Picture Book Retreat 2014 – a Novice’s View

After excitedly anticipating this event for over six months, the day had finally come to embark on SCBWI’s Picture Book Retreat. I did not know what to expect, but having gone to lots of other fantastic SCBWI events organised by Anne-Marie Perks and Bridget Strevens, I knew that we would be in for a treat! By Shana Nieberg-Shuschitzky


 
Holland House is a fabulous location for inspiration. The original architecture is stunning, the staff are warm and welcoming, the rooms lovely and peaceful, and when you step out into their phenomenal grounds your eyes are greeted by a sea of lavender and hollyhocks and a green expanse that’s just asking to be enjoyed.
 

We had a couple of hours to unwind after our travels and I was pleased to discover that I wasn’t the only rookie there. Bridget and Anne-Marie handed out our programme of events, which provided the perfect balance between group activities, appointments with assigned Mentors and Individual work time.

There were two fabulous guest speakers present: Alexis Deacon (Beegu, Croc and Bird) and Helen Stephens (Fleabag, How to hide a Lion), who, over the course of the weekend, ran a series of fun and challenging workshops and talks to inform and stimulate us. 

Alexis beguiled us with his powers of observation, fantastic approach and understanding of storytelling, not to mention his classic and amusing impressions of a blackbird and its cheeky mimic, the robin.
 

Helen dazzled us with her stunning illustrations and their corresponding roughs, of which she brought so many to show us that at one point I had piles handed to me from both directions and was almost drowned by awesomeness!

Saturday afternoon we were incredibly lucky to have a visit from two Industry talents: Sarah Malley, the Deputy Art Director from Egmont Books, and Maria Tunney, Senior Picture Book Editor at Walker Books. They talked us through various examples of Picture Books that they loved and what it was that made them special. Then they gave us an honest and revealing account on how many developmental meetings and how much decision-making happens before books are taken on.

Interspersed throughout Saturday and Sunday were the Mentor appointments held with: Alexis Deacon, Helen Stephens, Mike Brownlow, Sarah Malley and Maria Tunney. However, all of the Mentors were so incredibly open and approachable that many of us ended up having more than one appointment.

The food at Holland House deserves a special mention, particularly their cakes (I’m biased to sugar, it gets a raw deal!). All their food was made with local produce and one mealtime included a black forest gateau with the most delicious cherries the size of plums that almost made me cry, it was so good!

Throughout the whole weekend however, the most unexpected bonus was the utter joy of being amongst such like-minded and spirited people. Being part of SCBWI inspires a feeling of camaraderie akin to belonging to a tribe. The socialising and fun-filled activities, including a most memorable midnight game of croquet, complete with iphone lighting, was like the cherry on top.
 

I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that we all came away with our heads buzzing with inspiration and our hands raring to go, and it’s all down to the amazing efforts of Anne-Marie and Bridget, so thank you both so much.

In short, this is an experience that every storyteller should have, at the very least, once in their lifetime.

Weavers of Words and Pictures Unite!

Photos used by courtesy of Helen Stephens, Sue Eves, Candy Gourlay, Anne-Marie Perks & Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky.
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Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky aka Shanarama creates stories and illustrations for both picture books and older children’s fiction, though she has a few other tricks up her sleeve. In 2012 she won the Undiscovered Voices Competition for illustrating and is a proud SCBWI member. Her website is http://shanarama.co.uk
Also, follow Shana on Twitter.

Illustration Masterclass: Ways into Publishing

This week author/illustrator Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky reports on our recent Illustration Masterclass event in London, covering the different opportunities for artists and writers in publishing today, hosted by Gillian McClure.  



On 28th June I attended yet another brilliant Illustrator Masterclass, called Ways into Publishing. This was given by the inspirational Gillian McClure and organised and run by our lovely Anne-Marie Perks.

Gillian McClure is a very experienced published writer and illustrator, who has experienced being in print in three very different ways since her initial success. First, Gillian was published through the traditional mainstream method, from 1974 until 2008. Then in 2010 Gillian, due to changes in the publishing world, she chose to start her own publishing company, Plaister Press. And most recently in 2012, Gillian’s company has become part of a group called Authorization, which gives extra help and support to self-publishers or small publishers.

