Publishing Interview
What was your job/ role?
Worked in sales and marketing for Harper Collins
Different sections mainly kept to themselves:
Editoral
Publishing
Marketing
-Apart from children's publishing which had all areas in their section-
Although it was a creative space, it also had to battle between creativity and finance
There was a whole production side which focused on "bins" (the big posters on undergrounds and buses) that were created by an external illustrator and then adapted in house
Why did you leave?
Started to become very electronic.... ebooks came in and online book advertising.
Had children and moved out of London and couldn't afford/have time to commute.
Why did you go into art (Children's Book Illustration)?
Wanted to do a long time ago but there wasn't a clear path
Back burner
Back into publishing, using the experience but from a different angle
Story Telling through cards and children's books
How does the book publishing industry use illustrators?
Publishers aren't really sure what they are looking for...
Best advice is to make sure YOU like YOUR voice within your work because that will become the work which they pick up
Different publishers like different things... need to check if they will take work not through an agent.
Portfolio Society is a website which will help you find the right publishers to target.
Penguin bought up lots of smaller publishers (like Random House) but there are more independent book shops opening up now.
Top Tips
Need to be very hard-nosed... its a very fast moving industry
Drawing from real life is very important (alternative to working from photographs)
Its hard work trying to sell cards in little shops... you have to sort everything out yourself and not many people might come into the little shops and you might not get much money from it for the time you have spent.. ALTERNATIVE = sell your designs to a publishers
Greeting Card Association gives links to websites where you can target people who might be interested in YOUR work.
Lots of people started off working in magazines and newspapers before going into publishing.
Phone people up to stand out when trying to interview them... not just being another email in their inbox?
There are lots of card and book fairs so there must be something like this for the music industry.
There is a Children (and adult) Writers and Illustrators Handbook which has names and contact details of lots of publishers and agents which is a crucial way to get your work to the publishing industry.
Margaret Atwood Zine
There is an education side of publishing.
Would be good to present my publication to a book club reading Margaret Atwood and get some feedback if I was going to approach a publishers (stand out)
Could also turn a portfolio of my artwork into a Zine which I could give to publishers... something different, that isn't a loose piece of paper... or postcards... or laminated business cards STAND OUT
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