I found an interview with Amy Schimler where she talks about how she became a children's book illustrator.
What do you think has been your biggest success?
In terms of children’s books, I would list two successes. I ilustrated a book for Ladybird Books in the UK titled, “Why is the Sky Blue?” It was chosen by a nonprofit organization, Booktime.org, for their bookbag program which distributes books to first year school children in the UK. My book was paired with an Eric Carle title and distributed to over 700,000 kids in the UK.
The second success for me is the book I am working on now. It is for Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers and is early on in its development, so I can’t share too much. I can say that it is my dream job and I feel like the past 14 plus years of illustrating has led me to this. I have a lot of freedom and creative license on this project and am enjoying every second of the process.
Has any of your work appeared in magazines?
Yes, mostly children’s publications – Cricket, Babybug, Highlights, Family Fun to name a few.
Do you follow any type of routine to attain your career goals?
My routine has changed over the years. There are many things I know I ought to be better at, like a newsletter, sending mailers, etc. But for me the most important routine is to make sure I am creating new art and to keep pushing myself to elevate what I do. Sometimes it is difficult to find the time, especially when working on deadlines. I find the best way to do this is to take some time out to create art for myself vs. an assignment. I usually wind up selling or using the artwork at a later time and it always moves my artwork, career, and client list forward.
Any words of wisdom you can share with the illustrators who are trying to develop their career?
I came up with the three p’s –be positive, persistent, and productive. It is important to put the hours in, keep plugging away despite rejections and keep improving your work. It is so easy to get discouraged. If you believe in yourself and your ability and/or your potential, just keep working at it. I guess I could add a fourth p, perspiration.
The interview doesn't cover too much of the specific processes involved in creating children's books but does provide some insight into how Amy Schimler has managed to become a children's book illustrator and how she finds jobs. From the interview it is clear that it is important to get your work seen and to continue to create work that pushes your practice forward. She talks about not aiming to be book illustrator but getting a job creating illustrations for children's clothing and how her practice became suited Children's book illustration. She mentions children's magazine publications and other organisations that have featured her work and helped provide a platform to promote her work. She sells prints of her work on Etsy, I have seem a lot of illustrators doing this. It seems like a good way to remove some of the admin of running your own website, which is especially useful if your time is mostly taken up with other areas of your practice. She does say in the interview that as a rule she does not illustrate for self published writers, this highlights the importance on publishers bringing illustrators and authors together and providing an organised foundation for the publishing process, removing stress and uncertainty from the process for illustrators.
In terms of children’s books, I would list two successes. I ilustrated a book for Ladybird Books in the UK titled, “Why is the Sky Blue?” It was chosen by a nonprofit organization, Booktime.org, for their bookbag program which distributes books to first year school children in the UK. My book was paired with an Eric Carle title and distributed to over 700,000 kids in the UK.
The second success for me is the book I am working on now. It is for Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers and is early on in its development, so I can’t share too much. I can say that it is my dream job and I feel like the past 14 plus years of illustrating has led me to this. I have a lot of freedom and creative license on this project and am enjoying every second of the process.
Has any of your work appeared in magazines?
Yes, mostly children’s publications – Cricket, Babybug, Highlights, Family Fun to name a few.
Do you follow any type of routine to attain your career goals?
My routine has changed over the years. There are many things I know I ought to be better at, like a newsletter, sending mailers, etc. But for me the most important routine is to make sure I am creating new art and to keep pushing myself to elevate what I do. Sometimes it is difficult to find the time, especially when working on deadlines. I find the best way to do this is to take some time out to create art for myself vs. an assignment. I usually wind up selling or using the artwork at a later time and it always moves my artwork, career, and client list forward.
Any words of wisdom you can share with the illustrators who are trying to develop their career?
I came up with the three p’s –be positive, persistent, and productive. It is important to put the hours in, keep plugging away despite rejections and keep improving your work. It is so easy to get discouraged. If you believe in yourself and your ability and/or your potential, just keep working at it. I guess I could add a fourth p, perspiration.
The interview doesn't cover too much of the specific processes involved in creating children's books but does provide some insight into how Amy Schimler has managed to become a children's book illustrator and how she finds jobs. From the interview it is clear that it is important to get your work seen and to continue to create work that pushes your practice forward. She talks about not aiming to be book illustrator but getting a job creating illustrations for children's clothing and how her practice became suited Children's book illustration. She mentions children's magazine publications and other organisations that have featured her work and helped provide a platform to promote her work. She sells prints of her work on Etsy, I have seem a lot of illustrators doing this. It seems like a good way to remove some of the admin of running your own website, which is especially useful if your time is mostly taken up with other areas of your practice. She does say in the interview that as a rule she does not illustrate for self published writers, this highlights the importance on publishers bringing illustrators and authors together and providing an organised foundation for the publishing process, removing stress and uncertainty from the process for illustrators.
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