My Path to Signing With a Literary Agent

The journey to securing literary representation has been a long road!

My dream of writing and illustrating children’s books took years of small steps and, ultimately, the courage to put my work out into the world and in front of others in the industry.

I wanted to document my experience in hopes of helping others following a similar path. Here’s my journey, broken down by year.

2020: Rediscovering Creativity

Art has always been a part of my life. As a kid, I was constantly creating, which led me to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

After graduation, I entered the world of graphic design—but ironically, the more I focused on design work, the less I made art for myself.

Then came 2020 and COVID. With the world at a standstill, I found myself searching for a creative outlet.

That’s when I discovered Procreate, and it reignited my love for drawing. It took nearly a year to dust off my drawing skills after setting art-making aside for so long. I dove into Skillshare classes to learn the ins and outs of illustrating in Procreate, sketching whatever inspired me at the time.

At that stage, I wasn’t thinking seriously about children’s publishing—just rediscovering the joy of creating.

I spent 30 days drawing cacti and succulents and posting them to my newly created Instagram account.

I worked on commissions.

I drew some sea creatures (which I still happen to like!).

I participated in Folktale Week!

While I practiced drawing, I also started working on a picture book idea that had been percolating in my mind since 2018.

My idea eventually turned into a first draft. And that first draft turned into a final draft, which I shared with friends and writers I trusted for feedback.

By the end of the year, I was seriously starting to consider illustration and children’s publishing as a career, but I had no idea where to start.

2021-2022: Practice & Knowledge

These two years were all about drawing and learning!

I dove into researching the children’s book industry while I continued working on my children’s book manuscript.

I listened to LOTS of podcasts focused on making a living as an artist and tried a couple of workshops.

While some resources were hit or miss, the three below had the biggest impact on my growth as an illustrator.

SCBWI – This organization offers conferences (online and in-person), lots of online guides, local meetups and a supportive community (definitely worth the $95 yearly fee!). This is also where I found the two critique groups that I’m a part of.

Three Point Perspective Podcast – This podcast helped me understand storytelling in illustration (and gave me insight into the life of an illustrator plus the pros and cons that come with that). I’ve probably listened to every episode!

SVS Learn (Children’s Book Pro Course) – This course gave me a solid understanding of the picture book dummy process. I took the course through the SVS Learn platform, and it cost about $497. However, given that was four-ish years ago, I’m not sure what the pricing is now or how the program may have changed.

I spent two years in the research, learning, and drawing phase—updating my portfolio with new pieces only to replace them as my skills grew and my illustrations became stronger.

So if your journey feels like it’s stretching on forever, don’t get discouraged—you’re not alone.

2023: Goal Setting

I decided to commit to my art and set a goal to turn my manuscript into a book dummy in time for the SCBWI Rocky Mountain Regional fall conference.

I applied for a roundtable review with one literary agent and group of peers (about 12-18 people). I needed to see how my work held up under professional industry feedback. I used every free moment that summer (mostly late nights) to complete my book dummy.

At the conference, I got positive feedback on my book dummy. It was here that I also discovered the Michelle Begley Mentorship Program, which I applied for and was accepted into. I also learned what art directors look for in a portfolio, which helped me improve mine.

Overall, 2023, along with attending my first SCBWI conference, bolstered my confidence and motivated me to keep pursuing my goal of becoming a children’s book author & illustrator.

2024: Mentorship & Taking a Leap

Art I worked on during my mentorship with Anden.

My mentorship with Anden Wilder officially began in 2024. Anden helped me refine my portfolio and book dummy and encouraged me to start querying agents.

At first, I hesitated—I wanted my dummy to be perfect. But I soon realized that waiting for perfection was just holding me back. It was time to put my work out there.

So, come September, I decided to start querying literary agents, in the hopes that one of them would want to represent me and submit my manuscript to publishers.

I made a list of agents and committed to sending out my manuscript, embracing rejection as part of the process. My goal? 100 rejections in a year before reconsidering my manuscript.

I also attended my second SCBWI conference, this time fully prepared with a strong body of work, and I booked a portfolio review with Former Art Director and Author/Illustrator Aram Kim to gauge if my work was good enough to be considered by publishers.

At the same time, I started exploring art licensing and learned about creating multiple revenue streams—because I was all in on making this art thing work!

2025 So Far …

By early 2025, I secured representation with Rachel Orr of Prospect Agency! I officially signed in February, and after some final edits, Rachel sent my picture book dummy out to publishers.

Currently, I’m focused on launching my online shop and expanding my reach to publishers through my agency (and hopefully landing a few picture book jobs as an illustrator!).

This journey has taken time, but in many ways, it feels like it's just getting started.

I still don’t know how sustainable my path will be in the years ahead, but I’m committed to discovering that one step at a time.

My Ongoing Journey

As I continue to gain work and, hopefully, publish a book someday, I’ll be sharing more about my journey.

If you're pursuing children's book illustration, I hope my experiences offer you insight and encouragement. And even if you're not, I hope this post highlights just how much behind-the-scenes effort goes into building an art career.

I frequently share updates on my journey in my quarterly newsletter. If you'd like to stay in the loop, you can subscribe here.

While I’m unsure of what the future holds for my illustration career, I’m filled with hope and excitement.

Here’s to the adventure that lies ahead!