Sparky Firepants: Art is Work

Last night I was reading a post from Le Monde blogger Pierre Assouline about the closing of the Librairie de France in Rockefeller Center. Apparently this brick and mortar book palace has been a fixture at 30 Rock since 1935. David Rockefeller wanted a European presence at the center and this is what they came up with.

It’s reportedly closing because the $360K-$1M lease is looking a tad expensive when they consider declining sales. They’re hoping that Sarkozy and the French government will step in and save them from doom.

I was reading excerpts from the blog to Jenni and she remarked, “How come we never heard of this place when we lived in NYC? Do they have a story time?”

Indeed, how come? We have kids, we love Barbapapa, Babar, and The Little Prince. We love France and I get off on things like chestnuts, European literature, and world news. We lived three blocks away from this place, yet we had never heard of it until I read this blog post.

Assouline points to the growing popularity of online book sales as a reason for the decline in sales at Librairie de France. He’s right, of course, but that’s not the whole answer.

Just as digital books are never going to bump print books out of the market, online book sellers are never going to completely destroy brick and mortar book stores. However.

If you’re going to have a real “live” book store, you’re going to have to offer something more than books to buy. I don’t mean impulse-buy Eloise journals at the register. I mean you’re going to have to get down and dirty and create an environment that people will come to regardless of the books on the shelves.

Jenni mentioned story time for kids. Is there a book store anywhere that doesn’t do this anymore? It’s a total hook for a market segment that includes parents and grandparents who fall in love with the books as much as the kids do. Duh.

How about story time for adults? How about a group world news-read and discussion?

Book stores are also going to have to offer information about the books from a real live person with some personality. The addition of computer kiosks that customers can use to look up book inventory seems like a way to keep up with the times, but in reality they’re just making themselves even more irrelevant. Why drive to a store (or walk up Fifth Ave) just to type search words into a computer?

The best brick and mortar stores get this. Apparently Librairie de France doesn’t. As much as I would have loved to have known about this place a few years ago (when it mattered to me), I wouldn’t have kept going back unless there was something to keep me involved.

In Paris two years ago, our family shopped in a small, privately-owned toy store. The toys were not really spectacular. Most of it was stuff we could have found online or at any toy shop in the States.

What made this shop memorable for us was the man who engaged us in conversation for over an hour while we shopped. Sure, he was making sales, but it sure felt better than an online list of titles or a kiosk. Also, he hadn’t planned on opening that day, a holiday, but saw us peeking in from outside. A large retailer can’t compete with that kind of flexibility.

The last time I was in a Barnes & Noble, I approached the customer service desk to ask about a title. The guy behind the desk, whose only function in life at that moment was to help customers like me find stuff, looked at me with disdain. He wondered if I had looked it up on one of the kiosks yet. No, you big dummy, I could have, but I came to the human first. Is that really an odd choice?

What I’ve taken away from all of this unplanned research (and I hope you do, too) is that while it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and technologies, you need to make an impression by simply being human.

So I’m sorry, Librairie de France, but Sarkozy is right. Ce la vie.

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Seth Godin shared an interesting thought today on his blog about pricing and rates.

Prix fixe, indeed. Hmmm. Retainer anyone? What would happen if an illustrator changed the typical billing model for services (which I assume to be XX dollars for XX time or XX result)? Is it still possible to flip the artist billing model on its head, or have all sides of the head been explored?

I’m gonna start thinkifying this now. I’m curious to know other’s thoughts on this subject. Designers? Illustrators? Animators? Freelancers?

What are your model-flipping ideas? Anyone is welcome to start or join the conversation, I want to hear from you!

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I’m going to assume you’re new to this “Twitter thing.” Maybe you heard about it on Dateline or somebody in your network told you that Twitter is the new marketing gold mine.

So you figured that you better hop aboard the train, wherever it’s going. You created your profile (pretty easy), read the FAQ and even managed to get a few followers. You ventured into new territory by posting some test tweets like, “Hey this is cool,” or “I like your avatar!”

Then you started seeing posts like, “Twitter Rules” and “Top Ten Twitter Tips” or “How Not to Market on Twitter.”

Some of it’s conflicting. Wait. Should I be marketing? Should I not be marketing? What’s this magpie thing and how come some people love it and the others hate it? Should I hate it, too? (bite knuckles here)

You think, “This is why I don’t get involved in these things. I’m afraid of breaking the rules here. It’s too hard to stay on top of it all.”

You remember how ten years ago some internet-savvy dude flamed you for writing an e-mail in all caps. It was six months before you wrote to anyone again.

Not a good feeling. So what’s the deal? How can you stay on top of all these Twitter rules, tips, and etiquette that everyone seems to agree on? 

