book news, advice and hilarious 140-character or less comments.(@matusic btw)

Stay Active
Write, write, write. Draw, draw, draw. Rinse and repeat.

Best of luck to everyone planning on participating in this year’s KidLitArt PictureBook Dummy Challenge. Wendy Martin, Bonnie Adamson and your fellowauthor/illustrator participants (including me) will provide you with all thedirection and peer motivation that you’ll need to complete the task. Bring yourtalent, time, effort, and of course, your story, and you’ll reach that goal of creatinga submission-ready PBDummy in only 25 exciting weeks.

Greg Matusic
www.matusic.com
greg@matusic.com

#PBDummy is back!

2011-12-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

Yep--the Second Annual Kidlitart Picture Book Dummy Challenge kicks off next week!

Watch this space for a special introductory post and #PBDummy success story from the lovely and talented Greg Matusic, followed by a breakdown of the challenge schedule.

Wendy and I wish a Happy, Happy New Year to the entire #kidlitart community: may all your kidlitart wishes come true in 2012!

Transcript: 12/29/11

2011-12-30T11:40:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: Have you made your art resolutions for 2012? #kidlitart 12-29-11

Transcript: 12/22/11

2011-12-30T10:32:00.000-05:00

TOPIC: What were your biggest career accomplishments in 2011? What went RIGHT this year?#kidlitart 12-22-11

Transcript: 12/8/11

2011-12-08T22:14:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: How do you keep on track during the holiday craziness?#kidlitart 12-8-11

Transcript: 12/1/11

2011-12-02T10:37:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: How best to spend your time/money promoting yourself online.

#kidlitart 12-1-11

Transcript: 11/17/11

2011-11-29T11:26:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: How are you incorporating new tech to stay marketable?

#Kidlitart 11-17-11 Revised

Transcript: 11/10/11

2011-11-29T10:26:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: It's time to start a wish list: share your favorite picture book(s)--classics and new releases.

#Kidlitart 11-10-11 Revised

Transcript: 11/3/11

2011-11-03T22:51:00.000-04:00

TOPIC: It's Picture Book Month! Share your favorite pb boosters.

#kidlitart 11-3-11

Transcript: 10/27/11

2011-10-31T12:28:00.000-04:00

TOPIC: No naked ladies allowed. How do you make sure your portfolio is #kidlitart appropriate?

Thanks to some much needed advice from writer/illustrator Brooks Jones, who hosts #storyappchat Sundays at 9 pm Eastern, we're going to give transcripts another go. The process I had hopes for in August was still requiring about an hour of formatting to get the captured transcript in shape to upload. Brooks has given me some tips that cut the time down to about 15 minutes. Thanks for the help, Brooks!

So, with fingers crossed but no guarantees, here is last Thursday's chat, in which we start out talking about one thing and quickly morph into something else! :-)

#kidlitart 10-27-11

Transcript: 8/11/11

2011-08-12T18:21:00.003-04:00

After a long hiatus of dealing with wonky (at best) or absent (at worst) transcript generator services, we've found one that seems to work with minimal tweaking. No guarantee that this current service will be available next week (!), but in the meantime, enjoy this roundup of tips gathered at the 2011 LA SCBWI Conference.

TOPIC: Tips from conferences, workshops, #LA11SCBWI: share 'em if you've got 'em!

#kidlitart 8-11-11

And the winners are!

2011-06-30T21:00:00.000-04:00

Bonnie and I are pleased to announce the name of the Secret Agent and the winners of the professional critiques.

Drum roll, please! The #PBDummy challenge winners:

-Pippin-Mathur/little princess whose little brothers are dragons

-Lewis/Katrina penguins relocate to Monterey Bay aquarium

-Matusic/pirates go shopping

The below is a direct quote from the agent, Jennifer Mattson, of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Please let the chatters know that it was a difficult decision - I was really impressed by the nice breadth of topics and the refreshing absence of old-hat, familiar storylines. Kudos to the participants for taking the bull by the horns, and kudos to kidlitart, in general, for creating this terrific and needed community.

***
Please help us congratulate the winners.

#PBdummy Wrap Party!

2011-06-29T19:18:00.003-04:00

It's a wrap!

We've come to the end of our six-month picture book dummy challenge. Wendy and I have learned a lot, putting together the introductory posts and researching links. We've also had a great time discussing the highs and lows and, most of all, gaining inspiration from the fantastic community of kidlitart followers.

Whether or not you finished with a submission-worthy dummy, we hope you've had fun and been inspired, too, and that the experience of talking through the process has been a valuable one.

We've saved the best for last: the 15 pitches posted during Pitch Fest have been reviewed (favorably!) by Secret Agent; winners of the detailed dummy critiques will be announced during the #kidlitart chat on Thursday, June 30 (9 pm Eastern)!

Join us to congratulate your colleagues and share what you've learned on the #PBdummy train. And thanks to all for taking the journey with us!

Pitch Fest!

2011-06-23T08:53:00.002-04:00

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we've arranged for an agent to review #PBdummy pitches left here in the comments section, between now and midnight Eastern time on Saturday, June 25.

The agent (whose name will be revealed at the close of the contest) will pick her top three. The winning author/illustrators will be invited to send her their dummies for detailed critiques. Awesome!!

Don't be shy. Ready, set . . . GO!

The Pitch

2011-06-22T15:13:00.004-04:00

Drumroll, please.

It's time to introduce your exciting story concept to the world. After all this work, there's one more thing to do: you must come up with a dazzlingly witty and irresistible sentence or two to grab that agent or editor and let them know you have got A WINNER on your hands!

Think of how you'd describe what you've been working on to your best friend, then polish it till it shines. You should be able to encapsulate the characters, conflict, and at least hint at the resolution in the time it would take an elevator to travel a couple of floors. That's because, the next time you find yourself at a conference, that might be just the opportunity you're given.

You to famous editor: "I enjoyed your keynote. And I agree that exciting days are ahead for the picture book market."

Famous editor: Thank you. Are you a picture book author or illustrator?

You: "Why, yes, I am."

FE: "What are you working on?"

This is where you keep your wits about you (don't hyperventilate!) and produce the above-mentioned dazzling sentence. (Good manners require you to wait until asked. You do NOT, under any circumstances, ambush an agent or editor at a conference with your sparkly pitch uninvited--you will be labeled unprofessional at best, creepy and stalkerish at worst.)

Or perhaps you're interested in submitting to a house which accepts queries only. Your pitch is the nucleus of your query. In essence, you're providing the editor or agent with your marketing hook. You know the text on the jacket flap, or the back cover of a paperback that makes you want to buy the book? That's basically a pitch to the consumer; you want to be just as engaging with your pitch to the publisher or agency.

Here is an article about pitching in general--not specifically for children's books, but the rules apply. Of particular interest are the six tips at the end. Note the refinement of the term "elevator pitch": http://publishingperspectives.com/2010/11/pitchapalooza-2010-tips-for-perfecting-your-book-pitch/

Shhh . . . #PBdummy secret!

So, those of you following along for the past six months may recall that when we started this challenge, we said the finished dummy would be its own reward. This is still true. If you've completed a picture book dummy to submit, congratulations! Quite an accomplishment, huh? Seriously--dummies are hard work.

We hope everyone has gotten something out of the challenge, and we expect to hear of exciting submission news from some of you! But we thought maybe you intrepid dummiers (I'm sure that's not a real word) deserved a reward for sticking with it.

Accordingly, Wendy has secured a special surprise for #kidlitart chat folks, or those following the blog: Starting tomorrow (June 23) and continuing through Saturday, June 25, we're asking you to post a pitch for your dummy project. An agent Wendy contacted has expressed interest in what we've been doing with the challenge, and has agreed to review the pitches, pick her three favorites, and offer a detailed critique of each of the three winning dummies!

Exciting, yes? Feedback like this from an agent who regularly deals with picture book manuscripts and art is invaluable. I am personally extremely bummed that I did not complete the challenge, and have no dummy to throw in the ring. :-(

The rest of you, polish those pitches!

Share your perfect pitch in the comments section of tomorrow's post for your chance at one of three professional critiques.

And join us Thursday, June 23, at 9 pm Eastern, to further discuss tips for showcasing your work in 20 words or less.

GUEST BLOG: Targeting Your Submission June 16th Chat

2011-06-14T19:59:00.011-04:00

Please welcome guest blogger, Carolyn Kaufman. She'll be answering your question via the comments section below.

***
Now that you know what goes in your submission packet, it’s time to target your submissions!

You have two main options if you want to pursue the traditional publishing route: submitting to literary agents or submitting directly to publishers. While it may seem like a no-brainer to cut out the middle-man (or, in most cases, -woman), an agent provides you with some important benefits.

First, a good, reputable literary agent is well-connected. She not only knows acquisitions editors at both big and small publishing agencies, the acquisitions editors know her. Even better, they trust her judgment, because they know that the only way a literary agent gets paid is if she chooses to represent strong projects that consumers will want to buy. In other words, rather than ending up in a mountainous slush pile, your project lands directly on the desk of someone who has the power to make buying decisions.

Your agent will work to negotiate the best money possible for you. In other words, she knows what your project is worth and how to get publishers to increase advance and royalty payments if you’re being offered less than your work is probably worth. She may actually pay for herself very quickly this way!

So how do you find good, reputable agents?

My top recommendation goes to QueryTracker.net, a website that will not only help you figure out which agents represent projects like yours – it will also help you track your submissions. There are other websites that will help you find agents, but only QueryTracker vets each and every agent that’s listed. If an agent has ever done anything disreputable (such as asking for money upfront), she is not listed. (Full disclosure: I blog for QueryTracker, so I’m not unbiased – on the other hand, I am very careful what I put my name behind, and I stand wholeheartedly behind QT. It has also been recognized by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers every year since 2008.)

Now it's time to find information on past sales, likes and dislikes, and so forth. Writers should subscribe to Publisher's Weekly to track who's selling what, to QueryTracker to find advanced reports on things like who reps whom, and to Preditors and Editors to find out who's a crook.

To use the QueryTracker site, choose the genre you’re targeting (e.g. Fiction – Children’s) and Search. Clicking on the name of a listed agent will give you links to the agent’s website and any social media the agent uses. You should always follow these links to gather details on what the agent is looking for, as well as her submission guidelines. If you get a premium subscription to QT, you will also have access to “Quick Click Tools” that will take you to other agent-search websites that will give you additional information (the best ones, in my opinion, are AgentQuery.com, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Preditors and Editors).

As I mentioned at the beginning, you can also submit directly to publishers if you wish. In these situations, you will want to thoroughly research the publisher online, most notably through the publisher’s website. Caveat: Particularly if you choose to research agents through non-vetted sites like AgentQuery and Publisher’s Marketplace, or if you want to submit directly to publishers, be sure to double-check Preditors and Editors, which tells you which agents and publishers to avoid like the plague.

In any case, you'll want to identify your book's niche in the market. My personal experience has been that I (as a writer) need to be able to identify a hole in the market and then explain how my book fits that niche, why there is no other book like it, and so on. While that is obviously going to give me some ideas for publishers (and I am fortunate to have an agent who is open to my thoughts), many agents see it as their job to identify and target particular publishers. Certainly, I need to find an agent who's into my kind of stuff,

In most cases, you will be sending a query letter, which introduces you and your project, either before you send your submission package or with that package (again, check the individual agent or publisher’s submission guidelines to find out what to send). The query letter, sometimes referred to as a cover letter, includes a brief, catchy description of your book, as well as your credentials (if any) for writing it (e.g. previous publishing credits).

Best of luck in finding a great agent and/or publisher for your project!

***

Carolyn Kaufman is a writing coach, a psychologist, and the author of The Writer’s Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior. She regularly blogs on writing and publishing for the QueryTracker Blog, and on psychology and writing for Psychology Today. If you have a writing and publishing question, feel free to contact her through the QueryTracker Blog; if you have one about psychology for your story, you can contact her through the Q&A form on her ArchetypeWriting site.

#Kidlitart Chat June 9 2011: What is expected in the submission packet?

2011-06-08T08:28:00.003-04:00

We’re coming down to the bottom of the challenge! Have you been keeping up? I hope so. I think one thing we’ve all learned in the past 6 months is how labor intensive creating a picture book dummy can be.

The writing of the text and development of characters, the deciding on format and creating story flow with thumbnail sketches, the concentrated effort on tight pencils and preparing the dummy for delivery all culminating an exciting (and we hope salable) picture book dummy.

So the book dummy is done now. Are you ready to submit it to agents, art directors or editors? Not quite yet. Don’t moan at me, you knew this was coming!

While it’s true as illustrators we don’t have to include quite as many things in a submission packet as a writer, we do need to include something.

The best place to find out what the person you plan to submit to wants from you at their web site or blog. Find their submission guidelines to make sure you are sending them a complete package.

In general there are several things to include in your submission packet:

The picture book dummy (well duh!)
A cover letter that contains your current address, phone number, and a brief description of your project. Often cover letters become separated from manuscripts, be sure to include your name, address, and phone number on the dummy as well.
A hard copy of the text of the picture book dummy. This should be typed and double-spaced. (You might want to mention in your cover letter you are open to consideration of text and art being considered separately to double your chances of acceptance.)
Do not, under any circumstances, send original art.

The cover letter usually has three parts and is one page long. Besides your contact information, most publishers like to receive a synopsis or pitch (brief description of the book) and your previous publishing credits (if any).

Remember at the beginning of this challenge how we stated there were no prizes and the only reward was the completion of your book dummy?

Yeah, we do, too. But things change.

We have a secret. It has to do with your book dummy pitches.

We’ll be asking you to post your pitches on this blog between our June 23 and June 30chats. You’ll have 48 hours to get your pitches posted. Only pitches posted on the blog between June 23 (9PM eastern) and June 25 (9PM eastern) will be considered. You’ll want to have your pitch ready.

During the June 30^thwrap up chat we will announce the secret. It’s big, it’s exciting. We can’t wait to be able to tell you!

Dummy assembly

2011-06-02T10:05:00.012-04:00

It's that time, folks--time to put it all together into a neat package. What you're striving for is to look professional (you ARE a professional illustrator, even if unpublished), but not to get so elaborate that an editor or art director is going to think you're some sort of artistic diva. No matter how well-thought out your proposal, the text of your story will most assuredly undergo some editing, and that will mean rethinking layouts, adding or deleting characters--whatever it takes to make a viable property for a publisher. You want to demonstrate that you know what you're doing, but also that you're flexible and willing to make changes.

This is a fine line--in the end, you have to be happy with the way you present yourself. I've heard some people say minimal presentation is best, and there's certainly NOTHING WRONG with standard typing paper folded in half, with text and copies of illustrations taped (neatly) into place. An experienced publishing professional has the imagination to fill in the gaps and see what you intend.

True confession: I thumbnail and storyboard up a storm, but I've only produced one dummy in my career so far. (Yeah, yeah, I know!) For my one, I chose to do a slightly fancier job, because I wanted something to keep in my portfolio. My process is outlined below. If you're looking for suggestions, this is ONE WAY to do it--and I do think the dummy helped to sell the manuscript in my case. I submitted both for a conference critique, and got a request from an editor (yay!) . . . but she also said (apologetically), "You wouldn't necessarily expect to illustrate this yourself, would you?" LOL!

So, with that caveat in mind:

STEP I: Choose a convenient size for mailing and display.

I knew my page width would be 7" max, because legal-size paper is the largest my printer will accommodate. I played around and discovered that between 5.5" and 5.75" worked well, proportionately, for the other dimension. This gave me a finished book size that would fit easily into a mailing envelope (more on what should be in a submissions packet next week!), and would also fit nicely in the front pocket of my Itoya portfolio.

STEP II: Gather your tools.

Here's what I used to produce my dummy:

legal-size paper for printing spreads
110-lb. cover stock for front and back covers
quilter's needle
waxed dental floss
pushpin (for making pilot holes for stitching)
scissors
clear adhesive shelf liner

STEP III: Print your spreads.

I used Photoshop--you can also use a layout program like InDesign. Figure out the imposition (i.e., the way individual pages print when bound into a book). For a traditional 32-page picture book, you'll have eight sheets folded in half, printed front and back.

Here is the imposition for the first sheet of paper. (My story starts on page three, with pages one and two for title and copyright info.)

I composited the images and text, using Times New Roman as a "neutral" typeface. Mine worked out to be 14 pt. for my page size.

STEP IV: Assemble the printed pages in the proper order, including a blank spread for "endpapers."

Fold all nine sheets in half. Along the center crease, punch five evenly-spaced holes. I stitched the pages together using a simple technique, a quilter's needle (one with a large eye) and waxed dental floss.