Gillian devised the workshop to explore all of these publishing possibilities so that we might be better informed of our options. The event was divided into two sections.
In the first part she explained the advantages and the disadvantages of each publishing path. This was followed by Gillian showing us the sales and costing figures of producing a picture book, which drummed home the hard-core reality behind the business of making picture books.  

In the second part we were separated into small groups to explore and discuss each of our projects, work out how we could best sell our concept and where it would fit in the market. Finally three of us pitched to the whole group and Gillian gave us feedback that would help all of us think of how to present and analyse what’s the best way forward for each of our particular proposals.

To summarize the choices, looking at the traditional publishing route, the main benefit that stood out for me was the kudos of being on those Publishers' lists. And although there were plenty more benefits, the disadvantages can include: that even once you’re a published author/illustrator, you may still be waiting for a long time for responses; or that there can be a lack of commitment or support regarding marketing depending on your sales results.

With regards to the self-publishing route, the main advantages are that you are much more in control, being fully committed to your own project. You can make decisions on future print runs; choose directly which reviewers to send to, and form direct relationships with stockists and bookstores. The disadvantages include having to self-fund; having to do all of the marketing and business side on top of the creating; and having the stigma of self-publishing, which, though less prevalent today than it once was, still lingers.

And finally, there is the hybrid route, which is being part of an umbrella organisation (though this may only be able to happen if you are already published or have your own company). This seems to offer a great opportunity of having the freedoms gained by being self-published, whilst being part of an endorsed community, which offers business and marketing support. However, the disadvantages are that they will take 35% approx. of net profits and it’s still a very new business concept, so it’s not as tried and tested as the traditional route.

This was a fantastic workshop, which provided both published and unpublished writers the opportunity to gain vital knowledge from the wealth of Gillian’s experiences. It makes clear how hard it is to make money from this industry, however, I don’t think that any of us are, or should be, interested in this career solely for the money. Though we want and need to be paid fairly, the core desire of anyone creating tales and beautiful pictures is to give and take pleasure from telling our stories and to be appreciated. Gillian has shown us several possibilities of how to make this happen. 

It was generous and brave of Gillian to share this information with us and I would like to thank her on behalf of all of those present. I would thoroughly recommend attending if Gillian was to give this talk again.
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Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky aka Shanarama creates stories and illustrations for both picture books and older children’s fiction, though she has a few other tricks up her sleeve. In 2012 she won the Undiscovered Voices Competition for illustrating and is a proud SCBWI member.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 4th February

I'm sure you've been on tenterhooks since last week, wondering what happened to that enormous boil on Maureen Lynas's bum? Well, you can either find out here or you can read on for some blog posts that don't sound like an episode of Embarrassing Bodies...

Amanda Lillywhite hasn't blogged for ages, so it's great to see her joining in Hourly Comic Day with a comic strip all about her life on the 1st February 2014. As a special bonus, Sarah McIntyre also contributes her own graphical slice of life.

Mark Jones is someone else I haven't featured for a while, but his latest post about Resketch Books caught my eye. These are a terrific idea, sketchbooks made from paper that has been recycled simply by turning it over! So you get all kinds of random text and architectural diagrams on different grades of paper, interspersed with blank spaces for you to dream up your own ideas. As someone who suffers greatly from the tyranny of the blank page, I strongly approve.

Space on the Bookshelf have found space for Karen Ball this week, who undergoes a rigorous Q&A from Nicki Thornton all about the Book Bound Retreat that Karen and others are running in May. If you're really serious about getting your book published and you think you've got the writing craft part sorted out, this initiative could be for you.

We hear a lot about the benefits of SCBWI writing critique groups, but what about drawing critique? Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky posts at Big Little Tales with a fascinating example of before and after picture book drawings that have been improved by group feedback. And she even receives further useful feedback in the comments for her blog post. That's SCBWI in action, people!

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead and currently writes short fiction for Stew Magazine, an event that was recently celebrated on this site.

Featured Illustrator: Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky

Debut Illustrator Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky created one of the winning entries to the 2012 SCBWI Undiscovered Voices compilation. She's our first showcased artist of 2014, check her gallery of images on the Featured Illustrator Gallery page.







