The Good Ship Illustration

Guide to the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2026 - The Good Ship Illustration

Absolutely knackered just thinking about Bologna? Same 😅Here are our Bologna Children’s Book Fair survival tips. Whether it's your first time or you're a seasoned Bologna Book Fair-er. Exciting news: The Good Ship Illustration is exhibiting this year in Hall 25, and we’d love to see you there!This episode:What even IS the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?Whether you reeeally need to goThe biggest benefits of visitingWhat to pack, what samples to take, and how to prepare wellHow to manage your expectations / social battery / overwhelmThe best bits beyond the fair itself, including food, bookshops and wandering round BolognaFollowing up afterwards and making the most of the contacts you makeTimestamps:00:00 Intro, replay announcement, and come find us in Hall 25!01:00 What is the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?03:00 Should you go?05:00 Benefits of visiting the fair06:00 Talks, workshops and folio reviews07:00 Bologna itself, food, sunshine and bookshops08:00 The illustrator’s wall and what to stick on it09:00 Accommodation tips and booking early11:00 Tickets, discounts and Good Ship lanyards12:00 Managing expectations and not turning it into a military operation16:00 What to prepare and what samples to take19:00 Dummy books, sketchbooks and standing out20:00 The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition22:00 Feeling overwhelmed, comparitis and pacing yourself25:00 Practical survival tips, from snacks to spare batteries28:00 Why the last day can be surprisingly good29:00 Rest, museums, gelato and giving yourself permission not to do it all30:00 Following up after the fair31:00 Final tips, meetups and lanyard spottingLinks mentioned in this episode:Download and print your Bologna lanyard here!!Bologna Children’s Book Fair websiteIllustrator Survival CornerInuit bookshop, BolognaByeeee for now!x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

It’s not too late, you’re not behind, and yessss, you should still start - an interview with illustrator Carys Wright

This week, our Katie is chatting to Carys Wright - a London-based writer and illustrator, hardcore Good Shipper, and all-round excellent example of what can happen when you follow the creative thread, even if your path looks a bit wiggly.Carys went from acting and theatre into illustration, and we chat about how sketchbooking helped her find her creative voice, and what it’s looked like to keep building an illustration career alongside marketing work and baby. (No mean feat!)There’s chat about markets, picture books, digital vs traditional materials and finding your way back to your own weirdness. Mmmm.Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:00:00 – Intro to Carys Wright and her creative journey so far02:00 – Sketchbooks, childhood drawing, and getting back into a regular practice04:30 – From acting and theatre to illustration07:30 – Lockdown, Fly Your Freak Flag, and following the drawing thread properly09:00 – Early illustration jobs, theatre clients, and picture book ambitions10:30 – Mentoring, competitions, and building confidence through deadlines11:30 – Illustrating her first book for the Lord Mayor of London12:30 – Motherhood, maternity leave, and drawing with a baby in the background16:00 – Portfolios, perfectionism, and letting things evolve18:00 – Staying connected to your weirdness while doing client work19:30 – Digital tools, Procreate, and not panicking about how you make the work23:00 – Opening an online shop, doing markets, and live portraits26:00 – Other ways illustrators can work, from events to corporate projects28:00 – AI, humanity, and why weird human imagination still matters30:30 – Wearing lots of creative hats and letting your interests overlap33:00 – Coming to illustration later can actually be a strength35:00 – It’s not too late, you’re not behind, and yes, you should still startLinks mentioned:Carys’ website: https://www.caryswright.com/Carys on Instagram: @carys_adventures_with_a_penCarys’ Substack, Adventures with a Pen: https://adventureswithapen.substack.com/Byeeee for now!x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)p.s. Want to find your creative voice too? Come and fly your freak flag with Good Ship. We'd love to have you sailing with us! Read all about the course here.Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