Here is an excellent tutorial, using three holes instead of five (it doesn't matter how many holes, as long as it's an odd number).

STEP V: Print your front cover and back cover.

I chose to print mine separately and glue to the endpapers, because I wanted to print a full bleed, which would not have been possible with my printer and legal-size paper.

STEP VI: (Optional) "Laminate" your cover with clear self-stick shelf liner.

I figured this would hold up better for repeated handling. Also, my printer inks are not waterproof, and I didn't want to run the risk of having the dummy arrive smudged or water-spotted.

STEP VII: Fold; crease as well as you can, then trim edges neatly.

Use a paper cutter or a craft knife (which I forgot to include in my tools photo).

And, voila!

Front:

Back: I used my "elevator pitch" as jacket copy.

Inside spread: Yep, those are my pencil thumbnails, blown up.

The hastily-done color spread (NOT recommended, given the editor's comment!):

And the dummy at home in my portfolio (to get an idea of scale, my portfolio is 8.5" x 11"):

In the end, I think it accomplished what I wanted to do--which was to demonstrate the flow of the story and how the page turns would work to reinforce the pacing. Also (I think) it shows that I understand the picture book format. What wasn't so successful, obviously, was the presentation of my skills as an illustrator!

The point is, there are MANY ways to produce a dummy: better and easier ones, I'm sure . . .

Join us at #kidlitart Thursday, June 2, at 9 pm Eastern, to discuss your favorite dummy assembly techniques--and if you have a tried-and-true method, please feel free to share and/or leave links in the comments section below.

Transcript: 5/26/11

2011-05-27T16:23:00.001-04:00

TOPIC: How do you get illustrations ready to deliver?

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 5-26-11

Transcript: 5/19/11

2011-05-20T14:09:00.001-04:00

TOPIC: What's your color? Choosing the proper palette.

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 5-19-11

Choosing color – the trick of the proper palette.

2011-05-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

May 19^th #BPDummy challenge chat 9 PM eastern

We’re coming to the end of the creating final art section of the challenge. By now you should have decided on a style and a medium. The last thing to consider is the color palette.

As illustrators, we’ve discussed how our art needs to add to the story put down in the text. We were talking about the drawings, the characters and the story inside the story. In case you never thought of it this way before, did you know that your color is another layer in story telling? Another character, as it were?

That’s right. The colors you choose, the way you use them help to tell the story.

A story that takes place mainly at night will be cool muted colors, shades of blues, purples and greens. Tuesday by David Wiesner is a perfect example of this. http://www.amazon.com/Tuesday-David-Wiesner/dp/0395870828/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305732734&sr=1-1

A story like Red Ridinghood would have colors that help depict the storyline of danger and deceit. Reds, bright purples and shocking oranges might be included in such a pallete. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Riding-Caperucita-Bilingual-Fairy/dp/0811825620/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305732945&sr=1-4

When deciding on a color palette keep in mind the mood of your story. Is it funny? Scary? Historical? Does it take place at night? Inside? Underwater? IS your style realistic? Or is it more stylized?

It is also a good idea to check out color theory as it relates to fine art. The practices of using tone and complementary colors to highlight the center of interest also translate into picture book illustration. The job of an artist is to lead the viewer’s eye around the art. As a picture book illustrator, you have to do that as well as lead the viewer out of the right hand page so they will turn the page. All this can be accomplished with thoughtful use of color.

And the last thing you have to keep in mind has to do with the final product, the printed piece. The colors you use, whether you paint traditionally or digitally have to be reproducible. Pale yellows and blues in watercolor, while lovely, will most likely leach out in the scanning and reproduction processes. Those bright tones you see on the computer screen are RGB while the printing piece uses CMYK. Make sure the colors you choose will reproduce in the book the way you intended by avoiding non-printing colors.

So what’s holding you back? Go paint already!

Some suggested links:

http://lynnechapman.blogspot.com/2011/05/choosing-background-colours.html

http://www.realcolorwheel.com/colorwheel.htm

http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm

http://www.colorhunter.com/

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html

Transcript: 5/12/11

2011-05-13T15:40:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: Do you go traditional or digital for final art?

Digital vs. traditional chats are always fun, mainly because there's no "right" answer. Everyone has an opinion and tips to share on both sides. This chat was no exception: if you sift carefully through the transcript you'll find advice on the best paper for drawing and painting, creating custom brushes in Photoshop--and which coffee roast packs the most powerful punch of caffeine.

Enjoy!

(Note: We're still working on the bugs in the new transcript service. Because of the more complicated formatting, some tweets are offset and appear above or below their authors' icons.)

#kidlitart 5-12-11

Transcript: 5/5/11

2011-05-09T16:00:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: How do you develop and nurture your personal style?

So, the transcript difficulties continue--we were able to recover only the last half of this chat--but we think we have a system for ensuring that we get the entire chat next time. Stay tuned!

Oh, and for those of you keeping count: there is no transcript for the April 21 chat--that one's gone forever. :-(

#kidlitart 5-5-11

Final art!

2011-05-05T10:58:00.000-04:00

Having sweated through writing, editing, thumbnails, layouts and full-size sketches for your dummy, it's time for the hard part: producing samples of the final art that you envision for the book.

Opinions vary on how much final art to produce. I personally think two spreads is enough to let the art director or editor see how you handle the characters, and whether your style suits the tone of the text. If you submit much more than that, you run the risk of appearing to be too locked in to your original concept--keep in mind that once accepted by a publisher, your book will probably undergo many revisions, so it's best to demonstrate your flexibility and willingness to adapt early on.

But back to that "hardest part" comment: many illustrators, newcomers and veterans alike, find it extremely difficult to define themselves in terms of style. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who developed a signature style right away, but more likely you've struggled with this issue before. Those of us with backgrounds as freelancers sometimes get into the habit of suiting the client, and while it's great to be versatile, too much facility with different styles can make it harder to discern your own visual voice. Or sometimes you just get weary of a particular style, and have a hard time breaking out of the mold you've so carefully established for yourself.

Whatever your issues with style, they will all rise up to confront you at this stage, so be prepared to fight your way through. It's one thing to be a competent draftsman--now you've got to take your excellent blueprint of a sketch and clothe it so that it looks like you.

Join us at #kidlitart on Thursday, May 5, at 9 pm Eastern, to share how you've arrived at your own, unique style . . . or not.

Transcript: 4/28/11

2011-04-30T13:33:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Wendy's perseverance, we now have a viable alternative for transcripts. There are limitations to this new service: only 500 tweets can be recovered per session--which means that we will miss chunks of the livelier chats. But this is certainly much better than the alternative (no transcript at all!). And I really like the addition of the icons. :-)

Thanks, Wendy!

TOPIC: How do you check your art for consistency through every page and spread?

Enjoy!

#kidlitart 4-28-11

Archive for April 28, 2011 chat

2011-04-29T22:16:00.003-04:00

We are still looking for a good alternative for wthashtag archives. The best replacement only provides a pdf file.

Please bear with us as we work out the kinks. :)

http://www.tweetdoc.org/View/13773/PBDummy-Challenge-chat-4-28-11

Consistency is the topic for Thursay April 28 chat.

2011-04-27T11:53:00.002-04:00

We've reached the end of the full sized sketches phase. Now is the time to look at all your drawings and make sure the tiny details add up.

There is a good article about character consistency for comic artists here: http://www.helium.com/items/949706-drawing-your-comic-characters-with-consistency Many of the points the author discusses are also relevant for picture book illustration.

Find someplace to spread out all your art so you can see every spread all at the same time. I use the floor of my bedroom. Other artists use a huge cork board on a studio wall. No matter how strong an artist you are, this step CANNOT be skipped. Big things to check for are:

• Facial features - does you character look like the same character from page 1 to page 32?
• Proportions - is you character the same size throughout? How about compared to secondary characters?
• Clothing - if your character has a costume, are all the details in the same place?
• Environment - is your background and supporting imagery also consistent with character and story line? Has your setting undergone any changes? Should it have?
• This is also a good time to double check your page turn and story flow. Are the images working to move the story forward as you intended in your thumbnails?

There may be a spread (or even two) you decide isn't working and will want to revisit them. In one book I was working on, my main character's skirt and hair grew longer. Since the story time elapse was a single afternoon, this was not a natural occurrence and needed to be fixed before any color was added. Such details are not readily observed unless all the art is set side by side.

These are the full size pencils being approved at Puffin: http://thepuffinblog.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5501c1be888330115705ac655970c-pi

Lost your mojo?

2011-04-21T11:38:00.002-04:00

We're a little over halfway through the #PBdummy challenge, and some of us (stop looking at me like that!) have lost momentum, hit a slump, thrown in the towel, started wondering why we ever thought we were illustrators in the first place (maybe that's just me).

So, how do you power through the dark days? One of my favorite Disney illustrators (and I can't remember which, but it was one of my favorites, because they're ALL my favorites) said his personal breakthrough cam when he realized that periodic down times were just part of the process in any project. Hmmm . . .

How do you stay motivated?

Join us Thursday, 9 pm Eastern, to share tips on keeping the creative juices flowing.

Transcript: 4/14/11

2011-04-15T21:05:00.001-04:00

TOPIC: Are you mining your art for hidden gems?

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 4-14-11

Adding a subtext to your sketches

2011-04-14T12:45:00.003-04:00

The #PBdummy sketches are coming along nicely . . . right? As you’re refining your layouts, enlarging from your thumbnails, you might find that the art is suggesting little tangents to explore, secondary plot lines, a background character who suddenly steals a scene, an opportunity to tuck a personal reference into the story. Go for it! This is why YOU are illustrating the book and not someone else.

Listening to an art director speak recently about what an illustrator brings to a picture book project, something finally clicked: it’s not that as illustrators we “get” to add these little personal touches—it’s our obligation to expand and add layers to the story. This same art director told about a famous author who, upon viewing the art for her latest picture book, commented (with delight), “I had no idea I had written that story!”

Just because YOU are the author of this picture book for which you’re now creating the dummy doesn’t mean you are relieved of the duty to enrich the story beyond the written text. An adult will be reading the words—the child will be “reading” the pictures. Give that child something to notice—some special knowledge that comes ONLY from the pictures: a fox peeking sneakily out from behind the henhouse while the chickens are planning a picnic; a mouse scurrying away with the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle; an unmentioned puppy who stays to comfort the main character during a thunderstorm.

Some artists have developed signature “Easter eggs”—tiny objects or characters hidden in each scene. (My daughters loved finding Lowly Worm on every page of a Richard Scarry book.) Other illustrators plan an entire “subversive subtext” to play out in the illustrations . . . or turn a familiar story on its ear (David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs is a prime example).

Join us for #kidlitart at 9 pm Eastern on Thursday, April 14, to discuss how to let your illustrations take your story in a completely new direction.

Transcript: 4/7/11; Special Guest Tara Larsen Chang

2011-04-08T09:55:00.002-04:00

#kidlitart 4-7-11

Kidlitart welcomes Tara Larsen Chang!

2011-04-06T17:33:00.003-04:00

As we continue to work on full-size sketches for our picture book dummies, we have a special treat for you: illustrator extraordinaire Tara Larsen Chang will be joining us at chat this week.

Tara is a triple threat: equally at home illustrating contemporary children, animals and fantasy creatures. Her client list of leading publishers as well as all the major children's magazines is a testament to her versatility and talent.

Bring your questions and plan to be inspired!

Join us Thursday, April 7, at 9 pm Eastern.

Transcript: 3/31/11

2011-04-01T20:56:00.001-04:00

TOPIC: What's your worst perspective nightmare?

#kidlitart 3-31-11

Moving right along . . .

2011-03-31T09:26:00.004-04:00

Continuing with the full-size sketch phase of our #PBdummy schedule, we're focusing on perspective this week.

Perspective, for an illustrator, is like those 7th grade science lessons--if you can manage to remember what you learned way back then, you can amaze your friends at parties: "Yes, the Coriolus effect does determine the rotation of adjacent isobars on a weather map!"

Unlike the Coriolus effect, however, perspective plays an essential part in your layout. Even if you decide to deliberately abandon logical perspective for effect, you must have a thorough knowledge of how it works, or your subjects may appear not to be grounded properly, the anatomy of your figures will be off (foreshortening, anyone?) and your layouts will, literally, lack depth.

The good news is that there are lots of resources and inexpensive aids available. My favorite desktop reference is a slim paperback I picked up at my local art supply store, appropriately (and exhaustively) titled, Perspective: An essential guide featuring basic principles, advanced techniques, and practical applications, by William F. Powell (one of the Walter Foster Artist's Library Series). Books on animation and comics, such as the ones by the often-mentioned Scott McCloud, are also excellent resources. And some artists swear by perspective templates, sketching sheets with grids and sightlines laid in. (I've lost the link--so if anyone knows how to get their hands on some of these, kindly leave a message in the comments section.)

A quick trip to Amazon yields the following titles:

Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators, by Ernest W. Watson

Perspective Drawing Handbook (Dover Art Instruction), by Joseph D'Amelio

Perspective Made Easy, by Ernest R. Norling

Join us Thursday, March 31, at 9 pm Eastern, for a #kidlitart chat on the problems and perils of persnickety perspective.

Transcript: 3/24/11

2011-03-25T10:19:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: What are your composition conundrums? Share tips and tricks.

#kidlitart 3-24-11

Full size sketches - Week Three - Composition

2011-03-24T08:38:00.009-04:00

We have our characters down, the text has been written and edited and if you are at all like me, rewritten and revised again as you’ve begun the pencil sketches for your picture book dummy.

Last week during #kidlitart we talked about backgrounds and environment.

This week we delve into composition.

Picture book pages are not just simple paintings, but have to take into account such elements as text, bleeds and gutters, and page turns. Basic rules for good composition that work for a fine art piece or a photograph, also apply to book illustration, but the illustrator needs to incorporate the above items.

For an oldie but goodie list of links on composition go to http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/11/education-fundamentals-of-composition.html which has 20 in depth lessons on page illustration fundamentals. The first lesson makes a comment that art should be completely logical.

That makes a lot of sense when combining text and image. Even though each part may showcase a different idea, the disparate parts need to mesh and make sense to the reader. Are your illustrations logical? Could a non-reading child turn the pages and follow the story? Will the story still make sense when mom or dad reads it?

When illustrating a picture book, the artist is orchestrating a play. Characters enter and exit, there are scene changes and lighting effects. It doesn’t matter how stylized or realistic your art style, the page layout has to have some field of depth to make sense to the audience.

Composition, when done well, can enhance the affect of the story. Is the character feeling small and afraid? Illustrate from a bird’s eye view with sharp edges and dark corners.

For an excellent book on this concept, a must have for any serious picture book illustrator is Molly Bang’s Picture This: How Pictures Work. The book breaks storytelling composition down to its raw and essential form.

Another excellent book is Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books by Uri Shulevitz.

Try this one for inspiration Illustrating Children's Picture Books: Tutorials, Case Studies, Know-How, Inspiration by Steve Withrow

More composition links which are helpful:
http://w-illustration.blogspot.com/2009/07/rules-of-composition-in-illustration.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/focusing-on-the-elements-of-composition-in-drawing.html
http://emptyeasel.com/2006/11/24/9-steps-to-creating-better-compositions/

There are a myriad of good articles on composition. Remember to keep in mind the specific needs of a picture book image. Text, gutter and bleeds are all part of the image. Remember, as an illustrator, you are a visual storyteller. Is your spread telling a story, or is it just a pretty picture. If there is no story, you need to push the envelope. Your illustrations can add so much to the text, make sure you’re using all the tools at your disposal to capture the intimate details the printed words leave out.

Join us at #kidlitart on Thursday, March 24, 9 pm Eastern DAYLIGHT time, to discuss problems and solutions for creating pleasing composition.

Transcript: 3/17/11

2011-03-19T09:01:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: How do you make your backgrounds shine?

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 3-17-11

Full-size sketches, week 2

2011-03-17T13:13:00.003-04:00

So, how are the full-size sketches for your picture book dummy coming?

As you deal start dealing seriously with composition and layout, one of your first concerns, and one that you may not have considered before now, will be to place your main character(s) within an environment.

Many of us, I suspect, treat background as an afterthought, but it should (as my esteemed colleague Wendy keeps reminding me) be given the same status as your secondary characters. After all, the backgound has a pretty large role to play in your story. It establishes setting (obviously), and also mood. Your backgrounds help focus attention where you need it to be within a scene; they "ground" your characters within a specific time and place, help define the action of a sequence--and, no small feat, carry a lot of the detail that you therefore will not have to include in the text. This is critical for a picture book.

