How Do I Get Noticed?

I've always been a shy person. As a kid it was my little sister who grabbed all the attention - not a small source of embarrassment for me. In high school I enjoyed a short sprint as a local celebrity in my church youth group, but that quickly disappeared when we entered the "no man's land" of single adulthood (You might have had to have been in churches back in the 70's to understand that one, I guess).

But the key (and this is why it's taken so long for me to become a professional illustrator) to becoming successful in the commercial art world is publicity. I have to get my stuff out there, in front of thousands of other people just like me, trying to get noticed. All of this in a world that appears anyway to be losing any interest in drawn art for the photographic kind.

Not that I'm complaining. I just want to reach my goal. I just want to be a part of the illustrative environment. I just want to tell stories through my art. I love that.

And how do I do that?

1. Practice.

2. Join organizations associated with my field. Recently I became a part of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). That automatically brings me into the same room with art directors and publishers. I love what I'm getting out of this group and the great people I'm meeting there. Certainly more to come from this.

3. Practice.

4. Up my presence on Social Media. Hey, how about a blog? That's a good idea. Twitter seems to be a good connection, too. Slowly, I'm learning to open up and talk about myself and I'm trying to learn the fine art of sharing my skills without coming across as an advertisement.

5. Yeah, keep practicing.

6. Study as much of other illustrators, their work and what they have to teach you, as I can. There is no way to express how much easier this is today with the internet. Of course, one of the first things I learned is that it seems to be very popular and easy to get noticed with porn than any other subject. Okay, let's just stroll over here to option two.

7. You're not there yet. Keep practicing. (Just a side note here: you never really get to "there." Just keep practicing.)

I'm learning to ask myself what do people want to see? That gets me noticed on sites like Etsy and Zassle. I'll get there. I'll do it. I AM AN ILLUSTRATOR. Oh, that's number 8.

8. Believe in yourself.