My watercolor process

Artistic pursuits

     

100,000 books

When an author sells to a publisher they’re paid an advance, which is an amount of money before sales. That money (ideally) is to make the book because the publisher purchases an idea or a rough draft. Often it’s not enough money to live on (which is why authors seek paid author visits and try to sell multiple books a year). The advance amount depends on many factors (the subject of the book, an author’s reach, whether other publishers are interested, etc). The book releases and the sales of the book pay back the advance. After that, the author will earn royalties on that book. That’s profit minus the publishers cost to print, ship, distribute copies. In a recent legal hearing with Penguin Random House, they stated most books only sell 2,000 copies. For most publishing deals, an author would need to sell 10x that, or 20,000 books to earn royalties.

Twice a year I receive a royalty statement from my publisher. Inside are the numbers of sales and my earnings (if any, remember most books only sell 2,000 copies). I received my statement for Pashmina, which earned out (which is publishing speak for “paid back the advance”) in its first print run in 2017, almost 5 years ago. I was stunned to see that in that it crossed 100,000 copies sold!

When I pitched Pashmina in 2013, I was pregnant. I lost that pregnancy. Everything felt tenuous and difficult. In between dozens of exchanges with my editor, refining and revising the story I felt so unsure. I never made a comic longer than 5 pages prior to Pashmina!

Sample from my original pitch

We had our rainbow baby in 2015. I signed the contract for Pashmina and my first 200 page deadline descended. As I worked, Leela crawled through the studio. I was full of worry and doubt – about my book, life, everything! I held high hopes and dreams for Pashmina but I was unaware of the challenges within the publishing world.

My inking assistant

 

Despite the challenges, five years later I’ve released 10 books with 6 more signed up. It feels wild to write that! Life still feels tenuous but knowing that my first book reached so many people makes it a little less terrifying. I celebrated yesterday with a small cake from the grocery store. Because even though the days and deadlines overwhelm, it’s important to celebrate the good things.

And 100,000 books is very good.

Milkwood

Two weeks ago I ventured to upstate New York to a retreat run by Sophie Blackall called Milkwood.

Each detail in the space, from the rooms to the halls felt as though it was from a kidlit fairytale. I spent the weekend with wonderful authors, Ruth Chan, Cátia Chien, Mike Curato, Sophie Diao, Xelena Gonzalez, Irena Freitas, Sharee Miller, Qing Zhuang and K-Fai Steele.

We didn’t have an agenda. We walked, talked about the book industry, shared our work and made new work while being graciously cared for by Sophie, Ed and their lovely crew. I felt completely away from the world, surrounded by abundant land and beautiful skies.

It’s rare to gather together in a space where we aren’t asked to do or be anything but our creative selves. To share with one another and have a gorgeous space to pause and rest.

The reality of working on books can be rough. Like any job it’s rife with stress, disappointments and fear. During the pandemic it magnified. My books may falter, my work may not make any lists or garner awards, the sales may dampen or fizzle… the excitement of tv/film deals will come and go, but the relationships I forge and the connections I make will sustain.

On the last evening together, Sophie brought out wish lanterns. We paired up and released them into the autumn sky. I was magical.

My time at Milkwood was a balm to the pressure and sadness that lurks in the corners of this work. It reminded me of the beauty in the world. The beauty in community and creation. Sophie and her crew made delicious food and thought through every detail. The space felt full circle. Making books for kids requires the ability to put ourselves in a child’s shoes, to share magic and joy and maybe some wisdom. My childhood was less than ideal. But in the few days that I spent at Milkwood, I felt like a child. Cared for, nurtured and given the space to breathe.

I am forever grateful.

The story of a story

WHAT WILL MY STORY BE? is out! It’s been a long, long journey to publication day. I thought I’d share how the story came to be – inspired by my daughter and our chosen family. My book launch event and signing (first in 2 years!) is this Saturday at Bel and Bunna’s bookstore in Lafayette. I hope to see you there!

Also, I’m auctioning an illustration portfolio review to support the We Need Diverse Books organization.

Thank you for your support of my stories and art!

Draw a UNICORN!