So let's give backgrounds and setting a little love.

Join us at #kidlitart on Thursday, March 17, 9 pm Eastern DAYLIGHT time, to discuss problems and solutions for conquering backgrounds.

Transcript: 3/10/10; Guest Dani Jones

2011-03-11T08:47:00.004-05:00

TOPIC: Welcome tonight's special guest, illustrator @DaniDraws!

The following is an excerpted version of the chat in Q&A format (minus digressions into ice cream and Oreos). Questions/comments from chat participants are in bold; Dani's responses are in italics.

Hi, Dani! So happy to have you here to kick off eight weeks of sketching!
Ok, #kidlitart is on! I'm open to questions and discussion about picture books, illustration, or whatever. For those who don't know me: http://danidraws.com

Can you tell us a bit about the mediums you use? I love your style.
Almost all my illo work you see is digital in Photoshop.

Wow, do you make most of your own brushes in photoshop?
I make or download them. Then customize with textures.

You sketch traditionally, though, right? Then . . . what--scan in?
I sketch both traditional and digital.

I'm curious if you have any tips as to what an illustrator who wants to do #kidlitart should put in their portfolio?
Kids, animals, multiple scenes with action showing a series of moments.

Re: Series of moments and storytelling ~ Would this be akin to sequential art? Or in one illustration?
Multiple illustrations showing same characters. Yes, sequential art.

What would you suggest to some1 who is interestd in comic format BUT doesn't use the computer?
Comics don't need to be done on the computer. Use what your comfortable with. But still educate yourself about technology. You'll still need it.

What kind of projects are you focusing on this year? Comics? Picture books? Something new?
I spent a lot of last year working on comics. I'm trying to get back to picture books.

How is your own PB dummy coming?
I've been stuck doing other work (taxes, ugh), but I'm gearing to work more. I've gotten characters down for my #PBDummy. I'm heading into refined sketches.

Do you bother with thumbnails, or go straight to full-size sketches?
Oh, thumbnails are a must for me. With full-size sketches, I get too worked up about details.

Are you finding that the work on comics is helping your picture book process?
Before comics, I never wrote a lot before. It's helped me get started. Picture books are tough for beg. writers. Not that comics are NOT tough, but you know. ;)

Did you ever work anywhere on staff as an illustrator?
Nope, I started freelance illustration right out of school.

What are your thoughts on the children's publishing industry right now. esp with the economy, etc?
Economy is tough, but now is the time to be innovative. Esp. with new tech and opportunities cropping up. There's always room for high quality art and stories.

I've seen you draw streaming. Do you use reference? b/c it looks like the sketches are coming right from your brain.
Those quick sketches on Ustream pretty much are just my brain. A lot of that is me just playing around.

Is there a market for traditional work being that it's slower process & have you used anything other than computer?
Yes, I think traditional mediums are very important to going digital. There's room for any medium as long as the work is good.

Would having too much of a subject theme in your portfolio be a hindrance?
As long as you don't have a problem getting work in that subject for the rest of your life. If you want to draw picture books, then your portfolio should have . . . picture books. Go ahead and illustrate a whole story. Don't just show off pictures. There's so many out there with drawing skill. A lot less can illustrate an entire story. Show that.

What was your big break into children's illustration? Comics?
My "break" was a picture book called Elfis. I didn't start comics until last year.

Do you publish the comics or are they through a publisher?
My comics so far are self-published. I still consider myself very "new" to the comic scene.

Do you ever feel the need to tame your sense of humor w/your comics?
Not really. My sense of humor isn't that wild to begin with.

How did you get your first job?
I made an appointment and went and showed them my portfolio. I'm not sure how often that happens anymore.

How many art directors did you do that with before you got hired?
2 or 3. I was VERY lucky. And besides the book, I didn't get a lot of other work for another year or two.

How do you find the time to do everything? Are you very disciplined throughout the day?
Hahahahahahahahahahaha! I'm the WORST procrastinator. But seriously, if something needs doing, I do it. I don't miss deadlines. I might procrastinate, but I get it done. I learn to work fast. And I learn to concentrate when I really need to.

I never procrastinate on paying deadlines, but I'm terrible with my own projects.
Another thing artists need to learn - personal projects are JUST AS important as the paying ones. They drive your future work. I juggle my personal comics, book dummies, websites, etc., but I do my hardest to keep them on the same level as my client work. Work on your personal stuff every day, even if it is only for an hour or a few minutes. Get something done. Move forward.

Yes and personal projects usually give you clues as to what you are passionate about.
Yes! Exactly.

If you could give advice to a 19 yr old you what would you say?
Experiment as much as possible with your art. Go to school. Take advice. Work your butt off.If you're not getting a lot of work, don't waste time. Make your own projects and illustrations. ADs like to see you can produce.

Everyone please give @DaniDraws a big round of applause for being in the hot seat tonight.
Thanks for the invite. :)
Thanks to all who chatted at #kidlitart! I had fun.

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 3-10-10

Special Guest Dani Jones!

2011-03-10T11:31:00.006-05:00

Please be on hand at tonight's #kidlitart chat to welcome special guest, illustrator Dani Jones (@DaniDraws)!

Many of you know Dani from her tutorials, live webcasts, or her popular webcomics: Frosty the Gourdman and My Sister the Freak. Dani has also illustrated books published by Price Stern Sloan and Raven Tree Press.

We're so happy to have Dani with us to kick off Step 5 of the #PBdummy challenge. Join us at 9 pm EST (TONIGHT, March 10), and have your questions ready!

Step 5!

2011-03-10T09:05:00.006-05:00

We've arrived at tight pencils: creating (traditionally or digitally) the full-size sketches you'll use as templates for your finished art. We're devoting the biggest chunk of time in the #PBdummy schedule to this stage (eight weeks), because this is where you'll work out all your layout and composition issues, and because these will be the drawings that comprise your dummy--and sell the project.

No pressure!

By now you should be thoroughly familiar with your characters and have a sense of the flow and what needs to go on each spread. You may not have given much thought to the settings, yet. And you'll need to start grappling with the mechanics of the layout: text placement, margins, gutters and bleeds, oh, my!

So there's lots to cover, lots of drawing and second-guessing and general agonizing ahead. But lots of fun, too. You might find it helpful to browse your collection of favorite picture books, to remind yourself of the amazingly diverse art and design solutions used by successful illustrators.

Here are some other sources of inspiration:

Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication, by Martin Salisbury

The Encyclopedia of Writing and Illustrating Children's Books: From creating characters to developing stories, a step-by-step guide to making magical picture books, by Desdemona McCannon, Sue Thornton and Yadzia Williams

Illustrating Children's Picture Books: Tutorials, Case Studies, Know-How, Inspiration, by Steve Withrow and Lesley Breen Withrow

Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration, by Dilys Evans

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art, compiled by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

And three from the immortal Will Eisner:

Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative

Comics and Sequential Art

Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative

Join us at #kidlitart Thursday, March 10, at 9 pm Eastern for a chat on refining your layouts: what are your biggest issues?

Transcript: 3/3/11

2011-03-04T10:40:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: Now that you're storyboarding, has your story changed?

#kidlitart 3-3-11

Thumbnail storyboards, week 2

2011-03-03T17:34:00.005-05:00

We're giving thumbnail storyboards another week because things change.

This is where you begin to see how the pictures and text will interact; where you see just how each spread propels the reader visually. When you look at all the spreads together (and by spreads, we mean two facing pages, which may or may not contain a single, full-bleed image), you should notice a rhythm that suits the text: close-up and choppy to build excitement, maybe . . . or pulled back a bit, with smoother transitions for a calmer feel.

You should also notice passages where there's not much happening--no real need for a change of scene . . . or passages where too much is crowded into one scene. You will probably be able to delete text, allowing the pictures to carry more of the story.

Things change!

Join us at #kidlitart Thursday, March 3, at 9 pm EST, to share how your storyboards are changing your story.

Transcript: 2/24/11

2011-02-25T08:25:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: How does your story flow? A 32 page map.

The first of two chats on storyboarding your picture book--enjoy!#kidlitart 2-24-11

Whoosh--it's #PBdummy, Step Four!

2011-02-23T22:12:00.003-05:00

Step Four already? Wow--chats fly when you're having fun! :-)

So, now that we've got our picture book text in acceptable shape and we've developed a unique look for our characters, it's time for thumbnail storyboards.

The purpose of the storyboard is to view the entire sequence of pages at once in order to judge the flow: you will see at a glance how the scenes are distributed, the balance of spreads vs. single pages, the movement of the action (always forward), how the focus shifts from one scene to the next.

Start very simply--maybe with notes on what you expect to happen on each spread--and gradually refine your thumbnails as you work out the composition of each illustration. Final storyboards don't need to be finished masterpieces, but should be clear enough that someone unfamiliar with the text can read the action--and you should have some idea of where the text will fall when you're done.

Since this is (we're assuming) the first time you've considered how the text and illustrations will interact, now is a good time to brush up on the basics of how a (printed) picture book is put together. One of the best breakdowns is provided by our friend Tara Lazar in this popular post from her blog, Writing for Children While Raising Them. And here is a storyboard tutorial from an acknowledged master, Uri Shulevitz.

Once you understand the space you have to work with, you can create your own template, scaled down proportionately from whatever page size you choose, oriented horizontally, vertically or . . .um ... squarely.

You may run through several generations of storyboards as each set reveals strengths and weaknesses in your layout.

Join us Thursday, February 23, at 9 pm EST, to begin the process by discussing how to make the traditional 32-page format work for you.

Transcript 2/17/11: Special Guest Ward Jenkins

2011-02-18T11:31:00.005-05:00

Here is an excerpted Q&A version of the chat. Comments and questions from chat participants are in bold; Ward's responses are in italics. Enjoy!

Welcome to #kidlitart. Thank you so much for being our guest for evening!
Good to be here! Now what do I do? ;)

Tell us everything you know!
I KNOW NOTHING. ha ha

Tell us about the character set here. Is this typical of the way you approach character design?
Ah, yes. This was for an animated project. Typical? I would say yes, with reservations. Meaning, first and foremost, you need to know who your audience is. And if you go through the series, you can see that I originally had the girl much too older. Dunno what I was thinking...

Good point--I'm assuming animation is more "all ages" than pbs?
Actually, I don't think so. Both have specific groups they want to address.

Who was your audience?
My intended audience was for ages 4-8.

So who defines your audience for animation? The client?
Yes, pretty much. It's also known to aim older. ALWAYS.

You mean animation clients skew older?
Yes, but I think the same can be said for pb's as well.

I think there's a need to skew a tad older than your actual audience - kids always want to read up (slightly).
Yes, I agree. I think that's what clients would like to see. Esp in animation.

So, skewing older with illustrations means more complex in color, detail, etc?
No, mostly with subject matter, more sophistication. No necessarily more complex.

Do you find that certain markets let you get more adventurous with character design than with others? Asking because my experience has been that educational markets tend to stay safer/more conservative, for example....
Yes. Some come to me BECAUSE of my different way of looking at things.Most want a different take on some characters. Like the Michael Phelps book, for instance. They liked my b-boy series.

So how do you plan differently for a picture book?
I tend to go more flatter in my look-flattened perspective, etc.

What process do you go through with your characters to get their personalities to come to life?
I go through lots of research. My research phase is extensive. As for personalities, that's just something that I love to do. I've been drawing char stuff since I was a kid. I feel that with character traits, etc. the best advice I can give is to be observant. All the time.

Where do you do your research?
Since I'm majorly influenced by midcentury art/design and kid's books, I have a big library of that stuff Based on what I'm feeling, I'll grab a big stack of books, mags, etc. & just start sifting. I'm also a big fan of Google Images..

Because of my nod to midcentury stuff, I've often been labeled as "retro." Curse? Sometimes.

Why is that a curse?
I've had some people that my stuff looked "too retro." For those who're interested, check out The Retro Kid: Flickr group I started of midcentury artwork & books.

Do you design your characters with shape in mind? There can be some fascinating mental cues w/r/t shapes/features...
Sometimes, but I try not to let a particular shape become THAT THING I MUST incorporate, you know?

How long have you been doing PB's. And what was the biggest adjustment from animation?
My first picture book was done in late '08 and released the following year. I've been animating since '96. Biggest adjustment has been layout of the pages and spreads. Animation & pb's are actually a lot diff than I thought.

How are they a lot different?
There's a tendency to go very stylized in anim: char's backgrounds, layout (comps, etc.) PB's, I've learned to pull back a bit.

When I first started illustrating there was a huge bias against "cartoony" looking characters.
Yes, in fact, I had to cut back on the "cartoony" eyes I had for the Mama Hen in Chicks Run Wild! Originally, I had eyes with pupils, but editor wanted something a bit more subtle. I was fine with that change.

So you find there is still some bias. To me the art today looks much more cartoony than it used to.
I wouldn't want those artists to pull TOO much back on what they're working on, but it's just something I've noticed. Interesting thing, I do see more and more animation artists doing picture books these days.

So what about clothing animal characters? good/bad? when do you NOT do that?
Ha! Well, I was drawing an animal that walks on all fours, and when I put clothes on him, he looked hunched over.

Do you prefer kids or animal characters--which has greater range?
My stronghold is people. Honestly, if you can create & develop BOTH humans & animals very well, you're in it to win it. I'm finding that I don't have much animal designs in my portfolio, & I'm having to do more animals for the (potential) next book.

Are you developing any of your own original pb ideas?
I have two pb dummies, and a few other ideas, but in conceptual stage now.

Noticing any differences with yourself as client?
I'm my own worst editor. ;)

Who are your character design idols? The ones that get you excited every time?
Oh! So many. Where to start... JP Miller, The Provensens, Tom Oreb, James Flora, Aurelius Battaglia, Ben Shahn, Secret of Kells folks..

Nico Marlet is just about the best- imo.
YES. He's amazing.

Some anim artists have that Little Golden Book look down so well, they'll do fun stuff like this.

I've still yet to see Secret of Kells. I really need to get around to checking that out..
It's truly amazing. Be sure to check out The Blog of Kells.

How does color come to you? Do you do a rough color study on ps?
Color is big for me. Sometimes I can just sense what colors I want to see put together.

Thanks @wardomatic (and everyone else too), very interesting.
You bet! Thanks for your questions. Good stuff.

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 2-17-11

Special guest: Ward Jenkins

2011-02-17T09:40:00.005-05:00

We're very excited to welcome animator, director and children's book illustrator Ward Jenkins (@wardomatic) to #kidlitart tonight.

Ward's most recent book, Chicks Run Wild, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, hit the shelves just last month. His credits also include illustrations for How to Train with a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals (co-written by Michael Phelps), extensive editorial illustration for magazines, as well as character design and film direction for national advertising accounts.

Ward's blog The Ward-O-Matic is an excellent resource for all things art and animation-related. He also contributes to the mega-popular, often-bookmarked blog, Drawn!

Check out some of Ward's recent work in character development HERE--and get your questions ready!

We'll see you tonight (Thursday, February 17) at 9 pm Eastern.

Transcript: 2/10/11

2011-02-10T23:07:00.004-05:00

TOPIC: How do you get to know your characters? How do you bring them to life?

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 2-10-11

Step 3: Character development

2011-02-10T09:06:00.004-05:00

Now that you have a good solid draft to work from, there are several ways to go. We've chosen to focus on character sketches as the next step in creating your picture book dummy.

Character is at the heart of all good picture books. The child reading or being read to must always be able to identify with the main character: groundhog, starfish, brave little toaster, ditzy housemaid or "real" child, the main character is the focus of the action and of the reader's concern. In other words, it's important to get it right.

Sketch, sketch, sketch, until you know each character thoroughly. Your goal is to be able to place him/her/it in any conceivable situation, expressing any conceivable emotion. (Remember, there will be changes once you've sold your story!)

Cartoonists are masters of character design and development--here are a few books/links with great tips, no matter what your style:

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels, by Scott McCloud

The Art of Animal Character Design, by David Colman

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures, Volumes i & II, ed. by Don Hahn

The blog of illustrator Aaron Zenz

Character Design: a blog devoted to interviews with character designers

Join us for #kidlitart at 9 pm EST, Thursday, February 10, to share tips and tricks for getting to know your characters visually.

Transcript: 2/3/11

2011-02-04T22:15:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: Who needs a plot? From "One,Two,Three" to "Goodnight Moon"

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 2-3-11

Writing wrap-up

2011-02-02T22:23:00.002-05:00

We've talked about some of the "rules" for creating a picture book, heard from a debut picture book author on her path to publication, and shared examples of favorite picture books. So far, we’ve concentrated on story text, but there are other categories of picture books which accommodate text in a different way--or not at all:

1) Nonfiction
Biography, how-to, clever investigations of topical or offbeat subjects—parents, teachers and librarians are always looking for fresh ways to deliver information. These books often expand the traditional picture-book age range and may be used in classrooms well into the middle grades.

