Illustration and design, two rather different specialities, are merging into one and the same thing. Illustrators are taught how to be graphic designers with very scarce lessons on the drawing but it is not the case for graphic designers being taught to draw traditionally. It’s even evident in my own university experience, having workshops dedicated to Adobe programs in addition to illustration jobs of any area of practice asking a certain skill level with these programs. So while the definition of illustration stays constant, the career definition of an illustrator became blurry due to the abundance of skills that became required to learn in order for the creators' art not to become a relic.
“<...> the computer is an important tool for illustrators today; Five years ago, painters and drawers refused to touch the machine, lest it taints their purity”- Steven Heller
“New voices are developing in the education process. More seminars are required to address changes. More classes are needed to make students aware of what’s happening and where to look for new outlets.”- Marshal Arisman
The continued relevance of illustration lies in the intelligence brought to bear in picture making and in the ability to embrace continuous change. The greatest threat posed to illustrators and their livelihood is in continuing traditional thinking in this greatly changed arena of activity. In order to gain recognition for your work, it’s advised to self-promote in various festivals dedicated to illustration and be prepared to network. If you’re interested in self-publishing it’s common to send a quick summary and an excerpt to a publishing house that you have done research about.
Another piece of advice for book illustrators is to also explore the skill of writing. A number of illustrators have moved on from paid commissions to authorship and it seems that it has become the area for authenticity to book illustrators and a way to get your name out there.
But is it really the only option to feel like you’re making unique work? Are you by accepting commissions sell out?
The communications field has its unique strengths and limitations and requires a somewhat different mindset than the fine arts. The work of illustrators does have a specific target audience. It is usually commissioned to promote a particular idea or product. It does not usually have a reason to exist, initially, independent of the project for which it was intended. However, does this specificity of content limit your creativity?
It might help to consider the work of Michelangelo for the Medici or the Roman Popes, commissioned to promote the interests of the government and the Catholic Church. Another helpful example might be the elegant posters of Toulouse-Lautrec to promote French nightclubs. How about the portraits of the burghers by Rembrandt? No one would deny that all of this work transcends, in every way, any limitations that may have been set by the “client” or by the contemporary expectations for style and content. So, exceeded expectations.
What was that breaking moment in your career? When did you start noticing more traction towards your work?
– My life is divided into a couple of sections. I graduated with a graphic design degree and continued to search for a job connected to my degree. I didn’t have anything in common with bookmaking or illustration. My work didn’t have any connection with the illustration. I established my own design studio with a friend, well my colleague and that was our workspace. Later I made my first book, which was published in 2014 and contained my own writing and illustrations. And here begins another chapter in my life that involves bookmaking. So which part interests you more, design or bookmaking?
Bookmaking :)
– Bookmaking, alright. Bookmaking piqued my interest when I was still obtaining my master's degree in the art academy. I was working on a design project, but I discovered Lithuanian folklore tales because I had to make a chapter aimed at children. And I rediscovered those tales that I had long forgotten I was really not interested in them at the time. And because I am a writer and an illustrator the big picture is very important to me. And because my books are being sold not only because of my illustrations but also because of my writing, I don’t really get book orders. I pitched my idea for the first time to a publishing house, but only one which makes this story atypical and not educative *laughs* So I pitched my idea to only one publishing house because I really liked that they are a small business and it felt like they give a lot of attention to every book compared to bigger publishing houses. They immediately got interested and published the book and after that, I continued to communicate with them. If we’re talking about notoriety, I felt it very strongly. When the book was first published I thought that everything will happen at once. If the book is cool and original, it got in to top 5 books for children in Lithuania, I thought that people will start inviting me for interviews, would have articles written about my work, and be generally interested in my work, I don’t know… Buy as many books as they can if they have a pedigree. But it wasn’t like that. Now when I look back, because almost 10 years have passed, from when I started writing and illustrating, only now I’m starting to get attention, what I mean is that it takes so long for people to start knowing your name through acquaintances, teachers, other authors, artists, publishing houses. There is so much in this world now, even in Lithuania, that paradoxically new travel very slowly. Like an article about you can just fall from the sky and someone will read and forget about it. But for people to start associating your name with certain work or topics it takes time. Like at first I was thinking oh cool I’m getting invited to present at school, then after a couple of years, oh cool I’m getting royalties, I start getting invited to present myself and my work. And I kept guessing how much it’ll keep escalating. Up until I think from the start of the pandemic…because I still had my design studio I and my colleague were doing our own orders, designs, brands and customers would come with a particular idea in mind t=and for a long time this was my livelihood and book were just for pleasure, of course, I would get royalties but it would be very small compared how much time you spend creating a book. And when the pandemic started I made up my mind to not continue with my work as a designer, I told my colleague that I’ll come back very rarely if the projects will be tied with literature, and she’ll be the first person I will want to work with if I need a designer and that I will fully dedicate my time only for books and only with literature, I can earn money like that but it’s because without royalties I also attend paid meetings where you are presenting seminars and also organise fairs and festivals where I’m a moderator and seen as a professional in this area. So when you are able to survive in the area of your choice then it only feels that people know who you are and that you are actually succeeding, that people know your name not only from the area of other artists that do similar things but also the people of the age group you’re writing for.