To start with, thank you for inviting me to be this month's featured illustrator. It's a real honour and this is a fabulous magazine!

The Banner

This is an image from a personal project, Birdgirl. This was one of my first explorations using a lot of traditional techniques, including printmaking and watercolour, and then combining them in Photoshop.

Personal Path

I had travelled down a couple of different creative paths before realising my dreams on this journey, but I think that I've always been a storyteller and a dreamer, I just started out telling stories through steel and glass first. After a degree in Architecture, I moved onto a Post Grad in Film and TV set design. I fitted much better in this world, though it still wasn't quite ticking the right creative box.
Then my Aunt approached me to write a book with her and to illustrate it, and that's the moment that the lightening bolt struck and it all slotted into place - I had at long last discovered my niche!

Character study from Bella visits the Dream Doctor

I have been writing and illustrating stories ever since. It has been a slow but necessary trajectory as I have been learning this discipline as I go, fuelled by sheer tenacity and an utter compulsion to tell my tales. I have been incredibly focused and driven in finding and developing my voice and style and the highlight so far was when I won a place in the Undiscovered Voices 2012 Competition. I had just started hitting my stride in both my picture book style and children's fiction style, so it was a wonderful moment to receive recognition for my work.

Isolya Undiscovered Voices 2012 Competition winning entry

Having two children along the way may have partially hindered my progress, but they have also provided me an incredible wealth of inspiration and insight, a lot of joy and a very good reality check!
 

Double page spread from The Slipper Thieves

I joined SCBWI in 2006/7 and I would say that it has been a fundamental help in my development as a writer and illustrator of children's books.

I am at present developing a series of books about my little penguin chicks, featured in the banner above. I love where I'm at now in terms of creating and spending time with my characters and the flow of my ideas. I am really enjoying creating the artwork, whereas I was much more nervous and fearful of even putting down a stroke when I first started.
I have a couple of publishers and agents who are showing great interest in my work, and since I started this journey I have had the great fortune to have received many pearls of wisdom over the years, helpful personal critique and increasing attention from several key respected people who work within the children's book industry.

Process

"I love to use a blend of traditional techniques, with a bit of computer magic".

 I do a lot of work inside my head first of all. It bubbles away, often when I'm sleeping or doing other things. Then I suddenly get that eureka moment, which is swiftly followed by a frantic scribbling down and recording of ideas. I love the immediacy of writing and have found that both with writing and illustrating I do my best early stages of work on loose paper, so I don't feel precious about anything.

I have a roll of detail paper that I use for rough artwork as you can work on different sizes and aren't just constrained by A4 and A3. When I get to finished artwork stage, I love to use a blend of traditional techniques, with a bit of computer magic.

I tend to create components of a piece using pencil, brush and ink, watercolour and/or acrylic. I have illustrated this below through a collection of components I created for my colour spread that I produced for an SCBWI project, run with Little Tiger Press.

 

Process Breakdown for Frog Sees the World image below

I then put these pieces together in Photoshop, where you can tweak away and enhance areas to your hearts content, rarely having to redo things by hand. Here is the finished piece below:
 

Colour spread from Frog Sees the World LTP SCBWI project

Tips

Be determined.

Listen to all the advice that you are fortunate enough to get from people in the Industry, they know what they are talking about.

Try to maintain your self-belief. Sometimes it can be hard, but if you persevere through a wrong turn and learn from it then you can come back so much stronger.

If you haven't already done so, then join SCBWI, it's amazing! Take advantage of all the events, conferences and workshops at your fingertips. It's so important to practise and refine your trade and SCBWI gives you amazing opportunities to practice, learn, develop and create great material for your portfolio. You've also got fabulous occasions to meet other people and to network.

I love Mike Brownlow's tip of "Marrying Well" - it's a hoot and would certainly keep you in brushes! However, I would say that we as artists are kind of meant to suffer for our art and it's that roller coaster of a ride that can fire you up and drive your ambitions.

Lastly I would say, embrace the failures! I have learnt so much from having to pick myself up and dust myself down, now I'm loving my work so much more than when I started out, because of these experiences.

