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Dear ,
I hope your May is off to a beautiful start! I’m back with the latest installment of Inside the Art Brand Alliance, our monthly look at the conversations and events unfolding inside our community of working artists.
This month I’m excited to introduce you to our monthly Illustrated Books Social Hours, with stories and takeaways from the most recent hour.
And my invitation to join us centers on our upcoming “Ask Me Anything” event. It features a long-time ABA member who’s fresh on the other side of a monumental business transition.
Let’s take a deeper look, shall we?
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Dip into the ABA Well 💦 Illustrated Books Social Hour |
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It might surprise you to learn that we have a strong contingent of book artists in the ABA, including many who both write and illustrate their own books.
While book illustration has long had supportive communities and professional organizations like the beloved SCBWI, the Art Brand Alliance brings book illustration into the fold with the other art business pursuits our members are likely to be juggling, as they build and manage their multi-revenue-stream brands. Our book illustration group is one example of the ABA’s more “holistic” approach to supporting your creative business.
Our Illustrated Books Social Hours are a monthly get-together hosted by two of our more book-experienced members, Jenny Kostecki-Shaw and Ana Aranda. They’re open to all ABA members—from those who are publishing regularly, to those who are curious to learn more—so attendees benefit from a wide and inspiring range of experiences and approaches to this particular creative niche!
Each hour develops into a free-flowing, warm, and welcoming conversation where members share experiences, ask questions, swap ideas and recommendations, and generally cheer one another on.
The event often includes a creative prompt of some sort, which gets imaginations fired up. Soon, everyone is sketching, and sharing! This month’s prompt came from our Ally Carlos Carmonamedina, and revolved around the classic children’s book Frederick, by Leo Lionni.
Carlos urged everyone to draw their own mouse character, while he shared a really interesting story and personal reflections about Lionni’s book (see Carlos’s blog post, “The Artist as a Member of Society: The Importance of Shared Creativity”).
By the way, that’s Carlos’ charming art in the social hour graphic at the top of this section. ❤️
This conversation took many fascinating turns, with the group sharing their thoughts on bilingual books, and on self-publishing compared to traditional publishing. Members present had experience with both, and lots to share about the pros and cons of each. In a nutshell, what I came away with was this: |
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With self-publishing, you have to build and maintain the project structure yourself, but you have wide creative and authorial leeway. On the traditional side, you’re stepping into a collaborative ecosystem that shapes the work alongside you. Each has its advantages and it’s worth being open to both, depending on your goals as an artist and an author. |
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The group’s diversity of experiences and approaches to book illustration and publishing was such an exciting and intimate view into this art form. It demonstrated how illustrated books sit at a really interesting crossroads for art brand entrepreneurs. They can be deeply personal creative expressions. And at the same time, they’re complex business undertakings involving timelines, funding, marketing, collaboration, and distribution.
Like so many exchanges inside ABA, this wasn’t about prescribing a path. It was about expanding the sense of what’s possible, and what’s worth considering, as you shape your own.
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Invitation 🎟️ Ask Me Anything: Choosing a New Direction (with Julie Marabelle) |
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What happens when something you’ve built, carefully and successfully over many years, no longer feels like the right container for your work?
This month inside ABA, we’ll be exploring that question with our Ally Julie Marabelle, as she reflects on a major turning point in her own career—closing a long-standing, globally recognized brand (Famille Summerbelle) after 18 years, and stepping into a new chapter focused on her personal art practice.
This conversation isn’t about reinvention for its own sake, or a single “right” way forward. Instead, it opens up space to consider:
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How do you recognize when a shift is happening?
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What does it mean to respond to that shift responsibly—both creatively and practically?
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How do you navigate change when you’ve already built something meaningful and successful?
Julie will share her experience, and we’ll open the floor for member questions—artists like you who understand both the creative and business dimensions of these decisions.
👉 This event is available to ABA members. If you’ve been considering joining us, now would be a wonderful time.
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About this series |
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Each month in Inside the Art Brand Alliance, I share a curated glimpse into the conversations unfolding inside our private member network, along with an invitation to join us.
Because our community is confidential by design, it can be difficult from the outside to see just how much thoughtful exchange, professional development, and mutual support takes place within it. This series offers a small but meaningful window. You can browse past issues here.
If something you read here resonates, you’re always welcome to reply. I’d love to hear from you!
Warmly,
Betsy
Betsy Cordes
Founder/Director Art Brand Alliance
betsy@artbrandalliance.com
Art Brand Alliance on Instagram
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