The stuff of science fiction.

Technology changes fast these days. In fact, it changes so fast that a device in my science fiction graphic novel, Earthling! went from sci-fi to commonplace between the time I wrote the first draft and the books release.

I wrote a first draft of what would become Earthling! in about 2004. Back then it was called. Bud and Gort, and I was thinking of making it into an animated short film. As the story developed I created a handheld computer that all the kids on Cosmos Academy would have. It took the place of textbooks, provided email and video calls, has a voice recognition system that can go a little wonky, has class schedules and can, of course, be hacked by industrious, inquisitive kids. I called it the Blip.

It came about when I wrote a scene with the students at their lockers and I started thinking, would they really have lockers? If this is a culture so advanced that they can harness the power of a black hole, they wouldn’t be carrying books to classes. They’d have portable computers…right?

Well, the Blip is just another in a long line of sci-fi handheld computer devices. From Star Trek to Philip K. Dick, science fiction stories are full of handheld, powerful, touch controlled, easy to use computers. But I never guessed that between my first draft in 2004 and 2012 when Earthling! comes out, that students would actually be carrying handheld, powerful, touch controlled, easy to use computers instead of text books.

The real world caught up with my science fiction gadget. The only thing the Blip has on an iPad or iPhone is that it folds down. But I’m sure that’s the next thing coming from the labs of Apple Inc.

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Three Keys to Success in Children’s Literature

Yup. Here it is. The Three Keys to Success in Kids’ Lit! I imagine you are pretty excited to read this. I mean, THREE KEYS to success! Even I can count that high and I’m an artist.

Ok, here we go…number one…. numero uno…I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s more like 8. So, how about – 8 KEYS to SUCCESS in Kids’ Lit. That way I have enough room to get to issues like – ‘Make sure you run spell check’.

So, here they are: 8 KEYS to SUCCESS in Kids’ Lit…

1. I was going to start with, ‘Stay focused’. But I keep stopping to check emails and deleted part of the list by accident.

As I think about this more, I realized I have 13 Keys. So I could call it something like, The 13 Keys to Fabulous Kids’ Lit. And that gives me room to include items like, ‘Smile more.’

13 is a horrible number. Bad luck. I mean buildings even skip that number. It’s not small enough to be catchy and not long enough to sell as a novel length How To Book.

Actually I have too many tips. So, I’m thinking ’23 Magic Steps for Success in Kids Lit.’ You don’t want to deal with 23 KEYS. Keys are heavy, they jingle, they jangle, after awhile you forget what they open or why you have them. They end up collecting dust in the drawer with spare change and nearly empty Tic-Tac containers…but 23 STEPS seems like reasonably good exercise, especially if you are like me and sit in front of a computer for 11 months of the year. But I can easily break the 23rd step into 4 additional steps…So -

The 27 Steps To Be Successful In Children’s Lit.

1. Name your book Harry Potter.

2…OK. That first one doesn’t really work, as I seem to remember that name being used already in a TV show or a movie. Or a game. Or a theme park. Or on a package of jelly beans.

You know, I’m going to regroup here because the list just keeps getting longer, which is ironic, as number 11 on the list is, ‘Keep things simple’ and I think number 19, ‘Keep getting better’, isn’t very helpful because it’s too broad.

So there you have it. I have spent months writing this post, and my 3 Steps to Kids’ Lit Success (copyright Mark Fearing, 2012) just keeps getting more complicated. And I am on deadline so I really should get back to writing the book I am working on. But if I can’t break this down to under a hundred steps, I don’t deserve to write step-based or key-based lists at all.

And yes, you could interpret this list as a sideway glance at any How To Succeed list. But I am working on a new post called – ’42 Awkward Lurches to Kids’ Lit Success’. I think 42 is exactly the right number.

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I publish, therefore I am.

The differences between self published/small press/independent comics and mainstream comic has always been obvious. The themes, art style and characters are usually very different. But because of digital distribution, work from smaller publishers has access to more readers than ever before.

Publish to a Kindle, to an iPad, to a phone. Distribute your book around the world with a click. The small press vs. mainstream publisher divide is now an issue across all publishing genres, not just comics.

