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Greetings Illustrator Amigos! Today I am part of a blog tour!

Now on to the questions. This blog tour topic is Writing Process. Here is a little bit about my writing process! 

Welcome to Part Three of my Dummy Book Series! 

If you missed it:

PART 1: Making the Dummy Book

PART 2: Preparing the Dummy Book to Send to Publishers

Today in Part 3, I will talk about what to submit to Editors and Agents, sending your dummy book out into the world, waiting, dealing with rejections and celebrating successes.

What to Put in Your Package for Editors and Agents

What to put in your package may vary from publisher to publisher. Many editors and agents want you to send everything via email, and others want you to send everything via snail mail. 

How will you know what each Publisher or Agency wants? 

Research Publishers and Agents

You can find a list of Publisher who are accepting unsolicited manuscripts, and Literary Agents in either the Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market book or in The Book, a publication that is only available to SCBWI members. There are not very many publishers who are accepting unsolicited (unagented) manuscripts anymore, so if you plan to write and illustrate a lot of your own books, it may be better to find an literary agent first.

When looking for a publisher or agent, always go look at their website. Make sure your work will be a good fit with their agency.

 I found that many of the agents listed didn't even have a website. A good agency will have a nice website and be involved in social media. It is an essential part of being successful in this business nowadays.

Networking

In my own recent search for a literary agent, I sent my dummy book and illustration samples to several agents. I was rejected by a few, and others never answered my queries at all. It was not until I got a referral from another author-illustrator that I was successful in finding and landing my current agent. 

This also happened nine years ago when I was looking for my (former) art rep. I was able to connect with my art rep through another art rep's referral. Remember, this is not always the case, but if you are able to network with someone, there may be a better chance of an agent looking at your work.

An Important Reminder For All of Us

Let me pause for a moment to remind you of something very important to remember. The process and timing of finding an agent or a publisher is going to be different for each of us. It may be a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

The process of being successful as an illustrator may take years, or it might happen right away. But more often than not, it will take time.  I have been working in the industry for nine years and I have still never illustrated a trade book, whereas I know other artists who successfully jumped right away into the trade industry. But those cases are rare. It more often takes more time and perseverance to be successful. Remember to be patient.

Submission Guidelines

After finding a good list of Publishers or Agents, and you've checked their website to make sure your work is a good fit, find their submission guidelines. They are usually pretty easy to find on each website. Read the submission guidelines carefully. Everyone wants you to send slightly different things in the email, or include different things in your cover letter.

When Sending a Manuscript Package in the Mail

When I am sending a package in the mail, along with a letter and a printed dummy book, I like to include a business card and a couple of nicely printed post cards. I get my post cards printed at gotprint.com. They do a very nice job, and they come highly recommended!

Just make sure everything looks clean and professional. If you send extras, only send a couple. Don't overwhelm the editor!

Cover Letters

Research how to write a query or cover letter. There are many online resources available. Here is an article that I found helpful: Writing a Cover Letter

When you are submitting a picture book that is both written and illustrated by you, the story and pictures can do most of the talking. So in other words, keep your letter brief.

Remember to be courteous and professional. Make sure you proofread your query letter carefully.

Many publishers and agents like to know if you are submitting to other publisher or agencies at the same time, so make sure to tell them if it is a simultaneous submission.

Sending Your Work Out Into the World and Waiting...

Respect the publishers or agents space. Remember they get hundreds of submissions every month (or maybe even every week), so give them time and space, and don't bother them.

After you hand your package over to the post office worker, or click the send button on the email, you are going to be doing a lot of waiting.

In the mean time, start another personal project. Keep working on your craft and doing what you love to do instead of focusing on the waiting. Sometimes, it may take a long time to hear back from anyone. And sometimes you may never hear back at all. Just keep doing what you love to do and focus on things that are going well.

Dealing with Rejections

When you get a personal reject, remember that is a good sign that your work is getting close to being a success.

There may be a good reason for a rejection. For example, I got a few rejections from agents. In the rejections the agents said I had a good story, and my artwork was great, but the story wasn't right for them. I was happy for their rejections, because I didn't wanted to be agented by someone who wasn't absolutely thrilled by my story, style of writing and artwork.

