Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear | Delivering The Final Art

And so it arrives, one of the best days of the whole book publishing process, especially for illustrators -- delivery of the final art! Since I live close to New York City, I get to deliver the art in person: what a treat -- I get to see my editor Nancy Paulsen and art director Cecilia Yung and visit the Penguin building in Lower Manhattan.  I remember when I did it for the first time with Little Dog Lost, that day is still so vivid in my memory. It was glorious!

The same was true with Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear.  I take a day off from my day job at the library and head off to the train station.  The art is all prepared: each spread labeled, covered with mylar, in a sturdy art bag.  Once I get to Penn Station it is a quick subway trip and soon I'm standing in the lobby for the offices of Penguin Young Readers Group.  There are bookshelves with some of their books displayed, all imprints, and look what I saw on the shelf:

After getting in we head to a conference room and display all the art around a table, so we can see it from page one to page 32.  Here are Nancy Paulsen and Cecilia Yung helping me set all the art in sequence on the table:

Other Penguin employees are invited to come as well, and take a peek -- it's a lovely opportunity to meet other people who will be working together on our book: publicists, library marketing, as well as other editors, etc.  

Afterwards we go out to lunch and have a fantastic time!

To read other entries in this series just go to Character Development,  From Storyboard to Final Art, and Book Cover.

Next we will talk about the other best day for an author/illustrator: publication day!