I’ve been discussing independent digital publishing on a comic book forum I belong to and its made me think about what a reader expects from a small publisher vs. a mainstream publisher.

Every publisher wants as many readers as they can get. A large publisher is like a TV network. It has to define success on a much larger scale. A hit on Network TV needs, say, 8 million viewers. Where as a successful cable show often has half that – or less. A large publisher is trying to sell to a broad audience. They will choose and edit manuscripts with this in mind. There are degrees to this of course. Some writers are considered more academic, some trendy. But in general a large publisher wants to appeal to as many people as they can.

A small publisher also wants to appeal to as many people as they can. But they can sell far fewer books and still make a profit and without the extensive editing process they are more likely to have work that is less refined. Or it may mix genres in such a way that a mainstream publisher wouldn’t know how to market the book.

Of course, that’s what I often love about independent comics and graphic novels. They are eccentric and fly as high as a creators imagination can take it and as low as their weaknesses let them fall. It’s the good and the bad of doing it all yourself.

I have different expectations about what I get from an ‘Indy press’ title vs. a major publisher comic. Just like the differences between a studio film and an independent film. They can both be great entertainment experiences. Each development method has unique weaknesses and strengths. A few projects from an Indy might be exceptionally polished and refined and excellent. And every once in awhile a studio film will be highly original and dynamic.

In publishing there is room for both. And digital distribution will allow for more people to see work from smaller publishers. And some of these new readers will discover and enjoy the unique energy and creativity found in many independent titles. The fact that the material is often so different from what a large publisher releases will attract an audience that had no easy access to this material before. The small press won’t look quite so small anymore.

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What’s next?

A quick bit about what’s up next for me. I’m feeling lucky that I have a busy 12 or 14 months ahead of me. One of the odd things about working on books is the time it takes from when you sign a contract to when the book comes out. As I hammer away at projects, I have to remind myself that SOMEDAY other people will get to see it. SOMEDAY it will be a real, live, finished book. So looking ahead to these projects helps me make it through the months of toiling.

I will shortly be finishing a new picture book I am Illustrating (as long as Jury Duty doesn’t get crazy-out-of-control). I may have mentioned it in passing before, but this will be the official announcement.

I’m working on a book by David LaRochelle (a fellow Minnesotan!) and it’s one of the funniest picture book manuscripts I read in the past year or so. I am thrilled to be getting the opportunity to bring this story to visual life.

After that I have another wonderful picture book to illustrate and this one has all kinds of witches in it! I’m excited to tackle another scary book. I’ll include more about this book and the author (he is situated not that far away in the Pacific Northwest) once I start final art.

And at some point down the road I will be finishing my first picture book that I wrote and will draw. I’m really excited to jump into this project and I’m thrilled to be working with one of my favorite publishers and an editor who took the time to help me develop this story and get it in shape.

There are a few other projects bubbling away but I don’t want to mention them yet. I’ll include more details about all this as the projects are closer to being completed. I feel that if I write too much about them before I am working on final art that I will jinx them. This makes no sense, but we all cling to some kind of belief system. This is part of mine. That and talking frogs. Anyway, it will be a busy 2012 and for that I am grateful.

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What are you good at?

Every illustrator and author/illustrator has different strengths and weaknesses in their work. Of course to some extent this is subjective. But overall we naturally do some things better. For instance, don’t ask me to draw a horse unless I can hang a name tag on it.

But this issue goes beyond how realistically you draw a horse. It’s really about your ‘voice’ as an illustrator or author. Does your art feel moody and dark, silly and cheerful, whimsical and funny? When you write do you go for laughs or like to send chills down a readers spine? Do you like to draw things as we see them or bend them into a new perspective?

Part of the challenge of working in commercial art is understanding what you do well and what you don’t. The type of story that you can write easily/naturally may take huge effort from another writer. And when you are an author/illustrator (all that freedom comes with a price) the situation gets even more stacked against you. Can you hit the right tone with both your writing and your art? Do they reinforce one another and create something greater than its parts?