– Do publishing houses send you a contract or do you have to create one yourself so you don’t get scammed?
So the publishing houses have their standard contracts. And yes if they are interested in your book they immediately send you a contract so that you wouldn’t run away anywhere and that they would be assured. But very often even not new authors or illustrators, I’m very knowledgeable about this topic because I organise a lot of events for writers and illustrators and that talk about their experiences so I know things that personally didn’t happen to me. So often the writers are just overjoyed that they are being published and they don’t care about the royalties, but of course, you should always value your hard work. In my case, I write my own stories, illustrate them and create my own design, so I always divide these three works into three sections so that the publishing house would understand that they have to pay me for every part separately and they didn’t just win a lottery where I do all the work and they pay me only as an author and not an illustrator and a designer. And often people get scared that they don’t have the facilities for commenting on that contract without a lawyer because the publishing house prepared it with one and they’re just an average joe. But you can look at the contract very simply, it is very rare for authors to go to court and have to present the contract as evidence if one of the parties didn’t fully commit to their duties. It is used to notify each party what are the expectations because there you can see all the deadlines, your percentage, future plans, for example, for how long you will give the rights of the book to the publisher. Big publishing houses are usually very vicious and prepare contracts that push out the author as soon as they can and they get the rights of the book for 10 years or fully immediately, pay a very small percentage and keeps the majority of the money for themselves. And you mustn't forget that you can always talk like a person, what if you want to give the rights away only for a couple of years, that you want a higher percentage, discuss terms and conditions. So basically the contract is a form of dialogue. Sometimes you have to ask for it yourself because there are some publishing houses that are very to take your book and say that yeah they will be selling it for a year but during that time they change their plans because they don’t have any commitment to you they don’t feel the need to notify you that hey we’re having a tough time financially we’ll publish your book next year. If you do sign a contract they have to notify you of any changes that occur from their part of duties. If you’re not happy with them you can take your work and go to another publishing house. So,
1. You have to ask for a contract if they don’t give it to you themselves.
2. Read it and make sure that you understand all the points and if you’re happy with them.
And in Lithuania, we’re trying to change the mindset of illustrators' work being less valuable than the text. That authors and illustrators would be held at the same level. So if you’re working with another person that is writing the text, you must talk to them too that both of your work should be held at the same level.
What is the standard percentage you should ask for when publishing your book?
– Well it’s very hard to define the standard percentage because the publishing houses also look at which names will attract more readers that will result in more book sales. In this case, they will give themselves a smaller amount because they know they’ll sell a lot of copies and they’ll make the money back. But when it comes to unknown authors, publishing houses only invest in their creations and they basically are taking a risk, if nobody buys the books they’ll lose a lot of money that goes into publishing. If you’re an illustrator your royalties really differ according to how many pictures you create. If you’re a writer the standard percentage in Lithuania is 15%, but I have a friend in the UK that told me that she’s getting 8%. But you also have to take into consideration that if you’re writing a book for an English audience it will reach way more readers. So keep in mind that even 5% might be a fortune compared to 15% in Lithuania. You should take into consideration how much work it’ll take to complete the work and how much you need to survive and try to find a middle. So coming back to illustrators if your work is even with the writers you should ask for the same percentage. And also there are one-time royalties, if you’re very successful publishing houses give you a one-time royalty that may be valued in thousand in addition to standard royalties. But it’s only for best-sellers and usually only writers. But for some reason, the artist only gets fixed royalties but it usually isn’t very big. In Lithuania, it could be as much as 2k but it’s a cosmic amount. But sometimes artists say that in addition to royalties they want to get 5% from the purchases because they believe that the book will do very well and the percentage will be a better option than royalties. From my experience, I tell the publishing house that they should pay me the percentage only after the books are published and not pay me the one-time royalties. That way I can get more money and for a longer time.
How do you prepare a book for mass publishing?