Yikes. You’d have to have a pretty solid sense of self to navigate through the waters of elitist internet governing. And no, you did not miss the Global Twitter Consortium.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you dip your toe into the deep blue Twitter Sea, plus my one rule:

The Captain’s Chair

There is no Captain of Twitter or social networking. Theories and opinions ahoy! If you read about the “correct” way of Tweeting, remember that somebody made it up. If you make yourself a paper Captain hat, you can make rules, too. Yes, it’s that easy. It helps if you have a blog to post the rules so other people know what they are, but you have to wear the hat.

To Annoy and Conquer

People are going to get offended or annoyed by you at some point. You can’t control it, you can’t prevent it, it is inevitable. You’ll tweet about how much you like blue cheese dressing and someone will be annoyed. You’ll post a link to a Save Darfur donation site and 3 people will unfollow you because you are being “spammy.” You can’t control it. In an hour, fifty more people will post the same link. Move along.

What Are You Doing?

In the beginning, Twitter was people posting what they were doing throughout the day. Hence the question at the top of the box that asks, “What are you doing?”

Apparently that’s wrong this week. You’re not supposed to do that. Not to fear! Next week, the A-list Tweeter that exposed this villainy in his blog will be stuck at an airport and will tweet, “Subway sandwiches are yummy.”

5,000 people will Re-tweet and reply: “Subway rocks! I like lettuce!”

“What are you doing?” will breathe with new life. For at least a week.

@guykawasakichrisbrogansethgodin

You’ll notice that there are a few people (A-listers, if you will) that just about everyone is retweeting and following. Why? What’s the fuss? It’s because these people are usually smart, successful, and have a popular book, product, or blog.

Here’s a deep, dark secret about all of them: They’re just people. It’s true, I swear. They have kids, they get stuck at security, they even (gulp) make mistakes. They forgot to wear a belt today. Sometimes they’re even (double gulp) wrong. They’re still pretty cool, but jeez. Just people, ya know?

Remind Me Why I’m Here Again?

It helps to think about why you’re even on Twitter. A few possible reasons are:

• Meet new people and chat while working or just for kicks
• Marketing your product or business
• Just wanted to see what the hell that Dateline thing was about

Whatever your reason, it’s yours and each carries it’s own group “rules.” You can choose to follow them and move with the masses or you can flout convention and risk being (triple gulp) unpopular. You’ll still live to eat Chex tomorrow morning.

Whatever you do on Twitter, please follow my only Twitter Rule: Don’t be like everyone else. Be you, stick with it, and that’s enough.

Oh, and please follow me. I follow everyone who follows me. Shhh, I’m not supposed to do that, it’s really, really bad. I’m happy to follow you, whoever you are. I have met some people I never would have known otherwise (and they are really cool). 

Be warned, I’m going to send you an automatically-generated “thank you.” I hope it doesn’t come between us as friends, but if it irks you, there’s a sanitary lil’ “unfollow” button for your convenience.

Flush and be happy.

@sparkyfirepants

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Paul Revere’s ride was a clandestine operation. Until he started yellin’ and wavin’ fire around, of course.

Another rough sketch from the book. I may post the finished art. I may not. I really can’t say at this juncture.

Please do not use this image without permission. Thanks.

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It’s true. All children’s publishers worldwide have stopped publishing print books and print magazines as of five minutes ago. From now on, all new books for children will have to be viewed on a computer or handheld device. A government agency is being set up to collect all print books across the globe and burn them. Children will be fitted with view screens and headphones. They will be worn at all times.

That was fun to write. Have I plugged into the fear accurately?

There’s a resistance to digital media in children’s education and I’m baffled by it. In conferences and blog comments in the children’s publishing world, I’ve noticed an undercurrent of fear about digital art and books on computer. The idea being that somehow those things aren’t “real,” and we must protect the “tactile experience” of reading.

You know what? I love the weight of a good print book. I grew up on print books and turning pages is a nice feeling. I have a fun collection of first edition children’s books and I enjoy picking them up and flipping through them now and then. I haunted the Carol Stream Public Library from 1976-1980. I’m one of those (whisper) “book hounds.”

So I love print books, but here’s the thing. Digital books will never completely replace them, but I welcome the new technology with open arms. It’s possible that as a mostly digital artist I am slightly biased. I sit here in front of my ginormous LCD monitor and the art looks huge and pretty.

I’m sure I’ll love the look and feel of it printed and bound on nice paper, too. I digress.

Here are some excerpts from a recent Los Angeles Time article, “Publishers of Children’s Books See Bright Digital Future:”

There is some evidence that younger children learn less when they’re reading books in electronic form. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University, studied parents who read digital books with their children and found that young children don’t get meaning from what they’re reading when they’re playing with gadgets and distracted by all the bells and whistles of technology.

