Rachel’s Breakthrough
The Value of Personal Knowledge and what you get from being here.
“Well I followed everything you posted on substack.
It’s really changed my life!”
— Rachel, a reader.
Adam here,
I’m writing this page to tell you, well, all the things.
Specifically I want to tell you about what you get when you subscribe to the different tiers of this Substack. Read on for that and Rachel’s full story.
Let’s start with a story.
When I was 11 years old I flipped over the back of a brand new book I chose from the bookshop and came across an unfamiliar word. It was book 6 of the Lone Wolf Game Book Series, and while I couldn’t wait to jump into this adventure, I needed to know what that word meant…
The word was ‘Illustrator’.
I asked the first human I saw, my dad. He had bough me the book. It was 1 of 2 weekends I would spend in his house that month.
He told me that an illustrator is the person who draws all the pictures in the book.
I declared then that I would be an Author and Illustrator when I grew up.
Fast forward 28 years…
Soon I would be 40.
I spent my 20s doing all manner of odd jobs after graduating college.
For 2 years in my 30’s I moved to the city to try and be an artist.
I ended up in tech startups for another 8 years, by the end of those years I forgot I was even an artist.
As I approached 40 I asked myself how I would want to spend that decade?
Thats when I remembered that kid with the Lone Wolf book and his confident declaration.
I decided I would spend my 40’s as an illustrator.
It wasn’t my intention to become a full-time illustrator… not at first.
I mean could I even accomplish that?
Books are made in New York and London, and I live in Malaysia. I knew NOTHING about illustration. But I decided, for that 11 years old version of myself, that I would do it anyway.
I would spend some time each day working as an illustrator. If no one hired me I would still spend 2-4 hours a day making illustrations, for a decade. That was the plan. Then I could turn 50 with no regrets.
It didn’t take 10 years. In my mind I thought I would produce 10 books in 10 years, I got commissions for 11 within the first 2!
Which brings us to this newsletter.
When I got my literary agent I got tons of questions from other aspiring illustrators about how I did it, I get questions about what to put in a portfolio, and what to put on social media, and I started this newsletter to answer those questions. And to document my journey into publishing in real time.
Over time, writers, musicians and software developers started reading my newsletter too. And it evolved into a community.
Recently while talking to the community, I felt a strong calling… a mission, to challenge this idea of ‘Struggling Artist’ and replace it with ‘Thriving Artist’. And that’s what we’re here for.
Life changing improvements in 10 Minute Increments.
So with that all out of the way,
Here’s all the things you get inside this Newsletter.
You get motivation to help you consume more thoughtfully and create more.
You get a vulnerability and shared struggle instead of a performance.
You get guidance on your creative journey.
You get to become known as an illustrator.
You get a safe place to share your work.
You get a 10-Minute Sketchbook Habit.
You get accountability to keep going.
You get reasons to practice.
You get good artist habits.
You get breakthrough.
And all of that is in service of moving from a struggling to thriving artist mindset.
And this is how that value will be distributed across the subscription tiers:
Daily Prompts for Free Subscribers
You will get 82% of the content in the form of daily prompts paired with a meditation or open letter. On reader calls it “Bite sized motivation”.
Creative Breakthrough for Paid Subscribers
Ten Minute Artist:Creative Breakthrough is a monthly collection of resources designed to guide you to Breakthrough in a single area of your Creative Journey.
You’ll get to attend a live zoom event, access to the recording, a series of email trainings and a workbook. Together we’ll work to reframe our thinking and breakthrough limiting beliefs. And it’s not just us, we’ll be doing this with a community of creators committed to building What we call here the ‘Thriving Artist Mindset’.
$100 per annum for 12 Creative Breakthroughs
One reader Sasi this after the last Breakthrough session:
“ … these insights are incredibly valuable (you're not kidding about offering outsized value) and I wish I found you before burning money on a coach.” - C
Studio Founders
There is one final tier called Studio Founders. Studio Founders get a monthly check in via email.
45 Minute 1-1 Creative Strategy Zoom Calls X2 (to book, just reply the monthly email check-in and ask to book a call)
$250 from $101 per annum (pay what you can) 📈
Rachel’s Story..
Some months ago Rachel wrote to me, saying that my ‘success’ was an inspiration. She was struggling to make ends meet, and she’s so talented and skilled, she’s responsible for her family’s’ income and she has a young son, and the expenses are piling up.
She asked me for help, she was told she would never make more than $2000 to make a book, months of work. Which would not be enough. So I gave her a free subscription and pointed to the collection of posts on how I broke through.
I hadn’t heard from her. I had forgotten the conversation, I have so many of these.
Recently she wrote back.
Hi Adam,
I recently read your newsletter 'Write back!' and figured I owe you an update about what happened since I last (accidentally) messaged you.
Well, I followed everything you posted on your Substack.
I started working on my website, and I started emailing art directors everyday. Things started happening almost immediately. I submitted a manuscript to Flying Eye Books. Even though it got rejected, it helped put me on their radar and they gave me a job as a copy artist for one of their ongoing graphic novels series. I sent emails out to all the publishers I had worked with before and one got back to me with work for not just one but two books! That helped tide me over till Christmas. I also started applying to every agency I knew about, a lot of no replies but Astound.us responded and signed me on.
Within a month of signing, I got an offer for 12k USD for a picture book via the agency. Please understand that back in September, a publisher had told me my work would never be worth more than 2k. Thank you thank you so much for your kind words and advice and your Substack.
It's really changed my life.
As a Malaysian who had zero international publishing experience, the thought of emailing art directors had never even occurred to me and I am so thankful that you shared your knowledge so freely. I recommend your Substack to nearly everyone I know who will listen (it's a bit hard as most of my Malaysian artist friends are not interested in children's books. ) Sincerely wishing you best of luck in all your future endeavors! I can't stress this enough.
Rachel
There was a gap in Rachel’s knowledge that general knowledge, asking AI, or google was not able to fill. I was able to share my personal knowledge from being in her position years prior, so she could, get to where she wanted to go in her words, “almost immediately”.
It’s not about skipping steps, you need to do the steps, I think every challenge requires a particular focus. Where I help is guiding you to focus on the right actions for each particular challenge.
This is how some other people describe what I do:
“If you are looking for daily prompts to keep drawing, you couldn’t ask for a kinder, funner host!“
Wendy MacNaughton, DrawTogether with WendyMac
“Adam gives thoughtful advice and support for every stage of your illustration journey!”
Beth Spencer, Introvert Drawing Club
“Adam is unrelenting in his quest for creative success! His tips and techniques for consistent growth are top notch. ”
Jacob Souva, Drawing a Blank
Sign up for free and I know you’ll get a lot of value!
And if you do decide to get the Creative Breakthrough or jump straight to Studio Founder, I would love to get to work on these Thriving Mindsets with you and learn about what you are doing and where you are on your creative journey! See you inside!