This last week I have been working on a piece to enter into the Poster Contest at NESCBWI conference at the end of April in Massachusetts.
The brief is as follows:
The Challenge: A Whole New World
How do you go about building an entire world in just one image? How do you use
illustration to "keep it real" ? Explore a new world in your poster.
Hmm ... I doodled about with some new ideas ... but I kept returning to an image that I created some time ago, which, in fact, is the banner for this blog and is called 'Boy and World'.
Initially I drew the sketch several years ago.
It's the kind of thing I used to do as a child ... imagining worlds with lots of little houses and towns and animals. But something about the boy and dog on the hill gave me an emotional attachment to this one ... he's looking to the future, wanting - or leaving - on an adventure. Yearning for what's over the mountains. So I used it as my blog banner.
Anyway, back to the contest brief. In the doodles I was doing I really wanted to use a circle to portray the 'world' motif. So I tried the image above cropped as a roundel.
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/26/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, drawing, children's illustration, how to draw, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, black and white sketches, sketch for today, Add a tag
Working on sketches for a new project. I like this stage of a project, when it is all still unknown.
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/21/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: peeps, digital painting, Bunny, rabbit, easter bunny, easter chick, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, black and white sketches, sketch for today, funny cartoon, Add a tag
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 2/28/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: hair, children's illustration, digital art, pink, ostrich, Bad Hair Day, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, digital sketching, sketch for today, hairbrush, photoshop colouring, Add a tag
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 2/25/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: sketch for today, doodles, snow, digital painting, children's illustration, inspirations, pink, ballerina, ballet shoes, camden maine, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, black and white sketches, Add a tag
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 2/16/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book tour, book publicity, Charlesbridge, how too, Hidden New Jersey, Jeannie Brett, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, writing and illustrating a book, new jersey, blog tour, Add a tag
Here's the thing, 'Hidden New Jersey', which I illustrated and is published this month is a book about another state. I live in Maine. It's a fair way to New Jersey. I don't have a lot of money available for big launches and travel.
I wanted to help with promotion ... but to be frank, I live in a very rural area of Maine, there are limited resources and limited opportunities to promote. And it's a hard sell ... a book about Maine will draw some people to book store signings - but a book about a state outside New England? NOT so easy.
This is not a huge book and the publisher had limited resources for it.
The answer for me FIRST was a BLOG TOUR. Like a book tour, but in virtual space. There are all sorts of sites out there to help you set one up, but here's what I did:
UTILIZE YOUR ONLINE CONTACTS
I have, over the last couple of years, built up contacts with a good network of writers and illustrators who blog. So where better to start? I put a post on Facebook /Twitter/Google/SCBWI listserv asking for anyone who would be interested in taking part in my virtual book tour. To my surprise I got quite a few takers.
SET UP THE SPECIFICS
Next I drafted an email to all of them with details about my book, a press release from the publisher, a PDF copy of the book, links to my website, the book trailer I created and email for the author so that they could ask her questions to. (I let her know first!)
I also sent high res jpegs of the book cover, me and a couple of images from the book if required.
I asked bloggers to schedule a date during the month of promotion (so they wouldn't all get clumped together). I also asked if they would be interested in doing a giveaway on their blog, which most took advantage of. It's a great way for them to get people to their blogs too ... a good deal for both of us.
Most of the bloggers sent me questions to answer as part of the review. I didn't send back standard answers - it was more fun and more interesting to answer individually and if people read the different interviews, they would find out something new each time. Anyway, it seemed like courtesy to me.
APPROACH THE BIGGER BLOGGERS
I did approach some of the bigger blogs, and was happy that a few of them took me up on reviewing the book. Although I didn't do a giveaway on these blogs, the exposure was invaluable. With the bigger review blogs you have to dig some times to find the info to submit your book ... and some require you to send a physical copy. Some big blogs only review books that they are personally interested in and specifically do not want submissions, and some only from the publisher themselves.
