Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Olson.
Hi Julie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born on the east coast and was raised in the Midwest as the 6th of 9 (that’s right, 9) kids. I had 6 brothers who loved to tease and 2 sisters who paved the way with my mom and dad for me (the youngest girl). But, I vowed to be different than the bunch.
After high school, I left home to attend college at Brigham Young University and studied illustration. In a family filled with doctors, lawyers, electrical engineers, teachers, and statisticians…I was the odd man out. But that didn’t stop me.
I worked hard, graduated with a BFA in Illustration, and have been freelancing ever since. I enjoy it thoroughly and am glad to be realizing my dream of becoming a freelance illustrator. In 2010 I added the title of AUTHOR to my resume when my first picture book, completely created by me, hit the shelves. From then on, my focus expanded to being the full creator of books from start to finish. I love the process and seeing my ideas come to life in words and art together. I now have over 20 published picture books and hope to create more.
I don’t spend all my time in the studio though. I love to hang out with my husband, my four kids (three of which are now adults themselves), my daughter-in-law, and my dog. I also love to ride my bike, visit new places, and read good books. Throw some good Mexican food in there, and I’m one happy camper.
Recently, I decided I’d also like to get into teaching art and design, so I went back to school and am set to graduate with a Master of Fine Arts degree in December 2022. In addition, I currently work part-time as a designer and in-house artist at Covenant Communications.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to becoming an author/illustrator was never paved with gold for me. I wasn’t the best artist in my graduating class and didn’t have any connections to the art world whatsoever. So, I had to forge my own path. At the time of graduation, I was young, married, with a husband still in school, and a baby on the way. But I didn’t let any of that stop me. Instead, I packed up my portfolio, scraped together what money we had, and made a trip to New York City to show my work to book publishers. I packed a small inflatable camping pad in my suitcase and, despite being 6 months pregnant, I slept on the tile floor of a friend’s dorm room at Columbia University for 7 nights, while I schlepped my artwork from publisher to publisher all day every day. My feet and back ached terribly, and all I came away with was lots of advice on how to improve my portfolio. Essentially, I wasn’t good enough to hire. I could’ve let that discouraging realization and the impending birth of my first child stop me, but I didn’t. I had my baby, kept working on improving my art, continued to send out sample after sample to publishers, and remained determined to succeed. I began doing small illustration jobs for various children’s magazines and educational publishers, but it wasn’t too long before a publisher contacted me about illustrating my first full-length, retail-market picture book. I didn’t have an agent so I had to negotiate the contract terms and royalty rate all on my own, which was nerve-racking. I really wanted the job but knew I should be paid twice what was offered. I worried that if I asked for twice the amount, they wouldn’t give me the job and I’d lose the opportunity. But I worked up the courage and asked. They accepted my counteroffer, and I began illustrating my first picture book, “Hip, Hip Hooray for Annie McRae!” written by Brad Wilcox. Some people think that once you get published, you never have problems getting work again. But this is entirely false. As a freelance illustrator and writer, you work on building relationships with publishers, but this relationship in no way means the publisher will want to publish your next book or hire you to illustrate another manuscript they have. Therefore, getting the next book job is a constant, never-ending struggle. Over the years, I have continually tried to improve and update my portfolio to stay current and relevant in the ever-shifting children’s book market. During this time, I had two more children and had moved across the country to Michigan with my young family. Keeping three kids under 5 fed, clothed, safe, and entertained was a full-time job in and of itself. But all the while, I kept my art desk and supplies handy and in use. I also had to constantly market myself and find work. Because this was not my favorite thing to do, I eventually found and signed with an art rep who did a great job at bringing in various illustration opportunities inside and outside of the book industry. In return, the agency took a 25% commission. I appreciated the opportunity to work for big clients such as Merck Medical and Playtex Baby. For years, I worked with the art rep. But eventually, I decided I also wanted to write children’s books. This required a lot more education on the craft of writing. So, I read all the books I could on the subject and attended multiple conferences and workshops taught by professionals in the field. Thankfully, by this time, I had built up a wonderful network of published children’s book authors primarily located here in Utah, who help guide, direct, and teach me. At this time, I chose to switch representation to a literary rep instead of an art rep because they take less commission and would motivate me to be creating my own books rather than tempting me away to illustrate other writers’ works. So, I parted ways with my art rep and signed with a literary agent. After a lot of work, my first picture book, “Tickle, Tickle! Itch, Twitch!” came out with my name on the cover as the author and illustrator. Four years later, “Discover America: From Sea to Shining Sea” was published. I have submitted countless others, but as I said, getting published is never easy. I do still illustrate other writers’ books and enjoy it immensely, but I am also continually sketching out new book ideas of my own, hoping for one to hit just right at just the right time. It’s a constant struggle but one worth undertaking for the joy the end result brings.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in children’s book illustration but am also known for my custom-illustrated family portraits and my sketched/illustrated notes of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition, I do school author visits around the state and country, teach at conferences and workshops, and freely share many tips and industry-specifics on my blog. I love sharing my love of books and art with people of all ages and helping inspire them to reach their creative potential. Currently, I am most proud of the work I am doing on my master’s thesis. I am trying to raise awareness of the problem of food insecurity for children in rural America by writing and illustrating a graphic novel that tackles the subject. In conjunction with that, I am creating free, downloadable designs for signage for any organization to use when putting on a charitable fundraising event for the food insecure. Recently, I was asked to share my efforts on a podcast with the national No Kid Hungry organization. My goal is to find a partner to help with the costs of publishing this graphic novel, to get it published, and to distribute it to children across the country, all to raise awareness, inspire action, and help combat food insecurity for children in this country.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was one of the middle kids in a big family. I had 3 older brothers, 3 younger brothers, and 2 older sisters. But when it came down to “birth 0rder personalities,” I was kind of like the oldest of the youngest. I was often in charge of my little brothers much to their chagrin. But I loved drawing from before I can even remember. My mom said that one day, when I was about 2 years old, she suddenly realized I was being too quiet. So, she went looking for me and found me drawing tiny circles all along the baseboard with a ball point pen. Thankfully, she didn’t get too mad, even though this was in the days before the invention of the Magic Eraser. But she did say she was amazed at my dexterity and ability to draw such small circles. After that, she always provided me with paper. I remember drawing for hours, whole scenes of people in various situations. As I drew, I would voice what the people in the picture were saying to one another, like a movie playing out on the page. When I got a little older, I also became heavily interested in music, playing the French Horn, piano, and organ all the way until college. I even thought I might major in music, until I realized I didn’t want to spend hours and hours practicing my instruments. But I was very involved in all sorts of music groups from 6th grade on, as well as student government, and church youth group activities. When I was in high school, personal computers also became a big thing, so I briefly entertained the idea of going into computer programming. I definitely would’ve made a lot more money in that field had I gone the tech route. But I decided a cubicle life wasn’t for me. But my personality was always the sort that if I decided to do something, I did it all the way and worked until it was done. That trait has served me well in this fickle industry.
Pricing:
- Custom Illustrated Portraits start at $350
Contact Info:
- Website: www.JulieOlsonBooks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julieolsonbooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julieolsonbooks
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/julieolsonbooks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7WFaDCTmV81DZvA2ldvmrA
Image Credits
Rhett Olson
