More From Scott Piehl Including Q&A

Scott recommends getting illustration work in magazine like Cricket. He's worked at publishers who use magazines for referencing artists.

Q: Do you look at email samples?

A: It's tricky because he gets so much of email and he needs time to look at and organize it.

(Note: Disney doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts. It's their policy not to open them.)

Here's his process for reviewing a manuscript: He doesn't want to see any samples or noted when he first gets a manuscript. He just wants a clean copy. He reads it, paginates it, and then begins his illustrator search, considering the characters and the setting and consistencies. He looks for the illustrator he feels would best represent that text.

Q: How should writer-illustrators submit?

A: He'd prefer to see a clean manuscript with a few samples to go with it. Reading a dummy can be difficult and interferes with his process.

Q: How would you submit an alphabet or counting book, that doesn't have a narrative?

A: He'd recommend working up just a few samples for a project like that.

Q: Is there room for traditional art at Hyperion?

A: Certainly.

Q: What kind of control does a writer have over picture book art?

A: Some authors see everything and can chime in; some do not. At a minimum, he shows a few sample pieces to authors at different stages of the production process.