“We have to be careful that electronic media is not a substitute for hands-on,” she said.

We have to be careful? This is the kind of language that irks me. No, we certainly do not have to be careful about reading and learning. It may be semantics, but being careful should be attributed to things like grease fires and driving in snow, not education.

We should be using whatever methods we can get our grubby hands on to teach kids. Kids today aren’t distracted by the bells and whistles of technology, adults are. Have you ever seen a kid sigh, take the mouse from an adult and say, “I know how to find it, just let me do it.” It’s almost a cliche.

The meaning of what the child is reading doesn’t automatically spill out of the computer any more than it spills out of a book. It’s the educator who is responsible for clarifying meaning that’s missed in the first read-through.

In short, it’s not the fault of the medium, it’s the facilitator. The content is the same.

The digital format adds something to tactile books, said Mary Ann Sabia, vice president and associate publisher of Charlesbridge Publishing Inc. It’s more interactive and gives children different insights into the story and characters, she said. Charlesbridge now has digital books that sing rhymes to kids and books accompanied by digital learning games.

Still, she said, “We don’t think that print books are going to disappear.”

Thank you for being a voice of reason, Mary Ann Sabia.

The world is always changing and as educators we need to keep up.

Kids don’t suffer anachronistic fools for long. Personally, I’d rather be in on the excitement now, leading the charge, than scratching my head later and wondering when everything suddenly got so complicated.

But please, please, I beg of you: do not use the word “careful” when you talk about reading or learning. That’s a recipe for mediocrity if I ever heard it.

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Do you enjoy seeing people live happy, meaningful lives?

Then yes, you should help other people.

That’s it for me on this holiday.

Whether you celebrate or not, whatever you celebrate, or if you are working, I hope you have the experience of changing the world for the better.

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Do you like working? Then yes, you should work on a holiday.

Sorry it wasn’t more complex than that. Enjoy my holiday brevity.

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Should authors and illustrators be fearful at news of the restructuring of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group?

At last summer’s SCBWI conference, there was speculation that the universe of children’s publishing was crumbling. Those fears were laid to rest by the speakers (editors, art directors, SCBWI staff), but it’s sure to come up again. Like now.

According to this article at mediabistro.com, news of this kind is actually great for writers and artists. It’s a slightly new game, but still winnable.

“[T]his is really an opportunity to grow and be challenged.” - Jean Fewiell, Senior Vice President

Also, you have to love a Senior VP who references Star Wars.

How will you use this information? I’m curious.

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Sigh.

I’ve been getting this question a lot, mostly from Twitter pals who are wondering why I am pimping Guy Kawasaki’s site aggregator.

Did I sell out?

Am I sucking up to Guy?

Am I getting paid by Alltop?

No, No, and I wish, but no.

In a nutshell, Kids: I like Alltop. I use Alltop. That’s it.

I had signed up for a Twitterfeed that automatically posts new topics when they appear in Alltop. A few people get annoyed by that on Twitter, and I admit that initially I started to worry about my credibility.

I’m not worried anymore, and here’s why.

I’m a professional illustrator, right? I create fun content for kids to help build up their brains to ginormous sizes, allowing them to eventually take over the world and make it better.

(Yeah, but what does that have to do with Alltop?)

One of the ways I promote my work is through this blog. I’d like to teach the world to draw in perfect harmony, to paraphrase another major marketer. Every day I learn something new about how to build an audience and create good content.

(Yeah, but what does that have to do with Alltop?)

Another question I get asked a lot is how do come up with new content every week? When I’m thinking about new posts to write, I do a little reading. The thing is, I don’t just read about illustration or kids or Adobe product reviews all the time. I read all kinds of stuff. Celebrity gossip, technology news, homeschooling, beer blogs, sex, new music – just about everything you could think of.

After all that reading and a little thinking over nachos or alpaca poop-scooping (ask me later), I’ve got a post.

(Yeah, but what does that have to do with Alltop?)

You’re still with me? Then guess where I go to read all this stuff?

(Yeah, but what does that have to do with – oh, right. Thanks)

Listen, if you’re going to be a professional artist or a good blogger, you’ve got to be well-read. Just as the art of good conversation is listening, the art of creating art is observation.

On the last illustration I did for a major magazine, I used Alltop and Google to research before I even started drawin’ stuff. As a result, I got zero comments about the accuracy of the dated elements in the piece. I suppose I could have gone old school and sat at the library for the same result, but in this case I couldn’t leave the studio. That’s what new technologies are for.

