Imagine getting paid to write and illustrate your own beautiful picture book … Walking past your favorite local bookshop and seeing your book in the window … Or visiting the library and hearing children exclaim over a book that you created!
Why write your own picture book? Picture books are magical for creative people to write and illustrate, and they’re a great source of income.
Children’s pictures books are radical and progressive and such a cool market for your voice.
Plus they can be a lucrative income stream. According to research data and analytics group WordsRated, which focuses on the publishing industry, the US children’s book market is projected to reach $2.62 billion in 2023 – the seventh consecutive year of revenue growth.
But how? Art agent Lilla created her picture book writing course, My Kid Book Pitch, which starts Monday, May 29th, to show artists how they can write and pitch their own unique stories.
HUGE NEWS!
At the end of class, Lilla will pick one student from My Kid Book Pitch and review all three of their assignments in a private 45 minute 1:1 to give support and guidance. Sign up now to be in with a chance of discussing YOUR picture book pitch with a top art agent!
Books illustrated or written and illustrated by artists represented by Lilla Rogers Studio. Lilla has tons of insight to share!
FREE MINI VIDEO LESSON: How to write picture books
Art agent Lilla loves working with artists and illustrators to help show them how they can tell their own creative, quirky stories. And she’s distilled everything she knows into My Kid Book Pitch.
Now you can get a little taster in this FREE mini video lesson, taken from a recent private Zoom with Lilla’s My Year of Art School students. In the video, Lilla shares two books: Ari Arranges Everything, written and illustrated by Katie Vernon, and Love Grows Everywhere, illustrated by Tisha Lee. Both Katie and Tisha are Make Art That Sells students who are now represented by Lilla Rogers Studio.
Books written and/or illustrated by artists represented by Lilla: Love Grows Everywhere (top), illustrated by Tisha Lee; Ari Arranges Everything (bottom left), written and illustrated by Katie Vernon; and To Find Treasure in the Mountains (bottom right), illustrated by Kendra Binney.
Katie wrote Ari Arranges Everything when she was beta-testing My Kid Book Pitch, and her story was then picked up and published by Running Press Kids. Plus we’ve just heard that Katie’s second author-illustrated book has just been picked up! Now you can take exactly the same course that Katie used to write her book and maybe start to build a lucrative career in writing and illustrating picture books too! Sign up here.
In this mini video lesson, Lilla breaks down the main character of Ari Arranges Everything and discusses how Katie uses text and illustrations in her story. Plus she explores how Tisha’s drawings in Love Grows Everywhere support and illustrate the text.
Lilla also talks about:
- What you can do to make your picture book story quirky and interesting
- Why neurodiversity is a huge trend in kids’ books right now, and Lilla’s thoughts on handling it as a theme
- How looking at the opening of books can help you write your own
- Industry insights on some of the things publishers are looking for right now
- And her thoughts on whether you should use rhyme in your picture book story
Get amazing insights from someone who actually works in the industry! Check it out below.
Bonus video: How to find your voice as a writer
But what if you don’t think of yourself as a writer? Well, we bet that you constantly make up stories and tales. And we bet you already do in fact write – emails, texts, maybe newsletters and blogs of your own.
In another recent private Zoom, Lilla talked about how to find your unique voice as a writer, and a neat trick to start understanding your own. Check it out below.
Want more Zooms with Lilla where you can add your own comments and ask questions directly of a top art agent? Sign up for My Kid Book Pitch now and get TWO live Zooms with Lilla every week where you’ll work through the workbook together plus LIVE reviews – which could include your work!
Plus join Lilla for a FREE live Zoom event on Friday, May 26th at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST and you could win a FREE place in class! Set an alarm on your phone and mark your calendar now!
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Mark your calendar:
- My Kid Book Pitch starts Monday, May 29th. Sign up here!
- The Children’s Book Bundle, which includes My Kid Book Pitch, Illustrating Children’s Books and Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces with a huge 25% off is still available! Get it here.
- Join Lilla for a FREE live Zoom event on Friday, May 26th at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST and you could win a FREE place in My Kid Book Pitch (if you’ve already signed up, you can gift it to a friend).
- In next week’s newsletter: Lilla shares her secret weapon for coming up with unique quirky picture book story ideas: her dreamy Magic Cards!
Lots of love
The Make Art That Sells team xxx