Examples: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein; Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum, by Meghan McCarthy.

2) Concept books
Actually a subset of nonfiction, these books introduce children to the alphabet, numbers, colors, seasons, daily routines, etc.

Examples: Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh; The Racecar Alphabet, by Brian Floca.

3) Minimalist word-pictures
These books contain spare, lyrical text describing a scene or action.

Examples: Rain Rain Rivers, by Uri Shulevitz; Freight Train, by Donald Crews.

4) Wordless picture books
These contain true stories, told without text.

Examples: Chalk, by Bill Thomson; Flotsam, by David Wiesner

Here’s a fun exercise: take the story you’ve been working on and imagine how you might expand your idea into a different picture book treatment: did you do research about vintage tractors to get the details right about your barnyard setting? That could be the basis for a nonfiction book about farm equipment, or the invention of the tractor. Maybe you could use some of your secondary characters for a counting book—how many chicks hatched today? Or you could focus on the cozy sounds of the animals settling in for the night. If you had no words at all, how would you structure each scene to clearly show your original plot?

Join us on Thursday, February 3, to discuss how exploring different picture book treatments may help you discover that unique perspective only you can deliver to your dummy project.

Time: 9 pm Eastern

Topic: Who needs a plot? From “One, Two, Three” to “Goodnight, Moon”

Transcript: 1/27/11

2011-01-31T21:47:00.006-05:00

TOPIC: What are your favorite recent picture books, and why?

Here are the books mentioned during the chat (not all "recent," not all traditional picture books, but all deserving of notice)--in (pretty much) the order mentioned:

Calvin Can't Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie, by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Keith Bendis

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, by Marla Frazee

The Boss Baby, by Marla Frazee

[or "anything by Marla Frazee"]

The Chicken Thief, by Beatrice Rodriguez

Tales from Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan

[or "anything by Shaun Tan"]

Art and Max, by David Wiesner

Bink and Gollie, by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile

Dotty, by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Julia Denos

Chicken Bedtime is Really Early, by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by George Bates

Big Red Lollipop, by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Granny Gomez & Jigsaw, by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Lost and Found, by Oliver Jeffers

[or "anything by Oliver Jeffers"]

[anything by Lane Smith]

[anything by Alison Jay]

Tiny Little Fly, by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Kevin Waldron

Little Owl Lost, by Chris Haughton

Ish, by Peter Reynolds

The Dot, by Peter Reynolds

[or "anything by Peter Reynolds"]

Birdie's Big-Girl Shoes, by Sujean Rim

Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion, by Mini Grey, illustrated by Hilaire Belloc

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, by Mini Grey

Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies

Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein

Leaves, by David Ezra Stein

Pouch, by David Ezra Stein

Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

Children Make Terrible Pets, by Peter Brown

Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag

The Quiet Book, by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska

Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round, by Teri Sloat, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, original edition illustrated by William Nicholson

Chicks Run Wild, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by Ward Jenkins

Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson

Oscar and the Mooncats, by Lynda Gene Rymond, illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli

Frog and Toad Are Friends, et al., by Arnold Lobel

Owl at Home, by Arnold Lobel

Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox, by Susan Blackaby, illustrated by Carmen Segovia

Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months, by Maurice Sendak

[and the entire Nutshell Library collection]

In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Splat the Cat, by Rob Scotton

Love, Splat, by Rob Scotton

Russell the Sheep, by Rob Scotton

Ocean's Child, by Christine Ford and Trish Holland, illustrated by David Diaz

Moo Baa La La La, by Sandra Boynton

But Not the Hippopotamus, by Sandra Boynton

Blue Hat, Green Hat, by Sandra Boynton

Belly Button Book, by Sandra Boynton

[or "anything by Sandra Boynton"]

[anything illustrated by Christopher Denise]

[anything by Dr. Seuss]

Toot & Puddle, et al., by Holly Hobbie

The Monster at the End of This Book, by Jon Stone, illustrated by Michael Smollin

[anything by Shel Silverstein]

Little Red: A Fizzingly Good Yarn, by Lynn Roberts, illustrated by David Roberts

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

CDB, by William Steig

Pete's a Pizza, by William Steig

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, by William Steig

Bad Kitty, by Nick Bruel

Mostly Monsterly, by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Mr. Duck Means Business, by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Jeff Mack

Jeremy Draws a Monster, by Peter Mccarty

Hondo and Fabian, by Peter McCarty

[or "anything by Peter McCarty"]

Morgan Morning, by Stephen Cosgrove, illustrated by Robin James

[anything by Richard Scarry]

[anything by Mercer Mayer]

Otto Grows Down, by Michael Sussman, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Spoon, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon

The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson

Tony Baloney, by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way to Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!, by Shana Corey, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason, ed. by Wallace Tripp

A House in the Night, by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes

The Halloween Kid, by Rhode Montijo

Reference books mentioned:

The Comic Worlds of Peter Arno, William Steig, Charles Addams, and Saul Steinberg, by Iain Topliss

A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal, by Leonard S. Marcus

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 1-27-11

Week 3: What makes a good picture book?

2011-01-26T06:46:00.003-05:00

To paraphrase a comment from #kidlitchat this week, one of the biggest mistakes writers make is thinking there's a magic formula for what will sell. A visit to your library or local bookstore will demonstrate the huge variety of picture books on the market. The best advice for writers and illustrators has always been to create what you love.

What makes you fall in love with a project? Once you have satisfied the marketing checklist for appropriate story structure and format, what is the intangible quality that sells a story?

That's our topic for the week--what are your favorite picture books, and why? Our scheduled topic question was whether character-driven or plot-driven books are most effective. That's certainly part of the equation--it's important to examine all the variables: humor, emotion, wordplay, visual quality . . . so many things contribute to the success of a picture book.

For more thoughts on the subject visit Wendy's blog on recent award-winning picture books, then join us Thursday at 9 pm Eastern to discuss your personal favorites.

Transcript: 1/20/11

2011-01-21T12:33:00.008-05:00

TOPIC: Welcome tonight's guest, picture book author and host of #PiBoIdMo, @TaraLazar!

Tara's debut picture book, THE MONSTORE, will be released by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in 2013. Visit Tara at her blog: http://taralazar.wordpress.com, where she hosts Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) and posts topics of interest to children's book creators.

Here are the highlights of last night's chat in Q&A form--questions/comments from chat participants are in boldface, Tara's responses are in italics:

So, does everyone know the exciting news about Tara's upcoming book?
We announced the illustrator, @JamesBurksArt. He just completed initial character sketches. THE MONSTORE has several main characters, which is a little unusual for a picture book. There's a brother and sister, three main monsters, and The Monstore manager. The first stage of illustrating is having editor approve character sketches.

How exciting! have you seen the sketches?
I haven't seen sketches yet. I hope to share them on my blog. It will be interesting to see their evolution.

Was it hard to develop so many characters with minimal words?
It's just the way the story rolled out of me, so I didn't think it was hard. They made sense organically.

Did THE MONSTORE start as a #PiBoIdMo idea?
Yes, THE MONSTORE began as just a title during #PiBoIdMo 2008, which I did just on my own.

How did you come up with the idea for your book?
It was just a catchy title at first. Then I met an agent friend at a conf and asked for feedback on my ideas ...so then I had to come up with a premise. I thought, "A store that sells monsters" but needed more oomph ...so then I thought "A boy wants to return the monster he bought because it doesn't spook his little sister."

Lol--love that premise!
So after I had the idea of the boy returning his monster, the line "no returns, no exchanges" came!

Did the agent help you focus which direction you wanted to take the story?
I got my agent after I wrote this story. It's what hooked her. After I signed with her, we changed just one line. And I think that may be a little unusual, too. I was ready to do major revisions, but she loved it as is.

Wow! So you got feedback on it after you wrote the entire manuscript then? I'd think before might influence too much.
Now that I'm working with an agent, I usually pitch her an idea before I write to see if she likes it. And by "likes it" I mean if she thinks it will sell!

So you and your agent worked on it together before pitching to publisher--any changes after sale?
Oh, wow! MONSTORE had a lot of changes after the sale. But they were all changes that made the story better.

Did you hesitate about any of the changes or did you see the benefit of them immediately?
I definitely hesitated! I didn't understand the WHYs behind the changes at first. Once I did, it made changing it easier.

I tend to write too much and edit like crazy when drafting. What's your writing style? Do you edit back or build up?
I try to go straight thru without editing too much. I want to get the story down first. Then I play with language. I don't do rhyming picture books, but I play a lot with sounds, alliteration, internal rhyme, onomatopoeia, etc. It's gotta sound good to read aloud.

What is 'onomatopoeia'?
BAM! BASH! SWISH! WHIFF! Words that sound like sounds.

Are you finding your style changing as you absorb editor's comments on first book?
Interestingly, I am writing simpler. My stories tend to be a bit complex for picture books, so I'm simplifying.

Mind if I ask--how many words in final version?
My newest manuscript is just 407 words. MONSTORE is about 630 words. The two manuscripts I have out now are about 550.

That makes me feel better, My whole dummy I am working on is under 150 words. The pictures fill in so much.
Great. 150 is definitely selling. One of my agent's books got bought a few months ago and it was around that length. I know several others in the 150-250 range.

Over 700 w = too much for PB?
700 words is a bit on the long side. Cut as much as possible. Don't include "stage directions" in the text. Richard Peck once said you can always cut 30 more words each time you look at a page. (Although he was speaking of novels.)

So if it's under 700 it could be used for PB; over 700 and you've got a chapter book?
Length isn't the only genre divider...age of main character is also important. Picture book characters are typically six & under.

So how many other books are in the works?
I have two others out on submission and I just sent my agent a new one yesterday for initial feedback.

You're on fire! Any advice for us on a good story?
I've got this little rhyme: "Think of the hook before you write the book." I do that to make sure I have a winning concept. I used to just sit and write whatever. And writing "whatever" doesn't necessarily get you published.

Do you feel your stories end up character-driven, or does strong hook favor plot?
I think my style tries to balance both. Although I know that character-driven is hot right now. Potential series.

Not to mention licensing possibilities if a character's series takes off.
Yes, the whole Fancy Nancy phenom! Or even Trixie and Knuffle Bunny. Publishers want the next great character.

Can you give an example of a pitch you gave your agent?
It's usually a title and one line about the plot. I love word play so my titles tell a lot about the potential story.

Could you explain "the hook before the book" just a bit more? How to test for good hook?
A good hook is when the story can be boiled down to one line that makes others want to know more.

Do you visualize potential illustrations in your head? Do you tend to use illustration notes?
I'm a visual thinker, but I don't tend to visualize what my chars look like, although I imagine scenes in my head. I do use art notes, but only when it's not obvious what's going on by what I've written.

Do you have a critique group that you work with on your stories?
Yes, I have a local critique group and I have online crit partners. My agent will also critique.

I need a PB crit group as well. Most local groups are MG or YA. Experienced people would be a big help!
You can find folks online. All you have to do is ask! The dynamic of an in-person group is different. With the in-person crits, it's more of a roundtable discussion, back and forth, ideas are exchanged...I am lucky that @ScubaCor lives about 5 miles away. We have two others in our group. One is pubbed in non-fiction.

Do you like both [types of critique groups] equally?
Each have their pros and cons. I think I like my agent critiques best, though! LOL!

When you're writing your story, do you just write the minimal text or do you have illustartion info? That is to say, I expect a whole lot of the story will be carried out through the illustrations.
I include art notes only when it isn't clear what's happening by the text. Yes, 50% of the tale should be told in images. Leave out "stage directions" in the text. No need to say "she clasped her hands in front of her" when it can be drawn.

I think author/illustrators have more specific images come as we write vs. as an author.
Yes, author/illustrators have the benefit of working with both pieces. Peter Brown's CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS is a good example because his text was very spare. "They napped together" is the bear & boy asleep on a tree limb. That was a spread, just "they napped together." Three words, 2 pages, 1 illustration. I have a post on my blog that talks about spare language. Let me find it... Saying a lot with a little: http://taralazar.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/saying-a-lot-with-a-little/

Folks may also like to see this PB layout article on my blog: http://taralazar.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/picture-book-construction-know-your-layout/

Wow! That hour FLEW by! Thanks so much for inviting me, @BonnieAdamson and @WendyMartinArt. I had so much fun!

Great info on your blog, Tara!
Knock on my door anytime!

Thank you, Tara!

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 1-20-11

Special Guest Tara Lazar

2011-01-19T07:21:00.004-05:00

We're rolling into week three of the #PBdummy challenge with a special guest: children's author Tara Lazar.

Tara's first book is THE MONSTORE, to be released by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in 2013with illustrations by James Burks (@JamesBurksArt).

Many of you know Tara, a mom to two young girls, from her blog, "Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)", which regularly posts amazing resources for writers: 400+ Things That Kids Like; 79 Things Kids Don't Like; Picture Book Construction: Know Your Layout (definitely one to bookmark for this challenge!)--just to name a few.

Two years ago, Tara came up with Picture Book Idea Month (#PiBoIdMo) for picture book writers not involved in the annual NaNoWriMo frenzy. During the month of November, participants are challenged to come up with at least one viable picture book idea a day. Building on the success of PiBoIdmo 2009, 2010's challenge was even bigger, featuring over 30 guest bloggers to provide inspiration as well as prizes for those who successfully completed the challenge.

One of the best things to come out of PiBoIdMo 2010, in our modest opinion, was that many of our illustrator friends who had taken part wanted to keep the momentum going--which resulted in kidlitart sponsoring the PB dummy challenge. Thank you, Tara!

Join us for #kidlitart on Thursday, January 20, at 9 pm EST, to meet Tara and find out how she turned her unique picture book idea into a brilliant picture book text.

Transcript: 1/13/11

2011-01-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

TOPIC: Writing Pot-Luck: Bring Your Best Tips and Tricks!

Tweets of note:

@CERodriguez:Writing is a lot like throwing up. It may be painful to start but you'll feel better when it's finished.

@jeanie_w: Expect your first draft to come out as senseless crap. Good writing is all in the revisions.

More books for your library:

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook, by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go, by Les Edgerton

Link (writing in rhyme):

http://www.dorichaconas.com/Icing%20the%20Cake%20page.htm

Depending on which utility you used and where you were, geographically, this chat was either way too fast or way too slow. Enjoy the full transcript below at your own pace!

#kidlitart 1-13-11

Ready for Step 2?

2011-01-13T08:46:00.005-05:00

Put on your writing caps!

Now that you have an idea for the picture book, the emphasis for the next four weeks will be on writing the story. For the challenge, we’ll assume most of you are creating original text, but those of you illustrating existing folk tales for your portfolios, or working on nonfiction, or developing concept books, all need to be concerned with story—even a wordless picture book requires a shooting script.

How to write a story for children is beyond the scope of this challenge. There are excellent resources available, though—and, of course, the best training for writing picture books is to READ, READ, READ! Read current picture books and classics. Read prize-winners and family favorites. Read aloud! Read to kids if you have ’em. Conventional wisdom says you must read at least 100 picture books before you ever attempt to write one.

Join us at #kidlitart Thursday, January 13 (9 pm Eastern) for our writing pot-luck! Share your favorite picture book writing tips and tricks.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Picture book plots are usually linear, moving forward through time (no flashbacks).

• Subplots may be implied (or carried through the illustrations), but the text adheres to a simple, single plotline.

• Picture books must have a child as the main character—or a child stand-in (pet; furry woodland creature). An adult main character can work only if he/she exhibits childlike characteristics or behavior (Amelia Bedelia).

• Picture books address universal themes of childhood.

• Problems are solved by the main character, not by a wiser adult.

• Modern picture books are short: 500 words or less is not unusual.

• Beginning-middle-end structure results in a short story; a picture book plot contains tension that can be charted on a curve: rising action (exterior or interior) leading to a climax and quick resolution.

• Picture books most often use third-person point-of-view.

• Just as in a chapter book or novel, the main character should experience growth: change of attitude; newfound confidence; greater understanding, etc.

• Don’t be tempted to rhyme your text unless you’re willing to work to make the rhyme and meter perfect.

• There are exceptions to every “rule” about writing picture books.

Build your library:

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book: Vols. I, II & III , by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock
Volume I: Structure
Volume II: Word, Sentence, Scene, Story
Volume III: Figures of Speech
This series uses classic children’s books as examples to examine structure and grammatical building blocks.