I hear people all the time say things like, “I don’t see how Twitter could possibly help me with my business,” or “Blogging can’t really help me in my line of work. I’m different.”

Or, “That dude is just kissing some ass, Alltop is pointless.”

That’s totally cool. I get it. I used to think the same thing about people who wore Gap t-shirts. Why advertise for somebody else’s company without getting paid?

Because the people wearing the latest fashion or follow the latest trend appear that they know what’s going on in the world. While I’m not one to bow to every fashion trend that comes along, I do recognize that there’s value in at least knowing what’s new in the world. Here’s the value:

When Aunt Marge says things like, “What’s a blog?” do you look to her as someone who might understand how to help you with your marketing? Likely not, but hopefully you’ll educate her.

Conversely, when Aunt Marge answers an e-mail on her iPhone while she’s waiting at Starbucks, what do you think? Likely it’s not, “Auntie’s just a trend slave, the beeyotch.” It’s more likely that she becomes someone you might rely on for an answer or two.

When I put that little Alltop badge and Alltop list of Children’s Literature news in my sidebar, it’s not to curry favor with Grand Master Kawasaki (something he would see through anyway). It’s because it helps me and helps my readers.

If you’re still with me (and thanks if you are), you’ve got to try Alltop. You can think I’m crazy, you can think I’m a suck-up idiot, but I’m telling you that as an artist, it’s helped my research tremendously.

I’m giving away all my best trade secrets here. I’m not going to worry about how the world should work, I’m just reporting how I’ve noticed that it does work. Whether you choose to use that info is totally your call.

One last thing. If you don’t know what a new trend is about, ask one of the followers. There’s a difference between, “Hey what’s all this Alltop stuff about?” and “Dude, I’m so sick of that annoying Alltop crap.”

One is going to learn a lot and the other is destined to wander the Earth confused and irritable in their blank t-shirts.

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Have you ever used one of those online gig-finding sites to get more work? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Elance.com or Guru.com.

I responded to a post on Freelance Switch yesterday about this and it prompted me to expand on the discussion.

In the past year I’ve used one of the bid sites regularly to find “gigs.” It was that twitchy, fear-based part of me that wondered if I was missing out on a steady flow of clients. It sounds simple enough. As someone looking for work, you pay them to bid on projects that “clients” post. If the “client” accepts your bid, then congratulations to you, the lucky winner. You get to sing “I’ve Got the Golden Ticket” all afternoon.

I got three gigs this year from one of those sites. In fact, one of my best clients is someone I found through a project posted on a bid site. After that first project, we’ve worked exclusively outside the bid site realm.

That is an extremely low number of projects won when you consider that I viewed over 2,000 and bid on less than a quarter of them.

The thing is, I was looking for the top projects, posted by people who were paying what was close to my rate. I was very selective, which resulted in plenty of sifting and researching. Admittedly not the best way to approach the bid site freelancing model.

Is the bid site model for you? Maybe. Here’s how to tell:

1. You have time (or help) to sort through glittering gems like these:

“Need 1,000 icons for huge global brand web site. I want them by Monday. Don’t bid unless you can do it for under $250. Great for student or someone who needs work for their portfolio.”

2. You need some quick cash. The thing is, most people posting on these sites are looking for the cheapest and quickest they can get. If you’re in famine mode, it’s possible to get some quick projects going if you’re willing to work for bargain-basement rates.

3. You don’t mind stepping outside your niche. Hey, if I had to, I could tweak someone’s PowerPoint presentation in a jiffy. If I don’t have any work in children’s publishing, why not use a skill I already have?

Stuff to Watch Out For

If you’re going to do it, just be careful out there. A few things to keep an eye on:

1. Fees. Make sure you account for the bid site’s fees when bidding an amount. It can take a big chunk out of what’s already a small source of revenue.

2. Submitting spec work. People can be sneaky. Unless you’ve got the green light (a signed proposal), don’t send sketches or concepts. They can take your stuff and use it without paying you. Sound like fun?

3. Portfolio crap. If you accumulate enough quick & cheap work, don’t expect to have a lot of samples for your portfolio. At some point, you need to step off the treadmill and create something that’s not quick and cheap.

You can probably guess that I don’t use the bid sites much anymore. I get curious and I look at project listings now and then, but thankfully I haven’t had to rely on it exclusively.

One of the things that’s turned me off is the prospect of bidding on projects for people I’ve never even spoken to. A large part of my work is consulting with my clients, so blind bidding doesn’t fit my business model. I like to work with real people I can actually talk to and make a connection with. That doesn’t happen often on the bid sites, so it’s not my favorite.

To sum up, finding work on bid sites can be a good way to prime the pump and generate some extra income. Just don’t make it your prime model if you want to work on high-end projects.

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