When I first started writing, I thought I wanted to illustrate as well. Then at my first SCBWI conference, I saw how hard it was, how high the bar was, and how much work it was, and I quickly scrapped that idea! But I kept on playing in the background while I wrote… got a break, and now I am properly illustrating many of my books! In this post, I’m going to share how I shifted from author only to author-illustrator, what tools and classes helped me, and what my process looks like now.
My Timeline
2018: I sold my first picture book (Invent-a-Pet) and my first chapter book series (Layla and the Bots)
2019: I sold my board book series (I Can Code)
2020: I sold my author-illustrator debut! My early reader series (Friendbots)
Fast foward…
Today: I’m now under contract for my 9th self-illustrated book!
So how did I make the leap? I’ll share my path, including peeks at my submission dummies for my illustration debut Friendbots and my novelty book AlphaBot.
(This post is part of our paid series, which posts every other week between free posts. Paid subscribers have access to all of our past paid posts including negotiating contracts, a chat with agent Elizabeth Bennett about submission strategy, and writing lyrically. You can see what else we have coming up here!)
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