Try to take time to do something fun to celebrate your rejections. There was one week where I got three rejections in one week. I got really down and depressed and started thinking destructive things about my artwork and career. A better thing for me to do would have been to go on a fun family outing to celebrate the fact that I am actually being brave and getting my work out there.

Rejections are just part of the process, so think of ways you can celebrate what you are doing instead of focusing on the negative.

Just remember that if you are working on your craft all the time- learning how to be a better illustrator and a better writer, taking good critiques to heart and improving, if you are persistent and you are working every day for that dream, you will be successful.

Remember it takes time. Don't forget the many famous people in history who took years to be successful. Take hope from their stories, and don't give up!

Celebrating Successes

Don't forget to celebrate all your successes along the way- big or little, whether it be a break though in your writing or drawing, signing on with a new agent, or having your manuscript accepted by a publisher. Tell a friend, buy yourself an new art book, or go out for ice cream with your family!

Remember to look back at where you were 10 years ago, and see the progress you've made. 

Welcome to Part 2 of my series on Dummy Books!

Stay tuned for part three next week, where I will talk about researching editors and agents and sending your Dummy Book out into the world.

In case you missed it, here is where you can find part 1, where I talked about making your dummy book- perfecting the story, making the story board, drawing the sketches and taking them to final paintings. Today I am going to talk about making your dummy book into a PDF, printing it and getting it ready to send to agents and publishers.

Making your dummy book into a PDF

Printing Your Dummy Book

Stay tuned for next week's post, Dummy Books Part 3- Sending Your Book to Agents and Publisher, where I will discuss what to put in your packages/emails to editors and agents. I will also talk about waiting, rejections and celebrations.

It’s The next Big Next I tell ya!
What is?

This!
This is THE NEXT BIG THING!
See, it’s like this… it’s a global blog tour that started in Australia.The idea is to bring awareness to authors and illustrators and their current work. I was tagged by the talented Ginger Nielson. At the end of this post  you see the awesome authors/illustrators that I’ve tagged…. because they’re The Big Thing!

So on to the questions.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I would love to illustrate a book about a monster or maybe  a scary, but not too scary character that is actually quite lovable.  That hasn’t happened…… yet!   So, I wrote my own.  I love to bring the misunderstood to life. With this book  we get to experience the little monster inside us all.

This book is for the 4- 8 range.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?                                         

Hmmm….. actors maybe not so much, but animated for sure!  Hand drawn please!

6) Who is publishing your book?
This book along with my other one, titled “Ruby’s New Stew” have no homes as of yet.  They’re polishing themselves up to go knocking on doors though. Did I mention I’m open for suggestions?  :)

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
It started small in one afternoon and bloomed to a full manuscript in about a week. It has been edited several times since then.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I try to never compare. We’re all so different in our writing and illustration. It’s important to find your voice. However, I do love Cinderella Skeleton written by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by David Catrow. Another one that I really enjoy is The Wizard written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Brandom Dorman.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The love of the good story that we can all related to, while knowing that everything is going to turn out okay in the end.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
His backpack has teeth!  :))

Next on the blog tour are two very talented artists:

Candace Trew Camling

The conference was great!

The speakers were informative and friendly, and did I mention funny?  I love it when a speaker infuses their presentation with genuine humor.

The critiques filled my head with new possibilities and directions.   This year, there have been so many changes in my career, with having an agent and several books in the works, that the conference held special meaning to me. Where once I faced a critique with a case of nerves, causing me to forget everything said to me, this year I knew the questions I wanted to ask. I heard what they had to say.
This was the time to ask.

So this year those nerves were but a case of the butterflies…..

Then to top it off, I got to meet fellow illustrators in the real, that I only knew from Facebook. It was so much fun to hang out with friends who “get” why you do what you do!

So tomorrow when I start back to work, I have renewed outlook, but today…. I’m just going to chill and let all those ideas bouncing around in my head settle and form complete paths.

Ruby Rue was beautiful of heart
Though her outward appearance gave town folks a start

Her dreams of a suitor had not yet come true
With just internal beauty, what’s a poor hag to do?

