Books Saved My Life. Here's Why That Matters for Yours.

The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle - Issue #58

Over the past two weeks, I wrote about the three forces reshaping the world of children’s books and the three things your book needs to really connect. This week is more personal. This is my Why–why I do this work and what Children’s Book Mastery is built on, and why I believe that what you’re creating is so important. (I’m also claiming my em-dashes back, because man… I’ve loved them for years and I hate writing without them.)

Books saved my life in many ways. I was an extremely shy child, like next-level shy. I had few friends, and I struggled to communicate with people. When I was seven, I got glasses, and kids made fun of me, which made my shyness and feeling isolated even worse. I felt disliked and like I didn’t belong.

Mini-Karen (in the middle).

Books were an escape, but they were more than that. They were a window into the world, into others, and into myself, to see all the possibilities out there. Books made me feel like I could bring what I read into my own life.

In the year I turned eleven, I read more than four hundred books in one year. Many of them impacted me, but one that I still remember to this day–Nils Holgersson’s Wonderful Journey Through Sweden. If you’re not familiar with this book, it’s about a boy who, as a punishment for being cruel to animals, gets shrunk. This leads to him traveling across Sweden on the back of a goose, having many adventures, and gradually becoming kinder and braver.

While I still remember the concept of the story, it’s really the feeling it gave me that changed how I see things and stuck with me. It made me see there’s a whole wide world out there and that a child, even completely alone, can be brave and feel alive and have adventures. And that a child that started out lazy and mean could grow and become someone better and something more.

So, from a young age, I fell in love with books. I also loved writing and creating art for as long as I can remember. I was torn between studying design or psychology, because I strongly wanted to help people, but when I thought about the everyday reality of waking up and heading off to my job, the idea of art excited me more.

This led me to study textile design (the art of creating patterns and designs for fabric) after school. This gave me a deeper understanding of illustration, creating art in different media, and the different aspects of what makes a strong design. It also made me fully realise art should make you feelsomething, not just look good.

Even so, after completing my studies, I went straight into full-time studying for years to become a qualified counselor. I counselled others through their experiences and trauma full time for years, helping them to become more themselves. This has given me a deep understanding of the human mind, trauma, and how our past deeply affects us, and it’s work I still do voluntarily to this day.

After a few years of counseling, though, I missed my art too much. I started in my free time, entering contests. After winning a few, I realised I could do this for a living. I got into illustrating animated videos and then started animating.

I had some fantastic opportunities along the way, creating illustrations, videos, and designs for major international brands like Verizon, Citibank, Dell, HP, Toyota, and more, which gave me a strong grounding in professional creative production. My most memorable project was working with three-time Emmy-award winning producer, Tom Cohen, on an anti-bear hunting short film. I learned so much about storytelling and evoking emotion from him. It brought together my passion for art and passion to help, and took my understanding of art and human emotion to a new level.

But I always felt drawn to creating books and managed to get myself into that world. (My first job was a nightmare! Most authors are wonderful, but unfortunately, some aren’t. But that didn’t dissuade me. :)) Illustrating and creating books is unlike anything I’ve experienced, and feels like home.

An illustration I created for my upcoming picture book, Lilou’s Lost Rainbow.

Struggles I Kept Seeing

After a while, I started my illustration company, GetYourBookIllustrations. Working with many authors, I saw that most authors struggle with two challenges.

First, their manuscript (which they poured their heart into and were so excited about) didn’t work. It failed to follow the invisible rules of picture books I mentioned in last week’s edition, The Three Connections: What It Actually Takes to Write a Book That Matters. It wasn’t their fault; it’s just because nobody taught them those things.

And often we’d complete illustrating and designing a book. The author would love it, excited and full of praise. Then, with their book ready to publish, they’d ask, “What do I do now?” Every time this happened, my heart would crack a little. I would think to myself, “You just spent so much of your time, energy, and money creating this book, and I already know it’s going to sell almost no copies…” Because they didn’t have a plan to get it into readers’ hands.

What many authors don’t realise, even today, is that no matter how great a book you write, if you don’t have a plan to market it, it won’t go anywhere.

This was the birth of Children’s Book Mastery. I went from having only an illustration company to helping people with all parts of the book journey so they could write and create wonderful, beautiful books and get them into readers’ hands. This is what I’ve devoted my life to, because I believe books change the world.

Which Brings Us to My Why

My purpose as a human being is to uplift others and make the world more beautiful through art and aesthetics.

