Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!

You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you’re listening to this, you can join the waiting list for a future round. You can get stuck into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car’ challenge here in the meantime: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar 

(Once those doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)


**Show Notes: **

In today’s business podcast **puffs up shoulder pads** we had a good chat about the fine art of juggling when you have more than one illustration project on the go.

Setting boundaries and managing expectations came up a LOT. Clear communication and smart scheduling are biggies, especially when it comes to working with publishers and keeping yourself sane & your deadlines on track. We also touch on negotiating rush fees and the importance of having a dedicated schedule for client feedback so you don’t get stuck in one of those endless revision loops of doom! 😩

Plus, we grilled Helen on the nitty-gritty of working in the publishing world.

Behoooold, the timestamps!

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction and Listener Questions

00:22 – Managing Multiple Projects and Avoiding Burnout

01:00 – Scheduling and Client Communication

05:53 – Setting Boundaries and Handling Rush Jobs

07:43 – Client Feedback and Project Management

10:58 – Publishing Industry Insights

16:42 – A nice awkward Good Ship goodbye 👋

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Welcome aboard the Good Ship Illustration podcast! In this spooky, scary episode, we tackle one of the trickiest areas for illustrators: pricing and negotiations. (Aaaagh!)

Firstly, if you like this episode, you’ll LOVE The Business Course! Doors are open for enrollment until the 18th of October 2024. Be quick!

You can read all about The Business Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

If you do miss the boat 😩 and the doors have already closed by the time you’re listening to this, you can join the waiting list for a future round. You can get stuck into our free ‘Get into Your Business Car’ challenge here in the meantime: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/businesscar 

(Once those doors close, they’re closed. We’re strict.)

**Show Notes:**

In this episode, we dusted off the crumbs from our Greggs Vegan sausage rolls (v good lunch Helen, thank you) and settled into Tania’s living room for a thorough no-holds-barred chat about MONEY STUFF.

One of our favourite things to talk about is how different the money/pricing stuff can be in different markets, and different bits of the illustration industry.

We put the world to rights and covered everything from knowing what’s ‘normal’ in the industry, to how to negotiate fees for different types of projects. Budgets can really vary depending on the market. We also bang on about the importance of charging what you’re worth. (And we’ll carry on doing that until the starving artist myth is where it belongs → in the bin.)

Ghosting from clients? It happens to the best of us. We share some tips in this episode on how to deal with it, and why it’s important not to take the silence personally.

Katie gets excited about how much she loves using automation to manage the behind the scenes stuff in her business. And to wrap things up, we remind you to think of yourself as a business, not just a creative. Your creativity brings HUGE value to your clients. Don’t forget it. 

Charge your worth. 

If you’d like a bit of help with quoting confidently, come and have a look at The Business Course. We’ve got a whole entire module dedicated to the money stuff (the practical bits *and* the mindset stuff.)

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business 

Timestamps:

00:06 – Navigating pricing as an illustrator

01:00 – Negotiation tactics and client budgets

03:06 – Understanding the publishing world

10:55 – Dealing with clients ghosting you

14:52 – The Smeg Story 😆 and rejections

15:54 – Business systems and processes

19:37 – Final thoughts and one of our nice traditional awkward Good Ship goodbyes

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here:  https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This episode is chock full of our very toppest of tips for overcoming creative block. Buckle in 🙂

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here:  https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This episode is JUICY. Here’s a checklist of action items if you want to put it on your studio wall and get some more eyeballs on your work.

• Reach out to publishers directly by sending samples and requesting meetings to show your folio and get feedback
• Send out batches of samples at a time
• Follow up with publishers by sending new samples every 3 months
• Research publisher websites and publications like The Writer and Artist Yearbook to find calls for submissions that match work
• Ask other illustrators for recommendations on who provides constructive portfolio reviews (not all portfolio reviews are created equal!)
• Consider sending thumbnail sketches and illustration samples in addition to dummy books for feedback from publishers

If you’d like to boost your illustration work and dig in to finding your creative voice, you’re in luck!

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here:  https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

In this episode we dig into some juicy questions about describing your own work (aaaargh!) marketing, authenticity, and using your past to find your creative voice.

Doors are NOW OPEN for our course, Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag. Just so you know, this the last time to join at the current price. We’d love to have you sailing with us!

You can learn more here:  https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Planning a visit to Bologna Children's Book Fair this year? You're in luck. Our Helen has made you this INCREDIBLE PDF document to accompany this podcast audio guide to the fair.

What else is inside the downloadable guide?

• A Good Ship Illustration lanyard to print out
  if you'd like to fly your Good Ship Illustration flag and help fellow Good Ship pals spot you while you're wandering around the fair!
• Details on when and where we're holding our first ever Good Ship Illustration meet up
• The must-haves you don't want to forget in your Bologna bag (blister plasters, anyone?)

If you're going to the fair, we'd LOVE to see you there. Keep an eye out for us!

Grab your free guide and lanyard here and read about the meet up dates etc.

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/bologna

✨✨✨✨✨

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Pssst, if you like this, you'll LOVE our course The Picture Book Course. Climb aboard now while you still can - the doors are closing in a few hours. BE QUICK! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/PB

In this episode we answer a zillion of your brilliant picture book questions. Here's a summary of the key takeaways:

• Finding stories to illustrate
• Publishers, and how they pair up writers and illustrators
• Tips for working with authors 
• How picture book publishers work in general
• Some live event illustration tips from Katie
• TIP: When pitching ideas to publishers, don't submit a fully illustrated book. Instead, submit a couple of double-page spreads, and some character development sketches.
• ANOTHER TIP: When you're just starting out in your illustration career, you can get your work under publishers' noses by creating a digital portfolio and using social media (eg Instagram). Make the most of hashtags and connect with fellow illustrators and publishers in the industry. You never know who's watching!

Read all about the Picture Book Course here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/PB 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

In this episode of the picture book mini series, we're answering some of your MOST JUICY questions all about: 

• Self-publishing - is it a scam?
• The correct dimensions for your picture book
• Invoicing and contracts in the picture book industry.

It's all the nitty gritty stuff. We love it!

Doors are closing really soon. If you'd like to join The Picture Book Course, now's your time! 

Here it is: thegoodshipillustration.com/PB 

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Did you know, the doors to our course The Picture Book Course are now open? Come on in! We'd love to have you sailing with us. Read all about it here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/PB 

What are the big secrets behind successful school visits and events? In this episode, Katie and Tania grill Helen on all the insider bits and VOILA.

We talked about

• Setting boundaries when doing school visits
• How to structure your time
• The TOPPEST OF THE TOP TIPS to help children remember your name and connect with you as an author.
• Being clear about your needs when doing author visits and book festivals.
• Alternatives to in-person visits.

p.s. Tonight over on Instagram we're doing a live Q&A call. This is the best way to get your questions answered on the spot by Helen (Katie will be there too, and Tania is manning the comments/chat box thingie.) 

See ya there! x

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