I’ve heard that part of being in the children’s book industry is the hybernating season. I’ve made eleven books almost back to back. I’ve been lucky. But the streak paused. So what do I do when there’s no schedule? No income? Here’s 5 ways to keep myself motivated.

Work for myself
Keep connecting with my agent
Talk it out
Reflect and consume
Experiment

1: Work for myself

Number one advice I get from kidlit makers is to work on things you want to make. So I’m working on my author illustrator picture book right now. I learned way more by working on other people’s books. Because of those experiences I have a better sense when I’m working on my own.

But because I have all of the free time I make sure I set my own schedule. I work better when I have deadlines. I work the best I have bite sized goals. So I set a big goal such as “get a book done by DATE“. Then break those goal into smaller, more achievable goals.

2 : Keep connecting with my agent

Keeping my agent in the loop especially when I don’t have a book to work on is very important to me. I did this before I got my first book deal as well. I kept sending her new illustrations worth promoting. Right now we are working on books together. By communicating with my agent often, I’m hoping I’m increasing my chances of getting another book deal. She might be having a chat with an editor. Editor might be asking for illustrator reocmmendations. She might be ready to pair up an author and illustrator. I want to make sure I’m on her list.

3 : Talk it out

I’m an introvert. But I’m super lucky to have friends online and offline to talk. What surprised me the most was the community that showed up for me when I talked about my kidlit progress on my Instagram story. I celebrated my mini milestone of “submitting my dummy book to my agent“ moment. I also shared that it is our third time trying. I shared it because it was a big milestone for me. But I also thought not many would see it. I was wrong.

So many of my kidlit friends on Instagram sent me an encouraging message. They said “congratulations“ and “hoping for the best” and “it’s all part of the process“ and “keep going“. I felt happy. People say social media is different now. It’s more about selling products than socializing. But I never used social media that way. Of course I get influenced and try new shops or check out products. But I never connect with people because I want to sell stuff to them or get more followers. I connect because I admire their work and what they stand for. And when they see me, I get rediculously happy. And some relationships continues offline after the connection. And those connections often feel deeper because I’ve already shared my ups and downs online. So talking it out is scary but it also helps me connect.

4 : Reflect and consume

The word consume can give you the ick. I understand. But it can be just going outside. Go on a walk. Look up. Breathe in. It can be giving yourself permission to see outward.

Even though my mind is often consumed by book making, I don’t want to always think about books. Recently I watched my childhood favorite movie Beethoven with my daughter. It’s still a great movie. The movie reminded me to keep playing and have a sense of wander. Making children’s books can get technical. But in the end I want to have fun. I want to feel. In order to do that, I have to make sure my “soul bucket“ is full. Here’s a list of moviews I loved as a kid. Well I still do love it.

5 : Experiment

When I’m making books, it’s six months to a year of working with a set of medium. And there’s little time to experiement. Now that I don’t have any books to work on I can fully commit to experimenting. And fail fast.

So far I played around with gouache, crayons, pastels and inks. I’ve tried to start with colored backgrounds. I’ve mixed mediums. Tried different character shapes. Nowadays there’s so many tutorials and tips scattered online. I’m fully enjoying this time to explore what I like and don’t like, not what I’m good at not.

Being uncomfortable is part of the process. It feels medidative to say that I’m loving it all.