It’s a tough one because I know so many people have awesome ideas for kids’ books but just don’t know how to make it happen or where to even start. I know how it is; you see books on the shelf at The Biggety-Big Bookseller Corporations and think, “My ideas are better!”

It’s surely possible that you have a world-beating idea. Who am I to say? There are likely thousands of stories out there that will never be seen in print. I have several. The publishing industry is a complex beast. There are so many people and decisions that go into deciding what gets published that it’s extremely difficult to figure out the formula.

I hear ya. I’m a formula guy. I’m also a dude. I do better with straightforward, logic-based problems, not ethereal, emotion-based problems. Anyway, I’ll try and break it down for you in a way that’s helped me understand at least a little about how it all works.

In the current world of publishing you have basically three options after writing the story:

1. Find an agent
2. Find a publisher
3. Self-publish

What do you want out of this?

You really have to think about what’s most important to you. If the most important thing is getting your story out there for your family and friends to share, then you should consider self-publishing. Don’t listen to the “Yeah, but it’s only self-published.” downer people. Do it. Be happy.

If you seek fame and notoriety and the cool factor of seeing your book on the shelf at The Biggety-Big Bookseller Corporations, then you would want to seek out a publisher or an agent. These people have the industry clout and know-how to get books on the shelves.

I’ve decided. Now what?

Self Publishing

Self-publishing can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Using a service like http://lulu.com is an excellent way to go. I did that with my first book. Print-on-demand is also a very low investment on the publishing end. If you want to sell lots of copies of your self-published book, you have to be prepared for the sales and marketing end. That’s a whole other post. However, it’s possible to get your self-published work into libraries. Check out these resources:

PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association

American Library Association

Publishers and Agents

Most publishers just want to see a MS (manuscript). They usually have submission guidelines that, if they aren’t followed, turns your submission into confetti. They also like to select their own illustrator, so getting illustrations done beforehand might be a waste of your money and time.

When you go through an agent, it’s the same. They’ll probably want to read the MS first (no pictures). Unless you have VERY strong professional-quality artwork, don’t send them pictures right off the bat. Some agents may want to work with you to create a dummy (mockup of the book) with pictures. Usually they already have an artist they want to do it. So again, you could be right back to wasting money and time if you hire someone before submitting it.

If it’s a picture book without words, then of course you can’t submit a MS first. You might need a query letter, though.

These aren’t hard and fast rules and different publishers and agents have different policies and methods. If you contact some and ask, they’ll gladly tell you what they’re looking for. It cuts down on their workload (and yours, of course).

The Word on Illustrators

If you want to self-publish, then of course you’ll need to find an illustrator! Go for it. Remember that you get what you pay for. 

An experienced, professional illustrator should cost you a lot of money. We’re talking several thousands, depending on the size of your book. Don’t expect to get Biggety-Big Bookseller Corporation-type of artwork if you’re not willing to pay for it. You can find tons of artists who are itching to work for free or at low cost. If you don’t have much money, I sympathize. But understand a few things:

• If you ask a professional illustrator to work for peanuts, don’t expect them to be excited. They’re thinking, “How will I pay my internet bill with this?”
• If you find a student or non-professional to do it for a lick and a promise, don’t expect to be dazzled. It might happen, just don’t expect it.
• A promise of “Big royalties! More books later!” or “This will will sell a lot of copies!” means nothing. You’re asking someone to have blind faith in your book and marketing abilities. It might work out, but don’t forget that.
• So you love an illustrator’s work. It’s gorgeous, just what you want. They draw the most amazing animals ever. Don’t ask for proof that they can draw a marmoset. It’s annoying. Yes, she can draw a marmoset. Yes, even your very special marmoset.
• Are you an art director? Ever designed anything professionally? If not, consider hiring an outside art director to help you make sense of the process. You’ll be happier with the results.

You might find a pretty good illustrator willing to work for nothing simply because they believe in your book project and will accept proceeds from sales, but you still need a strong contract before starting. It protects you both. It’s also important to respect the idea that any artist is investing their time and effort in something that may not pay, so  even if they are “up and coming” they still deserve to be viewed as contributing something of great value. Everyone starts somewhere.

Scared?

So I hope I scared you away from children’s book publishing.

If you’re not scared off, then I guess you really want to do this thing, huh? That’s good, because you’re going to need to believe in it even when people tell you it’s a pipe dream. You have to love your story so much that you’ll get it out there no matter what anyone else says.

