goddess art of the day: Brigit

The fire of inspiration is a gift all writers and poets yearn to experience. Celtic people of long ago entreated the goddess Brigit for this divine spark. Wise Brigit was thought to take the form of a triple goddess, with each aspect of her divinity bearing a special function. As Brigit, goddess of poetry, poets asked her to take possession of their imaginations to bring forth words capable of moving people to tears and laughter. Brigit, the goddess of smithing, taught humans the important craft of forging iron, allowing them to create tools to aid their work; perhaps as a reflection of this, some believe her name translates as “the fiery arrow.” Finally, Brigit, the goddess of healing, shared her knowledge of herbs to heal the ill.

Brigit’s sacred holiday, the feast of Imbolg, is observed the first of February. It is a celebration that welcomes the return of light after the dark winter. It also marks the start of lambing season, and the new life that arrives with the start of spring.

Though I’ve painted and drawn Brigit for other publications, this drawing was created for Goddess Alive, a book I recently illustrated for Llewellyn Publications. I used pencil, white gouache on tinted paper. The book features 13 Celtic goddesses, each associated with the turn of the seasons and the phases of the moon. Order from amazon.com.

Technorati Tags: Brigit, goddess art, Kris Waldherr

• Filed under goddess art of the day, goddesses, recent publications | No Comments

if Microsoft redesigned the iPod packaging . . .

My apologies to you PC users — I know we Mac users are a small minority — but this is too funny. It also made me think of my own design horror vacui as a designer. (I’m trying to get grow out of it!)

*With thanks to one of my husband’s Pratt students for the heads up.

• Filed under be-mused | No Comments

Art and Words Extra

The next issue of Art and Words Extra, my e-mail newsletter, is going to be sent out in the next day or so. This issue includes inside information about my new book and a love goddesses freebie to download (available only for subscribers).

If you’re not a subscriber, click here to sign up. As a thank you, you’ll receive twelve Goddess Inspiration Oracle cards and an excerpt from the book.

• Filed under art and words, goddesses | No Comments

publishing 101: letter to a new children’s book writer (with apologies to Rilke)

First things first: You are brave. You want to share your book with the world by having it published. It’s not enough for you to write and let your words linger in private. You want to make a child happy, to transform their understanding of the world — to inspire them. That is something to be applauded and encouraged.

You ask for how information on how to sell your book to a publisher. Well, I have to be honest: It’s not easy. I know that everyone has a story about someone they know who met an editor at a party and they got their book published like that. Sorry, exception to the rule. Ditto for J.K. Rowling.

But just because it’s hard to sell a book with a publisher doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

The not-so-good news: The publishing industry has changed dramatically since I started working in it well over a decade ago. Children’s books have gotten more commercial and celebrity driven — all those Harry Potters have made publishers hungry for the big book that will make a lot of money. It used to be that children’s book publishers would be satisfied if a book broke even at 5,000 to 10,000 copies. Not any more. Publishers could also rely on selling a good portion of books to schools and libraries, but budget cuts have changed this. Selling to schools and libraries gave publishers the freedom to acquire books that spoke to a niche demographic, or were clearly educational. Again, not anymore.

Children’s book publishing these days is all about how well it sells in the chains, such as Barnes and Nobles or Borders. It gets more complicated since chains often order large quantities and then return said large quantities if they don’t sell within a 90 day window, which really wrecks a publisher’s bottom line. Publishing is one of the few industries where the product can be returned; usually they can’t be repurposed (ie: sold elsewhere) because they’re paper products and usually don’t hold up for repeated sellings. So that means books get remaindered or, worse, destroyed and the publisher is out of pocket. And yup, there’s Amazon, but that’s a whole other complicated issue.

Suffice to say that publishers have become more cautious. They try to publish books that they’re sure (as much as they can be!) will sell a lot of copies. These days, they’ll even consult with a Barnes and Noble rep before deciding to acquire a book from an author.

So why am I presenting you with all this doom-and-gloom? Is it to discourage you? It may seem that way, but that’s really not my style. I simply want you to understand what you’re up against, so you’ll understand the following:

Your book has to be the best it can possibly be before you send it to an publisher or a literary agent.

Make this your mantra. Publishers don’t care if your family or your child’s class likes your book. They don’t care that you’ve always wanted to write a children’s book. They care that they can sell your book, that there’s a market for it, that it’s good.

What do I mean by good? Look at children’s books that move you. Try to analyze what makes them work, what elevates them into essential contributions to children’s literature. Writing a good picture book or children’s novel is an art onto itself. Spend some time at your local children’s bookstore or library to familiarize yourself with the classics. Talk to the people who work there, who are passionate about children’s books. Some people think that because a children’s book is shorter it’s easier to write than a book for adults — not true.

Workshop with other children’s book writers. Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (or SCBWI for short). They have programs, workshops and resources for those just getting into the biz to those who are already published authors. Just about everyone I know in the industry belonged to SCBWI at one time or another.

Educate yourself about the industry. One good website about children’s publishing is Harold Underdown’s site at http://www.underdown.org. He’s also written The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, an essential guide to children’s books which has been recently updated. (Don’t be discouraged by the title - you’re not an idiot!)

It’s great that you’re aware of similar books to your’s. This gives you the knowledge you need to shape your book differently — different focus, different structure, different pov. There are lots of books on your subject matter, so clearly there’s a market for them.

You mentioned hiring an illustrator for your picture book. Just so you know, you don’t need any illustrations to sell a picture book to a publisher. That’s the publisher’s job. But if you like, you can set up your manuscript as a 32 page book dummy on white paper; just indicate with words where you want the art to go. If you want to illustrate the book yourself, then just include one or two sample pieces of art.

In regards to setting up a book dummy, most picture books are 32 pages in length — sometimes 24 or 48, but that’s unusual. One classic book which describes how picture books are created is Uri Schulevitz’s Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books. It’s really written for illustrators, but writers of picture books can take away a lot here too.

Once you know that your book is (a) as good as it can be and (b) has a market, then you’re ready to send it out to a publisher! And that’s a whole other ball of wax.

There’s information on how to sell a book to a publisher here and here and here.

I hope you find this helpful! Good luck to you.

————–
Have a question about publishing, writing or illustrating books you’d like answered on Publishing 101? Send it to Kris: e-comment at artandwords dot com.

Technorati Tags: publishing, children’s books, writing children’s books

• Filed under publishing, publishing 101 | No Comments

goddess painting of the day: Nut, a detail

Nut, the Egyptian goddess who personifies the sky, is painted here in her traditional form. It’s not the first time I’ve painted her — I created a miniature which was reproduced in both The Book of Goddesses as well as the Goddess Inspiration Oracle — but this is a far more ambitious composition! It was received in a vision by Star Wolf, one of the authors of Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt; I did my best to hew as closely as possible to her description. I also incorporated aspects of ancient Egyptian art in a respectful manner in my presentations of the deities, decorative elements and borders.

This art excerpted from the cover painting (left) for Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, a book recently published by Inner Traditions and authored by Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf. I used watercolor, gouache and pencil for it; I created a total of eight paintings for the book.

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: the authors have decided to adapt the art from this book into an Egyptian-themed oracle. It will be published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. in late 2008. I’ve been reading so much about Egyptian history lately for the New Book that I’m excited to be delving back into this world!

• Filed under goddess art of the day, goddesses, recent publications, the art world | No Comments