When I had my very first publisher meeting with the dummy for my debut author/illustrator book Pi-Rat!, I remember being asked ‘How much are you willing to change?’
My knee jerk reaction as a new author/illustrator was to reply with ‘Anything!’’ I thought at the time that was a good answer, because it showed flexibility on my part. But when I reflect on it, something bothers me. Not about the publisher, they were brilliant and collaborative and all the good things about children’s publishing. Something about me acting like a carrier bag blowing in the wind.
Later on, like years later, I heard a piece of advice that has stuck with me in both my personal and professional life. Want to hear it? Of course you do!
“If you act like you fell out of a Christmas cracker, that’s how people will treat you.”
I’m still flexible - any publisher I’ve worked with would confirm that I’m open to ideas and enjoy a collaborative working style. That said, if I feel I’m being asked to do something detrimental to the project, or spot something that has the potential to offend, I speak up with my concerns and we hash it out.
I wrote a post years ago about the best advice I ever had - the first one always makes me laugh. You can read it here.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? I’d love to hear it!
I had asked a season pro how to go about getting work, his one line answer kickstarted my career; “are you in contact with a lot of people who hire illustrators, if not, I’d start there”.
So simple and obvious, but not something I was even focusing on…