Are you curious how to write a great picture book or how to illustrate a picture book? Ever wanted to make a novelty book? I share my experience as a traditionally-published author-illustrator to help you on your own publishing journey.
How to Become a Professional Children’s Book Illustrator
Make Your Children’s Book Illustration Portfolio Unforgettable
In order to make an unforgettable children’s book illustration portfolio, you have to know what art directors are looking for. That way, your work is focused, and you’re not diluting your portfolio with unrelated pieces. Here are the key elements of an effective children’s book illustration portfolio.
How to Send Illustrator Promo Postcards to Art Directors
Once you’ve crafted that unforgettable children’s book illustration portfolio, you need to get it in front of the people who can actually hire you. A great way to do this is by sending out illustrator promo postcards or emails to art directors and editors featuring your best art. So here’s how to build a children’s book editor and art director mailing list.
How to Make a Great Illustrator Promo Postcard (Sub It Club’s Postcard Post)
In this interview with Sub It Club, I share how I select the right image for my illustrator promotional postcards, how I design the postcards, and where I get them printed. You can also find lots of helpful tips on making promotional postcards from other illustrators here.
How to Illustrate a Children’s Book
How to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Getting Started (Part 1)
I share how I got started illustrating THE QUIET FOREST (written by Charlotte Offsay) from initial doodles on the manuscript to making thumbnails of the page layouts.
How to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Make a Picture Book Dummy (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this How to Illustrate a Children’s Book series, I show how I made a small picture book dummy and a full-size picture book dummy for THE QUIET FOREST (written by Charlotte Offsay).
How to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Revise the Sketches (Part 3)
In Part 3 of this How to Illustrate a Children’s Book series, I share the revision process on my sketches after getting feedback from the editor and art director for THE QUIET FOREST (written by Charlotte Offsay).
How to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Make the Final Art (Part 4)
In Part 4 of this How to Illustrate a Children’s Book series, I cover the last step of the process: making the final art! I share how I made the final drawings, set up the Photoshop file, and colored everything in with my Wacom tablet for THE QUIET FOREST (written by Charlotte Offsay).
How I Made the Cover of SOAKED! (Beth Anderson’s Blog)
I share the steps I took with Jim Hoover (art director) and Tracy Gates (editor) at Viking Children’s Books to create the cover art for my debut picture book, SOAKED!
How to Come Up with Story Ideas
Abi Cushman is Obsessed (Tara Lazar’s Blog)
Are you stuck? Don’t have a single good story idea? Well, worry no longer. All you have to do is ask yourself, “What am I obsessed with right now?” In this guest post for Tara Lazar’s Storystorm blog, I talk about how to take the topic of your obsession and mold it into a story that’s kid-friendly and creative.
Keeping an Ugly Sketchbook (Tara Lazar’s Blog)
Even if you’re not an illustrator, drawing and doodling is a great way to come up with picture book ideas and work out stories. I challenge writers and illustrators to record all their ideas in what I call an “Ugly Sketchbook” in a guest post on Tara Lazar’s Storystorm blog. I share images of my own ugly sketchbook, so come for the hippo butt poems and stay for the vengeful chipmunk drawings!
How to Write a Great Picture Book Story
Funny AND Female: A Research Project by a Hoity-Toity Otter (Tara Lazar’s Blog)
Hoity-Toity Otter learned something recently that was otterly preposterous: Apparently there are women who… get this… make funny books for kids. So he did a deep dive into research to find out more. Get tips from funny authors on how to write a really hilarious picture book.
My Book Journey for SOAKED! (Kathy Temean’s Blog)
Curious about the process of writing and illustrating a picture book? I share the ups and downs of making SOAKED!, from the initial idea to the finished product on Kathy Temean’s blog.
How to Write a Nonfiction Picture Book
Spot the Difference: How WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD Changed from Early Drafts to Final Book (Lea C. Maryanow)
I chronicle my revision process for the title and opening scenes for my nonfiction picture book, WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD.
How to Source Photos for Your Nonfiction Picture Book (NF Fest)
I often turn to stock photos when I’m looking for photographs I can legally use in the backmatter of my nonfiction books. However, sometimes stock photos are not available. Here are the steps I took to track down and get permission for a photo of the very rare northern hairy-nosed wombat for my book, WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD.
How to Make a Novelty Book
Have an Idea for a Novelty Book? Now What? (Tara Lazar’s Blog)
Do you have a really cool idea for a novelty book but don’t know where to start? Well, the truth is, when I got the idea for ANIMALS GO VROOM!, my picture book with die-cut windows, I had lots of experience reading novelty books but absolutely no experience making them. In this guest post, I share what I learned along the way so you can turn YOUR idea into a real novelty book just like I did.
How to Market Your Picture Book
How to Run a Successful Pre-Order Campaign as a Debut Author
How can you make a difference when you’re just a regular person? Here’s what I—a very introverted, extremely un-famous, generally sweatpants-wearing person—did for my pre-order campaign for my debut picture book, SOAKED!.