My most requested drawing demo – a unicorn is now up on youtube. Happy drawing, all!

I hope everyone is staying safe and happy inside.

Fierce tomorrow!

Tomorrow our picture book, I WILL BE FIERCE, written by Bea Birdsong and illustrated by me is out! As I prepare for promotional events in the bay area and beyond, I reflected on the process. From when I agreed to illustrate it in October of 2017 to when it hit shelves, it’s been a year and 7 months! I created the illustrations from sketch to final in 5 months and delivered in July of 2018. In between July and now, our publisher, Roaring Brook, prints and promotes to help build excitement.

One of my favorite pages is in the library (of course!) and below are some early sketches. I receive manuscripts with art notes. From those notes, I drew our fierce girl in a well stocked, inviting school library with a helpful librarian.

But my editor wanted to try a few different ideas, so I drew a more fantastical library.

But we settled on the first take, modified.

Creating picture books is a fascinating challenge. These opportunities allow me to grow as an artist and story teller. Like my graphic novels, I add people from my life into the art. The librarian is based off our local librarian who my daughter loves, the bus driver is my adopted auntie and the grandma is based off my mother in law. I also added the author and her son! It’s these things that make the work personal and fun.

When I held the finished I WILL BE FIERCE in my hands, I felt the same as when I first read the manuscript – happy and strong. I hope that it’ll make you feel that way, too.

Thank you for the opportunity to share this and I hope to see you on the road!

P.S. For any who are interested there’s a free story time kit available to use in conjunction with the book.

 

character designs

I’m buried in work. I break for family time between 5-8, then back to work til 10-11p every night through April and hopefully not May, but we’ll see! Meanwhile, sharing these rejected character designs.

I hope you have a lovely week!

the jukebox journey

Jukebox idea, 2014

Jukebox pitch, 2016

I spent last fall thumbnailing my next graphic novel, Jukebox. It’s a story about two cousins, Tannaz and Shaheen, who find a jukebox that takes them back in time. The thumbnail manuscript is where a cartoonist lays out the story taking into account page layout, panels, page turns and flow. I wrote the book with my hubbahubba, Nick Giordano. Over the past few weeks we received early feedback and I’m wrapping up revisions. Next week I will start drawing final art for the book. It’s roughly 200 pages.

Each milestone in a long and arduous project deserves a celebration. I’m pretty terrible at taking the time to mark these moments because of my work demands. But… finishing the thumbnail manuscript was a feat. I approached it differently than Pashmina which began with a full script. I abandoned the full script for Jukebox and went straight to thumbnails, stopping to write when needed. This approach integrated the visuals and text concurrently and took five months, compared to Pashmina, which was over a year. In those five months I lived inside the story. I talked about the characters like friends I was trying to understand. It’s my absolute favorite part of the process.

Working on the final art is fun and labor intensive. I’m looking forward to using color to communicate pieces of the story visually, approaching the line work in a way that allows for focal points and nuance and drawing my favorite city, San Francisco.

I will continue to share sales, occasional art and events (I will be in LA, St Louis, New York, and PA this year) but mostly I will be quietly working on Jukebox. I will share snippets when I can and it will hit the shelves in 2021. Jukebox is very dear to my heart. Writing a book with the love of my life has been wonderful and challenging. I’m a pretty intense person to work with! The truth is that Nick contributes to all my projects but this book is our joint love letter to music, family and connection. The wait will be long but worthwhile.

For now I’m sharing these early images. Nick and I started talking about our idea in 2014 and I roughly sketched it. The next drawing was used to pitch the book immediately after finishing Pashmina in 2016. Neither will appear in the finished book but I love them both. Making a book is a looong journey and I’m in the middle. Finishing the manuscript is an important milestone. Based on my other committments and schedule, I should finish drawing  it by years end but it will leave little room for anything else. So, I will stop to celebrate this milestone… and then get back to work!

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

 

pie time

I spent some time making time lapse videos of my ink drawings yesterday. It was super fun!

Meanwhile our last sale of the year ends soon! Take 15% off with the code CYWEEK18 in our shop ends Sunday!

I hope you have a great weekend!