Who else wants to understand how to get into illustrating kid’s books?
Over the years I’ve had people ask me about illustrating kids books. I’ve heard different terms thrown around Twitter and scratched my head… like any industry, there are terms you might not know (at least I didn’t!) if you haven’t been educated in the lingo of the illustration market. Many artists who license their work aspire to illustrate kids books. Many illustrators aspire to license their work.
Until now I’ve been able to offer little help or direction since I have little to no experience in this arena. But if you have $5, you can get your own copy of How To Make a Picture Book Dummy In 9 Easy Steps – an eBook by Wendy Martin.
This 22 page eBook covers the following:
- What a picture book dummy is and who should create one
- How to choose a winning project and put your own spin on it
- What to keep in mind while drafting your story
- What makes a good picture book
- What kind of illustrations to present in your dummy and what to include in those illustrations
- How other published author/illustrators work from in-depth interviews (quite a few “Tara’s” – interesting…
)
So… if you’ve ever wondered about writing, illustrating or how to prepare something to submit to the Children’s market, you should definitely invest $5 in this book!
(I received a free copy to review but don’t earn any commission if you choose to purchase it – really, how could I ask for part of $5?)
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Learn more about Wendy Martin on her website at WendyMartinIllustration.com or follow her on Twitter @WendyMartinArt
P.P.S. If you want to be a part of a 25 week online group challenge to make a picture book dummy – it starts 1/9! Get all the details here >> http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/2012/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html
Artist Interest Groups Using Social Media – #kidlitart
As you know, I’m a big fan of social media. It’s a great way to find people from all over who share common interests, reconnect with people from your past and learn what’s going on. There is a group of artists interested in Children’s Book Illustration who “meet” on Twitter every Thursday for an hour to discuss… whatever. (They start by handing out virtual cupcakes – always a great way to start anything!) Just like we use the hash tag #ask during the monthly ask calls to find each other, they use #kidlitart.
I think I happened to be online during one of their chats a few weeks ago (they aren’t private – just streaming through Twitter) and someone asked something about art licensing and I replied. Then I got a direct message asking me if I wanted to be the first “Special Guest” – someone from another art arena, to answer questions the #kidlitart twitterers had. Why not?
So last night I spent an hour watching and typing and talking about art licensing in 140 characters or less… if you want to see what we talked about, they have the full transcript online at http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/
I got to chat with some new artists and learn that they have similar issues, just in a different arena. We create collections, they have to create books and then figure out how to make the cover art compelling. We discussed how you almost need several art brains – one to think like you license art, one to think like an illustrator, one to figure out how to market yourself so you can keep creating art…
If you have any interest in learning more about Children’s Illustration or want to join in on their discussions – head over to Twitter on Thursdays ( 6 pm Pacific / 9 pm Eastern ) and tweet away!
Thank you to Bonnie and Wendy for inviting me – it was fun!
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
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