Art Directors Panel: Marikka Tamura

Marikka's book, Penguins Don't Wear Sweaters

Marikka Tamura is an Art Director at Penguin Books and author of Penguin's Don't Wear Sweaters. She started working in publishing in 1999 as a designer.

The last two years have impacted the landscape of children's book illustrations. These changes have been reflected in how illustrators show up. The rise of awareness and inclusion has shaken up the illustration community.

 

Despite the challenges of the last two years, Marikka's team has produced multiple titles, most notably, Jacqueline Woodson's, The Year We Learned to Fly. It was honored with the 2020 Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association, among a host of other awards.

 

  

Here are questions answered from the panel Q&A.

Where you do you find talent? 

Marikka finds illustrators through https://www.womenwhodraw.com/ and Instagram to find new talent. 

What changes have you seen in illustration? 

There's been a shift toward digital illustration. Original artwork has become more difficult to manage since people are no longer in the office. 

Has communication changed with artists? 

Marikka has seen one artist in-person, but most artists communicate via video. 

Do you keep illustration samples?

Marikka keeps samples in folders from various artists. If you're planning to email art directors, showcase your best work upfront! Keep trying and put your best foot forward.

Marikka Tamura is an art director and designer at Penguin Books for Young Readers where she works for two imprints, G. P. Putnam’s Sons and Nancy Paulsen Books. Over her more than twenty-five years in the industry, she’s lucky to have worked with many of the pillars of children’s literature and is equally excited to work with up-and-coming artists. She is a published author. She lives and works in New York City.

Missed this workshop? Check out the video archives here. https://www.scbwi.org/event-summer-conference-2022/video-archive/

Enjoyed this recap? RT the post on Twitter so others can check it out.

 

Marketing Your Book on a Budget: Kelly Starling Lyons

I don't know about you but every time I leave the house, it's like $150+tax. Kelly Starling Lyons drops gems on marketing your book on a budget. 

Kelly Starling Lyons is helping us give our books a better chance. Kelly Starling Lyons is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, teaching artist, and award-winning children’s book author. She has written more than 20 books for young readers that span from easy readers to picture books and chapter books. She reminds authors to keep up the marketing effort, even after the book launches. 

Jada Jones - Book Marketing Plan

Lyons shares the importance of being a partner in helping our books succeed. The biggest investment we can make isn't financial, it's investing in yourself and others. Sweat equity will help put your book on people's radars.

 

 

In 2020, Lyons set out to launch Tiara's Hat Parade, but changed directions due Covid-19. Lyons pivoted to an online "parade" for the book launch of Tiara's Hat Parade. The launch included a Live Illustration Demonstration, a virtual author reading, and an author & illustrator Q&A.

 

Virtual Hat Parade

Her efforts led to Tiara's Hat Parade being selected as the March Book of the Month for Read Across America and was chosen as Read Across America Day! Lyons has a way of extracting the relevant content of her book and creating an experience. 

For example, Lyons dreamed of her book being on stage. Next week, Book-It-Repertory Theater is hosting auditions to transform Tiara's Hat Parade into a stage production through Washington State. 

Always have a call to action when promoting online. Posting a picture? Include a pre-order link. Sharing about an event? Include a link to your website.

 

Example of a virtual book launch by Traci Sorell

Here are six ways to market your book on a budget!

1. Plan a Strong Debut
1. Collaborate with a community partner and develop a win-win relationship
2. Collaborate with Author Friends - Lyons joined forces with a few author friends called the Sewing Circle
1. This circle created joint blog posts, connected with indie bookstores, and offered a package for a bundle of books #teamworkmakesthedreamwork
   
3. Tour the Web
1. Research blogs and bookstores to connect with
2. Plan Zoom Visits to schools, libraries, and organizations
   
4. Offer a Giveaway!
1. Host a giveaway on Instagram/Twitter
5. Build a Web Presence - what's the story behind who you are and your story
1. Amazon, Goodreads, SCBWI, Website, FaceBook
6. Present at conferences

Pro-Tip: Recommend a cold call to the youth media specialist at the library and follow up with an email.

Lyon's grandmother often shared 'Nothing beats a can't but a try.' Make your pitch personal and specific. Lyons has proven time and time again, you CAN market your book, especially on a budget. 

Missed this workshop? Check out the video archives here. https://www.scbwi.org/event-summer-conference-2022/video-archive/

Enjoyed this recap? RT the post on Twitter so others can check it out.