In case you get the idea from this post that I somehow find all of this easy… well, I don’t. The publishing world is sometimes a big mystery to me, too. No one has the definitive answer on how to get a book published. We’re shooting at a moving target. Welcome to archery practice.

I’m currently developing a picture book. It’s a damn good idea, too (of course it is). I’m going to go through all of these thought processes I just outlined (except the illustrator part because, well… I know someone). I’m not a book publishing psychic, so I’ll make it as good as I can and then let it go.

A great resource is SCWBI. For members, there’s a great community support, workshops, and conventions geared toward the children’s publishing industry. Check it out.

In fact, very recently I was really stuck. Frozen. Not “GTD”ing or whatever the hell that Super Special System is. I was using the “GNDF,” system, or Getting Nothing Done Fast.

I had a major mental block on what to put in a tear sheet. Do I send a tear sheet? Should I send a full-blown portfolio? Should the portfolio be attention-getting wackiness or straightforward down-to-business?

The longer I thought about it, the more the questions and self-doubt piled up. Despite having hired artists in two different industries and sampled (literally) thousands of portfolios, here I sat, unable to compile that knowledge into a tangible package for myself.

One day I had epiphany. I decided that the most important thing was showing the work in the cleanest way possible. You can only get into the heads of art directors and publishers so far. From experience I knew that someone reviewing art can have a totally skewed view if they haven’t had their coffee or got yelled at by their editor that day. Nope, that is not fair at all. It is the truth.

Trying to make a sample package that would have 100% no-fail appeal to everyone everywhere was preventing me from doing anything at all.

One thing I did know (again from experience) was that the people reviewing art samples want it to be super easy. They want to see cool art, file it for future reference, and get on with their busy day.

They don’t want to pop in a CD, read three pages of copy about how great I think I am, or go to a complicated third-party portfolio site and search me out.

They just want it easy, and rightly so.

I know there are people who hate pithy slogans like Nike’s “Just Do It.” Those words don’t motivate everyone. However, in this case, that was the best motivator I could have. I really just needed to do something, to take action. Agonizing over how to package myself was not moving me forward.

Granted, I did not want to just be sloppy in order to get something out the door (the effect might be worse).

The idea of simply making my art easily accessible to the people who want to buy it or hire me was the thing I needed to create my new packages. I had them in the mail that day.

It’s just so simple. Think about it a little bit. Just Do It a lot.

1. Author writes a book.
2. Author mails book to agents and publishers.
3. Author files rejection slips.
4. Author passes out from shock during phone call from interested party.
5. Publisher selects illustrator that fits the manuscript; Author fights for 10-year old niece to do the pictures in crayon and loses.
6. Illustrator gnaws hand off during anxiety attack, wondering if he/she is up to the challenge.
7. Illustrator makes a dummy.

A dum – wha? 

Before the illustrator makes the pretty pictures, he or she makes a preliminary mock-up of the book, called a dummy. Working with the editor, the artist breaks down the manuscript into pages and sketches concepts for possible illustrations. It’s much simpler to sum up in a sentence than it is to do. Humongous thoughts go into the process of creating a book dummy. There are considerations of color, overall tone, character development, logical text breakdown, flow and pace… it’s a huge task.

In fact, to read more about the process, I highly recommend “How to Write, Illustrate, and Design Children’s Books” by Frieda Gates. It’s a comprehensive textbook-style guide to the whole business of creating books for children.

When I created “Road Trip with Rabbit and Squash,” the whole process from idea to completion was about two years (not counting a huge gap year where the MS sat neglected on my Mac). When I got to the point of creating the dummy, I took a very large breath.

Who's the dummy?

I love creating dummies. When I worked on storyboards for TV, I loved breaking down the script into bite-sized chunks and creating the images to go with them. It’s a craft, similar to woodworking or knitting. It’s one of the things I do where I don’t think I would rather be surfing.

My process is very simple and very pre-school. I re-format the manuscript in the computer to manageable chunks of paragraphs. Once I print it out, I cut those sections up and try not to knock them off the desk. Order is good. Part of the process is deciding how many pages you will have, which pages will spread across the gutter (that middle part), and where that last page will go (by itself? hmm…).