How to Write a Children’s Book and Get It Published, by Barbara Seuling
Contains a useful section focused specifically on picture books.

How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books and Get Them Published, edited by Treld Pelkey Bicknell and Felicity Trotman
Though dated in regard to some business details (first published in 1988), this book contains valuable insights into genres and styles, as well as solid writing advice.

Writing for Children & Teens: A Crash Course, by Cynthea Liu
A breezy intro to the full spectrum of children’s books, with pithy comments on mistakes to avoid.

How to Write a Children's Picture Book, by Darcy Pattison
Ebook based on the popular series of posts, "30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book," from Darcy’s writing blog, Fiction Notes.

Picture Writing, by Anastasia Suen
A unique approach to writing visually.

Worth a second (third and fourth) mention:

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books, by Uri Shulevitz

The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, by Nancy Lamb

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication, by Ann Whitford Paul

Links to check out:

http://www.sudipta.com/writersresources/wheresthebeef.html

http://www.marisamontes.com/writing_picture_books.htm

http://www.memfox.net/so-you-want-to-write-a-picture-book.html

http://www.memfox.com/20-dos-and-20-donts.html

http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/Tips.html

http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/A66.html

http://shutta.com/storyskeletons.pdf

http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/illustratorsguide.html

http://www.cherylklein.com/cookie.html

http://cbaybooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/short-story-ms-vs-picture-book-ms-there.html

Chat schedule for “writing month”:

January 13: Writing Pot-Luck: Bring Your Best Tips and Tricks!

January 20: Special guest Tara Lazar!

January 27: Plot-driven or character-driven: which books are most memorable?

February 3: Who needs a plot? From “One, Two, Three” to Goodnight, Moon

#kidlitart chats are held every Thursday, at 9 pm Eastern.

Transcript: 1/6/11

2011-01-07T01:22:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: Picking a picture book project you can live with.

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 1-6-11

Ready, set . . . go!

2011-01-05T10:17:00.003-05:00

Kidlitart Picture Book Dummy Challenge

Scroll down to yesterday's post for #PBdummy schedule and FAQs.

STEP 1: Pick your project
January 6-January 13

Consider the market, consider your strengths, then go with your gut: what idea makes you want to grab someone by the arm and make them listen to your pitch? What are you so excited about that you’re doodling images right now? What do you care enough about to spend the next six months refining?

CHAT TOPIC:
Join #kidlitart on Thursday, January 6, at 9 pm EST, to discuss “Picking a picture book project you can live with.”

Come prepared to share tips on how you brainstorm new ideas; how you choose a winner; and how put your own spin on it to come up with the project only you could create.

For inspiration:

Caldecott winners, 1938-present

SCBWI Golden Kite winners, 1974-present
Note: Awards for picture book text were added in 1997.

Horn Book Fanfare list for 2010

Publishers Weekly Fall 2010 Children’s Announcements

New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010

Struggling to find an idea?
Check out the series of posts hosted by Tara Lazar during the PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) Challenge (November, 2010), and the posts during last year’s NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week), hosted by Paula Yoo.

Start building your resource library
Here are three that have excellent overviews on what makes an engaging picture book:

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books, by Uri Shulevitz

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication, by Ann Whitford Paul

The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Childen, by Nancy Lamb

And . . . we’re off!

Have your super-fantastic, one-of-a-kind picture book idea ready to go by January 13, when we'll begin drafting the text.

Check back often for challenge updates. Leave questions/comments below, or DM @BonnieAdamson or @WendyMartinArt.

Good luck!

It's here!

2011-01-04T09:52:00.007-05:00

Welcome to the Kidlitart Picture Book Dummy Challenge!

Part I: Fine Print

What is the Dummy Challenge?
A 25-week online group challenge to create and submit a picture book dummy.
Start date: January 6
End date: June 30

Who can join?
Anyone! Though geared primarily toward author/illustrators, writers who are not artists can benefit from portions of the dummy exercise, and illustrators without an original manuscript can use the process to create a dummy portfolio piece.

Can I participate without attending kidlitart Twitter chats?
Yes, the challenge steps will be posted here on the blog, as will the transcripts of each chat, as usual--but we encourage you to take advantage of all avenues for joining in the discussion: leave comments here; drop by #kidlitart on Thursday nights; and check in with your Twitter colleagues any time via the challenge hashtag: #PBdummy.

Note: Don’t forget to pick up your official #PBdummy twibbon, designed by Diandra Mae.

Do I have to post my work online?
No! We will be discussing the steps in general terms. If you wish to receive feedback or critiques on specific ideas or artwork, you are free to exchange messages or post images with trusted partners in protected venues. DO NOT post original work in comments here: please be mindful of the nature of the internet and use caution when posting original work ANYWHERE.

What if I don’t want to create a picture book dummy? Will I be left out of #kidlitart until June?
Topics for the Thursday chats will follow the challenge schedule, but should be of interest to all children’s book illustrators and friends. We intend to cover the entire range of issues involved: from what makes an engaging picture book manuscript, through structuring a picture book, craft techniques, tips for scanning and presentation, all the way to researching submissions. We hope you will feel welcome to join in the chats as usual, whether or not you are participating in the challenge.

Are there any rules for the challenge?
Nope. The idea is to have a great time while accomplishing a goal. There are no formal sign-ups or check-ins required—but if you’ve ever participated in a similar challenge, you know the value of community: checking in regularly, encouraging others, allowing yourself to be held accountable to a schedule—all this will help you get the most from the experience.

Any prizes or rewards for participating?
This is a new venture for your trusty kidlitart organizers, so please bear with us when we say we’re not quite sure how this will evolve. For now, the dummy will be its own reward. We’re accumulating lots of information to help you navigate the process, and we’ve lined up some terrific chat guests to inspire you along the way. We promise to take note of any questions or suggestions you might have for future challenges and to let you know of any opportunities that arise from this current challenge.

Part II: Brass Tacks

What is a picture book dummy, anyway?
A picture book dummy is a facsimile of a printed book: text and images laid out on paper cut into pages which are then gathered and “bound” to approximate an actual book. A dummy can be extremely simple or very elaborately produced—but the defining characteristic is the page turn.

A physical dummy allows you to simulate the experience of reading a book. For the author/illustrator, a dummy aids in establishing and editing the visual context into a series of isolated page spreads viewed the way a reader will experience them. It can also be an important tool for exposing flaws in the pace of a manuscript or help to establish natural dramatic breaks in the story line.

Who should create a picture book dummy, and why?
There are three reasons to create a picture book dummy:

a) As mentioned above, a dummy is an important tool for structuring a picture book, and is a recommended exercise for polishing any manuscript. A writer who is not an illustrator can benefit from creating a simple dummy, but should NOT include it as part of the submission.

b) An illustrator who is not an author might consider creating a picture book dummy of a fairy tale or some other familiar text in the public domain, as a portfolio piece. A successful dummy will demonstrate that the illustrator understands how to structure a story within the constraints of the standard picture book format.

c) An author/illustrator should consider including a picture book dummy as part of the submission package for any original manuscript he or she wishes to illustrate. This will give the editor, art director or agent reviewing your submission the clearest idea of the viability of the project. For the purposes of this challenge, we will assume that this is the goal. If you are producing a dummy for any other reason, you may find that some of the challenge steps don’t apply to your project—but we hope they will be enlightening, nevertheless.

How do we break this down?
Here is the schedule as it will be presented during the challenge. Blog posts will introduce each step by providing key points to consider, resources, and chat topics for that phase.

Jan. 6-Jan. 13 (1 week): Pick your project

Jan. 13-Feb. 10 (4 weeks): Draft the story

Feb. 10-Feb. 24 (2 weeks): Develop the characters

Feb. 24-Mar. 10 (2 weeks): Storyboard text and art

Mar. 10-May 5 (8 weeks): Produce tight, full-size sketches

May 5-Jun. 2 (4 weeks): Produce final art of two spreads

Jun. 2-Jun. 16 (2 weeks): Comp the cover and assemble the dummy

Jun. 16-Jun. 23 (1 week): Research submissions; prepare dummy package

Jun. 23-Jun. 30 (1 week): Submit

Jun. 30: Wrap party!

That’s it! Nine easy steps to dummy success!

Ready to get started? Stay tuned: Step 1 posts on Wednesday, January 5—followed by the first chat of the new year on Thursday, January 6, at 9 pm EST.

See you there!

We have a twibbon!

2010-12-20T09:19:00.005-05:00

You may have heard: #kidlitart is sponsoring a dummy challenge to celebrate our first anniversary (a year already!).

Thanks to the lovely and talented @DiandraMae, the Great Dummy Challenge has an official twibbon! . . . cool, huh? Get yours here: https://twibbon.com/join/PBdummy-Challenge-2

We've also taken the hashtag out for a test spin: #PBdummy will be the place to post comments on Twitter during the challenge.

The planning and scheduling is still being finalized, so be sure to add your comments/questions here, or DM us (@BonnieAdamson; @WendymartinArt).

We're looking forward to kicking things off January 6--see you then! In the meantime, watch this space for updates.

Transcript 12/16/10

2010-12-17T09:43:00.003-05:00

TOPIC: Are holiday-themed promotions effective?

Points worth mentioning:

The big winter holidays are probably more a time to connect with and show appreciation for the people you work with: a card or small gift works well, depending on the closeness of the relationship.

As a creative marketing tool, try sending promos themed to another holiday: April Fool's; St. Patrick's Day; National Cupcake Day--riffs on any of these can give your promo a hook to make it stand out from the crowd.

Regarding manuscripts and/or dummies, don't forget that publishers are always looking for holiday tie-ins; it might be smart to have one or two in your portfolio.

Speaking of dummies, the last half of the chat was taken over with discussion of the Great Kidlit Dummy Challenge, set to kick off January 6 . . and somehow, that morphed into a general food-themed free-for-all. :-D

Programming note: Kidlitart is taking a holiday hiatus, and will return January 6. Stay tuned to Twitter and to this site for updates between now and then.

Wendy and I wish all of our kidlitart friends the very happiest of holidays!

Full chat transcript below--enjoy with the beverage of your choice:

#kidlitart 12-16-10

Transcript: 12/9/10; Guest Jannie Ho

2010-12-10T07:53:00.003-05:00

TOPIC: Update the outdated. Website questions? Ask @JannieHo.

Apologies to our guest, super illustrator Jannie Ho--the conversation last night was impossible to shape into a more reader-friendly Q&A; we've provided a list of highlights instead.

Please check out Jannie's website, the awesomeness of which was the inspiration for the chat.

Note: Jannie recently updated to a Wordpress site, using the Headway premium theme.
Alert chatters provided a link to a purchase promo currently running for Headway theme packages; and suggest a Twitter source for Headway support at #headwaywp.

Advice/suggestions/comments regarding illustrator websites:

1) Keep the site as simple as possible: it's not necessary (and possibly frustrating to busy ADS) to add animations, etc.

2) Consider opening directly onto a gallery page--the fewer clicks to get to your art, the better. However, opening with your blog might move you higher in search engines.

3) Provide your name and contact information on EVERY page; if an AD prints samples from your site (and some do), your name should be on them.

4) STOP USING FLASH: makes sites slow to load, hard to bookmark; not SEO-friendly; doesn't work on iPhone/iPad; ADs may be unable to download images.

5) make sure your site is mobile-compatible, as many ADs report surfing for talent from smart phones.

6) ADs repotedly like thumbnail organization; thumbs should be shrunk from originals, however, not cropped into obscurity.

7) Opinions divided on wisdom/effectiveness of providing pdf portfolio on website. Pro: handy for ADs to print samples for prospective clients; Con: makes it easier to steal images. Chatters point out that there are ways to add security, but NO image on a website is ever totally safe.

8)Questions raised in regard to performance of Wordpress in controlling SEO for images. Some use the NextGEN gallery plug-in or Flickr to display images.

9)Choices for monitoring visits to your site: StatCounter; Google Analytics; or statistics provided by The Authors Guild Web Services

10) If you have an established blog, consider exporting content to new web site, or placing a link to the existing blog on your site.

11) Edit content on your new blog: get rid of old, outdated work; keep it fresh.

12) Don't include styles in which you do not want to work.

Thanks to all for your insight! Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 12-9-10

Dummy Challenge

2010-12-03T08:30:00.003-05:00

Hello, kidlitart-ers!

In addition to the traditional avenues of promoting our work with postcard mailings, online portfolios and sample submissions, many of us have original picture book ideas we'd like to develop. The notion of combining our art and writing talents received support recently from this post, which suggests that the picture book market is uniquely receptive to the author/illustrator. And several of us got an extra boost by participating in Tara Lazar's PiBoIdmo challenge last month. Add all this to the fact that #kidlitart's first anniversary (!) is coming up January 6th, and we've got a great reason to celebrate with our very own kidlitart picture book dummy challenge!

This is all still in the discussion phase--which is where we need your help. Here are the ideas so far:

1) host an online challenge, either here at the kidlitart blog or elsewhere, that would include a schedule of checkpoints to creating a finished dummy and a mechanism for posting your progress (not the work, just a comment on where you are in the process).

2) create a hashtag for keeping up with/encouraging each other via Twitter

3) establish a closed blog or Flickr account for participants who wish to disuss specific ideas or post work in progress for critique (this would be voluntary--you would not have to post work to participate in the challenge)

4) the challenge would be open to everyone: non-illustrator friends are welcome to join in (making a dummy is a great exercise for polishing any picture book manuscript)

5) the challenge would begin after the first of the year--kickoff January 6th--and run through May or June.

6) At each stage, the host site would post reference material for participants: links to online resources; pdf downloads of storyboard templates, etc.

7) the goal for illustrators would be to have a finished dummy ready to submit as part of an author/illustrator package. In other words, no prizes other than the satisfaction of accomplishing an objective.

Obviously, there are still lots of details to work out. If you're interested, we need your feedback to make this work! Please use the comment field below for questions, concerns and suggestions, or just to let us know you're interested. We won't hold you to it, but it will help in the planning if we have some idea of how many might be participating.

Thanks to all for your input so far, and for your support of #kidlitart every week: the energy and enthusiasm is wonderful!

Transcript: 12/2/10

2010-12-03T08:24:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: Does anyone know what you do? How do you promote yourself OUTSIDE the book/art community?

Note: This chat morphed into a discussion of a possible kidlitart-sponsored online challenge to create picture book dummies. Please see Dummy Challenge post for details.

#kidlitart 12-2-10

Transcript: 11/18/10

2010-11-19T08:13:00.004-05:00

[Programming note: there will be no #kidlitart chat next Thursday (11/25/10), due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. #kidlitart will return on December 2.]

TOPIC: Illustrator only or author/illustrator--what's best for you?

This was a chat filled with quote-worthy wisdom from illustrators, writers and those in between. A brief sampling:

@kellylight: Shoot for the moon--if you miss . . . you get to illustrate the stars.

@JohansenNewman: Don't wait: write the stories for the things you want to illustrate.

@aliciapadron: I just want to say to all writers . . . you guys make it look easy and it's not.

@PattyJMurphy: Like illustrating, writing is a craft and an art form . . . both take time, talent, patience . . . and cupcakes.

Links:

Post at kidlit.com on possible advantages of aubthor/illustrator

Hulla-hooping supplies! (extremely relevant, believe it or not!)

Full transcript below--enjoy!

#kidlitart 11-18-10

Transcript: 11/11/10

2010-11-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

TOPIC: What creative group challenges do you find fun/useful and why?

Challenges mentioned:

PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month)

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week)

NaNoDrawMo (National "Novel" Drawing Month)

IllustrationFriday

The Sketchbook Project

They Draw And Cook

Watercolor Wednesdays

SCBWI's Tomie dePaola Award contest

Dueling Banjo Pigs

OutSmart 2010

Terrible Yellow Eyes (now closed)

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 11-11-10

Transcript: 11/4/10

2010-11-05T08:07:00.003-04:00

TOPIC: Beyond postcards: how are you expanding your promotion efforts?

First off, Tweet of the night honors go to:

@barrygott: You mean there's something beyond postcards? Weird.

and

@NVCrittenden: Singing telegrams????