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Click here for Shana's Featured Illustrator Gallery Page.
Or visit Shana's Association of Illustrators Portfolio 
Shana can be contacted at: shanarama@btinternet.com
Twitter: @Mumma_Penguin
           

Picture Book Master Class with Egmont

Heather Kilgour

This year I helped organise a picture book illustration master class with Sarah Malley, Art Director from Egmont Children’s Books, writes Heather Kilgour . 

The workshop had two phases. First, Egmont provided the fifteen illustrators who had enrolled with a picture book text that they had commissioned. The Illustrators produced black and white roughs of character studies and two full page spreads from the story, which were submitted to Sarah for feedback.


Then the illustrators used this feedback to produce final colour illustrations which they brought along to the workshop. 

Sarah started the workshop with a summary of what Egmont do, along with examples of what she is looking for in artwork. We then gathered round as Sarah reviewed and critiqued everyone’s colour work. To complete the day she showed as the work of the illustrator that Egmont commissioned for the book.

I always jump at the chance to get feedback

Illustration can be a lonely business so I always jump at the chance to get feedback about my work especially if it’s from an industry professional.

Unfortunately other deadlines prevented me from participating, but I have interviewed Anna Violet, Julia Woolf and Shana Neiberg-Suschitzky, about their experience.  Below are their paraphrased answers.

Why did you go?

A:   It was great to get feedback half way through a project, and have a chance to work on a new text. It also gave us the opportunity to meet Sarah Malley and get feedback in person.

J:    It sounded interesting and SCBWI events are always good value for money. You always gain something even if you think you won’t.

S:   I went to build my folio and get experience. In effects it’s like a commissioning opportunity where you work with a brief and a publisher and get feedback.

What were the positives? 

A:   It was great to see what everyone else had done as they all had completely different takes on the story, and then to see the one that Egmont commissioned.

J:    Sarah was very positive. 

S:    It was great to feel like part of a community, to see what fourteen other illustrators came up with from the same idea, and to get an idea of what publishers are really looking for at the moment. Sarah was so generous about giving advice about the industry and how we can improve ourselves to get through the door.

What was helpful for you?

A:   Feedback on character design.

J:    It wasn’t a pitch so I could experiment and do what I wanted. It was a complicated story with lots of characters and no art direction to go by so it was up to you. It was a real challenge; you had to just go for it.

S:   The advice she gave us and the feedback on our work.

Has it inspired any long term changes in your work?

A:   I’m going to try to make my characters funnier.

What would you say to recommend it to others?

A:   Sarah brought promotional work so we could see that she likes, and what works for Egmont.  It’s a great opportunity to meet an art director and get direct feedback. You learn a lot from seeing other peoples work and hearing Sarah’s response to it.

J:    It made me produce some work I’m really pleased with. You can’t lose really, you get to put work in front of a publisher and get a reaction, and even if it’s not a positive one you can learn from it.

S:   It was a vital wonderful opportunity.  No other society generates these types of workshops and events that can really benefit you. SCBWI illustration events are special and unique and it’s all down to Anne-Marie. 

Thanks Anne-Marie and Sarah Malley! And to all the participants who made it a fabulous day. 

Left to right. Susmita Roy, Sarah Malley, Rachel Quarry, Amanda Pollard, Anna Violet, Sarah Underwood, Heather Kilgour, Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky, Katie Weymouth, Clare Tovey, Jasmine Mercer, Elizabeth Norris, Mary Blackshaw, Elisabeth Newson, Anne-Marie Perks, Julia Woolf 

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Heather has been an artist, a blacksmith, a film sculptor and now a picture book maker. She has embarked on an MA in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin College in Cambridge – which might be the start of a collection, as she already has an MA in Fine Arts.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 13th August

Ah, those long lazy days of summer. I've not had many of them myself (too many books and blogs to write), but it seems like they are available if you like that kind of thing! Join me to find out how our SCBWI bloggers are spending their downtime.


Over at Notes from the Slushpile, Addy Farmer gets us in a relaxed mood with a lovely, rambling post. Addy starts looking at books based on how much healthy outdoor living they contain, but by the end of the post you're more likely to be lying beneath a shady tree with her suggested reading list.

Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky has just been to France, but instead of some boring Instagram photos, she gives us a look at her sketchbook and a comic she created where her family are all penguins (don't worry, it makes more sense in context). Generally, it sounds like a serious amount of comic reading went on, and Shana has some recommendations for French graphic novels you might not have heard of.

