We were lucky to catch up with Susan Detwiler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Susan, appreciate you joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

As an illustrator, essentially a solitary activity, I chose to freelance early in my career. Working by oneself and for oneself has its benefits, such as control of when and how work is done, which is helpful to the work/life balance, and the ability to pursue an activity that is pleasant and fulfilling. But a downside to having complete control is also having complete responsibility for my business; even though I’d love to create artwork all day, I am also obligated to keep the business going by accurate bookkeeping, promotion/advertising, contracts/fee negotiations. The business side can be outsourced to other people or by the use of software, of course, and the tools offered by sites such as Upwork, Inc. and Fiverr and Thumbtack can be helpful. But the cost/benefit ratio has to be taken into consideration for each freelancer’s business.

Illustration, especially of children’s books, which is my specialty, is a very competitive field. There are more illustrators now than ever, and the technology of illustration has seen huge leaps since I began. It is difficult to get noticed, and even when one has been published and the books have won awards, there is no guarantee of future success.

Another challenge to profitability that I must mention is the idea that because artists love what they do, some clients balk at the price of the artwork in a way that they would not question other professional services.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I always loved to draw, and wanted to make my living as an artist. I had a great art teacher in high school, Kurt Bittle. With his encouragement I sought out ways to use art at school; I was active in the art program, volunteered to design and screen print all the posters for the theater productions and was the art editor of our school’s literary magazine. After high school, I went to the Maryland Institute College of Art and studied graphic design and illustration. I had jobs as a sign painter and silkscreen print designer, and then in the art department at a small offset printing company. I landed a job as a staff illustrator at an ad agency, and from there I made many contacts and took freelance assignments. When I got my first contract to illustrate a book for children, I left my ad agency job and freelanced exclusively.

I sometimes joke that my motto is I will draw anything for money, and although that’s not strictly true, I do pride myself in the variety of assignments I will undertake and the different styles I employ in my artwork, depending on what will best serve the client’s needs and suit the end product. I have made illustrations of many kinds, from depicting industrial equipment for brochures, detailed medical illustrations for a Johns Hopkins newsletter to talking tree characters in a picture book. I work in pencil, ink, watercolor, pastel, and digital and often mix these media.

So far there is only one book published for which I am both author and illustrator, and that is Fine Life for a Country Mouse (Grosset&Dunlap, 2014). It remains dear to my heart and my favorite title. The manuscript went through several changes over the decade that I sought a publisher. While it got rejected many times, I learned and grew, and the book is one that I am very proud of! I am continuing to write and hope to have more books published as an author/illustrator.

It is more difficult to choose which book I am most proud of as an illustrator. I view each picture book project a bit like puzzle to be solved. Questions need to be answered, such as what image best depicts this part of the story? What point of view conveys the feeling of this scene? Which illustration style and medium suit this story? Sometimes I get a very clear set of images in my mind immediately upon reading a manuscript, as was the case for the book One Wolf Howls by Scotti Cohn (Sylvan Dell, 2009). However, sometimes a manuscript poses greater challenges. When I created the illustrations for The Sparrow and the Trees by Sharon Chriscoe (Arbordale, 2015), several aspects of the story required careful thought. I had to figure a way to depict the very large tree characters talking to the tiny protagonist. It was also important to let the Native American origin of the story shine through, even though there are no human characters in the story.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Perhaps selfishly, I hope that my illustrations and especially the books I have illustrated outlive me. I was enthralled and inspired by the book illustrations I saw as a child, and there is nothing more rewarding than to have a child tell me that one of my books is their favorite. I guess all artists like to have their work admired; for me when this positive reaction comes from children it brings true joy.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The first picture book I illustrated was published before I was 30, and I mistakenly assumed that others would quickly follow. But I found that it is difficult to get an illustration contract from a publisher, and extremely time-consuming to illustrate each book. When my children were small I found that my schedule was too full to take on any project that required intense focus or had tight deadlines. So my workload has ebbed and flowed over the years, and most of the children’s books I have done have been since my kids were grown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://susandetwiler.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanDetwilerCustomArtwork/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-detwiler-b58a1a3b/
• Other: https://childrensillustrators.com/susandetwiler/portfolio https://detsu.threadless.com/