Category Archives: illustrators

October 27, 2016   Stacey   advice, art, children's books, illustrators, picture books, Stacey  
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Bringing picture books to life

Picture books are a relatively new category for me. Not in terms of reading, with four kids eleven and under, but in terms of books I’ve represented. The experience has been fascinating and while there is a learning curve, the joy of seeing something so visually stunning created by an author is really an amazing process to watch unfold.

My client, Christie Matheson, is an extremely talented author-illustrator who is currently finishing her third picture book, PLANT THE TINY SEED (which will be out January 24th). Her books focus on the beauty and simplicity of nature and how much there is to see if we really spend the time to look and pay attention. There’s magic everywhere, as she so cleverly describes in her first book, TAP THE MAGIC TREE. Below you’ll see some beautiful sketches that Christie was kind enough to share with me so I could share them with you.

I saw this article written by illustrator Eliza Wheeler which describes her illustration process for her most recent book, THIS IS OUR BABY, BORN TODAY, written by Varsha Bajaj. It’s incredible to see the research, time and attention to detail that goes into creating the art for a picture book. What appears on the page is likely based on hundreds of hours of work by the artist and those she’s working with to bring the book to life.

Despite numerous setbacks requiring extensive additional work during the development process of THIS IS OUR BABY, the mission was finally accomplished and all agree the book is a beautiful piece of work. As a writer, no matter what your process looks like, when you are feeling frustrated or insecure, the takeaway here is to keep your eye on the end result. Sometimes you need to regroup and take a break along the way to get feedback, make changes, and ensure the project is what you want it to be.

April 27, 2016   Stacey   advice, age, children's books, editors, fun, illustrators, imprints, Stacey  
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It’s never too late to start writing

What do you think about waiting until you’re almost 80 to start a new career? If you’re legendary book editor Dick Jackson, the answer is no time like the present!

As reported in a fascinating article in Publisher’s Weekly, Jackson retired from book publishing in 2005 after a long and very successful career as a children’s book editor. It was in 2013 when he was being treated for cancer that this creativity as an author was piqued and he began pitching ideas to former colleagues. He is still in treatment and his cancer is not in remission, and yet he now has 8 (yes, that’s 8!) picture books under contract! The first of which, HAVE A LOOK, SAYS BOOK, has just been published by Atheneum, where he previously had his own imprint. At the age of 81, he is making his debut as an author! And what a debut it is, with illustrations by Kevin Hawkes. Future books will be illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It helps to have the kind of deep experience and relationships in children’s book publishing that he has, but even so it’s an amazing journey he’s taken from editor to author, especially given the circumstances of his age and health.

I hope this story serves as inspiration for those of you aspiring writers who might be feeling discouraged or frustrated that the process isn’t always fun, fast or rewarding. You never know when or how that might change and you will get the spark that becomes your first published book. Keep on keeping on!