Just getting ready to go off to the Bologna Bookfair surrounded by mocked up books, sticky back plastic and double sided when this beautiful piece of artwork came in celebrating ‘CHRISTOPHER BEAR’S BIRTHDAY’. This is what it’s all about !!
Will be back in touch after Bologna…….Wish us luck !!
Illustration by Claudia Tenorio-Pearl
We would like to wish everyone out there in the ether a very happy and successful 2012.
Illustrator: Mark Mardersian
Have just been to the Frankfurt Bookfair (for those who don’t know the biggest Bookfairs in the world). You come back knackered!! and in a haze thinking what was good, what could be good and what was an utter waste of time. Appointments you think were good more often than not come to nothing and usually the most unexpected are the ones that surprise you. Obviously it’s my opinion how I think our appointments went and I’m not saying that it’s the same from every publisher/packagers point of view.
Once you have done the initial follow-ups /good to meet you blur, blah, then you get down to proper follow-ups which are usually sell sheets, pricing and dates of possible or on-going print runs. And I must not forget sending blank dummies (books) or even fully mocked up books, which usually (…fingers crossed) helps the decision process.
You can go to huge cost and time just changing a perfectly good format (book) just by the feedback you are given by potential clients / customers. Usually its the illustration on the mock-up book that they don’t like or they the make changes to book for changes sake therefore justifing them being asked. Just look at the format please!!!!
”Every day you make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthing,ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb” by Sir Winston Churchill
I completely agree….it feels just like that when your involved in getting one of your books to print. Then as you reach the top of the climb and see the completed books that you have worked on from sketch to completion and on the shelves it surely feels like you’ve climbed a very steep hill.
Let me know what you think …..have you ever self published or are you in the same position as I am working in a small company. Are you doing all aspects of publishing be it…. illustration, production, design and sales. I would like to hear fromyou.
As another Frankfurt Bookfair looms it makes me think about how scrupulous children’s publishing can be. Its the classic ’catch 22′ …..show your new book ideas and get them ripped off or don’t show them and never get that deal.
As a small book packager I find myself asking that very question whenever a bookfair is looming. There is always so much competition so you always hope that you have come up with something unique prior to the fair and hope it’s different enough to catch somebody’s attention and their attention will be worthwhile. You have to be so careful showing new and even existing book ideas. Every publisher/packager does because the competition is so high. However, in the case of the small packager there is much more to lose. A larger publisher/packager with a key client list can publish their books a lot quicker than a smaller publisher/packager and therefore has less of a risk in showing new formats.
Larger and more established companies also have their lawyers waiting to pounce on anybody that steps out of line but that also gives some of them more of an opportunity to take advantage of us smaller packager/publishers.
It is a vital necessity to show your books at a bookfair as it really is one of the biggest ‘ bookshops’ in the world and you just hope that the meetings you have are of genuine interest and people are not just there to ‘see’ your new formats or that their cameras aren’t out taking pictures when you’re not looking.
The fact is that if you don’t show the books you will never get the interest from genuine clients you require for that vital order.
Over the years we have had first hand dealings of unscrupulous actions in the world of ’Children’s Books’ so don’t get carried away thinking that ‘Children’s’ Publishing is as naive as the word ‘children’ because you’ll be very much mistaken.
This business is as cut throat as any other business.
There are people in this business who think it’s their right to just take and publish any format they see that takes their fancy. They even send out some of their employees to walk around the fairs for the very purpose of ‘finding’ ideas. Others walk on the stand and say ‘I like that idea….I’m big, you’re small and I’ll be able to print this book before you will……so don’t even think about doing it’.
It can be as simple as seeing an idea, not even changing the trim size and just changing illustrations to photographs and calling it their own.
This format was copied almost exactly.
You think of the idea, how it can work and basically do all the hard work and…….. Then it’s tantamount to stealing…..!!!!!!
I’m sure these people wouldn’t think about stealing a handbag in the street so what gives them the right to think they can steal ideas. It’s almost forgiven and sometimes even justified as a compliment to your idea.
So it’s OK …..but….. IS IT OK…..???????????????????????
If you are ever thinking of becoming an Illustrators Agent you may want to think twice.
An Agent has to be thick skinned to take on any sharp comments by the client on behalf of the illustrator to enable the illustrator to do the best job.
You have to be able to relay the criticism back to the illustrator in such a way that the illustrator will then feel confident enough to move forward and finish the job.
Then there have been times when illustrators have’nt read the brief correctly and other times when they have decided to change the brief on a whim because of ‘a feeling’ they had that it suits them better to do it differently.
BUT as in any business the ‘customer is always right’ !!!!
Even when the customer/client wastes your time by asking for illustrators to do sample after sample then eventually saying ‘they now know what they don’t want’…..finally seeing the the finished illustrations is the rewarding part.
I remember a job we had to do about dinosaurs. It was a huge job, many different illustrators working on it for months. It was quite tricky and something was always being changed and we and the illustrators were getting more and more frustrated. Finally after many weeks all the illustrations started coming in and they were amazing. It was as if the dinosaurs were about to walk of the paper they looked sooooo real.
That’s when you forget about the hassles and just think how amazing it is to have a job where you can view this kind of work on an almost daily basis……
”HOW LUCKY ARE WE”
If you think about it it’s a bit like getting your legs waxed……….. it’s painful but the end result is satisfying.
We are a small independent children’s book packager trying to make it against all the odds. We feel we have found our niche in this very competitive market as we create unique early learning childrens books.
They are unique in the way the books are created around the interest of the child’s learning development. We always have an element that the child can do whilst reading the book to maintain their interest.
As a small book packager there are always hurdles that we are made to jump through, be it the cost of making the book, clients trying to see beyond the artwork that we just happen to use to get the format across or even the time it takes for clients to get back to us….it seems a constant waiting game.
Of course the biggest hurdle of all is our ideas /formats getting stolen by other publishers usually much bigger than ourselves.
Having said all of this there is a great feeling of accomplishment and gratification when you see a book that you have created from scratch to being finally finished……and that is where the pleasure lies…
”Lets hope they give as much pleasure to those we aim them at”.
I should start by explaining what ‘All Art under an Umbrella‘ is all about……
‘All Art’ is all about Allied Artists the Illustration Agency and
‘Under an Umbrella’ is all about Umbrella Books the Children’s Book Packager.
………………………….‘An Alliance of Creativity’
Welcome to Blog.com.
All Art under an Umbrella will be a view of life as an Illustrators Agent and the early days of becoming a Children’s Book Packager.
Fun yes, Humorous yes, Stressful yes, Frustrating yes, Rewarding yes but never, never, never well paid…..back soon