Sara Grant has found an even nicer place to visit, somewhere she describes as her "writing nirvana". But this isn't a physical location, rather a perfect state of mind that comes from having a new novel with "a solid outline, an interesting setting to explore, a cast of engaging characters, and time each day to write". Sounds like bliss!

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.
In his latest blog post, Nick Would Like to Meet a new agent or publisher, although he finds that the process is much like an endless series of blind dates!

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 7th May

Tuesday seems to have come around faster than ever this week, thanks to the bank holiday weekend. So pull up a chair, a cup of tea and a biscuit and let's have a look at this week's Blog Break selections.


Fresh from winning the SCBWI Crystal Kite for his debut novel 15 Days Without a Head, Dave Cousins gets a whole week(!) devoted to his new novel Waiting for Gonzo at Space on the Bookshelf. It kicks off with an interview with Dave, who talks about his favourite books and admits to loving the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels (thus winning extra geek points from me). I'm sure that some authors would react to all this attention by growing an enormous ego, but Dave is so self-effacing that he probably wonders what all the fuss is about!

Everyone has their moments of doubt. Let Jane Heinrichs tell you about how "I Almost Gave Up" and why she's glad she persisted. Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky is talking about Undiscovered Voices (as indeed is Words & Pictures) but looking at it specifically from an illustrator's perspective. And I have to give a shout out to Amanda Lillywhite, because I know she gets very excited when she features in the Blog Break! More pertinently, she also wrote a nice post about Free Comic Book Day, which happened last Saturday.

I discovered a wonderful blog this week and then hesitated about whether to include it. On the surface of it, there are lots of reasons why I shouldn't feature Jo Wyton's Let's Get Serious in this Blog Break - she's one of my close friends, she got a mention last week and she blogs for Space on the Bookshelf who got a mention above! But Jo's blog about teen fiction is (much like her) incredibly passionate and enormously likeable. So I'm including it anyway.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to talk about two SCBWI members called Margaret, who were both remembered in different ways this week. Juliet Clare Bell wrote a beautifully heartfelt post in tribute to her mother Margaret Storr, who died in March this year. And at Sara Grant’s launch for her new YA novel Half Lives, she asked us all to raise a toast to Margaret Carey, to whom the book is dedicated. Both Margarets have a legacy that lives on in their families, their friends and the writing they left behind.

Nick

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round digital guru. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.
Read Nick's latest blog post, a story of grand ambition, serious pressure and major disappointment: How Not to Write the World's Greatest Book.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 16th April

It's an all-illustrator special on the Ten-Minute Blog Break today, which will hopefully also prevent it from becoming a twenty-five-minute blog break like last week!




First up is Paul Morton, who's been cropping up all over the place on Words & Pictures this last week. Although Paul's main Hot Frog Blog mixes product design work with his children's illustration, Paul also has a couple of nifty blogs that he's designed purely to support his children's apps. Wiz-bods with Beeble and Blink is a primary-coloured riot, with colouring pictures, spot the difference and other games, designed to engage children and get them to make that all-important download. The Crazy Monster Mixer site is even more bonkers, and includes some neat "spoilers" for hidden app features that also serve as an illustration of what the app is all about. It's an interesting approach to user engagement, and I'm looking forward to wearing my Grumblesnout mask to a SCBWI event in the near future.

Big Little Tales is a group blog set up by SCBWI illustrators (deep breath) Katriona Chapman, Heather Kilgour, Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky, Anne-Marie Perks, Trish Phillips and Loretta Schauer. It's one of our first SCBWI-BI Tumblr blogs, but it features very few animated GIFs and quite a lot of combined wisdom. I was rather taken by Loretta's recent post on Striking a Balance, which very honestly explores the tensions and benefits of balancing a rewarding day job with an illustration career.

Finally, Jane Heinrichs is inviting us to look at her paint palette! It's all in a good cause, as she waxes lyrical about how she loves London in the rain. Speaking as someone who finds the combination rather less than magical, I can only marvel at her ability to see the positive and poetic side of precipitation.

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round digital guru. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.
Read Nick's latest blog post The Book That's Just Like Mine, about something unpleasant he found in the local book shop.