If you have been looking for some encouragement to dust off your blog and keep it going, then this article will help because it explains why regular blogging makes a writer more attractive to publishers. Because 1) Bloggers have a platform/readership tribe, 2) Bloggers test their ideas and get feedback on what works through analytics, 3) A long term blogger creates subject matter credibility, 4) Blogging gets you thinking not just like a writer but also like a salesperson, and 5) If you are blogging then you are writing, and the more writing you do the better writer you will become.
http://michaelhyatt.com/5-reasons-publishers-love-bloggers.html?utm_content=bufferb9071&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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A perennial question is, 'What does an art director look for in an illustrator?' In this article Giuseppe Castellano answers that question from his perspective. He starts with what the text needs. Once he has a list of those needs (eg eerie, bold, black & white) he goes looking for illustrators who can deliver quality in those areas (strong character design, an understanding of colour theory, compositional intelligence, consistency and an ability to command the medium). He then searches widely online and offline, and appreciates professionally done postcards. An up-to-date website that showcases only your best work is essential. If your work meets the needs and quality requirements AND fits with the tone of the story, then you will make his short list.
http://www.gcastellano.com/arttips/2014/12/16/what-does-a-childrens-book-art-director-look-for

So any illustrator who wants steady work should be doing four things: 1) getting independent feedback on what kind of atmospheric qualities and story tone your style melds with, 2) research into the atmosphere and tone of recently published illustrated books as possible, 3) working out what sub-genre of children's books you have the best synergy with, and making contact with agents, publishers and art directors who do a significant amount of work in that sub-genre, and 4) working hard on improving the technical quality of your artwork.​

Here are some highlights from Jacqui Honeywood's CYA Conference session on Social Media and Blogging:

Her blogs are http://b-brand.blogspot.com.au/ and http://crapmamma.com/ and she can be found on Twitter at @BBRANDjac and @CRAPMamma .

Jacqui compared for us the conversion-to-sales power of the 'I've put so much work into this book, it's fantastic, buy it!' approach to the 'this is the situation in my life that I was struggling with that caused me to write this book to help my son' approach. The back story to the book sells far more copies, and the beauty of social media is that it gives us the ability to share the background to our stories and why you wrote them.

Your first aim is to grow your online readers. Your second aim is to sell your product.

Successful social media use includes blogging, and requires work on both strategy (technical) and community (speaking to people online).

Technical things are like defining your audience, setting objectives and doing search engine optimization (SEO).

Community things are like engaging, responding, commenting, sharing and connecting.

Why blog?
To connect with your audience
To maintain an ongoing connection
To keep relevant
To have an online presence
To promote a brand
To give credibility to your work
To personalise your stuff, your product
To engage a sense of loyalty
   It is very important to respond to comments and to comment on other blogs.

What will you blog about?
The community that you want to tap into probably already exists. Instead, think about how you can help that community do what it wants to do. Remember, blogging is not about you, it is about them.

Your content has to be of value to your audience.
Does it motivate?
Does it educate?
Does it inspire?
Is it authentic?
Is it helpful?
Does it provide solutions?
Does it elicit emotion? (If it does, it will provoke more likes and shares)

As long as you are doing that with most of your content, you can filter in some of your promotional stuff.

At the end of your blog post you need a call to action.

Before you hit 'publish', take a moment to consider whether this blog post will work towards your strategy and community objectives. If the answer is 'Yes' hit that button, if 'No' then some re-writing and re-thinking is required first.



If you would like a copy of the more detailed Conference Notes that are being sent out to CBHunCC members via email, send through your name and email address through the Contact page.

These notes from a recent local SCBWI workshop on portfolio preparation are well worth a read, especially if you are currently revamping your illustration portfolio. http://www.scbwiaustralianz.com/our-blog/2015/5/19/perfect-your-portfolio-with-donna-rawlins . Donna Rawlins' list of what to include in a portfolio contains some unusual elements. For example she suggests that you include a nursery rhyme with associated text, a story board for an already published book, and a book cover for a novel. Including black and white illustration work could double your chances of being selected as an illustrator by a publisher. "Most successful submissions clearly demonstrate the artist’s connection with and love for books."

This next article would have to be the best ever about the sales difference between marketing a book and building a platform. You have to get near the end before you come across Scenario 1 (with all the common mistakes new authors make in trying to sell their first book) and Scenario 2 (a different approach with regular blogging, and an emphasis on being helpful), but they are 'Must Read': http://timgrahl.com/when-should-you-start-marketing-your-book/?utm_content=buffer36c1d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer . The top take home tip is 'Your number 1 job as a writer is not to simply write your next book, but to build a platform that will support your entire career.'

Of course, illustrators should also be building a platform too!

This featured link is a very good example of an illustrator showing her process on her blog – in this case the development of a book cover. http://kristenmargiotta.com/gustav-gloom-and-the-inn-of-shadows-cover-process/ . She works in oils, and from the background to the foreground. She intersperses explanatory text with pictures, and shows the initial thumbnail sketches, the final sketch, the preparation of the surface and the preparation of the oil paints, and then a series of four pictures from background only to final art. Putting that blog-post together would have taken a lot of time and effort, but the payoff is that anyone commissioning her will have a greater understanding of how long it took to produce the final art and because of that will be willing to pay her accordingly. 

How to inject humour into writing is a subject that surprisingly doesn't come up often. But humour is essential to keeping young readers engaged.  The suggestions in this guest blog-post from Anna Staniszewski are helpful https://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/making-stories-funny/ . 1) the more you exaggerate the more fun you will have; 2) put two contrasting traits in the same character; and 3) go for the unexpected, but make it a surprise and not bizarre.

Because blogging is an essential part of a writer's and illustrator's long term marketing plan, this next article written by someone with 15 years blogging experience is a 'must read', http://dashes.com/anil/2014/09/15-lessons-from-15-years-of-blogging.html . Of his 15 lessons, these ones stand out for me: 'Link to everything you create elsewhere on the web, and if possible, save a copy of it on your own blog'. 'There is absolutely no pattern to which blog posts people will like'. 'Leave them wanting more', ie it is better to write a little on a subject frequently than to write a single long magnum opus.

This next rather long article answers the question, 'So how do I write a synopsis for a non-fiction book?' and gives several actual examples of both good and bad synopses: http://www.annemini.com/?cat=337. For those who read all the way through there are enough dollops of humour along the way to keep you reading. Some of the excellent advice goes like this:
(a) regardless of the tense of the manuscript, the synopsis should be in the present tense, and
(b) even if the manuscript is written in the first person, the synopsis should be written in the third person, UNLESS
(c) the manuscript being synopsized is a memoir, in which case the synopsis should be written in the past tense and the first person.

If you have ever wondered how other people run online promotions for their books? 
The following blog-post from Darcy Pattison may answer your questions:
http://www.darcypattison.com/pr-notes/online-contest/
In it she interviews 3 authors who have blogs, at least 2 of whom write for children, about their experiences with running online book promotions. The main tips are: keep it simple to enter, put 'Contest' in the title of the blog-posts that talk about the online competition, and keep the length of the competition short.