Since Podcasts are important for gaining the interest of young people and for opening up public speaking opportunities, this step-by-step guide to creating a podcast is one you might like to bookmark. Belinda Pollard used an iPhone and an iMac to produce her first podcast of an interview with an author. http://www.smallbluedog.com/how-i-created-my-first-podcast.html?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost . Interspersed with the step by step approach are notes about what she learned in the process, eg If you are conducting a podcast interview it is important to brief your interviewee on things like how close to hold the microphone to the mouth and exactly how long the podcast interview process will take. It is best to get all your raw audio clips ready before proceeding to the editing software.

For those illustrators who also dabble in graphic design, or who spend time thinking about your colour palettes before beginning your digital illustrations (or suspect it could be very helpful)– this delightful article is just for you. Once you have clicked to the link, use the arrow on the right hand side of the picture to will scroll through 33 examples of Disney Pixar children's animations together with the 5 colour swatch palettes used to create them. http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2015/05/11/these-disneypixar-palettes-are-the-most-aesthetically-pleasing-things-youll-see-all-day/?cmp=SMC|none|natural|blgomd|OMDMay|TWT|pixarpal-DisneyPixar|InHouse|2015-0511|||esocialmedia#Brave . Studying the colour saturations, tones and interplay of accent colours with colour groups will help you create more aesthetically pleasing illustrations.

One of the things an illustrator has to show in a portfolio is versatility. Having at least one image in your portfolio set at night time will add a degree of professionalism to your portfolio, because many illustrators forget just how many stories have action taking place at night time. This web-link is primarily about night-time photography, but it contains some excellent ideas for composition and lighting effects: http://clickitupanotch.com/2011/09/6-tips-for-night-photography/#_a5y_p=1152663?hootPostID=8b4617276c29bbe2f1c6f87b555b9747

On the spectrum between self-publishing and traditional publishing is hybrid publishing. It may be a good option for some writers, but only if they do sufficient research first and read any contract carefully. This article has a useful list of questions to ask any hybrid publisher before agreeing to publish with them: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/66658-not-all-hybrid-publishers-are-created-equal.html?utm_content=buffer5b730&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer . Two of those questions are 'What marketing and promotional support is there?' and 'Can I speak with recent authors who have published with you?'.