So she consulted her Grimoire and found a grand hex
She enchanted a stone and hung it round her neck

Then she squealed to the mirror “Why Ruby… You’re hot!”
But her stone, it was faulty, for to others… she was not!

The lesson to garner, so you won’t be alone…
Keep your hope in your heart and not in a stone.

by

Roberta Baird

Ruby Rue had magnificent stew though her secret ingredient nobody knew.

This is my portfolio display for the 2012 Houston SCBWI Conference that I attended last weekend.  I like to practice the layout before I get there, so what you see here is actually on my dining room table.

The morning was spent listening to informative speakers. The keynote speaker was the prolific and colorful,  Dan Yaccarino. His presentation along with his numerous art examples, were  a visual feast. Lots of fun and very dynamic.

On the tables were birdhouses created by Houston illustrators and other crafty conference attendees. They were auctioned that day, with the proceeds going to future illustrator activities. Each was created with a literary theme.

I chose Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White.

In the afternoon the illustrators were treated to a break out season with Charlesbridge Art Director, Susan Sherman. Her breakout season was very interesting, and featured books she has worked on with many talented artists, such as the very talented Vanessa Newton.

Later that afternoon,  I had a portfolio review with Susan Sherman and sat with her at dinner. I found her very approachable. She gave me advice, direction and honesty, which I  truly value.

But wait…. there’s more!

The conference ended the following day with an Illustrator Intensive, lead by Dan Yaccarino.  My take from this conference this year?  Be Bold!!!

Thank you to all the Houston SCBWI coordinators. It was a good conference!

A story written and illustrated by Roberta Baird.   A work in progress!

www.robertabaird.com

A few pages from a redo of my dummy book….. been a bit busy the last few weeks!

How cute are Dummy books? I think I have a fetish for them. They come under the category of sketchbooks and for me sketchbooks are like good dark chocolate – YUMMY! I don’t know what it is about them, but if I even get the slightest glimpse of one, I have to have a peek.  I get a super kick from every little creation in them. I have a stack of them and they hold memories, experiences and random

Saturday, April 9th is the Houston SCBWI Conference. Here’s the lineup of great speakers in attendance.

Ruth McNally Barshaw
Author-Illustrator of the Ellie McDoodle Series

Kate Fletcher, Editor Candlewick

Leah Hultenschmidt, Sourcebook Inc.

Laurent Linn, Art Director, Simon and Schuster

Sara Megibow, Associate Literary Agent Nelson Literary Agency, LLC

Brenda Murray, Senior Editor, Scholastic

Abby Ranger, Editor, Disney Hyperion .

Anna Webman, Agent, Curtis Brown

This week I’ll be adding  some of the new work to my portfolio that I’ve worked on this year. I’ve finished my dummy book and will be taking it with me as well.  It will be a lot of fun to meet up with friends that I usually only get to talk to online! See you there!

The dummy book continues…. Ruby tries a new recipe!

www.robertabaird.com

These are pages 14 and 15 of my book dummy.  I’m at the half way point, and trying to get it finished by the Houston SCBWI conference on April 9, 2011.

Here Ruby considers a menu change….. to say the least!!

Another double page spread from my dummy book…. let’s see,  only ten more to go!!!

www.robertabaird.com

Pages 8-9 of my Picture Book Dummy, Ruby Rue!

Ruby Rue makes makes magnificent stew, though her secret ingredient nobody knew.
Pages4-5

A light bulb moment at 5:00 in the morning… do I get up and draw it right now, or go back to sleep.Well… I didn’t get up, and I didn’t go back to sleep either!
There was no sleeping until Ruby got the new direction she was asking for.
Don’t you hate it… and love it when this happens!!!!

Ruby Rue and dummy book by Roberta Baird.

I have a little character named Ruby Rue that I put up for an IF post way back when….. anyhoo…  she comes with a poem that explains her predicament. She’s one of my favorites!
I’ve decided to dust her off and expand the poem to fit in a dummy book.
Here are  a few of the many preliminary sketches of her!

The original Ruby Rue Link: http://www.robertabaird.com/blog/index.php/2010/10/26/ruby-rue/