KEEP YOUR PUBLISHER INFORMED
I kept my publisher's marketing contact at Charlesbridge informed of activities and that they complimented what they were doing. They were happy to send review copies to many of the bloggers, which then were used as the giveaways on the blog. A couple of the bloggers were
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 2/1/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, geography, canoeing, launch day, Hidden New Jersey, charlesbridge publishing, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, find out about New Jersey, third state, Linda J Barth, Add a tag
Yes, it's here .. Hidden New Jersey is out there in shelf world ...
If you haven't heard me talking about the book by now, where have you been? Just this time last year I was starting the illustration process and here it is, all shiny and new and ripe for the plucking.
Folks in New Jersey seem very happy with it so far. Have to say, when you know you are drawing places that are well known, you hope people will go 'yes! I remember that!' I really hope that HNJ will encourage people to discover the state ... there really IS so much more to New Jersey.
I've been a bit frantic in the run up - I made the book trailer - set up a blog tour - submitted to hear, there, everywhere and today replying to all the nice congrats I received. It really IS like having a baby arrive :-)
In March I hope to have a small launch at the Children's Book Cellar in Waterville, ME, so if you local, stay tuned for details.
I hope if you get hold of a copy of the book you'll let me know what you (or your kids) think ...
Toodles!
Hazel
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 11/7/2011
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: postcard, Daniel Stefanski, How to Talk to an Autistic Kid, postcard mail out, dandelion fairy. fairy. Hazel Mitchell, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Books for a Better Life, Add a tag
Monday came round quick this week. (Only 6 days since the last one). Thanksgiving is thundering toward us totally out of control, no doubt bringing snow and Christmas in it's wake. I am looking at my things-I-want-to-do-before-the-end-of-the-year list, and wondering just how many are achievable.
High on my list is to send another publisher's mail-out. This time I have a postcard featuring my 'Dandelion Fairy'. I would love to work up a dummy around her adventures with her little bunny ... but I also have other dummies that need work - and they have been waiting a good while for some attention. So 'Dandelion Fairy' will be scribbled on a post it note and stuck up on the window frame with the other titles.
Exciting news this week for Daniel Stefanski, Freespirit Publishing and the book I illustrated earlier this year 'How to Talk to an Autistic Kid.' It's a finalist in the relationship category of 'Books for a Better Life', an award
The rest of this week is going to be busy. Putting to bed 'The Naughty Grandmother' for a private client, and working on an education pdf project for 'Reading A-Z'. Friday I am goign on an OUTING, but can't tell you where yet. Saturday I am doing signing at Pittsfield Library, Maine with 'All Star Cheerleaders: Tick Tock, Taylor.' Fun!
Let's hope my computer behaves ... complete rebuild this weekend, caused by a power unit failure and possible dodgy memory chip. I did, however, learn a valuable lesson when the power unit messed up my hard drive a couple of weeks ago ... now have a server I back up to every night. Thank goodness 'im indoors is a techie!
Toodles and thanks for popping in!
Hazel
On the bedside table:
The Story of Charlotte's Web - Michael Sims
A Ball for Daisy - Chris Raschka
Me ... Jane Patrick McDonnell
Pavement Chalk Artist - Julian Beever
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7704392281528108275-295
</p>
<div class="post-comments">
5 Comments on <em>Books for a Better Life</em>, last added: 11/9/2011</div> <!-- end post-comments -->
<a class = "displaycomment" href="javascript:toggleLayer( "View comments for this post"){kind=small}
Display Comments
Hazel, I love your thought processes in this drawing. I also love the small details in a drawing, although mine are usually one subject that is highly detailed. I am not so clever as you at adding more stories to the whole picture. I really love this poster and love the story that it has to tell. Good on ya!
Totally engaging, Hazel, and I love seeing process. This is such a wonderful image and seems so personal. I love details and borders too. So much to look at and your soft colors make it feel like the old map you were going for. Fantastic work and so inspiring. Cheers!!
Thanks Patrish ... the more we draw the more we evolve ... I love doing simple drawings too, but this one definitely evolved!
Thanks Donna ... I am glad the map feel comes through. Your comments mean alot!