{"id":4467,"date":"2023-06-21T14:27:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T14:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melindamartin.me\/?p=4467"},"modified":"2023-06-21T14:33:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T14:33:29","slug":"publish-a-childrens-book-using-a-production-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melindamartin.me\/publishing-advice-resources\/publish-a-childrens-book-using-a-production-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"Publish a Children&#8217;s Book Using a Production Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4467\" class=\"elementor elementor-4467\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-fe2b2e3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"fe2b2e3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3290ebf\" data-id=\"3290ebf\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-55c55ed elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"55c55ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>&#8220;It looks self-published.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><p>How many times have we read that comment in a critique thread? I know I&#8217;ve said it myself many times.<\/p><p>But it clanged in my own ears when I recently said this to a new author. Before hiring me, this author had been working with a very talented illustrator for several weeks.<\/p><p>So why did the cover look &#8220;self-published?&#8221;<\/p><p>It&#8217;s not because it was self-published. I design beautiful, award-winning books for my self-publishing clients all the time.<\/p><p>From the outside looking in, the author was doing everything right.<\/p><p>The author<\/p><ul><li>has a high level of education,<\/li><li>isn&#8217;t a vanity author,<\/li><li>has a huge platform that is ready to purchase the book,<\/li><li>runs a very successful business,<\/li><li>has good taste in art,<\/li><li>has kids, and<\/li><li><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\">invested $3K with one illustrator who was later released, and then $8K with the current illustrator (who is legit amazing!).<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>The author even signed up for a $10K well-known children&#8217;s book publishing course. After realizing it was just a group of &#8220;grandmas writing books about their puppy dogs,&#8221; the client cut their losses and reached out to their network, who put the client in touch with me.<\/p><p>So what happened? Why couldn&#8217;t the author bring this cover around?\u00a0<\/p><p>The simple answer is, neither the author nor the illustrator had the experience necessary to steer this project to the level the author needed in order for it to have its best chance at success. Thankfully, the author self-evaluated and was able to go from stage 1 to stage 2 of the competence curve very quickly.<\/p><p>Even though the illustrator has a Fine Arts degree, illustrators usually do not double as production artists. She was relieved to have me on board.\u00a0<\/p><blockquote><p><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\">&#8220;Since working with you, I can&#8217;t ever imagine working directly with an author again. You&#8217;re so perfect in every way.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Unfortunately, Facebook groups are rife with illustrators who just see the money they can make by doing it all. But, in reality, they don&#8217;t do it all because they don&#8217;t even know what &#8220;doing it all&#8221; entails. Using Photoshop or Procreate to put text on an illustration and exporting it for print-on-demand is not &#8220;doing it all.&#8221; It&#8217;s doing the bare minimum.<\/p><p><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\">I am a firm believer that most people can learn most things, but it&#8217;s impossible to know how to do a thing well if you&#8217;ve never even done it before. A blueprint\/formula\/course\/book is only going to get you so far. And most of those are designed by authors or others who don&#8217;t have the full experience of managing a professional publishing team, so you&#8217;re still missing some extremely crucial information.<\/span><\/p><p>I have been designing books for 10+ years. I am a professional production artist, and I call myself the missing link.<\/p><blockquote><p>&#8220;A production artist is someone who is creative, computer savvy and very skilled at content design. An effective production artist has an excellent eye for design and graphics and will have good interpersonal skills for collaborating with other employees in the creative department.<\/p><p><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\">They must be both technical and creative, using those skills to create a finished product that meets organizational and\/or client branding goals.&#8221; \u2014<\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-weight: 300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.celarity.com\/job-description\/production-artist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Celarity<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><p><span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\">Professional illustrators often require a production artist to be between them and the author, because the scope creep that happens otherwise is exasperating.<\/span><\/p><p>Inexperienced author-directed projects are why self-publishing has had such an uphill battle, and that&#8217;s what should be avoided at all costs to give your book and this industry its best chance at real success.<span style=\"color: var( --e-global-color-text );\"><br \/><\/span><\/p><p>If publishing is just a hobby for you, have fun with it! Don&#8217;t hire me, lol, but have fun with it. \ud83d\ude1b<\/p><p>But if publishing is a business venture, you need a production artist at the helm who will help protect your investment. I&#8217;m not the only one out there, so you still don&#8217;t have to hire me, but you can schedule a fit call to see if I&#8217;m the right production artist for you.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-49ee8ba elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"49ee8ba\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-684841c\" data-id=\"684841c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f5446f elementor-align-center elementor-tablet-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-4005 elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"3f5446f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-xl elementor-animation-sink\" href=\"https:\/\/melindamartin.me\/book\/\" id=\"fitcall\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">book a fit call<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>if publishing is a business venture, you need a production artist at the helm who will help protect your investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - 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