42: Style as positioning

The secret to get into more hiring conversations

Until you become a category of one. you need to pick a category. The job of an art director or commissioning editor is to match illustrators and stories and text.

It’s super helpful if your style clearly demonstrates what categories of stories you want to be matched with.

There are practicalities in every industry that inform the style.

Your style demonstrate that you understand the practicalities of the position your are taking up in the market.

If you don’t pick a specialized position you don’t get to be picked for the specialized jobs.

I picked my position by choosing 3 artist I admire that are very successful children’s illustrators, I developed a style that combines the spirit of these illustrators. (Humor, Playfulness, Expressiveness) Then I targeted a limited subject matter. (Non-Fiction for Kids)

In some sense it may seem like I’m limiting my options, but actually I’m widening them by putting myself in more conversations when my books need to be made in my niche, or slightly outside of it.

If you don’t pick a position which conversation are you expecting to be a part of? How do you want the people who hire illustrators to think or talk about you?

Close the gap

Pick a category