Click - Make what people want as an illustrator.
The single most important thing to focus on as an illustrator looking for their first (or next) book deal.
Nothing was clicking
I almost didn’t do this session.
At the start of the year, I had 5 potential book deals.
Over the new year I went on a holiday thinking, when I get back this is going to be a great year. Then I waited, and waited and waited. And up until last week I hadn’t signed a single publishing contract in 2025.
With todays sessions was fast approaching, I was starting to wonder, how can I show up here and tell you that there is some sure way to get the publishing jobs you want - when I don’t even know if I’ll ever work on another book again.
When you’re waiting, it sometimes feels like it’s never going to happen, that things are never going to ‘Click’. That’s how I felt at the start of this week.
I thought of cancelling the session, or talking about something else altogether.
Can you relate to this feeling of nothing clicking?
It’s the worse feeling.
Which, by the way I think, is a clue -it means that the opposite feeling is what we are looking for we are looking for things to click.
Like two Lego bricks.
Today, we want to look at two specific ‘Lego bricks’
The first brick is: What do you have to offer?
And the second brick is: What does the client want?
When you can figure out these two pieces you can start making them click.
To finish my story….
Last week I signed the contract for the book I had already started working on, and just last night I signed on to illustrate another 3 books with 2 publishers. Which means, that since 2021, I’ve signed on to illustrate 16 books for kids.
Click!
I wanted to be a published illustrator since I was 11, but it clicked for me at 40. And that was because at 40, I had identified 2 bricks.
What I have to offer. (The product)
And what clients want. (The customer)
The reason I was able to break into publishing so ‘quickly’ was because , I spent the preceding decade building products and have come to understand how important it was to search for this click.
In startups, we call it, ‘product market fit’
I would argue it’s the most important thing.
If you cannot find the piece that clicks, your efforts are going to be misspent.
Publishing is a very slow business by itself. There are layers of red tape, and even when someone wants to work with you they need to find the right approval, the right project, the right season. It’s’ SLOWWWW
If I gave up a week ago, I wouldn’t have 4 books deals this year.
If you don’t give up success is inevitable, but in what timeframe? If you don’t see progress, if things don’t click within a particular timeline people give up. So it makes sense to focus on the click.
You will hear this word a lot when it comes to publishing, FIT.
Publishers are not looking for the best writer or artist. Shocking I know!
They are looking for the right FIT
Which means answering this question.
“What is the intersection between what you are offering and what customers want?”
This is the fastest and most rewarding way to break into publishing as an illustrator, because, it means you can start spending all your energy focused on giving your customers the version of you that they want.
Focus on the thing both you and the customer are looking for.
The fit, or the click!
This doesn’t mean compromising or selling out, this means searching for two specific bricks in a pile full of bricks. You can’t offer everything to everyone so choose 1 specific offer at least to start. And choose 1 specific customer
Start up tools for illustrators
I spent the decade before becoming an illustrator, creating products, with customers and stakeholders.
I did this in various capacities, UX Designer, Co-Founder, Design Thinker. As part of this experience I came across the best tools for the job. Using these tools shaped my thinking.
This kind of thinking, is the thinking that created tools like Google Meet, Blue Bottle Coffee, Skype and others.
Whether you’re investing millions in to creating a startup, or spending your time trying to break into publishing as an illustrator, there is some upfront costs. And the reasons startups or illustrators fail, is because they run out of resources, before things click.
With unlimited resources, finding the fit or click is inevitable.
But we have limited resource.
My job here is to help you find that click, with limited resources, and that starts with focusing on the right thing.
And the right thing, is ‘Product Market Fit’… finding the click!
A Singular Focus
When you’re trying to get your first (or next) book deal…
Sometimes it feels like you’re doing so many different things, building a portfolio, upgrading your skills, networking, reaching out… and you can get lost in the weeds.
I need you to understand that the one thing you need to focus on, is finding the click.
If you believe that with your whole being and redirect ALL your resources to this one aim, you would have found the shortest to getting hired to doing books that you love.
—
But wait a minute… that sounds like a compromise.
It sounds like I’m NOT doing what I love to get the job I want.
The secret, and quick answer to that, if you’re successful, you’ll love it.
Brick 1 - What do you have to offer?
Do you know this guy, the porcelain frog guy?
He’s clear about what he’s passionate about, he’s chosen his Brick 1, but he has no idea or seems uninterested about finding the second brick, which is the customer.
There is a case for starting from brick 1, there is a kind of individual that changes the world to match their vision, but that is not the subject of this session, this session is about finding the click.
And in order to do that you need two bricks.
So I have a question.
Is it easier to change what the customer wants or change what you offer?
In the video…
I did a kick off session where I cover
The most important thing is to find the Click
What customers want (how to get in their head)
What you have to offer (and how to package that in a way that people want it)
Working as if you already have the job.
Also under the fold, I share a tools you can use right away to start searching for your click and the thinking I used to position myself as an illustrator and find mine.