More Takeaways from #LA17SCBWI

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. ~ e. e. cummings

An experience that truly changes us is one that eventually becomes part of our DNA.  We begin to believe what it is that we learned and start applying it to our life. More thought creates a greater purpose. There is purpose in what we create. Creating - writing and drawing - is where soul meets heart and from that we get an infinite sky of possibilities.

Such is the #LA17SCBWI experience for me. Weeks later and I am still being transformed by the people I met, the skills I learned, and the friendships made.

More takeaways to share with you!

Lucy Ruth Cummins - Art Director at Simon and Schuster and an author/illustrator of A Hungry Lion with more books on the horizon.

Notes from her workshop, Stealing Best Practices of Working Illustrators (that I steal, too)

• Scheduling and communication – add 5 weeks to the best due date you come up with
• When you miss a deadline or are late, tell the art director. Don’t hide
• Etiquette for Art Directors: Use Dropbox.  Don’t expect incremental approvals. Don’t contact over social media
• Maximize page turns – cliff hanger to surprise; change distance of illustration scene
• Echo rhythm of surprise
• Plotting secondary line (surprise) – hide things to find throughout book.
• Make a physical dummy

• Never submit anything you’ve never read aloud
• Offer to make 2 spreads before going to finish on the final – even if you’re not asked
• Don’t hold on to a mistake just because it took a long time to make
• Don’t get too attached to the artwork.  It will probably change
• Always document your materials, such as digital brushes and their settings
• Limit your hues and colors
• Use materials legibly
• Your materials and technique should help tell your story

• All illustrators must now be writers!

• Always have a story idea – Editors are happy to pull the words out
• Read picture books aloud
• Keep a list of ideas in your phone notes at all times
• Check the PW Rights Report that comes out on Thursdays

It was this workshop that gave me the courage to share my book dummy with little Miss KK on the plane trip home.  Read picture books aloud.  Read your own picture book aloud. Let a child read your "heart, soul and infinite sky" aloud.  I think you'll be surprised at what you hear.  I know I was.  And I will let that moment continue to change me.

Thanks for taking the time to read and, in the process, I hope you found a bit of inspiration to take with you throughout your week!