Just to update this list for anyone else looking for impactful children's books: I just read "Great Big Things" by Kate Hoefler (with gorgeous illustrations by Noah Klocek) and "Seed and Trees" by Brandon Walden, and both were really good! The second definitely had a more intentional takeaway, but I liked the build up in Great Big Things to a very simple but true statement.

@carlianne Here is a another nice article I found that gives lots of good tips: http://kristivaliant.blogspot.com/2012/11/sending-art-promotional-postcards-to.html

I just thought of these two websites that I've found super helpful on this topic:

https://subitclub.com/ - All about submitting postcards. If you go to the "Postcard Post" section, it has interviews with artists who submit postcards as a marketing tactic complete with example postcards that they are using.

https://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/ - This one is an anonymous art director Q&A that is ongoing. Postcard submissions are a topic of many discussions here, definitely peruse this to get an idea of what art directors are looking for.

I definitely suggest the SCBWI Book (you have to be a member to access it) and the Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market for both helpful tips and addresses of a lot of publishers. I've only sent out two rounds of cards, but I used both of these resources.

I think the best method is to aim to send postcards 2-4 times per year (or at 3-6 month intervals) and send different cards each time. I'd recommend starting with 50 cards and sending them to all of the ones you want--writing the addresses down in a spreadsheet that details their usual genre and the name of the art director is a good idea too. If you find more later, add them to your list and send more cards the next round.

Good luck!

Jake was talking about writing down how much time he spends doing what and being accountable--I found this thing for that, it's quite nice! It's a very small program that automatically tracks how long you are working. It can track on up to three programs at a time. Definitely helpful for me! Maybe someone else will like it too:

https://kaseylsnow.tumblr.com/post/170625693229/kaseylsnow-deyvarah-neilcicierega-here-is

I am very tempted to draw Will Terry into this image......

I don't really do resolutions so much as goals, but here are mine:

-Have created 10 new illustrations by the end of the year

• Do warmup studies for 30 minutes every day, even on part time job days. Sundays optional.
• Post to social media at least 3 times a week
• Post to patreon at least once a week
• Have 1000 followers on one social media platform
• Make two youtube videos that aren’t stream VODs

Best of luck to all of us in reaching our goals this year!

@CLCanadyArts said in Twitter Just Got Ugly for Jake Parker:

@Kasey-Snow It was inevitable that this would pop up on svs, as we participate in Inktober on here. It's just a discussion. I wasn't ripping him apart, I hope that wasn't how it sounded. Just voicing some worries.

Not at all, I was just lamenting, haha. No worries.

I'm kinda sad this has made it's way to the SVS forums. It's always been a nice oasis from social media drama where I can still interact with other artists, ya know? But I suppose it was inevitable.

While I do not know Jake on a personal level, I have met him a number of times at conventions and he has never struck me as the shady or greedy sort. The few conversations I've had with him have always left me with the impression that he is a very kind person who is truly excited about the success of other artists. I think his youtube content, the podcast, and SVS itself are all testaments to that (along with Will and Lee too, of course).

My first reaction remains my current reaction: I find it really hard to believe that this was done maliciously.
If anything, this just illustrates how little is understood about copyright in the art world even among artists. I myself still have questions, but I'm willing to wait patiently while things get clarified.

It's still sad to see the amount of conclusion jumping that happened before Jake even had a chance to explain the situation; though I can't say I'm surprised given that the uproar started on Facebook and Twitter. I'm sure there will be people that write off inktober moving forward, whether from anger or fear, and that is a shame.

Can't wait to listen to this one! Very relevant to me at the moment as I'm in the process of researching and reaching out to reps. Thanks for approaching this topic in your podcast, guys!