Mimi's Newsletter - Bologna Children's Book Fair! (Patreon)

Buongiorno from Bologna!

At last I'm at the Bologna Children's Book Fair and I want to tell you all about it!

The Book Fair is a 4 day event from March 6-9th so so far I've been to the first two days. The fair has lots to see for authors, illustrators and publishers, and is so much bigger than I thought it would be! There are lots and lots of publishers with their own stalls showing their books, there are talks and workshops for illustrators and authors, there are lots of meetings happening with publishers, and illustrators can attend portfolio reviews to show off their portfolios.

I'm just going for a few hours each day because the fair is so big and it's quite exhausting so I'm splitting my time up across the four days rather than trying to see it all at once 😅

My favourite thing about the fair so far has been meeting lots of other illustrators which has been really lovely! I got to meet Ana from our Patreon community yesterday, and a few art friends from Instagram too. I even had a couple of people recognise me from my YouTube channel which is definitely a first for me!

Something really cool that they have at the fair is the illustrator wall where illustrators can put their stickers or posters to promote themselves and it is huge. There are literally thousands of illustrators there and I could probably spend all day browsing the wall and looking at all of the different art styles.

They also have talks on throughout the day in different areas of the fair. I went to a talk about AI art which was interesting but it was mostly just explaining what it was, and then I went to a talk about getting illustration clients hosted by AOI (The Association of Illustrators).

The advice about getting clients was largely about doing research about where to send a portfolio (via company/publisher websites, social media, local magazines etc), making sure that your portfolio is relevant to the client, and keeping your emails short and simple. She said that it's essential these days to have a portfolio website of some kind that you can send to clients or publishers that you would like to work for rather than only having a physical or pdf portfolio.

I like that they also emphasised the fact that a lot of clients will hold on to your info for a while until the right project comes along so if you don't immediately get a job with them they might be keeping you in mind for something in the future. When I was asked to illustrate my first picture book with HarperCollins Australia they said that they had been following me for a while and were waiting for the right text to come along to suit my style - so you never know when an opportunity might come along if you keep putting your art out there!

So here are a few things that I've learned from the fair so far:

There are so many different art styles used in picture books, so if your style doesn't fit the 'traditional' look of children's books it certainly doesn't mean that there isn't a market for it

There are lots and lots of illustrators out there wanting to be seen which is quite intimidating at first, but at the same time we are all so unique and there are also lots of publishers out there looking for illustrators for their books

It's hard to be seen unless you put yourself out there, so whether it's on social media, at book fairs or by sending your portfolio to people, be sure to share what you're creating so that the world can see you. You never know when you'll reach the right person!

I'm having a nice time at the fair and I'm so glad that I can share some of it with you! 🥰 I'm also going to be making a YouTube video about it that I'll probably release at the end of the month.

I hope you're having a nice start to March!