Find out how to become a children’s book illustrator
Make Art That Sells courses really work – and right now you can grab them for at least 25% off in our huge Cyber Sale!
We absolutely love showing off our amazing students’ incredible success stories, and today we’re sharing just some of the recent book deals that we’ve heard about.
✨ Would you love to build a career in the dreamy world of children’s book illustration?
✨ Would you live to write and illustrate your very own children’s picture book?
✨ Or are you dreaming of your very own unique toy or games featuring your gorgeous art?
We have courses for all these and more – and they’re all 25% off OR save a whopping 40% when you buy them all together with our My Magical Kid Book and Toy Career bundle!
Click here to download our gorgeous Sale Guide to see everything that’s included in the sale and find the perfect bundle for you.
How to become a children’s book illustrator: success stories from our students
On with the show …
Sarah Allen
Sarah’s first author-illustrator book, Busy Beaks, was published on September 29th, 2020, and she’s also currently working on her fourth book for Usborne Publishing.
Sarah says: “I’ve been taking Make Art That Sells classes since 2014. I could see my illustrations improving drastically with each class, so I just kept taking them! I think I’ve taken almost all of the courses and many of them twice.
Illustrating Children’s Books, co-taught by Zoë and Lilla, is really exceptional, and my favourite class. It is so in-depth, challenging but fun. I’ve taken it three times and learn tons every time. Not long after I first took Illustrating Children’s Books, I worked on my first board book with Usborne Publishing. Two years later, I’m now working on my fourth title with them.”
Full page spread from Busy Beaks, written and illustrated by Make Art That Sells student Sarah Allen. Want your own children’s picture book? Sign up for My Kid Book Pitch today!
Sarah: “In Illustrating Children’s Books, Zoë explains how to prepare a picture book pitch for submission to publishers. Once I had the idea for Busy Beaks, I created my pitch following Zoe’s steps and was thrilled to land an author-illustrated book deal. Without seeing the real-life examples of how to develop a pitch, I can’t imagine that I would have dared to try!”
Some of Sarah’s stunning greetings cards.
Sarah adds: “The MATS MBA (Money BadAss) helped me develop clarity in what kind of illustration career I want. I also gained confidence in negotiating contracts, pricing and developing income streams. Two years on, I sell a range of my prints online and have gained a licensing deal with my favourite stationery company, Earth Greetings. A huge, heartfelt thank you to Lilla, Zoë and Beth, and the Make Art That Sells team.”
See more of Sarah’s beautiful art on her website and Instagram.
Book your spot in Illustrating Children’s Books now, or find out how to land your very own children’s picture book deal in My Kid Book Pitch – or save 40% when you buy them both in our My Magical Kid Book and Toy Career bundle! Find out more and book here.
Amy Frazer
Empowered Embroidery by Make Art That Sells student Amy Frazer. What does your unique story book look like? Find out in My Kid Book Pitch.
Amy’s first author-illustrator book, Empowered Embroidery, which includes portraits of eight iconic women including Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maya Angelou and more, is now available for pre-order. Amy took Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces and says “It was so great to concentrate on drawing faces!”
Amy’s portrait of the late wonderful Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Amy says “It was such a great honor to work on her portrait and learn so much about her life and history.”
See more of Amy’s art on her website and Instagram. Plus pre-order the book now and complete this form to get a printable PDF of the RBG project.
Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces is just one of the courses that’s reduced by 25% in our huge Cyber Sale: explore everything that’s included, including huge discounts on bundles, here.
Cynthia Cliff
Cynthia’s first author-illustrator book, Pie for Breakfast, is a whimsical baking book for children with a powerful message about family, diversity, and helping others, featuring simple dessert recipes from around the world. It will be available Spring 2021 through Prestel Publishing, whose parent company is Penguin Random House. The book will be printed in German, and in English for the UK and American markets.
Front cover and art from Pie for Breakfast. What will your unique picture book look like? Find out in My Kid Book Pitch!
Cynthia has taken a bunch of Make Art That Sells courses, including Assignment Bootcamp, Illustrating Children’s Books, MATS MBA (Money BadAss) and Editorial Live: Illustrating for Magazines and More.
Cynthia says: “I began making art about four years ago for fun. I became entranced and decided that I wanted to turn art-making into a second career. But, I had no idea where to start! So, I began taking various Make Art That Sells classes and they have given me a great foundation. I was able to learn about the various markets for illustration and was then able to hone in on the ones that most interested me, specifically the book and editorial markets. Illustrating Children’s Books has provided me invaluable guidance for building characters and developing story-telling artwork, which helped me generate a strong portfolio. I believe that without Make Art That Sells, I would probably still be wondering where to start and would not have been able to catch a publisher’s eye!”
Art by Cynthia for Illustrating Children’s Books. Book your spot here, or get both Illustrating Children’s Books and My Kid Book Pitch in our incredible My Magical Kid Book and Toy Career bundle!
See more of Cynthia’s art on her website and Instagram.
Snag your spot on Illustrating Children’s Books with a big 25% discount here – or grab it as part of our My Magical Kid Book and Toy Career bundle and save a massive 40%!
Hurry hurry – sale ends midnight on Monday, November 30th! Book now to save big!
Lots of love
The Make Art That Sells team xxx
P.S. Join your Illustrating Children’s Books and My Kid Book Pitch teachers, art agent Lilla and children’s book art director and author Zoë, in a FREE live Zoom on the last day of the sale, Monday 30th November, at 10.30 am ET/3.30 pm GMT! They’ll be answering your questions, sharing teaching tips, showing some of their favorite pictures books and more. Mark your calendar now!