I created a small booklet stapling and folding regular copy paper. I knew what size the book and pages would be, so I marked off the pages to the correct scale. From there, I start arranging the cut-out chunks of text across the pages, developing a flow and nice progression through the book. It’s a living process that keeps changing as I work out concepts and adjust the flow. I think about how it will be read both silently and aloud. Does it make sense? Can I put a little cliffhanger in here? Does this page even need text on it or can the picture stand alone? It’s a process that only a slightly insane person would enjoy. And yes, I do. Am. Whatever.

It’s a complex process of thought and impossible to explain. Hey – sort of like writing.

When I was setting up my new studio/office recently, I came across the first dummy copy I made of “Road Trip.” It was buried under a pile of demo reels and chunks of plasticine. I guess I had moved on when I got to the next phase. It was really freaky to see how the first few pages had changed throughout the course of developing the dummy. In the end, I could see why I had made certain choices and I still question others. The photos below give you a tiny glimpse into my secret dummy world:  

Pre-school skills come into play. I knew they would come in handy someday.

Here's page 1 as it's published. How did I get here from there? Lots of coffee.

If you want to see more images from the book, they are posted here. If you ask me how I created those concepts, I might even remember.

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.

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.

I’ve followed a few conversations lately on Twitter about spec work and working for free.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear artists who are trying to break into freelancing ask, “Should I work for free?” They’re understandably confused because they see others doing it and there’s no shortage of projects asking for free work – in exchange for massive publicity and future fame and fortune, of course.

Unfortunately, I can’t answer the question for someone else. No, it’s not some lame-ass dodge. I am of the strong opinion that every artist needs to decide this for themselves.

Personally, I don’t work for free. Anymore.

Early on I did my share of contests and free gigs just to get myself in the game. What I realized after a very short time was that I was keeping myself very busy with work that wasn’t even paying to keep my laptop running. The rent was coming due, I was getting burned out, and the checking account showed only debits. After having a long talk with myself (that was something), I decided to cancel my membership to the pro-bono club.

Karen J. Lloyd is a Storyboard Artist and teacher with a fascinating blog. She addressed this subject as it relates to storyboard artists, but I think that illustrators will find it chock full of stuff they can use.

If you decide that free is for thee, think very carefully about your reasons. If you think about yourself as a business, you’ll find it’s easier to make those kinds of calls.

###

The other thing that caught my eye was a comment on my holiday card post from Judy Dunn. She was told by a publisher not to submit illustrations with her children’s book manuscript. She’s paying attention and it’s awesome.

This is another question that I get more often than, “Daddy can I watch Gilligan’s Island?” Writers ask me if I will illustrate their book and artists ask me if they should illustrate their friend’s book.

Nope and nope.

Okay, I’m nicer than that, but that’s the stock answer. Here’s why:

Reputable publishing houses find their own illustrators for the manuscripts they buy.

Yes, Judy is absolutely right and she’s smart to hold off until the right publisher buys her book. Illustrating a picture book by an established professional can cost anywhere between $6,000 – $10,000, on average. It can be more.

Let’s say you have disposable cash and want to illustrate your children’s book to make it more easily acquirable by a publisher. Here’s what’s going to happen:

1. You’re going to have some interesting artwork to hang on your wall and explain to guests.
2. The publishers you submit to will become annoyed and may not even review your manuscript. In fact, they may even drive to your house and burn it on your doorstep. If that happens, stay inside.

Artists, have you been approached by someone to illustrate their picture book so they can submit it to a publisher? Congratulations! Make some tea and hug yourself for five minutes. Now explain to them what I just told you and ask them if they still want to spend the money.

When I do this, I usually get one of two reactions. The first is indignant anger and outrage at how much I charge for illustrating “just a simple little 58-page picture book.” And how I should be lucky to get the offer. It’s happened.

The thing is, I love illustrating books for kids. It’s what I do! Passing up an opportunity to do what I love sucks. But I can’t take someone’s money just because they don’t know any better.

The second is thanks for taking the time to explain how it works and not just taking their money (and there are people who will take their money).

I prefer the second reaction. The tea goes down easier.

However, I do get requests to illustrate books for very personal reasons, from people who understand the costs involved and just feel strongly about getting their book out into the world. I love it, great idea, let’s do it!

See how this relates back to the earlier topic of working for free? As an independent professional, it’s extremely important to respect your work, treat yourself as a business, and always be ethical. Some people won’t get it, but that’s okay. They don’t have to look at you every morning in the mirror.