The 7 email rule: Pitching your work to illustration clients - Kira Matthews

Nobody is born knowing how to pitch.(Katie here) I've been known to pitch once, hear nothing, and decide 'Oh well. Never mind.' Then never reach out ever again. 😅So you can imagine my SHOCK and INCREDULITY (is that a word?) when Kira told me that she will reach out 7 times to a brand before giving up. Whaaaaaat!?Kira Matthews (aka Kira the Bold), is like confidence in a bottle. She's mastered pitching and landing work with names like Squarespace, Ganni, and lots more. If contacting publishers and/or potential clients makes you do a little bit of sick in your mouth, this episode will definitely help! At the very least you'll feel inspired to send more than one follow up email.In this episode, we chat about:What to do when the work… just stops coming inWhy pitching can feel so scaryThe real reason people don’t hear back. (And nooo, it’s not because they hate you)Why one email is basically just saying helloHow to follow up without being annoying (or feeling like you are)Timestamps:00:00 Meet Kira (Queen of Pitching 👑)01:00 From fashion styling to building a business02:00 When the work disappeared… and what she did next03:00 Learning to pitch (while still being terrified)05:00 Fear doesn’t go away. You just get used to it06:00 The 3-year journey to landing Squarespace08:00 Why most people give up after one email09:00 The stories we tell ourselves about rejection10:00 Why you need to follow up (a lot more than you think)11:00 How to make each email actually count12:00 Applying this to illustration and getting your work seen13:00 Inside Kira’s talent agency experiment15:00 Why smaller creatives need to pitch more, not less17:00 Agents, money, and what’s really going on behind the scenes19:00 Why agents aren’t a magic solution20:00 Sales: the bit everyone wants to avoid23:00 Why follow-up feels rude (but isn’t)24:00 Rejection challenges and building resilience26:00 Rejection = start of the conversation28:00 Momentum, energy, and creating your own opportunities30:00 The actions that actually lead to results31:00 Telling people what you do (important!!)32:00 Katie’s rejection challenge story34:00 Auditing your time and what’s worth it35:00 Kira’s final pep talkLinks & stuff wot we mentionedKira’s website: https://www.kiramatthews.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirathebold/Weekly pitch tips newsletter: https://kirathebold.myflodesk.com/m0elc4qip7The Good Ship Illustration https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freebies Byeeee for now!x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

How Salty (our Picture Book mascot) became a 2-book deal

This week we're pulling up a chair at Helen's kitchen table to finally spill the beans on Salty. Salty Dog and Pals is the book that started as The Picture Book Course branding and somehow ended up as a 2-book deal with Walker Books.The big question: How do you write a zillion short stories with your pal in 10 sessions flat?We chat about the origins of Salty (and which printmaker Bernard the duck is named after), the brilliant questions from the editors at Walker Books, why Kitty is basically Tania 😆, and the Nissen Hut story that didn't make it into the final draft no matter how hard we trieeed!p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS. You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-storiesIt's instant access, so no need to wait.(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:00:00 – Where did Salty Dog come from? 01:00 – From course mascot to Walker Books character 03:00 – Bernard the duck, and colour palette chat 05:00 – The thumbnail template that started it all 07:00 – The Jarvis format: not a picture book, not a chapter book 09:00 – Writing at the kitchen table: how it worked 11:00 – The Walker Books character questionnaire (we read it out) 13:00 – Who is Bernard, really? (William Hanson + Cameron) 15:00 – Kitty is Tania (reckless, chaotic, beloved) 17:00 – Lindisfarne, upturned boats + Helen's grandparents' Nissan Hut 20:00 – The story that was too violent to make it in 22:00 – Titles first, stories second 24:00 – What the editors actually did (magic, basically) 26:00 – Procreate vs paper + the cover saga 28:00 – Pre-order Salty Dog and Pals + free masterclass! (You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here.)Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Identity + rejection: when your illustration work *is* you 🥲

This week we're dragging ourselves away from our hypothetical gardens and custom urn businesses (lol) to have a proper sofa-chat about the big question: what would you do if you weren't an illustrator?Specifically: Is your identity too wrapped up in your work? What happens when things go quiet on the work front?COMMUNITY IS MAGIC. That is all. Happy listening.p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS. You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-storiesIt's instant access, so no need to wait.(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:00:00 – What would you do if you weren't an illustrator? 01:00 – Tania's custom urn business plan (trademark pending) 03:00 – Katie's nanny agency pivot 05:00 – The famine panic spiral ("day three with no enquiries: my life is over") 06:00 – Identity and rejection: when your work IS you 08:00 – Service illustration vs the author-illustrator beast 10:00 – Picture book advances, royalties + why multiple income streams matter 12:00 – Artist dates and keeping your ideas fed 15:00 – The real deal: what makes author-illustration different 16:00 – Katie & Helen's picture book Salty Dog & Pals (!!!) + the Walker Books Irish jig 18:00 – Live illustration: when the job you loved becomes just a job 20:00 – Community as salvation 22:00 – Good Ship origin story + the Christmas fair era 24:00 – Isolation is corrosive (and what to do about it) 25:00 – Finding your people: local groups, Instagram communities + Pencils on ToastCome and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