So the FutureBook conference is behind us, but opinions are still pinging around the social networks like bouncy balls. It's good to know that people are talking.
I typed up all of my notes and quotes earlier today, ready to share with the Bloomsbury team, and took some time to reflect on the things that had made an impact on me. I found some talks more compelling than others. I mean, that's inevitable, right? Each year FutureBook is filled with people from across the publishing industry, all sitting in the audience for a slightly different reason. I'm always curious about which parts of which talks resonated with which people.
These are the quotes that resonated with me:
"If you don't cannibalise you own business, someone else will do"
Carla Buzasi
"Publishing an app is not a one-way transition, it's an opportunity to engage with your consumers in an ongoing, long-term transaction"
Sam Aspinall
"When it comes to staff, curiosity is the single most important thing. You must have a deep desire to learn about how things work to be successful in publishing right now"
Marissa Hussey
New voices = new ideas
New ideas = new audiences
New audiences = more books sold
= a better world!
Crystal Mahey-Morgan
"If you are a publishing company and you are not on Tumblr, what are you doing?"
Sanne Vliengenthart
"[Tumblr] audience is 51% female and 49% male"
Rachel Fershleiser
"Booktubers have 27m total views on YouTube and 426k subscribers"
David Ripert
"You can't buy your way into a community and, even if you could, would you want to?"
Rosianna Halse Rojas
PS Huge CONGRATULATIONS to Andrew Brodie, Aimer Media and the Bloomsbury Children's Educational team for winning Best Children’s Non-Fiction Digital Book for Let's Do Mental Maths 6-7 at the FutureBook Innovation Awards. Woop!
Last weekend I was really pleased to fly out to Valladolid, Spain to spend a couple of days at IlustraTour, the illustration festival. If you've not heard of IlustraTour before, then you are exactly who I wanted to write this post for, because while the festival has already been running since 2008 and is growing in size each year, it feels to me like it's also on the cusp of becoming something even more significant and exciting. People say the most effective way to raise awareness is by word of mouth. So here goes . . .
I was in Valladolid for two reasons. The first was that Mark Mills, founder of illustration agency Plum Pudding, invited me along to help him judge the third Plum Pudding Illustration Prize. This was one of the highlights for me, and allowed me to get a first look at all of the artwork, which was a real treat. With The Wizard of Oz as the theme, and each entry being vastly different from the next, it was a joy to go through all of the submissions. When Mark and I sat in a crowded lecture theatre on the morning of Saturday 5th, I was struck by how much enthusiasm was in the room with us. That was my first taste of the illustrators' untapped potential, bubbling away under the surface.
The results of the competition were:
First place Clara Gosálves Silva
Second place Brenda Figueroa
Third place Esther Burgueño
Later on that day, I saw the first half of my IlustraTour Network appointments. The Network event is a brilliant way for illustrators to showcase their work to people within the publishing industry. There was a mix of professionals giving advice and comments - those working both in Spain and internationally, encompassing books, magazines, and digital - almost 60 of us in all, which I found really impressive. Each of my meetings felt positive and exciting. It was a great chance for me to meet illustrators I wouldn't normally have the chance to meet, and they were all very talented and passionate. Here's a little taster of what I saw on both Saturday and Sunday:
Whenever I look at artwork, I find that my mind flits between my personal taste, which area of publishing I can imagine a particular artwork style working for and which publisher I can imagine wanting to commision that style. I think that's something illustrators don't often realise at first - that each publisher has its own identity which leads them to commission particular types of books. That's why it's so, so important for illustrators to research publishers and look closely at the books they're publishing right now, to see if they show signs of responding positively to a certain style of illustration or type of book. (Of course, I would also be the first to tell someone to take a chance and just send your artwork to a publisher even if you're not sure. Everyone loves a wildcard!)
As well as the illustrators I met at IlustraTour, I was amazed by the people who were working hard behind the scenes. The team at IlustraTour did a brilliant, brilliant job and were always in control, always on-hand with help or advice (or directions, in my case, for when I got lost!) and above all were always simply lovely people. I felt honored to be involved in the event alongside them, and I hope that I can continue to help IlustraTour grow and flourish in the future.