Kelly Starling Lyons is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, teaching artist, and award-winning children’s book author. She has written more than 20 books for young readers that span from easy readers to picture books and chapter books. Among her acclaimed titles are My Hands Tell a Story, Caldecott Honor winner, Going Down Home with Daddy, Christopher Award winner, Tiara’s Hat Parade, and Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations. She’s also the author of popular series including Jada Jones, Miles Lewis and Ty’s Travels which won a Geisel Honor Award for Zip, Zoom. Kelly lives in Raleigh and was named to Good Morning America’s 2021 Inspiration List: Who’s Making Black History. Learn more about her at www.kellystarlinglyons.com. 

Javaka Steptoe: Anatomy of a Caldecott-Winning Book

Javaka Steptoe, once a model and inspiration for his father, the late award-winning author/illustrator John Steptoe, New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Javaka Steptoe has established himself as an outstanding talent in his field. His beautiful biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Radiant Child, was this year’s Caldecott recipient, and winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustration Award. Other notable titles include What’s Special About Me, Mama? and Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow. Javaka uses everyday objects to deliver reflective and thoughtful collage creations filled with vitality, playful energy, and strength. www.javaka.com

Javaka began his breakout session with the disclaimer that anyone setting out to write a book to win a Caldecott is setting themselves up for agony. There are lots of rules and committees, and that's really not what picture book-making is about, is it? (My words, not his!) 

He believes it's far more important to have a child-appropriate story you feel intellectually connected to; to commit to making a book that feels right to you in every moment; to have a publishing team that respects the intent of your book, so they can enhance it; and to immerse yourself so deeply in the research that you gain a fluency with your subject that can be invoked in creative subtleties.

I loved how he uses life experiences as research, as a method actor might:
For Radiant Child, exploring symbolism in Basquiat's work at the Brooklyn Art Museum is how the seed of his book concept was sown. Seeing a documentary expanded that. Listening to music of the period, scanning the textures of brownstone buildings, working at a large scale like Basquiat, experimenting with art materials, and generally using life experiences as his form of research allowed him to have fun and find the connections to Basquiat that helped him distill a lot of information about the culture and experiences of Basquiat into a form young readers can connect to.

"The job of the writer is to keep you on the path. The job of the illustrator is to show you how beautiful the path is." 

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Using an Outline as a Safety Net: Michael Stearns, Upstart Crow Literary

Michael Stearns is the founder of Upstart Crow Literary, an agency specializing in children's literature. A former editorial director for HarperCollins, he has edited hundreds of best-selling, award-winning novels and picture books for children, including A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly; Gone and Hunger by Michael Grant; Whales on Stilts! By M.T. Anderson; the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane; the Chet Gecko mysteries by Bruce Hale; and a whole slew of books by Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen, and others. He also runs a book packager called the Inkhouse, where he co-created the #1 best-selling series Fallen, the international best-selling Bliss bakery trilogy, as well as a dozen other titles. Under the pen name Carter Roy, he is the author of the award-winning middle grade fantasy adventure trilogy the Blood Guard. www.upstartcrowliterary.com

Are you a "pantser" or an Outliner?

Michael Stearns says authors tend to identify as one or the other -- writing by the seat-of-his-pants, or the kind of writer who doesn't write a word until the entire story is mapped and structured. He equates creating an outline to building a house, but not decorating it or filling it with your stuff. He argues that an outline can allow you to solve problems before you begin. Paraphrasing his words: "You *will* wrestle with story problems, and it's easier to look at those when you have it structured over a couple pages rather than at the scale of a full book."

I think this logic applies to both picture books and longer form writing: planning what you're trying to accomplish for the reader can make it easier to decide *how* you're going to accomplish it.

Michael suggested -- after you have your characters, premise, and snippets of dialogue and personality -- try breaking your book into chapters, and plot the arc, dilemmas, and character growth of your book starting at the end with your tidy conclusion.

He suggested drafting on a whiteboard so chapters and moments can be moved around to be cohesive and fluid, and demonstrated this by taping a possible way to play with your outline on the wall!

I took a lot of notes. (see below)

I was thinking, even if you're not an author, this kind of panel -- although not specifically annotated for illustrators -- could also be used to map an evolution of the mood of your images as the book progresses.

So, are you a pantser? I might not be in the future!

Michael's a "former editor and editorial director, agency head, book packager, writer of novels for middle grade and Other Things" -- His approach seems useful across industry to look at our storytelling from a different angle.