As you know, I’m a big fan of social media.  It’s a great way to find people from all over who share common interests, reconnect with people from your past and learn what’s going on.  There is a group of artists interested in Children’s Book Illustration who “meet” on Twitter every Thursday for an hour to discuss… whatever.  (They start by handing out virtual cupcakes – always a great way to start anything!)  Just like we use the hash tag #ask during the monthly ask calls to find each other, they use #kidlitart.

I think I happened to be online during one of their chats a few weeks ago (they aren’t private – just streaming through Twitter) and someone asked something about art licensing and I replied.  Then I got a direct message asking me if I wanted to be the first “Special Guest” – someone from another art arena, to answer questions the #kidlitart twitterers had.  Why not?

So last night I spent an hour watching and typing and talking about art licensing in 140 characters or less… if you want to see what we talked about, they have the full transcript online at http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/

I got to chat with some new artists and learn that they have similar issues, just in a different arena.  We create collections, they have to create books and then figure out how to make the cover art compelling. We discussed how you almost need several art brains – one to think like you license art, one to think like an illustrator, one to figure out how to market yourself so you can keep creating art…

If you have any interest in learning more about Children’s Illustration or want to join in on their discussions – head over to Twitter on Thursdays ( 6 pm Pacific / 9 pm Eastern ) and tweet away!

Thank you to Bonnie and Wendy for inviting me – it was fun!

Here’s to your creative success!

– Tara Reed