#Illustrate how to

I can empathise with you: I've been in that position of wanting to get into publishing but not quite knowing how to go about it and making mistakes. What I want to point out is that, if you want to achieve any success, you need to apply this skill - having empathy - with the people you want to work with. As a writer, your job is empathy, writing things from other people's perspectives. You might be a writer who's hoping to get into the business.

I often run into these people later at events or book festivals when they're promoting their newly published books and it's a pleasure to hear how they're getting on. This person understands the work's creative but also a business they take any news from me professionally and express gratitude for any time, tips or constructive criticism I give them. The Thoughtful Business Person is the most likely to get published and the most rare: a person who has been thinking about getting work published for quite some time, has researched the industry, has a good sense of the other new books on the market that are similar to the ones he or she wants to get published, has tried their best to get to know other people in publishing (often through the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators). (It's not all about self-belief, think about other people, too.)ģ. They're so excited by their own bravery that they don't make any attempt to see their actions from another person's perspective and can come across as needy or aggressive. Once they decide to act, they act fast and recklessly (in case they lose their nerve) and almost never look at the things I've written for them on my website (the Contact page, the FAQs). These people can be quite scary, because anything I write to them will be taken on a profoundly personal level and they'll feel crushed by anything that isn't an enthusiastic YES to whatever they're asking. It's such a big thing, getting over their lack of confidence that they put all their hopes into this one approach to the illustrator. The Life-Goals Hopeful has been fantasising about being an author for years and years and hasn't done much about it or done any research into the industry, but has been working on building up the sheer nerve to make a first move. I might illustrate medical textbooks for all they know.Ģ. They thought, 'Hey, that was easy, why not try getting it published? Get rich as JK Rowling?' You wouldn't believe the number of people who find out I'm an illustrator and immediately ask me to illustrate their book before they've even written a story or seen any of my work. The Chancer penned a little ditty last night and read it to their kids, who loved it. I tend to hear from three different kinds of writers:ġ. (I never write a second reply to these.) But I wonder if it would be better not to reply in the first place it's an awful feeling, putting time into trying to do something right, with the only result being that I annoy someone. It makes me think I've shattered their dreams and I ALONE am responsible for this and should feel guilty.

But there's a hitch: the strange thing is that, if I take time to write a thoughtful explanation of why I can't illustrate their book, and point them to helpful links, the best I usually get is a curt reply, almost never thanks for my time. I think it's awesome when people love books enough to want to create their own and I feel honoured that of all the thousands (tens of thousands?) of illustrators in Britain, they want to work with me. That seems sensible and I applaud them taking initiative. They tend to be people who have come up with their first story, tell me they love my work, and are keen to get things moving. JabberworksI've been getting a lot of e-mails recently from people wanting me to illustrate their books.