SUGGESTIONS:

Showing portfolio face-to-face

Paid portfolio sites such as ChildrensIllustrators.com; picture-book.com; altpick

Free portfolio sites such as Illustration Mundo

SCBWI: conferences; paid portfolio reviews; submitting to Bulletin; Tomie dePaola Award

Sample packets (example: Meg Hunt's promo packet)

Portfolios on CD (controversy noted: ADs split on this)

E-portfolios

Online presence: website, blog, Twitter, Facebook

Website tips: "two-click" rule (should not take more than two clicks to reach portfolio images); have samples/thumbnails on landing page; track visits to site with free service such as StatCounter

Also mentioned:
Lynn Alpert (@RedStepchild)'s response to requests from self-publishers

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 11-4-10

Transcript: 10/28/10

2010-10-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

TOPIC: What frightens you most about illustrating?

#kidlitart 10-28-10

Guest: Wendy Edelson; 10/21/10

2010-10-22T08:51:00.007-04:00

TOPIC: Please welcome children's book illustrator and licensing artist @wendyedelson to #kidlitart!

Wendy's sites
Portfolios: http://www.wendyedelson.com
Blog: http://www.elevenlemons.blogspot.com

In the excerpted transcript below, we've attempted to recreate the conversation in a more linear Q&A format. Questions and comments from chat participants are in bold; Wendy's answers are in italic.

Why don't you tell us a little about your art?
My pleasure....hello everyone. Gee...my art, it's colorful, detailed and I'm a stickler for "good draughtsmanship"...and decorative, I guess: I see texture and pattern everywhere.

That really shows, Wendy. Do you do any b/w line work?
I started doing only B & W pen and ink. It was a good thing I moved into color; in B & W sometimes the pattern was too much!

Do you have an agent?
Yes, I have an agent, MorganGaynin: kid's art and grown up art.

Is that for book illustration? the agent?
My agents rep me for books or other commercial work.

Do your kid art and grown up cross over style wise?
Actually, style wise, my adult and kid's work is pretty much the same.

Your art is incredible!! :) How long have you been illustrating?
I started working professionally when I was 16; I left school at the end of the 8th grade and my first job was in NYC, Garment Dist.

WOW! What confidence!
My parents were beatnik-hippie types and I just didn't know any better.....NOW, I get nervous! : ) I started out illustrating hang tags for Garanimals.

Oh! They're a brand of kid's clothing, aren't they?
Yes about the Garanimals: you match the "tiger" pants to the "tiger" shirt, kids do, so they can dress themselves.

Wendy, how did you break into children's books--from Garanimals?
I just started dragging my portfolio around NYC. I made a trip from Vermont, where I had moved to, and left samples.

Are you strictly traditional? You work looks like watercolor...
My work is watercolor, some acrylic and CP.

I'm sorry for being clueless--by CP do you mean cold press paper?
CP, sorry, colored pencils. I pretty much only use hot press paper.

What is your favorite brand of hot press? What weight of hot press paper do you prefer?
I tried to like Fabriano but always come back to good old Arches 140 lb hot press! I love the 300 lb but I print out tight drawings on my wide format printer and the 300 is just a bit much. I have some mystery paper I fell in love with, that had no watermark, and haven't been able to find it again.

Do you use any gloss medium/acrylic glaze in your paintings? Wish I could see your work for real - so much detail!
I do use the gloss medium w/ acrylics; all my work, in watercolor too, is all glazing.

If you had started out illustrating today, would you do it all the same?
I think I would do it again the same, but maybe I DO wish I had gone to art school to learn more technique, like oils!

Wendy, are you self taught?
Yes, I am self taught, but parents were both frustrated artists.

Looking through your blog to see more of your process and I have to ask, are you using brown cp as under sketch? Do you print the sketches right on the paper?
I print my drawings out in sepia, and then ink the contour lines in brown. Before the printer, it was the light table and brown ink.

You have an Epson?
I am a huge fan of Epson. I have a 2200 that is now discontinued, prints 13 X 19, and a 3800 which will print 17 X 27.

So paint over ink.. what pens do you use? Curious as to what doesn't bleed when painting.
The printed drawing and inked line are waterproof, pitt pens or microns in sepia. I actually miss rapidographs a little....but hated the eventual, inevitable clogging and they were slow.

Wet in wet bleeds in a lovely way but with glazing I let things dry in between so the colors, always transparent, shine through.

Wow, and here I am still transferring sketches onto watercolor paper using graphite sheets...
My drawings are so tight and detailed that drawing them more than once, transferring them makes my eyes bleed! I HATE light tables.

I use a light table but hate how the drawing loses life after tracing.
EXACTLY how I feel! The first sketch is alive, the traced one is stiffer.

My light table is much too small for my purposes these days.
I bought a light table from a going out of business printer, an old "stripper's" table 5 X 4 FEET!

That's how I got my paper cutter. A Dick Blick was moving and I got a super deal on it.
My paper cutter was from an old school......an old oak one like a table. I LOVE old card catalogs too, for paints and stuff.

I draw on trace paper and scan in then adjust and print out then trace on light table.
I draw on Clearprint Vellum, my fave because I can erase a 100 times if I just can't draw that !@#$%^ foot right at first.

Drawing such detail did you naturally go that way? What was your inspiration?
My drawing has always been really detailed; I think it is simply how I see. Some people see in shapes, blocks of color, but I see wood grain, herringbone, individual hairs. I've learned a bit to allow space in between areas of texture and pattern so the piece can be read. I try to be conscious of that. Once, I did a magazine cover in B&W with so much detail I didn't realize I drew a woman with three arms! Two holding a baby and one reaching.

Did you see it before you sent in the final?
Nope, there it was printed, and suddenly, OMG!!!! she's got three arms! No one else ever noticed!!!!! At least that I know of.

That is brilliant, I love hearing stories like that!
I think these situations just show how wonderfully absorbed we can become, which is so very lucky for us!!!

What's your studio like? Do you have a lot of fabric/tactile references for all the detail you do?
My studio is just in a pokey extra bedroom.......I just collect magazines, stare at things a lot.

I used to have a "morgue" now I just search through Google.
I love my morgue: once I saw a book cover and I recognized the Googled photo the illustrator had used!

The hour sped by so quickly--lol, didn't get to ask half the questions I wanted!
That is amazing that it has been an hour; yikes, I had NO reason to be nervous! Now that I've done this, I'll come back again! Thank you! Nice to see some old friends and meet new ones.

Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks with us. Your art is lovely. Hope to learn more from your blog.
Have a great night everyone! Thanks, and if anyone has a question, feel free to email me.

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 10-21-10

Special guest Wendy Edelson

2010-10-20T10:15:00.003-04:00

We’re thrilled to welcome illustrator Wendy Edelson (@wendyedelson) as our guest for #kidlitart this week: Thursday, October 21, 9 pm Eastern.

Totally self-taught, Wendy calls herself “ridiculously driven,” working seven days a week to realize her dream of becoming an illustrator. She says in the beginning she knew absolutely nothing except that she could draw, but she was determined to learn, going on interviews for freelance ad agency jobs by day and studying library books for technique at night.

Wendy will take questions on how she developed—or, rather, recognized—her own unique style, and how she has successfully carved out a place for her work in online marketing, children’s book illustration, and art licensing.

Check out her portfolios at http://www.wendyedelson.com, and news of current projects and awards at her blog, http://www.elevenlemons.blogspot.com.

See you on Thursday!

Transcript: 10/14/10

2010-10-15T10:32:00.005-04:00

TOPIC: How do you set realistic goals for yourself and realistic schedules for your clients?

Observations:

A big issue is scheduling personal projects; client projects have deadlines, which makes them easier to schedule--and when client projects come in, they always trump personal work

Loss of momentum can be a killer---it's hard to jump back into the game

Switching gears takes time--it's difficult to pick up work for just an hour or two if you know you're going to be interrupted

On the other hand, you can lose huge chunks of time to the artistic "zone"--that alternate reality that causes you to have to re-engage with real life

If the deadline is off in the future, you tend to work more slowly; closer deadlines mean more productive work

Many need to "schedule" hobbies, exercise; try five-minute exercise breaks while working

It's hard to visulaize how long a project will actually take to complete

It's easy to find yourself working too hard and accomplishing too little

If your life is out of control, it's hard to draw sweet, happy characters

It can be easier to streamline the mundane tasks (errands, housework) than to try to streamline your illustration process

It's particularly hard to balance two creative pursuits: iluustrating and writing, for instance--you seem to be pulled one direction or the other

Tips:

If multi-tasking is required, try to designate chunks of time to each project; assign different projects different days; or make sure projects have different deadlines, especially in concept phase

Learn to say "no"--to clients and to unrealistic deadlines

Make lists and stick to them

Remind yourself that you actually enjoy drawing (!)

Ask clients for budget and timeframe up front, then include in contract

Try to be happy with what you did today, rather than worrying about all you didn't get done

Break big goals into smaller ones

Rid yourself of "easy distractions"--like iPod games

Links:

Article in The New Yorker on procrastination

Video with fun advice about tackling the most onerous jobs first

Basecamp project management software

Tweet of the night:
@alistaps: "Realistic goals - I meditate and journal lots to make sure I'm tapped into my heart's agenda.. my brain gets too tyrannical ;)"

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 10-14-10

Transcript: 10/7/10

2010-10-08T08:44:00.000-04:00

TOPIC: Favorite digital tips & tricks

#kidlitart 10-7-10

Transcript: 9/30/10

2010-10-01T07:23:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: How do you recharge when the creative well runs dry?

Recharging can be a matter of sweeping out the cobwebs, finding new sources of inspiration—or both.

Suggestions for brain-clearing

Physical: take a walk; walk the dog; work in the garden; go for a swim; go to the gym; get a massage; take a nap; clean out/reorganize your workspace; leave the house; shut everything out and chill

Mental: read a book; watch an old movie; knit, crochet, quilt; work on a craft project; cook or bake; zone out in front of the TV; listen to music; stare into space; schedule a time to unplug from TV, internet, Twitter [gasp!]

Finding inspiration

Listen to podcasts; browse the internet; teach a class; attend a conference; visit the library or bookstore; take in a museum show; organize a field trip to the zoo; flip through back issues of design magazines; browse your WIP backlog; take out your supplies and play; network with other creatives, in person or online; sign up for challenges (mentioned: @taralazar's PiBoIdMo)

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 9-30-10

Transcript: 9/23/10

2010-09-23T22:27:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: Beyond studio set-up and promos, what is the best cash investment you can make in your career?

#kidlitart 9-23-10

Transcript: 9/16/10

2010-09-17T11:51:00.003-04:00

TOPIC: What is your medium of choice when starting a new project? Why?

Media mentioned:
graphite pencil (2B)
colored pencil (Prismacolor)
Micron pen
brush pen
gouache
watercolor
acrylic
water-miscible oils

Drawing software:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Corel Painter
SmithMicro Manga Studio

Links:
http://www.lynda.com/ (Software tutorials--subscription site)
Tutorials for Painter
Tutorials and podcasts from Dani Jones (@DaniDraws): http://danidraws.com/

Full transcript below:
Note: We lost the first five minutes of the chat, due to a WhatTheHashtag snafu.

#kidlitart 9-16-10

9/9/10: Guest chat with Jonathan Woodward

2010-09-10T09:36:00.009-04:00

TOPIC: Please welcome zero2illo founder and uber-talented illustrator @jonwoodward!

Here is a distillation of the main chat in Q&A form. Jonathan's comments are in italics:

So, Jonathan--would you like to fill us in a bit on zero2illo?
I started zero2illo as a way to keep me accountable-I'd procrastinated for too long in my illustration aspirations. [It] was also way to share resources I found along the way that may help other aspiring illustrators too & it sort of grew from there.

How's it working so far?
It has sort of kept me accountable and in outwardly sharing my progress it has helped me decide where I want to go.

How does [zero2illo] work?
It started as just a blog where I would post progress pics and
share resources but then came the challenges!

How did you arrive at having 12 weeks for a challenge?
It was really my wife @leawoodward that was responsible for the 12 weeks - she got fed up of me always talking about becoming an illustrator and said get on with it or let it go - I couldn't possibly let my passion go though. Together we decided to give myself 12 weeks to really make a go of it & she suggested inviting everyone else along for the ride

So important to have a supportive partner.
Totally - my wife is amazing and definitely the brains of the partnership (and the looks too actually).

How do the challenges work? Do you set up daily, weekly goals...and then, what happens after you reach your goals?
First we mapped out 12 steps that would be integral to setting up an illustration business from the ground up. We then put a post (task) on the blog each week for everyone tocomplete & week 12 you'd have a solid foundation.

The only thing keeping me going is fear of failure . . . and not being able to pay the bills.
It's funny how we all work as fear of failure was what kept me from starting in first place - self doubt.

How did you get the message "out there"? that you were starting the challenge? 02illo obviously, any others?
It was just through the site really and the facebook page too - I announced it about a month before we started.People then started tweeting about it and blogging it on their sites and I was totally blown away by the response. I was worried I might only get the odd one or two people joining but it got into the hundreds which was very inspiring.

I read about it on FB and thought, why not? I am so glad I did!
The business plan (OGSM) week was one I was a bit concerned about as it was very business focused and wasn't sure what participants would make of it - but the OGSM(Objectives, Strategies,Goals & Measures) is a great tool.

With each 12 week challenge, do you have daily goals, weekly goals?
The challenges are weekly and sometimes broken down into a couple of tasks - eg. create 2 portfolio pieces.

Can you offer a link to all of this...or is it on your web site?
It's all on the website and we've actually just pulled everything
together into a handy ebook too. The weekly blog posts are all still on the site but the ebook gathers lots of extra resources too.

Here's the link for the 12 week challenge ebook: http://zero2illo.com/store/12-week-challenge-kit/

How does one get in on this and is it open to beginners or pros only?
The challenge is open to anyone from beginner to pro and you can do
it anytime at your leisure.

Is it hard for you to start this project and have your work become about the project and not about your art?
One of our main intentions for 12WC was to bring in ideas, technology & methods
outside of the illustration norm = like the OGSM. My wife was a management consultant so we used a lot of her knowledge to do things a little differently & set up a solid business.

That's great, a different perspective...Thinking differently than how an illustr8r would approach it maybe?
Exactly-my wife's a techie whizz too & I'm a graphic/web designer too so we mixed it all up into a pot & served it up.

Any success stories yet? Is it too soon?
We have a few people that have had there 1st professional illustration commissions which was awesome to hear about.

What would be the best tip for those finding their day jobs or life getting in the way of their illo goals?
I'd say 'how badly do you want it?' There is always extra time to be found in your day.

I've found I can get a lot more accomplished in 15 minutes than I previously thought.
Especially true when you have a baby. Don't know what I used to do with all my time before becoming a parent.

So how is your own challenge progressing? Are you meeting your goals?
My own challenge, hmmmm. I underestimated how much time it would take to run the challenge and so I fell behind.

LOL, so you still need to finish?
Well, my goals have changed slightly & that is due to taking part in the 12WC as made me focus on what I wanted. I'm no longer necessarily looking outward for someone to hire me - I have plans to earn a living from illustration by building my own little empire. I have big plans but it's so important to think big. I'm moving more towards creating my own products and marketing myself using the 1000 true fans principle: http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php

You're also expanding into digital with your work. How do you like working in Photoshop?
Yeah - just started doing some collages digitally which I previously couldn't get a grip of. Really enjoying it now I've worked out my processes and methods of
working.

Do you think a business plan is important for any creative endeavor?
I think it's vital for any business - that is why the OGSM is so great as it's fun to create and a one page doc.

I think I've reworked my OGSM 4 times since the #12wk :) It is a wonderful tool to have at your desk to stay focused.
It's designed to be a flexible document. Mine has totally changed since I did mine in week 2. [It's] the law of attraction. So many of us focuson what we don't want rather than what we do want.

One of my very dear friends always says we get what we think we deserve...I think in a lot of cases that's true...
I love the Henry Ford quote 'Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you're right.' Find out what the blocking factor is and smash it to pieces.

Find out what that blocking factor is and smash it to pieces - good topic for a series! I had a block for nearly two years.
Mine lasted for about 10 - never thought I was good enough, always comparing myself to my fav illustrators.

Holy Smokes!! How did you function? How did you come out of that and the frustration?
You uncovered my secret earlier - a kick ass wife!! I'm a very lucky guy. My wife [gave] me a kick up the bum as she got so sick of me talking and never doing.

I've spent the last 5 years perfecting a unique style. Been waiting until I was 'ready.'
I can relate to that - the old 'I just need to do one more illo and then I'll be ready' syndrome. One thing we talk about in the ebook is looking at your consumption to production ratio - I was always consuming & never creating

Our time is almost up tonight--thank you SO much to @jonwoodward for elevating the discussion tonight!
Thanks everyone for being so kind - I wish I could join you all every week. Some of you may know that we are www.locationindependent.com too and basically travel around taking our business with us and we may well be heading over to the US next year so if I'm on the same time zone I'll definitely be back to join in the fun.

