I just wanted to make you all aware of a GREAT conference for you or anyone you know who is interested in writing or illustrating for the Young Adult or Picture Book Market. This conference has traditionally been held at BYU for years and years. However, because of the growing nature of the conference, it had to be moved to another facility. It's still run by the same great organizers and still has an amazing list of presenters.Here's the information on the conference. I just want to encourage...
Local School Presentation
I just thought I'd let you all know, I'll be presenting at Timberline Middle School in Alpine, UT tomorrow morning along with author Brandon Sanderson. I definitely don't have the following that this amazing fantasy author has, but I'm happy to share my knowledge about picture books at the school's writing conference. I love going to schools and sharing my love of books and illustration with the kids. Hopefully I can inspire some future writers and illustrators. Someday, I'll post a video of my...
Local Newspaper Article
I was asked to give an interview to our local newspaper by journalist, Marilyn Nielson. Here's what she wrote up about me. It's all about my job, how I got started, and what I do now. The photo was actually taken by my husband, photographer Rhett Olson (see his website) at a book signing. Click on the image to see it full size and read the artic...
Entering Contests
Another great way to promote yourself is to enter contests. Today I just submitted my entries for the 3x3 Children’s Show Here's a little description from their website..."The 3x3 Children’s Show is the only truly international competition for illustration. No other show is as completely international as ours. While many shows showcase the work of their own country’s illustrators, 3x3 features the...
DAY SIXTEEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
THE END or THE BEGINNING? So after reading all that or DOING all that (which of course usually can't be done well in only 15 days), you have to decide for yourself whether or not this is the thing for you. It's a tough road but it's so exciting too. You won't become rich or necessarily famous by doing picture books...they are probably the least appreciated form of literature out there. But you can gain a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from creating wholesome, fun, inspiring...
DAY FIFTEEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE FOUR: Step 4 4. BEGIN AGAIN, WHILE YOU WAIT: during those months of waiting and possible rejection, get started on another book. Then you won't be obsessed and frustrated with the long process. Just know, most of the time, a picture book takes YEARS to create, to get to a publisher, to get through a publisher, and out on shelves. It's usually at the least a 3 year process (and that's fas...
DAY FOURTEEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE FOUR: Step 3 3. WAIT AND WAIT AND WAIT: Give the editor at least 3 months to respond. After that, it is fine to call and ask them what they thought of your submission. They are VERY busy people...overworked and underpaid. But they love what they do and want to find good work. Just respect them and their time. If they have feedback for you, that is REALLY positive. Take it and make your work better. If they don't, that means they didn't even like it enough to try to help make it work. That...
DAY THIRTEEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE FOUR: Step 2 2. SEND OUT THE DUMMY BOOK: If you have an agent, great. They will do this for you. However, if you don't, the work is up to you. Find a list of publishers who publish books in the same genre and send it to their head editor and assistant editors. The lists can be gathered through joining the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (www.SCBWI.org) or checking out CBC.org online or by researching in "Writers Market Place" (however that publication is often out of date)....
DAY TWELVE: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE FOUR: Step 11. HAVE A WEBSITE OR BLOG: Make sure before you begin submissions, you have a professional website or blog the editor can refer to if they want to find out more about you or your work. If you are an artist have your portfolio out there. If you are a writer, have some other samples. Think of it as your online resume. Best foot forward.You can set up a blog at www.blogger.com or various other sites. You can also download website templates for free online or pay for a more professional...
DAY ELEVEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE THREE: Step 44. CRITIQUES: This time you need critiques especially from other illustrators. You've had writers critique the words, now have illustrators critique your book. Be ready to make changes. ALWAYS be ready to make chang...
DAY TEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE THREE: Step 33. CREATE A DUMMY BOOK: this is a book in sketch format. I scan in all my sketches to the computer and type in the words on each scene...knowing full well that the designer at the publisher will put it all in place in the end. It's just there to hold space and show there is space for the text...and to read the story along with the sketches. I also mock up a cover, a title page and...
DAY NINE: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE THREE: Step 22. FULL SIZE SKETCHES: After I've worked out any design flaws in the thumbnail stage (as many as I notice), I begin drawing each scene full-scale. Some illustrators do a mid-size drawing, however, I put a lot of detail into my thumbnails so I can skip the mid-size stage. It's important you draw these to scale. Note that a standard vertical picture book is about 9 inches wide by...
DAY EIGHT: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE THREE: Step 1 1. THUMBNAILS (STORYBOARDING): After you feel like you've done all you can do for the writing, the real fun begins...the actual illustrating. However, this first stage is the most difficult and thought intensive for me. It's where all the hard work happens in illustrating. All the problems and questions have to be solved in regards to art in this stage. Even though you try, some...
DAY SEVEN: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE TWO: Steps 4 and 5 4. DEVELOP A THICK SKIN: You'll need it from here on out...when you start showing your work to others in the industry. ;-) 5. CRITIQUES: once you've done all you can do for the words and developed a few rough idea sketches of the character and a scene or two, show your story to other writers and illustrators for feedback. Be ready to change things and take the criticism for what it is...it's there to help your story, not hurt your feelings. You don't have to do EVERYTHING...
DAY SIX: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE TWO: Step 33. CUT AND SLASH every word that doesn't move the plot forward. Watch out for too much dialogue or not enough action. Show don't tell. The descriptive words aren't usually necessary. When you use them, you confine the illustration. A picture book should need the pictures to tell the rest of the story. The words don't say it all. Keep your word count low. Picture books are for younger...
DAY FIVE: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE TWO: Step 22. WRITE AND REWRITE: Once I have some main ideas or scenes down, I really begin the writing process. This can be longer and slower for me because I consider myself an artist first and a writer second. But you can't give up. Picture books are some of the hardest books to write. Even though everyone thinks they can write a picture book, they don't realize how hard it is to condense a whole story into 500-750 words. EVERY WORD COUNTS. That's why I say write and rewri...
DAY FOUR: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE TWO: Step 11. SKETCH AND WRITE: this is a hard stage to describe if you are doing both the illustrating and writing of a book. Many times I'll sketch out ideas of scenes of the character trying to solve the problem before I've even written words. I'm a visual person as well as a verbal person, so a lot of times, I simply go back and forth between words and sketching. However, in this phase, there is often MORE writing than sketching going on overall. For the standard format picture book, you...
DAY THREE: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE ONE: Step 33. SOLVING THE PROBLEM: After I know who I'm writing about and what the problem to overcome is, I brainstorm ideas on how the character can solve the problem. Then I choose the 3 best or most interesting ideas. (Things seem to balance better in art or in literature in threes or odd multiples). These things will provide the framework for the sto...
DAY TWO: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
PHASE ONE: Step 22. GET TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTER: Once I've settled on a problem and a character, I sketch and sketch that character in various moods and positions. I also try to write down everything I can about that character even if it won't show up in the story at all. I've got to get to know who the character is. So I write down habits, favorite color, favorite food, favorite toy or security item,...
DAY ONE: WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING A PICTURE BOOK
It's hard to put into one article all it takes to write and illustrate a picture book. So I'm not going to. I'm going to break it down and post a step each day for you to follow. By the end, maybe you'll have created your very own picture book.Now, keep in mind, everyone has their own process and we don't even follow our own process all the time. But I will outline my usual way to go about it.You may ask, "Why do I need to know this? I'm just a writer," or "What's the point? I'm just an illustrator,...
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- Julie Olson
- I'm a freelance illustrator working in the children's book industry. I love kids and raising my own 4 children. They are the inspiration and the passion behind all I do in art and in life. See my website at JulieOlsonbooks.com