In my last blog, I introduced how the concept of my book started life. The journey to becoming a published author had begun…
After drafting my tale of “The Best Mummy Snails in the Whole Wide World” using the school pets as the stars of the story, a teacher in my school used graphics to put together a presentation to share with children in our school. But to really get the story to take off, I needed to have striking, original pictures to wow the reader.
Now I love drawing and painting but as I work long hours in my full time job in school, time was too tight for me to create the initial drawings. I found myself talking about my project with a few people who suggested different illustrators I could work with.
So along came Ben. Ben Blacknall, a friend of a friend who also happens to be a local artist. I shared the concept with him over the phone and he agreed to meet to talk further. Why Ben? Well, he had already illustrated a couple of children’s books that had been published on a small scale for a local primary school and we clicked straight away.
We met one cold morning in a supermarket coffee shop and I shared the story. He immediately loved it and gave me great feedback. Over a coffee we talked through what I wanted for my book. We talked a lot. I explained the style I wanted and he immediately understood what I was looking for. Big bold colours, simple design and engaging character images. We were to meet a number of times throughout the editing process but you will find more out about that in later blogs.
It wasn’t long before concept images began coming through, thick and fast.
In my next blog, we will go on my editing journey…
Troy Jenkinson 