The Giveaway:
The winner of the zero2illo 12 week challenge kit ebook is: @jessicablank! For everyone else the promo code for $7 off the ebook is: kidlitart2010. The promo code is for anyone reading the transcript of this chat too that couldn't make it to the live chat. All you need to do is go to http://zero2illo.com/store/12-week-challenge-kit/ - click on buy now and then enter: kidlitart2010. (NOTE: Coupon expires Wednesday, September 15.)

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 9-9-10

Kidlitart giveaway!

2010-09-08T08:42:00.009-04:00

Join us Thursday, September 9, at 9 pm Eastern for a special guest chat with zero2illo founder Jonathan Woodward!

Jonathan will discuss the importance of being part of an online community (we're with you there, Jonathan!). He will also take questions about his experiences establishing the zero2illo 12 Week Challenge--and how that in turn resulted in the thriving zero2illo Clubhouse, which continues to offer support for professionals and hopefuls transitioning into careers as full-time illustrators.

As if that weren't enough, Jonathan is sponsoring our first ever #kidlitart giveaway:

"I will be drawing a name at random from those that participate in the live chat (actual participants though not just lurkers) and will be giving away a copy of the new zero2illo '12 Week Challenge Kit' ebook. I'll also be giving away a special coupon code to all participants for $7 off the price of the ebook too (valid until Sunday 12th September)."

Cool, huh?

The rules: You MUST comment during the chat to be considered for either the giveaway or the coupon code.* We will compile a list of chat participants from the "official" transcript, generated between 9 pm and 10 pm Eastern daylight time. If you don't comment, your name will not show up in the stream--so, lurkers, it's time to de-cloak!

Our thanks to Jonathan for agreeing to jump into the fray with us; and, as always, our profound appreciation to the loyal kidlitart community--you guys are the best!

See you Thursday!

*Update: Jonathan very generously extended the coupon code to fans of kidlitart who might have missed the chat on Thursday. You will find the code at the end of the Q&A distilled from the transcript (posted Friday, September 10). The coupon is still valid only through Sunday, September 12!

Update #2: The service used by zero2illo for purchasing the 12 week challenge kit has been experiencing problems. Jonathan sends his apologies, and has extended the coupon expiration to Wednesday, September 15.

Transcript: 9/2/10

2010-09-03T14:01:00.002-04:00

TOPIC: Tips for researching and developing a submission contact list.

Suggestions for generating a contact list:

Faculty lists for conferences. Ex: list of ADs attending SCBWI Bologna 2010

Member listings at the Children's Book Council site

SCBWI market lists (available for download to members only at http://www.scbwi.org/)

Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market; new edition published annually

Harold Underdown's Who's Moving Where? page at The Purple Crayon

Interviews on sites such as IllustrationMundo

Browse the publishers' list at JacketFlap

Compile your own database from items in PW's Children's Bookshelf (free online newsletter) and Publisher's Marketplace (online subscription news service)

Networking! Make use of contacts you meet at conferences and on the internet.

Additional advice:

Always, always double-check any listing with the publisher's web site before contacting them.

Focus on targeting the "right" ADS, rather than using a shotgun approach.

Postcards are still the preferred form of contact--4" x 6" is standard. Include a link to your web site or online portfolio.

Chatters suggest using an Excel spreadsheet to maintain your list and keep track of mailings and submissions.

Samples of recent mailings shared by chat participants:

@NVCrittenden: http://www.ninacrittenden.com/ (Splash page image)

@KatGirl_Studio: front & http://www.katgirlstudio.com/4x6_postcard_3-15-2010_back.jpg

@rmcclurkan: http://www.seerobdraw.com/robs-blog-log/2010/1/15/rustys-submarine-adventure-tours.html

@lordingvard: http://sean-ashby.blogspot.com/2010/07/promo-postcards-are-in-woot.html

@DiandraMae shared this link of another illustrator's promo retrospective:
http://leifdrawing101.blogspot.com/2010/08/promo-postcard-retrospective.html

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 9-2-10

Transcript: 8/26/10

2010-08-27T08:05:00.004-04:00

TOPIC: How important is an art degree for success in illustration? What is your own background in art?

This chat evolved into one of those community-building conversations Twitter does best: a group of people with a common interest sharing opinions and experiences.
There was no way to extract one or two comments that would sum up, so here's a sampling:

@melindabeavers: "As a freelancer—I don't think anyone cares [if you have an art degree]. They judge by your portfolio and your professionalism.

@angelamatteson: "[I'm] always grateful for college, but learning never stops."

@DiandraMae: "It seems the only way to learn the business is to try to be IN it."

@JohansenNewman: "Art school does not teach you tenacity. But it may begin to toughen your skin if it's too thin."

@WendyMartinArt: "I think traditional draftsmanship is a lost art."

@johnlechner: "Another thing art school can't teach you: how to discover your style. That sometimes takes a lifetime."

@JannieHo: "I had a great time in art school, so I would recommend it. Especially all the connections I've made."

@kellylight: "I'd do art school all over again! As my current self, though . . . not that namby-pamby I used to be."

@drawntobewild: "Art school is definitely wasted on the young!"

Full transcript below—enjoy!

#kidlitart 8-26-10

8/19/10: Guest chat with Elizabeth Dulemba

2010-08-20T11:12:00.010-04:00

TOPIC: Author/illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba (@dulemba) answers questions about picture book apps.

Note: What follows is a condensed version of the chat, set up in Q&A format: text blocks in bold are questions and comments from various chat participants. Elizabeth's answers are in italics.

Before we start, here's a link to Elizabeth's app:
http://dulemba.com/ActivityPage-Lula.html

Would you like to tell us about how Lula came about?
Like so many, I thought the idea of a PB app was cool! Something about the whole app thing just screamed "Pay attention - this is gonna be big..." But most of my stories were tied up in rights. So I chose a dummy that had won some awards, but never got published. It was short, funny, the drawings were mostly done.

Only clincher, it was a Halloween theme and that was a month away! I got the finals done in two weeks. I was up very late for those two weeks, but it was fun, too. Since the art was so small (4x the iPhone screen size), it flew.

I went with a local developer and did the voice too since there wasn't any time to hire
somebody! (Btw, no eating Indian food or dairy before doing a voice recording. Learned that one the hard way…)

Rhodesoft (Reading Rhino) was my developer. Very smart people. :-)

How did you link up with RhodeSoft?
I was talking to a friend at the Decatur Book Festival about what I wanted to do and she told me about Toni [Rhodes].

Did you license it yourself?
It was actually easier with an unpublished story - no rights issues!

What is the size of the artwork?
Not very big. About 1024x768 pixels - which is the iPad's dimensions thank goodness. I didn't have to redo anything for that!

Did they tell you what size it needed to be to work?

I came up with the 4x thing. For iPad, dulemba: I'd probably work at least 2x. It's still MUCH smaller than normal for me.

Do you know of any vanity or P.O.D E book or App publishers?
I've started gathering resources. You can see at
http://www.dulemba.com/index_techread.html

How many "screen shots" for an average story--or is there an average?
My original dummy for Lula was a standard PB, so it stayed within that range.

How did you get in with the resellers?
Well, the reseller is Apple. And honestly, other than Toni requesting, I have no idea how Lula
ended up in their featured section.

Are you concerned about shrinking artists and writers royalties as we move closer to e books and apps?
I am VERY concerned about the "standards" being quoted for eBooks. I don't think it's right
yet.

What standards are you referring to?
Right now a lot of publishers are contacting their authors asking them to sign "Updated"
contracts promising 25% of eBook royalties.

The only difference between print and e books is the printed book. All the other
expenses are the same right?
Not sure exactly what you mean, but an eBook is quite different in that there's no
warehousing, overhead, etc.

Development and marketing . . .
Development and Marketing are still pretty different. There are some hiccups with eBooks. No
affiliate programs. No ISBN #s - it's hard to connect to them other than with a link to the app on iTunes. Not ideal from a marketing standpoint.

Do you think the same thing will happen to lit as with music: digital is easy to copy/share = less sales?
No, I think lit is more like the movie industry than music. Videos didn't kill theatres - we just
have more options now.

Did you have any upfront costs? Other than your time/materials for art?
That's different with every developer. In the beginning it was an experiment and some were willing to split royalties. Now I think more are charging for the set-up and upload to Apple. So, for me, no upfront cost - just a lot of labor.

So distribution awareness is kind of a problem...
Distribution awareness is THE BIGGEST PROBLEM with apps. It is SO Hard to be found!!! If you aren't featured in the app store, it's very hard for anyone to find your product.

Are you working on other apps?
I'm currently trying to get my rights back on one of my earlier PBs that's just recently gone
OP. It would do well as an app.

What do you think the future of libraries and school visits is with so many ebooks
and apps?
I think our world will look very different 5 yrs from now, but I think/hope libraries will be a part of that. The need for libraries is still too strong. Tech stuff isn't for everybody.

Maybe they will have digital libraries in the future, like netflicks for video rental stores.
I think libraries are starting to put together something like that.

School visits really rely on having that tangible, large amazing book to connect with the kids.
Apps are difficult in crowds, although with projectors, they could do well.

Will you promote your apps or ebooks as you would hard copy books?
Promoting apps is more online obviously. But a bit easier in person with the iPad. Showing
an app on an iPhone was like..."Isn't that nice..." Doesn't work well with a crowd!

Wondering if anyone knows a good program to use to create an app?

Adobe has a walk through for InDesign, but that's for an eBook rather than an App.
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/epub/howto/

Any plans to publish Lula's Brew traditionally (print)?
I'd love to pub LULA traditionally! My agent and I are waiting for the app sales #s to get high
enough to knock their socks off.

I love turning real pages but I'm also excited about the interactivity and animation part of it.
The interactivity is amazing. Jack and the Beanstalk kept me busy for an hour. And I'm an adult! (Sort of.) I don't think print will go away. Although I do think paperbacks are truly threatened by eReaders. Makes sense really.

Computers didn't fry our little brains! If anything, I feel like they freed us up! You'll never talk me out of wanting the print book experience. But the apps are fun TOO. I really do think it's like movies. There are some I must see on the big screen, while othersare fine on cable... I DO think apps are an opportunity. And I'm a geek, so I'm very excited by the possibilities.Just don't take my books from me!

I wonder if pubs will start preferring illus who can do print and e? (if art isn't digital already)
I don't think there will be a difference in illustrators doing print vs. e. Although the digital skills
definitely help. It doesn't matter how the art starts out, just what it looks like on the device. So no brush orstylus debate...For books that is. The drawing programs on the iPad are a completely different story!!!

I haven't tried drawing programs on the iPhone yet.

I'd wait a little bit for a good drawing program. SketchPro is good, but the resolution is still low and we need a stylus!

Would love a stylus for the iPad, or it could work like a Cintiq?

That's what I keep hoping for!! I'm betting we'll have a true digital sketch pad in 2-3 years. Yay!

One issue in adapting existing books is screen size. You can't just shrink a picture book without losing clarity/readability. For better or worse, many books won't transfer easily to screen - they'll need new layout/typesetting.
Absolutely! There is adaptation that needs to happen. Room in the art for large text. I zoomed in on most of my images for LULA. The large shapes really do work well. Too much tiny text, itty bitty detailed illustrations... I don't think they work as well.

Sometimes shrinking art can tighten it up. But that doesn't mean that's the best way to present it. It depends on the style. Simple shapes colors would shrink okay; complex details, not so much.

Wouldn't you just scan the art into a file the same way?
You could scan the art like you would for anything. But it's still a different presentation that a book and should be designed.

*Comment from @RhodeSoft: One thing to keep in mind - Apple requires that your app can be viewed both horizontally & vertically.

When changing the orientation, do you just crop from the center out?
Yup - that sounds right.

We just ended up adding black space to the negative areas. Otherwise I would have had to redo the art.

What's legible and readable for a PB is very diff on a tiny screen.
Indeed. I went much larger on my text. I think it was about 18pts for the iPhone.

If all books become e-books they will all have to fit into whatever the device's size is.

It's a good point. Although that's unique to kids books. There are some pretty common standards for adult books.

I think kids will be much more comfortable w/ digital devices than we are & may not be as attached to traditional print.
My 3 and 5-year-old cousins go right past my PB collection and to my iPad these days. They
are really good on it.

What do you think of simple ebooks or pdf's? Do you think creators should stick to more interactive apps?
I think a simple PB presentation works VERY WELL on the iPad. And I've seen kids go for both.

What are benefits of app over ebook?

ePub and Apps are completely different. They don't have the same functionality. So, they
really can't be handled the same way.

I do love technology, I think there's lots of room for both!
I agree - I think there's room for both too. The question is, is there enough income to support both.

I think the $ factor is what's concerning everyone. Where will it stop will determine who's willing to play w/it. I think the worry is that as the price drops, so will the $ to the content creators. Less royalties?
Yes, they're less expensive, but they also can potentially sell in higher numbers. Potentially.
If they can be found. The $$$ thing is a concern, but it's really the same issues as in print. How to be found. How to go viral. the potential is more of the royalty going to the creator - so it could balance out. Cheaper app, but more %.

Kind of like the .99 iTunes?

Yes, exactly like iTunes. Cut out the middle men and more of the profits go to the creators. I hope publishers find a way to adapt to this new tech and still support creators in a fair way.
They have much to contribute.

Bands can actually bypass record companies and offer music free, they're more in control.

But again - how to get found. There are lots of bands figuring it out. We will too. it would be nice if we could avoid the mistakes of other industries. I think it takes smarts, flexibility and... the willingness to JUMP!

When bands do that, more of a connection to fans, more shows, $$ in long run? Could authors/illustrators be the same way?
I think it's already happening. That's why an author's platform has become so important.

It's a brave new world... for the brave. What an interesting time to be a creative.

APP DEVELOPERS ON TWITTER

(Please feel free to add to this list in the comments section.)

@RhodeSoft

@meegenius

@Touchoo

@MobiStories

@StoryPlease

@PicPocketBooks

@OceanhouseMedia

@TumbleBooks

@OkenkoBooks

@RuckusMedia

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 8-19-10

Transcript: 8/12/10

2010-08-13T10:14:00.009-04:00

TOPIC: What's the one how-to book you couldn't live without?

BOOKS & LINKS RECOMMENDED:

How-to/reference

PERSPECTIVE

Perspective for Comic Book Artists: How to Achieve a Professional Look in Your Artwork, by David Chelsea

Perspective, by William F. Powell

Perspective Drawing Handbook, by Joseph D'Amelio

Creative Layout: Perspective for Artists, by Thomas Denmark and Leandro Ng Budiono

BACKGROUNDS

Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts, by Nancy Beiman

http://animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com/

FIGURE DRAWING/ANATOMY

Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure, by Barbara Bradley

Figure Drawing For All It's Worth, by Andrew Loomis

People and Poses, by Buddy Scalera

Figure Drawing Without a Model, by Ron Tiner

Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video games and Graphic Novels, by Tom Bancroft

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas

How to Draw Animals, by Jack Hamm

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures Volumes 1 & 2, by Walt Stanchfield and Don Hahn

Dynamic Figure Drawing, by Burne Hogarth

Anatomy books by George Bridgman

GENERAL

Creative Illustration, by Andrew Loomis

How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, by Stan Lee and John Buscema

Paint Watercolors That Dance With Light, by Elizabeth Kincaid

DeviantArt

TECHNICAL/BUSINESS

Photoshop 7 for Dummies (newer editions available for later editions of Photoshop)

Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, 2011 edition now available

Lynda.com (software training online)

PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATION/WRITING/STORYTELLING WITH ART

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books, by Uri Shulevitz

Understanding Comics; Making Comics; Reinventing Comics; series by Scott McCloud

Children's Book Illustration: Step by Step Techniques: A Unique Guide from the Masters, by Jill Bossert

Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication, by Martin Salisbury

Picture This: How Pictures Work, by Molly Bang

How to Animate Film Cartoons, by Preston Blair

Writing and Illustrating Children's Books for Publication: Two Perspectives, by Berthe Amoss and Eric Suben

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication, by Ann Whitford Paul

The Making of Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (video)

WORKS OF OTHER ARTISTS

Tim Biskup

Jim Flora

Taschen Books (publisher)

Victor Ambrus

Alphonse Mucha

Inspiration

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield

Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, ed. by Leonard S. Marcus

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life, by Twyla Tharp

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Suggestions for Improving as an Artist, by John Clapp (text of class handout)

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 8-12-10

Transcript: 8/5/10

2010-08-06T17:09:00.006-04:00

TOPIC: Spec art: pros and cons?

