In the first two installments of My Author Origin Story, we explored how community helped me push past Imposter Syndrome, how I decided to keep my voice even though it isn't always embraced, and how I persevered to create a strong manuscript. Now let’s tackle the next big hurdle: illustrations.
I wish I could illustrate, but I can’t. I’m not even confident about drawing stick figures. Many, many times I’ve heard the correct advice not to contract an illustrator for your manuscript, because the publishing company does that. However, that advice is for those going the traditional publishing route. I had decided to self-publish and that meant finding, hiring and successfully working with an illustrator. Problem is, I had never done that before.
As a school administrator I’ve hired for many roles, but illustrator wasn’t one of them. I didn’t know how much they should be paid, nor how quickly they worked and I was still learning the language involved: spot illustrations vs. pages vs. spreads. True to form though, I ventured forward anyway. I started by using postcards I’d gathered from the conference. These helped me decide what kind of style I was looking for. Then I moved my search onto the SCBWI illustrator database. It felt like a dating app, keying in important qualities and adding in filters as options appeared on the screen. One portfolio was a perfect match for me: Felipe Blanco Illustration.
Amongst other things, Felipe’s portfolio showed a diversity of children.
He presented a Little Red Riding Hood Book Dummy. It gave me confidence that he understood the layout of a picture book, something I knew nothing about. It also showed that he could draw characters consistently across spreads…yeah, I learned the terminology…and I liked how he still kept the “scarier” parts of the story child-friendly.
That’s how I knew Felipe would be the one…that is if he agreed to it… and if he didn’t cost too much money… and if we could communicate effectively and respectfully.
When I reached out to Felipe, he got right back to me. He was personable and knowledgeable. This would be his first time professionally illustrating a book, and he expressed excitement for the opportunity. I presented him with the concept of the book, and he provided a sketch. I was smitten with his art right away. I had gotten guidance from Veronica Miller Jamison on fair pay for illustrators, and Felipe and I agreed on a price. He presented a contract; we negotiated the payment schedule and locked in. Phew! With the finding and hiring done, now it was time to actually work together.
As a self-publisher, I couldn’t totally ignore the market and business side of publishing. I knew I wanted to target children ages 3-7 and their caregivers, but I also wanted to create a book that early childhood professionals would be drawn to use in home visiting, school readiness and educator preparation programs. I felt that the writing had done that; now I needed illustrations to support and even carry these ideas forward even more.
Because Felipe hadn’t spent a lot of time in early childhood settings, and I desired certain aspects of the classroom to be included, I sent reference materials about classrooms and playgrounds. All the while I kept some more of Veronica Miller Jamison’s guidance to allow for the illustrator's interpretation of the project. That was good advice. It was Felipe that came up with the idea of the lightbulb character. We needed that character to create continuity between the pages and to move the story along.
Of course there was stuff we had to work out. In his initial sketches, Felipe had drawn some of the characters as animals. Representing diverse children was important to me, so he changed the animals to children..
Felipe initiated regular email and virtual check-ins, and we worked like this until we had a beautiful finished product. Don’t worry. I didn’t always get my way. Sometimes he voiced different opinions than what I suggested and we went with it. Creatively, Got Ideas, Anyone? is just as much his book as it is mine. Our next steps were getting this book formatted, printed and launched. Yes, there was more work to be done and I’ll be happy to tell you about it next week in our last installment of My Author’s Origin Story. Hope to see you there!
While growing up in Boston, Tischa D. Brown enjoyed the locations and lessons great stories had to offer. She holds a MS in Early Childhood Leadership and Policy from Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Child Development and a BA in Psychology from the University of Hartford. For the last 30 years Tischa has put her love for storytelling to work in early childhood education. That’s why Tischa’s debut picture book, Got Ideas, Anyone?, highlights the classroom in all of its glory! While proud of her academic and professional accomplishments, nothing brings her more joy than traveling the world with her family, and when faced with a seemingly impossible challenge, she reminds herself that she and her daughter have been lost in a desert and survived!
You can contact her through her website: tischadbrown.com
And follow her on Instagram:@tischastake.
Felipe Blanco is an illustrator and freelance artist currently based in New Jersey, USA, but originally born and raised in Brazil! He shares his home with his beloved wife and cat, Haroldo. His creative path began early, always surrounded by drawings, colors, and stories. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and a Master’s in Digital Design. He’s been working as a freelance artist for almost a decade, collaborating with indie game studios, teaching digital painting, and even experimenting with 3D printing for fun projects and products! He loves creating stylized, colorful art filled with personality and charm. Now his main focus is picture book illustration, where he combines his love for storytelling and visual design.
You can contact him through his website: Felipe Blanco Illustration
And follow him on Instagram:@blancoilustra.
