Jasmin Rubero is an art director with Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House. She has designed books by critically acclaimed and best-selling artists and authors, including the New York Times best-selling Ladybug Girl series by Jacky Davis and David Soman; Pura Belpré Award winner Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes by Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Raul Colón; and Junot Díaz’s debut picture book Islandborn, illustrated by Leo Espinosa.
On how Kokila has handled the pandemic:
Kokila is celebrating three years of publishing! They've been very productive during the pandemic—no slowing down for them. Here are a few of the books they've published during the pandemic:
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith is one of their greatest honors.
Rubero often finds new artists while searching out Google or other social networks. They are always on the lookout for artists who've never published in picture books. Many have been fine artists who never illustrated picture books before—some even turned down offers to do children's books--go figure! Rubero enjoys finding creators from different fields to tell stories.
She also noted that more artists are now creating digital, and agreed with Sophie Paas-Lang of Tundra Books that a danger of digital can be a sameness of look. It's getting to where an art director knows a work was created in Procreate because many illustrators are using the same tools and techniques. Whatever program is used, the final artwork needs to be delivered in Photoshop, because that's how it goes to the printer.
When looking at portfolios, Rubero will often try to find an artist whose work matches the subject matter. For instance, with a recent book, the subject was about a woodcarver. She sought out an illustrator who knew about woodcarving.
Quick questions
Q. Postcards: Still using them?
A. Yes, please send.
Q. TikTok?
A. No
Q. How do you feel about author-illustrators?
A. We welcome them! If you have a great story, send along!
Q. Do you ever ask an illustrator to submit a sample or character sketches when considering them for a manuscript?
A. Yes, and there is a separate fee for that, too.
Q. Advice for kinds of trends?
A. More of the non-human characters (say animals as kids) with cultural specificity.
Q. Does cultural editing happen?
A. Yes. We're not going to know everything, but when we know there's a problem, we need to make the change. We use expert/sensitivity readers.
Q. On working with an artist illustrating outside of their race.
A. There will be more work for you. More revision, more research.
A. There will be more work for you. More revision, more research.
Q. How much input do authors have in art and choice of illustrators?
A. Sometimes authors do have a vision about the art or illustrator, but that should be discussed at acquisitions.
A. Sometimes authors do have a vision about the art or illustrator, but that should be discussed at acquisitions.
Q. Are you working on a project right now and what are you hunting for in an illustrator?
A. I'm working on a back-to-school manuscript with a main character with a big personality. Looking for someone to create humorous moments—to add to the story with a visual language.
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