Consensus:
Spec art is marginally acceptable, and only in special cases:
for a beginning artist, to build a portfolio
character sketches requested from a publisher (never finished art)

Clients will judge your worth by what you charge; clients who get work for nothing don't appreciate the value, and are never satisfied

Licensing is a different case: works differently from publishing in that the product is created first, then sold--so spec work may be the norm.

Red flags to look for when approached by client: "good exposure" and "potentially lucrative"

Crowd-sourcing: a unanimous "no"

Contests in general must be scrutinized carefully; only respond to trusted organizers, such as HOW and Print

WFH: not always bad. Educational publishers work this way; also, art for book covers is usually WFH; there's a difference between WFH and flat fee (artist may not retain copyright under a WFH contract)

Stock illustrations: may or may not offer royalty

Pro bono work is a plus--but be careful of assuming all nonprofits make good clients.
Causes with a good track record for illustrators:
Ripple
Robert's Snow
The Totoro Forest Project

Alternatives to spec work for artists just starting out:
Community projects
Group blogs
Small publishers
Personal web site
Portfolio
Postcard promos

Links:
http://www.no-spec.com/archives/i-wish-i-had-written-this/

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2010/08/moonrats-rundown-of-publishing-options.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY

Books:
Holly DeWolf's Breaking into Freelance Illustration

Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
Comment about PEG: fees listed are slightly higher than the average illustrator can command--perhaps because only most successful artists are willing to share fee history

Tweet(s) of the night:

This topic brought out the the pithy:

@vvjonez: If I don't want to get paid, I might as well work on my own stuff.

and the funny:

@WendyMartinArt: You can die from exposure.

@DiandraMae: I always feel like they're offering a flesh-eating virus to me when they say "you'll get great exposure!"

@WendyMartinArt: In fact, if I expose too much I can be arrested.

@NVCrittenden: Spec art is only okay when your client is an optometrist!

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 8-5-10

Transcript: 7/29/10

2010-07-30T08:26:00.007-04:00

The best way to distill the information shared this week is to let the chat participants speak for themselves. Little has been done except to eliminate RTs and organize a bit. Enjoy!

TOPIC: What are your best tips for single-image story-telling?

Make the world within the image look like it extends beyond the frame of the picture. Like you could walk into it. @KatGirl_Studio

Have two characters interacting, if possible--looking at each other. @BonnieAdamson

Action and dramatic lighting are always a big help. @KatGirl_Studio

Setting needs to have all the paraphernalia for a good story: props. @BonnieAdamson

Make the image narrative a potential-what-if cliffhanger--to segue into the next. @eimhinart

Dynamic poses vs. static make for a far more interesting image. @ElisabethJBell

Think of the setting as a supporting character. @WendyMartinArt

Show diversity, lots of different people. @andibutler

Colours, whether vibrant or a minimal palette, can move an image forward. @ElisabethJBell

There has to be implied action--either something has just happened, or is about to. @BonnieAdamson

Think in comic book terms--dynamic pose, interesting perspective, etc. @vvjonez

Interesting characters are a must! @NVCrittenden

Thinking how a child thinks and putting that into the illustration can make a more appealing and communicative image. @ElisabethJBell

Add detail, but with a focus--not just for its own sake. @BonnieAdamson

Include simultaneous actions in the background, as well. @andibutler

Too much detail can be almost as bad as not enough--you have to direct the eye. @vvjonez

The image should be in the middle of a story, so the viewer can imagine what happens and what will happen. @WendyMartinArt

Dramatic perspective, colors and characters. Plus lots of action or humorous tension. @CERodriguez

As a reader, I want to feel myself drawn in, as if I were the main character. I want info, some details, lots of color. I want to be led to the next scene while wondering what has happened thus far.@peg366

Pick a scene with some emotion to draw the viewer in--happy, sad, etc. @johnlechner

Adding movement in character poses makes an image more interesting. Drives the imagination forward. @ElisabethJBell

TOPIC MORPH: How to choose a single image for promotional mailings.

The best piece is the one you love to create. @andibutler

An image that shows you at your best will make your postcard shine! @NVCrittenden

Storytelling is key for kidlit. Too involved an image doesn't work for greetings. @andibutler

Try postcards as teasers to drive the viewer to the web site "where the real magic is." @andibutler

Thoughts from one AD (Victoria Jamieson)on what makes a compelling promo postcard:
http://victoriajamieson-illustration.blogspot.com/2010/06/get-er-done.html @TracyBishopArt

Make sure your image fits you as a creative, represents who you are. It will show. @ElisabethJBell

What you show is what you'll get hired to do. @andibutler

[If you have multiple styles] I've seen it recommended that a different persona be created for each style (site, name, etc.)--at minimum, multiple portfolios. @DiandraMae

Research the publications of those you're submitting to. @joystewy

Eternal debate: ADs say have one recognizable style. Illustrators always say ignore that! @RedStepchild

Make sure multiple styles fit the same publishers. @DiandraMae

Choose a style that you like that you think would be a good fit for the AD. Check out their sites. See what they like. @ElisabethJBell

Work in the style [you're] good at and happy with--not what [you] think an AD wants. Otherwise [you're] an unhappy creative! @andibutler

You don't want to confuse ADs with too many styles. Pick one as your lead, to get them interested. @johnlechner

That's the struggle: doing what feels true to you vs. what you think ADs want to see. @DiandraMae

Your style, that is you, can be a good fit somewhere. You need to find it. Not be a sqaure peg in a round hole. @andibutler

Ironically, often your strongest work comes when you're not worrying about selling yourself. @johnlechner

You can't worry about the opinion of others . . . @reneekurilla

It's less about confusion, more about [ADs] knowing what to expect in finished art once they hire you. @donnadoesdoodle

Never present something you wouldn't actually want to do. @joystewy

It basically comes down to, would you buy what you are selling? @andibutler

At a recent conference, an AD said she wanted to see: 1) that you can draw: hands, feet, children, interesting perspective; 2) put together a consistent package. Your logo, contact information should be consistent from mailing to mailing. @vvjonez

. . . and that you can show emotion and storytelling. @joystewy

Since the internet, it's harder for a single-image postcard to make an impact. @johnlechner

I've heard arguments for both. Sometimes there is just too much email, so postcards might make a faster impact. @TracyBishopArt

The internet has helped with exposure, but there can be too much of a good thing. It's easier to be fresh in an AD's mind with a postcard hanging on the wall vs. an email in an inbox. @DiandraMae

Many ADs will hold cards they love for years till they can find the "right" project for an artist. @donnadoesdoodle

. . . one more reason to be proactive and go for work in multiple venues. @DiandraMae

Postcards can be a nice change, but ADs are inundated with images online, so it's more competitive. @johnlechner

Postcards are just one more tool, along with websites, blogs, email marketing, etc. The trick is to know when to use your various marketing tools and tailoring it to your recipient. @TracyBishopArt

Heard at every conference: ADs love postcards. @donnadoesdoodle

It pays to do research. Takes time but it pays off. @TracyBishopArt

Reinventing [yourself] is important, too. What worked five years ago doesn't compete today. @andibutler

The internet can have both good and bad effects on developing personal style. You have access to so many brilliant artists 24/7, it can make you feel a little insignificant. @reneekurilla

It is great to see what other artists do, but hard not to compare. @NVCrittenden

It's not always about brilliance--books and licensing are businesses. [There are] fabulous artists that can't meet a deadline. @andibutler

Being professional and pleasant to work with makes all the difference. It's scary for an art director when they first work with a new illustrator, too. Gotta remember that. @TracyBishopArt

Tweet of the night:
@andibutler: "We can do what we set our minds to. Be confident. Try different strategies--go back to an old-school one. The only boundaries are what we set."

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 7-29-10

Transcript: 7/22/10

2010-07-23T10:51:00.004-04:00

TOPIC: What professional associations OTHER than kidlit groups
do you find useful?

Art/design associations mentioned:

AIGA
Graphic Artists Guild
Society of Illustrators
IATSE
Puppeteers of America
local artist societies such as St. Louis Watercolor Society; Chicago Artist's Coalition
peer support groups

Others:
Not-necessarily-kidlit groups on Flikr and LinkedIn
Industry information sites, such as Publishers Marketplace
Illustration Friday
Adult writers' groups

*Though emphatically a kidlit organization, SCBWI got a shout-out for event discounts, volunteer opportunities, networking and support.

Chatters engage in a variety of activities in addition to illustration:
costume/set design
dance
historical reenactment
needlework
parenting (!!!)
occasionally reading books not written for children :-)

Tweet of the night
From @johnlechner, puppeteer: "I think it's good to venture beyond your art form/genre for inspiration."

Full transcript below--enjoy!

#kidlitart 7-22-10

7/15/10: Guest chat with Tara Reed

2010-07-16T08:15:00.007-04:00

TOPIC: Licensing your art with @ArtistTaraReed.

Q&A with licensing artist Tara Reed:

What is licensing for? Is it like copyrighting?
Art Licensing is a way of licensing the rights to manufacturers to use your art on products. Sports teams license the rights to manufacturers of products to use the team name/logo, etc. Artists can do the same.

Are you constantly updating your portfolio to follow trends?
Art licensing requires new art all the time. So yes, I add to my portfolio on a regular basis.

Once a week, once a month? How often do you add/change art?
I try to create 1-3 collections a month. Some take longer if they have more to them--the more used a theme, the more I create. So my coffee collection has a lot more than a Halloween cocktail collection--it has more potential in licensing, so gets more time.

How many collections should an artist have before they start promoting?
A good rule of thumb is to have 12+ collections before promoting, to show that you "get" it and are committed to the industry.

What is your advice for children's illustrators?
Creating art for licensing is different than illustrating a book--you have to think about the art and create it a little differently. When doing a book you need to illustrate a story. In licensing you need art pieces to go on products. We think in "collections."

What makes a good collection? What are licensees looking for?
A collection = a minimum of four images--like something you could frame or put on a salad plate. Then adding borders and patterns is always good. Manufacturers can make dishes, wrap borders around gift bags and have the patterns below, create greeting cards, etc. Think about what you see all the time in stores: wine, flowers, baby, beach, holiday . . . they always need new art.

Are there any resources that list the contact and sub info for companies that take submissions for licensing?
If you get a feel for who licenses and see who they work with, you know the company licenses. Or call and ask "do you license art?"

How do you go about putting your name out there as someone interested in licensing art?
To get your name out there, you can exhibit at art licensing trade shows or contact manufacturers directly that license art. There are also agents in the art licensing industry who can help promote artists who don't want to do it themselves.

Is there a site to reach these agents on?
I'm not sure where there is a list of agents, but I will let you know if I find one.

Do you recommend an agent for a licensing newbie?
I recommend agents for artists who really don't want to do the marketing. But you give up control and 50% of the money not to do marketing. It is possible to license your art without an agent--I'm proof. In defense of the 50% take, I spend that much of my time on marketing, contracts, calls, etc., but I feel I'm best at promoting myself.

Tell us a bit about yourself, how you got started.
I've been licensing my art since 2004. Before that, I designed in the scrapbooking industry for a few years.

Do certain styles of art work better than others?
Yes, art that appeals to the masses is more suitable for licensing than abstract or really unusual art. Manufacturers have to make things by the 100s or 1000s, so they need to know that many consumers will spend money on it.

Does it mean that when they buy the art for licensing that they only have the rights to using the art?
Manufacturers "license" art; they don't "buy" it. So they get the rights for a period of time, and only for their products. You maintain copyrights and can license the same art to others for different products. That's how you make money in licensing.

Where do you get your color and trend info?
Pantone.com has trend info, and just watching things: TV, movies, clothing, etc., I just start to notice things. Color is tricky. You want to watch trends but not be defined by them--use what works for you and your art.

Would you share a link to your web site?
I have a site that gives tons of resorces to learn about licensing: http://www.artlicensinginfo.com/
If you want to see my art, it's at http://tarareeddesigns.com/

Do manufacturers typically prefer vector over raster artwork?
It depends on the manufacturer. All my art is hand-painted and in Photoshop, so no vectors. I'm doing ok! But I won't be able to work with companies who want the vector art look and it's not what I'm known for. Providing art in digital format is pretty much a must. Illustrator or Photoshop files are the norm. Layers get you loved!

Is it possible to get established without attending the big licensing shows? I hear they're very expensive.
You can get licensing deals without exhibiting at art shows--it just takes more legwork. They are spendy, but have been worth it for me.

Does selling at print-on-demand (POD) sites like CafePrss or Zazzle hurt or help your chances in licensing?
I don't think it hurts, but if you license the design, I'd pull it down.

Is it ok to show multiple styles or just one consistent type in a licensing portfolio?
There are pluses and minuses to having multiple styles. It's harder to create a recognizable brand if you start all over the map.

Do you think there's a market for kid-centric art? Is it hard for kid's art (that isn't well-known licensed characters) to get used much?
Kid art characters can be tricky because so many parents buy things with the characters the kids watch on TV. But there is opportunity. Greeting cards; fabric, maybe; craft, etc. Go shopping and look at the art on things and not just at what you need to buy. Shopping is a great way to see where you and your art might fit. I call it "shopping research." :-)

I noticed most images are flat color, not much shading. True?
Flat color--more vector art--seems to be trending right now. It will swing back to a more painterly look--and back again.

Are size and resolution of images something to consider carefully when creating collections?
Resolution should be a minumum of 300 dpi. As for size, create larger than you think you need, so you can scale down. There is no magic formula, though. If I know I'm painting for a quilt top, I create larger than if I know it's for a greeting card . . . does that make sense?

Is it advisable to develop characters or just do random pieces of art that look nice?
It depends on your goals. Developing characters is much more time-consuming to develop and sell the idea, in my opinion. [But] companies are looking for the next Julius or Bobby Jack.

What is the window from concept to in-store?
Often 12-18 months between the contract and giving your art to products, shipping and you getting paid in art licensing.

How late can you register to exhibit at Surtex and/or NSS and still get a decent booth?
I know people who registered for Surtex a few weeks ahead--but didn't get prime locations, usually. You just never know.

I think it can be hard to think with a "mass market" mind. It's much different than a more "personal" children's book look.
Yes, you need two art brains: a book brain and a licensing brain.

Aren't you having a telechat soon?
I do calls about art licensing every month--either me or I interview other experts in the industry. Details here: http://ht.ly/2cdpG

I've heard that artwork used to have a longer life in the licensing world and now gets "old" much faster.
Yes! Most contracts are for two years now--and often end and they want new. Customers always want new, so we must provide!

Thanks, Tara--the hour went by too fast!

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 7-15-10

Transcript: 7/8/10; plus takeaways!

2010-07-09T08:25:00.003-04:00

TOPIC: How big a chunk of your income do you put back into supplies, computer programs, shipping, etc.?

Reminder: @ArtistTaraReed joins #kidlitart on July 15 (9 pm Eastern) to answer questions about licensing your art!

TAKEAWAYS

Tips for holding down costs:
look for specials
buy in bulk
recycle materials for new projects

Good prices on art supplies:
Dick Blick
Utrecht Art
Cheap Joe's
Jerry's Artarama

Suggestions:
uline for mailers
Costco for local printing

Other major expenses:
Computer/software upgrades
Paid portfolio sites:
Hire an Illustrator (HAI) (can pay weekly: $7/wk; or yearly: $320/yr)
ChildrensIllustrators.com (mixed reviews; pricey: $350/yr)
iSpot (good reviews; very pricey: $650/yr plus one-time set-up fee of $100; discount for SCBWI members? Yes: call 1-800-838-9199 for details)
Picture Book (poor reviews; $300/yr; offers 6-month rate of $150)
Tip: updating portfolio regularly is key to success on paid sites

Other sites for exposure:
LinkedIn (free; mixed reviews)
SCBWI gallery (free with paid membership; mixed reviews)

Some artists feel marketing directly (mailing samples/postcards to publishers and art directors)is more cost effective.

Printing services online:
GotPrint.com
overnightprints.com
Zazzle

For generating mailing lists:
SCBWI Market Guides (must be a member to access: first year's fee is $85; annual membership renewal is $70)
Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (CWIM), published by Writer's Digest Books, updated yearly; purchase of book includes one year membership to online site)
Harold Underdown's updates of publishing personnel at The Purple Crayon
research: online, bookstores, word of mouth

Software for managing mailing lists:
Excel
Word, for printing labels

Quantity to send out: 30-150

Also mentioned:
Imagekind; Deviantart for selling art prints online

Tweet of the night:
@Emilys_Art: "SCBWI membership is worth it's weight in gold!"

Full transcript below:

#kidlitart 7-8-10