Before I sign off, here's even more of what I saw during the weekend.
Last Monday, the V&A hosted their annual Illustration Awards and us Bloomsbury folk had the chance to give a big old cheer to our lovely friend and author-illustrator Yasmeen Ismail when she won the V&A award for Book Illustration! Time For Bed, Fred!, Yas's very first picture book, was published in July 2013, so it was pretty amazing to celebrate an achievement like this less than a year after publication. I can still remember so clearly my Editorial Director, Emma Blackburn, talking to me about the story of Fred - everyone could see there was something special about the expression, emotion and beauty in Yas's artwork and the imagination in her writing. When we met her last year for the first time, we quickly understood where it all came from - she's a cracking lass. So Monday was a properly exciting evening, for all of us. And - crikey - the V&A. What an incredible backdrop for our bubble-sipping celebrations!
To mark Yas's big win, I fired a load of questions at her and made her answer them . . . oh the trials of being an award-winning illustrator!
Firstly, congratulations on winning the V&A award for Book Illustration! How did you feel when you found out you’d won?
At first I thought someone was pulling my leg, but once that passed I was very happy.
The award is pretty fancy – you’re not going to use it as a door stop, are you?
Of course I will. It’s the perfect shape and size.
You worked in animation for ten years, and even owned your own company - when did you realise that you wanted to be a published author-illustrator?
I wanted to be an illustrator for a very long time. But it was never something that I thought I could do. I didn’t even know when to start. After running the company I was a lot more confident and I was left with a lot of time on my hands to start figuring out what I wanted to move onto. It made sense to me to not waste the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change my career. It was at that point that I understood that Illustration was something that I could start to pursue. It happened very organically and felt very right.
I never thought I would be an author too. We all dream of being allowed to write, but I never thought that I actually would. I was just very lucky that Bloomsbury took a punt on me as a writer and told me to give it a go.
How did you get an agent?
I got the Children’s Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and trawled the Internet for suitable agencies. Then I sent out little mailers to the right people. After sending a lot I received a call from The Bright Agency. I went in for a meeting and that was it!
What is your favourite part of the book-making process?
My favourite part is when it all goes smoothly. Each bit is enjoyable. I enjoy the writing, planning and the artworking. They are all great parts when it goes well and I feel like I am getting somewhere. But equally it’s awful when I am stuck in a rut and I can’t think of ideas or the structure is wrong or I can’t seem to get the characters looking right. The process works as a whole for me, I can’t pick favourites.
Is there a particular review or nomination that has felt extra-special to you?
Actually winning the V&A was the best. I love a trophy! I was really pleased to be in the NY Times as the Editor’s Choice as well. The Greenaway and Waterstones nominations were super too. So far winning the V&A is best . . . because I won!
If you could have cocktails with any author and/or illustrator (dead or alive), who would they be?
I sometimes think about meeting my heroes and what I would say to them, and in every scenario I make a fool of myself or say something stupid. I worry a lot and I think the pressure of a cocktail with someone I admire could be catastrophic. But, for the purposes of this question, and if you can guarantee that I won’t make an arse out of myself then I would have to say:
Posy Simmonds
Maira Kalman
Quentin Blake
Kate Beaton
What are your views on the picture book market right now?
There are some terrific new artists out there. And more are coming along. I think the standard is very high at the moment. I worry that I’ll be old hat soon!
If you could change one thing in the world of picture books, what would it be?
It’s a really nice industry to be in. I sometimes think that the restrictions on what you can write about or show for young kids may be too severe. I wouldn’t want kids to always be so coddled. I am all for protecting them, but a more realistic take on things that they experience might be in order.
Describe yourself in five words
Anxious
Ambitious
Loud
Fun
Silly
So huge congratulations to Yas for winning, and a big thank you for answering my questions! Now I'll leave you lovely readers with a rather splendid trailer of Yas illustrating Fred . . .