Working with authors, my mission is to bring about a better world by empowering them to create beautiful children’s books that uplift children and make them feel seen and heard.

CBM Author Coaching members Sandy Ecker, Pat J Wheeler and Nancy Pushkar with their beautiful books. Illustrated by GetYourBookIllustrations.

And if you read edition 56, The Three Forces Reshaping the World of Children’s Books, you’ll understand why I’m more passionate about that purpose now than ever.

Children need good books that can help them navigate this world.

This is also why I am so anti-AI writing or illustrating books. Books changed my life. Would I want that to come from a machine? Categorically, no.

I know I’m not unique in what books meant to me. Books have helped millions. This is what we can create for people. If you have this opportunity why would you pawn it off to a machine?

Children’s books deserve forever to be something human to human.

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A different approach

My background

This background gives me a deep passion and care for children’s books and the authors I work with. But passion and care alone aren’t enough. In the publishing industry, there is a meeting of art, technicality, marketing, and business, and through lived experience, I have gained a deep understanding of these areas.

Interestingly, I think living in South Africa, off the crossroads of the publishing world, has also given me a unique perspective. In doing art all my life and studying it after school, I saw from a young age that opinion and preference enter as much as “fact.” For instance, in school I would create a piece I loved, and the teacher would give it a mediocre mark. I recall one time creating a piece I didn’t like, and I got an A+ for it. The reality is that the moment you try to quantify or grade art, you’re in muddied waters.

This is why some books get rejected many times and then end up becoming a global phenomenon. There is no yardstick or exact criteria like math and engineering.

Now, I’m not saying I have all the knowledge of a top agent or publisher, but having a more open mind means I’m less likely to dismiss a manuscript that breaks the supposed-tos, and some of the most beloved books in history did exactly that.

On top of that, South Africa is home to 11 official languages and more cultures than most countries will ever know (that’s why we’re called the Rainbow Nation!). This means that diversity and mutual understanding are not ideas to me. They’re part of my everyday life.

My family is also a little bit of a rainbow. :) Photo credit: Oakpics

Start from zero (or minus one)

I believe in the fundamentals. In consuming countless books, training, articles and videos about children’s books and self-publishing, I saw that often, the foundation is missing. While there are, of course, nuances and more advanced techniques, I find that many assume authors will understand certain terms or techniques when they don’t.

I start from zero. I never assume, and I define everything. I believe when you have the fundamentals down, you have 90%, if not 99%, of what you need. The authors of a hundred years ago didn’t take endless online classes (or any classes!).

That said, picture books have many invisible rules, as I’ve mentioned, and training and coaching is absolutely valuable to learn how to create outstanding picture books.

I’m a big fan of and believer in training. I’ve seen it work time and time again. BUT…

• focusing too much on advanced techniques while missing the foundation means your house will tumble down.

• overcomplicating things leads to stagnation. Trying to think about 57 writing craft techniques all at once while you revise your manuscript won’t help you. It will only cause you to stall.

So I firmly believe…

Learn the fundamentals well, starting with crystal-clear basics, and you’ll succeed.

And this is how I teach.

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What we’re doing matters

Lastly, because I truly believe that what we are doing matters, I hold it sacred.

In the last edition, I wrote about the “sausage factory” that started even pre-AI, and AI has exacerbated it dramatically. So here I stand, waving my anti-sausage factory banner.

Not only do I believe in creating high-quality books because that’s what children deserve, but also that illustrators and authors matter. I have strong feelings about illustrators getting paid so little that they can barely make a living. When I see authors thinking that their stories don’t really matter, it saddens me.

There are many symptoms of this. Self-doubt, simply giving up and never publishing, taking shortcuts or not creating the best book you can, whether that is not investing the time and effort into your writing craft or illustrations, or editing or book design, or all of the above.

If the authors and publishers who created those books that changed my life believe their stories didn’t matter, I may have never gotten to hold those books in my hands and my heart. It may be hard to believe that your book will matter as much as some books you’ve read, but that doubt may not be true at all.

Your story could impact a child’s life if you take the care to craft it beautifully.

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Over to You!

Did anything I said resonate with you? What brought you to where you are, wanting to write for children? What do you hope children will take away from your book(s)?

Hit reply and let me know. I would love to read your answer.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me. This has been a walk down memory lane for me, and I hope parts of it have resonated with you and inspired you.

And if you’re ready to create a book that truly connects, and you’d like to know how I can help you do that, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below or reach out at karen@childrensbookmastery.com.