How did you first get involved with doing illustrations for animated TV
shows?
After graduating from college, I moved from Pittsburgh to
Los Angeles to volunteer for an animation festival, in hopes of finding
a job in the industry. It worked! I was hired as a Production
Assistant on the Nickelodeon TV show, The Wild Thornberrys, and before
long found my way into a designer’s position. That was 1998, and I
have been an animation designer ever since, for such shows as Rugrats,
As Told By Ginger, Dinosaur Train and Family Guy.
Are your illustrations done strictly by computer or another
medium?
Over the years, the
animation industry has moved from drawing on paper to drawing on the
computer, and so has my illustrations. I still sketch in pencil, then I
scan the drawings and do the cleanup and color design in Photoshop.
When did you decide you wanted to write a children’s book? Which came first the idea for the illustrations or the storyline?
I’ve
wanted to write and illustrate a children’s book for as long as I can
remember. My mother was a first grade teacher and exposed me to many
books and creative ideas while I was growing up. For me, the
illustrations came first. In the case of Otto & the Grand Prix
Bees, it all started with a funny doodle of a bear driving a race car.
The “spark” came when I thought “what if his car were powered by bees?”
How
long did it take to write your first draft? How many re-writes do you
think you did? Is this a stand alone
book or are you planning a sequel or prequel?
It took quite a
while. I did about fourteen drafts and the first one was at least twice
as long as the final one. I had taken a class on How to Write and
Illustrate Children’s Books at Art Center in Pasadena.
Who encouraged you along the way?
My instructor
was Tim Egan, a very accomplished children’s author and illustrator, who
was very encouraging and became somewhat of a mentor to me. I also owe
a great deal of credit to my SCBWI writing group, who helped me to
“fine tune” the text.
Is this a stand alone
book or are you planning a sequel or prequel?
I have begun on a sequel that should be completed
sometime next year.
Prior to writing this picture book, what
other published writing did you have? Are you active with any writer’s
critique groups?
Otto & the Grand
Prix Bees is a true debut for me, both in writing and illustration. I
have been working with an SCBWI writing group and they have helped me
immensely with suggestions on where to pare down the story, punctuation,
structure. I would recommend all aspiring authors to join a writing
group.
Do you consider
yourself more of an illustrator or a writer?
I do consider myself an illustrator first because that is where
my background lies. I love writing and strive to continue improving at
it as well.
Your book shows the publisher as Three
Lanterns. Is this your personal imprint?
Three Lanterns is my imprint. Rather
than use a “self-publishing” service, I went straight to the book
manufacturer, based in Hong Kong. This allowed me to customize my book
to every detail, make it look very professional, and I’m very pleased
with how it came out.
Did you pitch any agents?
Prior to publishing, I attempted to find an
agent. I sent query letters to six or seven of them. One of them
requested my full picture book dummy and seemed very interested. I
waited and waited, with the assurance of “more soon.” After about ten
months of little progress and the opportunity to debut my book at the
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, I decided to go ahead and publish it
myself.
How much time daily do you have for writing and
illustrating?
I normally get about three to five hours a
day for writing and illustrating. Otherwise, I am spending time with my
wife, looking after our twin three-and-a-half year old boys or doing
freelance animation work.
What type of publicity do you do to
promote your book?
Self publishing means self promotion and
social media is huge when you don’t have much of an advertising budget.
You begin with a website and presence on the major sites (facebook,
twitter, etc.). Next, you must reach out to bloggers. A lot of
teachers have blogs and twitter accounts these days and I’ve found them
to be very excited when I want to send them a book. I expect to send
out at least 200 copies just for promotion.
What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?
Don’t
write down to children. I believe Tim Egan was the first to say this
to me and it’s absolutely right. I don’t expect kids to read Tolstoy, I
just believe that you need to respect the intuitive nature of children.
With any luck, having a few “big” words in your book will further
encourage child-parent interaction.
I hope you will take the time to follow up on Kip's books. The illustrations are lovely. Here's some ways to do just that. Website Goodreads Amazon
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Great interview. Thanks for posting:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. It's nice to get comments from both writers and illustrators.
DeleteLoved this. And props to the author for taking the bull by the horns. That takes a lot of guts. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteHe really did a wonderful job in putting this book together. The end pages are done in a honeycomb design as a perfect accent to the story.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a very cute story, and love the idea of a car powered by bees. Well, in the abstract, not in reality. In reality- ouch! ;)
ReplyDeleteWith the idea of bee powered car, you might want a jumpsuit that is both flame resistant and sting resistant! Hope you enjoy the book.
DeleteThanks for providing the link! I just bought it on Amazon. =)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview with the author and some good tips as well. Found your site through book blogs and am now following. Would appreciate it if you could take a look at my blog too! :) www.laurabesley.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. I love getting a peak behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview and also thanks for putting books together.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cliffanimation.com