– Everything happens online. The writer sends a word file with text and the illustrator knowing the measurements of how big the images should be sent also a separate file and then it is a job of a designer to put everything together usually using InDesign and preparing the file for offset printing, you’re printing digitally, only one copy each time. Offset printing is more commercial and cheaper to produce. But today it is more usual to send a quick summary and an excerpt to a publishing house that you have done research about and they have people working to find new talents and reading manuscripts and they look at the digital version and if they’re interested they will contact you.
What publishing house is more likely to take a risk on new authors in Lithuania?
– I think all of them are quite similar but they always look at the contents. For example, if you create a book for children, there aren’t many publishers specialising in children’s books. So the publishers that are just for children’s books are “Tikra Knyga”, they’re the ones looking for high-quality illustrations, picturebooks, they work a lot with foreign publishers to sell the rights to them and get the book translated and be spread around the world. Publisher “Nieko Rimto” specialises in Lithuanian authors alongside foreign ones, but they are a very publishing house and they aren’t very friendly for artists. They massively produce your work and they know that they’ll put your name out there quickly so they don’t really pay you that much if you just started publishing. Of course, there is “Alma Littera” and their published books are aimed at what is considered popular at the time, also a lot of children’s books but not very friendly for contemporary out of the box authors. The publisher I’m working with “Aukso Zuvys” is more centred around historical books. There is also “Tito Alba”, “Baltos lankos” that don’t publish children’s books. But also keep in mind that a lot of publishers in Lithuania only print foreign books because it’s cheaper for them to buy the rights than to pay royalties for illustrators, designers and writers, so they don’t communicate with Lithuanian authors. But if you want to work as only an illustrator you should do research about the publishing houses because all of them are open to new talents. So, for illustrators, it is better to send their portfolio highlighting what kind of books you want to illustrate and present your style. It is also very useful to show your work for the first time in Lithuania is through competitions. There is a competition called “Svieskime vaikus”, the committee is very professional and they pick out very valuable books and massively print them, give some to libraries and put them on shelves.
Are there any trends in Lithuania for books?
– There is an institution for Lithuanian culture who are responsible for the exposure of Lithuanian authors, writers, and illustrators. They do exchanges, catalogues and they are similar to Bologna’s Children’s Book Fair, which is the most important Children’s Book Fair in Europe and one of the trends I noticed is that right now it is very valuable to illustrate traditionally with a lot of texture without using the computer or vectors. So I think illustrators in Lithuania are more focused on these trends. But the book topic really depends on your audience. But you can check what books were for example in the top 10 in certain countries according to themes. Always know your reader and make up an image of them in your head and create the illustrations for them. Because people always feel the energy even if you take a niche topic if the reader sees your passions they will be interested in the book. For example, my son is really into big cars and if there was an author that would be just as passionate about trash trucks, firetrucks and so on I’m there would be hundreds of moms that would get the book for their kids. But there are also Children’s books that are more subtle and sensitive that just peak my own interest and I buy them for the kids to see the author's perspective. Also, the Lithuanian institute of culture selects one author every year for Bologne’s Children’s Book Fair to see the big picture of popular books and make new connections with foreign publishers.
How do you deal with criticism?
– When I have a manuscript I show it to not only my close circle of friends but also to professionals. When you aren’t a novice usually a publisher will also be interested in seeing your work progress and if you ask for feedback they’ll surely give it to you. But it is also important to show it to an average person so you wouldn’t get caught up in trends and your own professionalism and just hear very straightforward feedback “That’s weird. That’s ugly. That’s pretty”. If I feel unsure about some part and I get feedback that it’s not working that well, I do change it, but if I have an argument about a part that I like but others don’t I don’t. It is also important put away your work somewhere in a drawer so you can come back to it with fresh eyes. But of course, I did have some situations where I didn’t like what ending I came up with for a story and I just dropped everything even though I was halfway there. But if you seek feedback during your work process and if you get bad reviews when you publish your book, you already had your answer as to why it performed badly.
Is there a lot of competition and bad-spirited people in the Lithuanian art scene?
– Because I organise events and I talk to a lot of authors. I can say that the art scene is rather friendly because everyone goes to the same competitions (there aren’t many in Lithuania) and fairs. So everyone kind of knows each other. What I noticed is that authors are usually more sensitive ones, illustrators are used to getting some sort of text and direction that their work should look a certain way so they’re more prone to looking at their work as a craft and should be able to negotiate and are flexible. Writers are usually the most vicious ones, the text is like their baby, so if anyone critiques them they can get very emotional. Of course, there’s jealousy at the award shows and stuff but I am more for a sense of community and sharing your knowledge and for a feel of a safe space.
