We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jay Cooper a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jay, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I can’t tell you the amount of times a person has come up to me and said, “I’d love to write a children’s book,” or “I wish I could illustrate a kid’s book” or the oft-dreaded, “So, I have this idea for a children’s book, would you like to illustrate it for me?”
What they are really saying is: “I wanna break into the biz, but I’m not confident of my talents. I don’t know how to navigate the process.” And I very much sympathize, as I was on their side of the chasm at one point myself. The solution is not to think of the problem as singular: “a children’s book” implies a single book.
The truth of the matter is that it took a full three failed books before I published my first.
The first book wasn’t created with the intent of publishing: it was done wholly within a sketch book. It was an exercise I needed to do for myself alone to prove that I COULD. From soup to nuts, could I write and illustrate a book myself? I took my time. It was the story of a troublesome subway commuting troll who was bad on every train he was on. Ultimately the troll (Underground Al) gets kicked off and it isn’t until he learns to be good that he gets back on. (I had a subway obsessed son, and commuted daily on the F train from Brooklyn to Manhattan: there was a lot of bad behavior to inspire from my fellow commuters. I enjoyed the experience, and left that book with the confidence that just maybe I could pull it off… IF I had a better idea. Something I could sell.
My second attempt was the story of a T-Rex caregiver named Auntie Rex, and the two children she cared for. They didn’t care for her scratchy kisses or her fossilized purse candy… but when she saved the family pet, they ultimately came to appreciate her unique qualities. That book had real promise. I submitted to agents and was told the art was solid, but the story had some real issues it needed to overcome. I revised and revised, but the book flatlined.
Fine. I’d learned something valuable with that one: my strengths and weaknesses.
Next I conceived of a simpler concept: a board book primer in how to say hello in a dozen languages via a pink Italian cool cat named Ciao Meow who zipped around the globe on her vespa picking up her friends. A great concept that leaned heavily on my strengths: illustrating, and negated any writing.
An agent loved it and took me on (Teresa Kietlinski from Bookmark Literary). But a book with the same concept was released just as I submitted mine. Two books on the market that are essentially the same wouldn’t do, so Ciao Meow was scrapped.
New lesson: timing is everything and be aware of the competition!
As I worked on what my next attempt might be, my agent mailed artist-concocted Valentine’s Day cards to some editors. Mine piqued the interest of Jeffrey Salane at Simon & Schuster, who hired me to illustrate the board book Food Trucks! which became my very first book.
Now, that’s a pretty long story to relate a simple idea: If I’d thought in terms of just one book, I’d have never gotten published. It took three failures, and lessons learned from each to produce a single success!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I illustrate and write books for young readers, essentially anywhere from kindergarten through 6th grade. I have several series out from Simon & Schuster (the Bots series, and the forthcoming Styx & Scones books), Scholastic (The Spy Next Door books and the Pepper Party series), and Viking Books (the Last Comics On Earth). I’m also the creative director at Serino Coyne, an advertising agency that focuses on the world of Broadway. I have A LOT of creative energy.
Like most people in the creative fields, It was a bit of a roundabout journey, starting in the mailroom of Martha Stewart Living Magazine when I first moved to NYC. Discovering a passion for design, I began to work on my portfolio nights and was hired as a graphic designer in the world of publishing. Illustrating and writing eventually blossomed as I grew older and more confident of my skills.
In publishing I try to simply be as entertaining as possible: it was action and humor books that made a lifelong reader of me, and I try to pass that concept on through my own work. I say that Spider-Man leads to Shakespeare, and Mad Magazine leads to Maya Angelou, and I believe it. If you make a kid laugh, they’ll be that much more likely to pick up another book. I’m not winning any awards, but hopefully I’m helping create a next generation of readers.
In the Broadway space, it’s a thorough understanding of narrative and story, varying art styles and the way they need to work in tandem to inform a show’s art, that makes me valuable (in addition to nearly two decades of experience working in the industry). Flexibility is also a factor: In the world of the theater advertising, one day you might find yourself working on a huge colorful musical with drag queens and glitter cannons, and the next day you’ll have to create a piece for a serious historical play. And you need to do both well.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I illustrated a book that was so far afield of my typical style that I actually came down with the shingles. I wanted the book to be AMAZING, and just wasn’t sure that I could pull it off. The stress triggered the shingles.
I ended up in an Urgent Care facility with my drawing pad, because I was on a tight deadline. It was AWFUL.
BUT that book went on to be a national best=seller, and it’s honestly the book I’m most proud of! It’s called Your Guide To Not Getting Murdered In A Quaint English Village. It’s even on the shelves at Shakespeare & Company in Paris, arguable the most famous bookstore int the world.
The best advice I ever received was, “Just say yes, and figure out later how you’re going to do it.” I think of that so much I should get it tattooed on my chest.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Honestly, the thing I hadn’t anticipated LOVING as much as I do are those moments when I get to interact with students and kids, at their schools or libraries or festivals, and tell them my origin story: that super powers in this world only come with practice, whether that’s playing the cello or drawing or basketball. It takes years of practice to master any skill, and there are no shortcuts.
(Don’t you even talk to me about AI. I refuse. That’s empty calories… STOLEN empty calories. Do the work. Do it the hard way. It will have weight and meaning. Respect the process)
The great Jason Reynolds said this about kids books, “Remember that it’s about the person holding the object, and not the object that matters.” I’m most keenly aware of that wonderful truth when I’m able to talk about books to kids.
Contact Info:
- Website: jaycooperbooks.com
- Instagram: @jaycooperbooks
- Twitter: @jaycooperart
Image Credits
Food Trucks is copyright 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Bots is copyright 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. The Last Comics On Earth is copyright 2023 by Penguin Random House LLC Your Guide is copyright 2021 by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper Styx and Scones is copyright 2023 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.