We were lucky to catch up with Katie Gigliotti recently and have shared our conversation below.
Katie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Learning to write and illustrate picture books was quite an adventure! It began with a free Facebook class, which led to a deep dive into writing stories. I scoured the internet for anything I could find – reading and watching everything writing related. In those early days, I must have had at least 100 ideas, but I had a problem. Who would illustrate my stories? Unbeknownst to my recent obsession, an old colleague reached out and asked if *gasp* I could illustrate a book for her. Even as an art teacher, it had never occurred to me that I could possibly take on the role. Thus began another deep dive into the world of illustration. After completing her book, I was hooked. I had finally found a passion I could stick with. After beginning work on my own story I *surprise* had to learn another new skill – formatting and publishing. Back to the internet I went, finding out all I could and muddling through the whole process. After a year of trial and error, late nights, and more headaches than I can imagine – I ended up publishing my first children’s book, Wander World.
During all of this discovery, I was mostly on my own – learning, but not able to bounce ideas off of anyone. That’s when I learned about SCBWI, or the society of children’s book writers and illustrators. After joining, I was able to get plugged into my local chapter and for the first time, able to meet other children’s book authors and illustrators. This was a game-changer. Now that I was part of critique groups, I was able to expand my knowledge and get real feedback.
As I started to write and illustrate my second book, I knew I wanted to up my game. That’s when I joined Storyteller Academy. I spent months watching all their content, soaking in as much as a could. I experimented with different illustration styles, taught myself how to draw digitally, and the ins and outs of the adobe suite.
Since then, I’ve learned countless tips and tricks from various sources. I’ve met some amazing and talented authors and illustrators, and realized that the children’s book industry – and the people that make it up – are the most amazing group of people out there. Always willing to lend a helping hand, a word of advice, or a much needed pat on the back – they aren’t of the scarcity mindset.
The only thing I still have left to crack the code on, is marketing. Despite spending the better part of the past 5 years trying to learn all I can, it’s the area I struggle with the most. Since I sincerely believe that you can always learn something new, I have never stopped taking in information and learning new things – which has made each of my books that much better.
Knowing what I know now, I realize that if I had invested more money in classes and coaching – instead of trying to learn it all on my own for free – I would have saved myself a lot of time, and probably a lot of frustration. That’s what you get for being cheap, I guess.
If I could go back and time and do it all over again, I would have researched marketing before ever learning how to write, illustrate, design, format, and publish a book. If you’re trying to turn a profit, knowing your audience – and what they want – is much more important than all the fantastic illustrations and beautiful words combined.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I first got into writing and illustrating children’s books when the world slowed down a bit in 2020. My children were getting a little older and although I’ve always enjoyed anything arts and crafts related, my neurospicyness kept me from sticking to one thing. I have a whole graveyard of speciality art supplies that are collecting dust to prove it. I mean, who wants to make the same thing, over and over again? I felt like I’d never find my niche. When I discovered the world of picture books, I dove in, head first as I usually do. But what I wasn’t expecting, was to fall in love with it. After 5 years, I’m still thinking of the next story, planning out book dummies, and trying to get the word out there about my stories.
What I enjoy most about it, is that every story – although set up similarly – is different enough to keep my neurospicy brain interested. I can switch up the illustration type or style, the color palette, the format – the list of possible changes is endless.
To date, I’ve written, illustrated, designed, and self-published 4 children’s picture books, and illustrated two more. Each book is unique in it’s own right, and I’m always looking to learn new ways to make my stories better.
Experts will tell you to pick a lane and stick to it – but I feel like my broad range of abilities makes me an asset for more projects. From my background in art, I am able to offer so many different styles of illustrations, from water color, to cut paper collage, to digital, and more. And my range for stories is just as broad – from sweet rhyme to silly prose, I’m a regular Jane of all trades.
As for what I’m proud of, well if you asked me now, I’d say my most recent book. However, overall I’m proud that I taught myself how to write, illustrate, design, produce, and publish books. Since I don’t have to outsource much, I am able to finish projects at my own leisure, which is ideal with a full time teaching position.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
They say hindsight is 20/20, and they aren’t wrong. Since I went about this whole business backwards, I really wish I had known about some of the specific writing and illustrating groups that exist – SCBWI, 12×12, and Storyteller Academy are some of the bigger ones that come to mind. There are also several marketing resources that are amazing, like Publisher Rocket. And people who offer marketing help such as Evie Jones, Harliegh Manske, and April Cox. Also, other authors and illustrators – which are probably the most valuable resource out there. Those that are on the same journey will walk a long side you, while seasoned veterans will offer advice and encouragement. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the writing community is the best!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My specific – and long term goal – is to replace my current full time teaching position with my book business. This is something I know will be a slow process, since I continue to do the whole process entirely by myself. I hope to grow my collection of books – currently sitting at four – to at least 20 in the next 5-6 years and branch out into multiple streams of income, such as school visits, in person events, merchandise sales, and illustration projects.
As far as my mission – I hope to foster a love of reading in children – whether inspiring them to use their imagination, to think a little deeper, or bring a smile to their face.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katiegigliotti.com/
- Instagram: @katiegigliottibooks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1bAV2jA43D/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/katie-gigliotti-751339aa