When I choose to illustrate a book it’s usually because it fits with my strengths and that the topic of the book is interesting to me. I like horror, Sci-fi, and wildly, silly stuff. I would never have an interest in taking on a piece of historical fiction as a writer or illustrator. It’s too far from what I do well. I admire the work when it’s done well, but it’s not for me. Same for trying to paint a picture in a ‘classical’ fairytale style. I can’t imagine doing a YA cover. I don’t do ‘serious angst’ well enough. Maybe I could pull off a really funny one…But I think I’m more likely to fit into middle grade. Maybe that’s because I never grew-up beyond that age!?

Finding what you are good at means deciding what you don’t do well. And avoiding those projects as best you can. It means saying no, more often than saying yes. And if you have the desire and ability, writing and drawing a story may be the best platform to demonstrate your unique strengths.

Of course moving out of your comfit zone is a good thing too. Just leave enough time for a project that pushes you. For instance my new 400 page graphic novel about a family of horses living on the great plaines in the late 1800′s took a lot of work. OK, that’s not true. I don’t have a horse graphic novel. That’s definitely one of the projects I won’t be doing anytime soon.

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Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

It’s worth your time to pop over and read a very good essay about the pain of failure and the fact that you have to keep doing what you love no matter the results. This was written by Sean Hood, one of the 4 credited screenwriters on Conan The Barbarian 3D. The film was released this past weekend and managed to do badly at the box office and badly with critics.

I’ve touched on the issue of trying to convince yourself to keep working on projects even when it seems like nothing positive is coming from them and nothing moves forward. I often think of the Regal tang fish Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo who repeats her mantra of ‘Just keep swimming!’ when faced with uncertainties and let downs and failures and unknown unknowns. Sean quotes Ed Wood; “My next one will be BETTER!“

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Auteur or committee

As a designer, illustrator, writer and animator I have hit this issue head-on many times. The dreaded committee decision.

The New York Times has a good article in their technology section by Randall Stross that looks at the issue by seeing how Google and Apple differ on their approaches to producing products.

It touches on many of the issues associated with committees making creative decisions. Having seen this process first hand many, many times, as have many of you, it’s interesting to look at the results the two companies have had with their products.

As a dedicated Apple fan boy (I even got to work for Apple, indirectly through a design agency, when I first moved to California and designed some Quicktime training CD’s and video tapes. I even worked at Apple’s Quicktime booth for a Macworld. I was in heaven.) I am always impressed with how beautiful Apple’s product integration is. Obviously much of the world feels the same way. And I always felt that Google was an advertising company with engineers. They don’t do anything very special, but they use technology to sell adds. Apple uses technology to mostly sell things and experiences.

Nothing is worse for a creative person than to sit down with a big group of people to make a final decision. Advice and feedback can be helpful, but when you have to make a final decision on something as subjective as art/design, a committee can’t do it. In my past when I worked at various entertainment companies there were two decision making processes that really confused me.

One was the idea that sheer intelligence will make the best creative decision. The ‘smartest’ person will make the best decision. As if creativity can be judged by who passes a fill in the blank test about American history with the highest score.

Intelligence is handy, but I don’t know of any circumstance where intelligence alone made the best subjective, creative decision. Often logic fails too when making an aesthetic decision. That’s why it is a creative process.

The other action that took place in the studios was the idea that getting a group of people who have no talent or ability in say, drawing, or writing, or design, or layout to make final decisions about these things. As if by bringing in the people furthest from knowing or caring about the issues involved, they would get a better decision. I hope that when these same executives go to a Doctor they use this same methodology and gather the opinion of an arborist, a sheet metal worker and a baker about their low white blood cell count.

In the article is the following quote: “Apple Is a Design Company With Engineers; Google Is an Engineering Company With Designers.” I’d generally agree. And I have worked in software companies where engineering lead the way and ones where marketing lead the way. Both systems have their problems. The difference was usually the people at the very top, and how they trusted the employees who were in charge of certain issues. If in the end they empowered the particular employees to make the decisions they were being paid to make.

This has been going around the net lately. I short booklet that Chris Sanders did for a Disney retreat that touches on many of the same issues. How can a creative company produce the best products.

For the most part creative processes are inclusive, especially when they are media properties, but someone in charge has to know when to pull off the committees and trust a creative person to make a creative decision.

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