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We’re back after our long summer break and we have a fantastic first guest of the season! Sarah Mackenzie is one of our favorite voices because of her joyful enthusiasm for good books (among other wonderful things). You may know her as the author of homeschooling classic Teaching from Rest or from her podcast Read Aloud Revival.
Sarah is a mom of six and recently, in addition to all her other good work, she started her own publishing house: Waxwing Books. Her first picture book A Little More Beautiful is available for pre-order and when you see it you’ll understand what a gift this new endeavor will be to all of us!
In this episode we talk about the good old dinosaur days of blogging, what makes a good picture book, what we think is wrong with a lot of children’s publishing, and why we’re so glad Sarah is writing children’s books. We know you’ll love this conversation so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!
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I loved this episode. All of the wonderful children’s books you mentioned are some of my favorites as well — both the authors and the illustrators. Like Haley’s daughter, I got a chance to meet Jan Brett years ago and she is such a sweet woman. She was such an inspiration to me and my work.
As an artist and illustrator, I think one of the best ways we can encourage high quality artwork in children’s books is to make sure we’re paying artists what they deserve. In my personal experience, and in the experience of fellow artist friends, sometimes publishers aren’t willing to adequately pay artists for their time. It’s especially hard when it’s a small publisher that doesn’t have the budget. Some publishers don’t offer any royalties to children’s book illustrators even though the illustrations are a huge part of the storytelling . Many artists dream of creating illustrations for children’s books, but the lack of compensation can be a big deterrent in whether or not they accept the work, especially with things like a lack of royalties. I think artists like Jan Brett who write/illustrate their own books maybe do this to have more control over things like this in their contracts.
A great way to encourage more wonderful children’s books is to advocate for both authors and illustrators to get fair compensation for their time and talents! Thank you for your wonderful podcast. I love listening.