We want to introduce you today to Jo Surman. She is from the UK, and her interview was delightful, even though my spell checker changed every charming British spelling of words to our version. Jo is enthusiastic, exuberant even, and extremely fun to get to know. We’ve made a friend for the long-term! I hope you all enjoy her interview as much as we did here at Books Children Read.
1. As an artist you’ve had quite an extensive career in software graphics, animation, children’s television, website design, and software design. What was the catalyst that made you decide to focus on children’s books?
Yes, my career certainly has woven a diverse path! Writing and illustrating children’s books had always been a dream of mine but somehow it kept getting put off. A lot of my work in the past had been for children, I’d worked in children’s television and made software for children, so I was gently trying to guide my career in that direction but it was only when I had children and was a stay-at-home mum that I made a conscious decision to change careers (as many mums do at this stage in their life). I enjoyed reading children’s picture books to my children at bedtime as much as they enjoyed hearing them and I was also getting great inspiration from them. I thought to myself “I can do this!”.
I started creating some pictures that I could use to promote myself but quickly realized I didn’t quite have the modern edge and sophistication that a lot of award-winning picture book illustrators had so I decided to do a course in children’s book illustration to help me build a good contemporary and competitive portfolio. I had a great tutor, Kate, who helped me develop my natural style and fueled my self-confidence. Soon I had a good portfolio and a couple of stories in my head that I wanted to develop further. Kate advised me to enter competitions and this was brilliant advice, I really would pass this on to any would-be illustrators and authors, even if they are small competitions you can use them to promote yourself and the acknowledgment is wonderful for you and future employers!
2. What was your experience publishing for the first time? What were the biggest hurdles you had to clear?
Part of the prize I won in the competition I entered was the option to get my book published so I didn’t have to go through the usual hoops that so many authors and illustrators have, i.e. finding an agent or getting work through to a publisher (which is a hugely difficult job). There was some to-ing and fro-ing between myself and the publisher to get the story and illustrations print ready, it’s very much a meeting of two mindsets; the illustrator/author knows what they want and the publisher knows what refinements would make it more saleable. Between the two you reach a compromise. My publisher was great, they knew what I wanted to achieve and supported me, there were very few changes needed (again I was lucky). Here however is where my luck began to run out. Covid struck! Everything came to a halt. My book, which was potentially a big seller at Christmas time, was hugely delayed. It was due for release in August but didn’t come out until 2 weeks before Christmas. Printing from China was hugely delayed and there were also big problems with a changeover in the warehouse where the books were stored once they arrived. Thankfully a fabulous Danish publisher bought my book and the wonderful Barnes and Noble also bought stock so this helped massively with the distribution. Bad luck struck again however and unfortunately the pressure that covid placed on my publisher was too much and the publisher went into liquidation. Despite this very sad news, a new publisher bought them out and the future looks rosy again for more books to come.
So as you can see my journey encountered some very fortunate lucky events and also some unlucky ones but I thankfully didn’t have the struggle that so many illustrators and authors face with having to break through that seemingly impenetrable wall to reach a publisher and get noticed. All successful authors and illustrators will say the same though to those who are struggling to do just that, never give up!
3. Featured on your website are some illustrations of “A Narwhals Tale.” Is this a book you’re currently working on or illustrations you did for an author? Or something else entirely?
Narwhals Tale is a book I am writing and illustrating for myself and I hope to present to my publisher soon along with two other book ideas. It’s another journey of discovery but this time there will be a subtle message about helping people, a story about karma that shows that kindness always comes back to you. As with the ‘Snow?’ book, I want the illustrations to be very detailed and to almost be enough in themselves. Some people wrote to me to say that they just enjoyed browsing the illustrations in ‘Snow?’ and talking through them with their children and I really like that. It’s very hard to create a new scenario for a book and the ocean has been done many times, but I wanted the illustrations to look a bit different and I want to introduce humor into this story. I was brought up on Dr. Seuss and I relished every crazy detail of those books. I think humor is very important, life throws some hard times at us but having laughter has helped me get through them. I’ve always tried to nurture having fun and laughing with my children because I feel it helps with resilience and is an underestimated virtue.
4. What do you like the most about authorship now that you’ve accomplished your first book?
What I absolutely love the most is being in control of my own time and doing something that I love. It’s priceless! I spent so many years in the rat race commuting and having jobs that required working under pressure, even though I loved them at the time and they were integral in developing my skills, I am ready for this way of working now. I walk my dog in the morning and my head is full of ideas. I come home and do some sketches and then I do some writing with the dog sitting next to me. I came to write and illustrate children’s books late in my life but I really want to share with all your readers that you truly can reinvent yourself every day and you absolutely must follow your dreams. Take small steps each day but please do it, you won’t be sorry. If I can do it you certainly can!
5. What is your process? Do you write the story to fit the illustrations or vice-versa?
That’s a very good question and I probably work very differently from other people so my story may not be right for other people. I always have to find a character that I like first and I have to create an image of them before I can do anything else. I get so excited by that vision that it becomes almost a frenzy to actualize it. I labor over it to make sure it’s right, I go back to it a lot until I feel comfortable but if I’m not happy with it I can’t progress. Once it’s created and I’m happy with it my mind starts going crazy with stories and possibilities. I keep a sketchbook for each story I write but I’m not too precious with them. I sketch in them, write notes and stick things in them. To be honest it’s an awful mess but slowly from it comes a kind of order and clarity and the story appears. It gets refined a few times, I throw things out and add a few things, but by the end of a sketchbook there’s a story there! I then go on to create the storyboard, and finally the finished pages.
6. Your next book? Are you willing to share what it’s all about and when can we anticipate its release?
I’m in the process of preparing three books to take to my publisher within the next month or two.
There’s the Narwhal story, another picture book, and I’m also turning my hand to an upper middle grade gothic novel that will contain some line illustrations so that will be a very different venture for me. I’m writing an unashamedly silly story too that I hope will help children just have a good giggle. I love the thought of children laughing with their parents and carers as they read the books and I have very fond memories of doing just that with my parents. I have my parents to thank for my love of books because we so much enjoyed reading together at bedtime and my father would even make up stories for me off the top of his head, he didn’t realize that I saw every image that he spoke in my mind in glorious Technicolor, they truly fueled my imagination from a very young age.
I’ve had so many very kind responses to ‘Snow?’ so I think at some point I may also do a follow-up book to it but that’s not for a while yet if at all.
7. What is your best advice for an author just beginning authorship?
All authors will tell you the same – just write. Maybe do a few courses or follow some people on YouTube who give advice about writing. Alexa Donne creates some brilliant informative and inspiring videos on Youtube that have helped me a lot and if you can get hold of the BBC Maestro MasterclassTutorial videos there are some great videos from big names in children’s literature such as Neil Gaiman and Julia Donaldson that are brimming with great advice.
When I had to write the first line for my gothic novel I picked several prestigious books and read their first few paragraphs. These put my mind in the zone and I was then able to write my first paragraph very effectively. Many writers will tell you that your first chapter doesn’t matter, you can go back to it again and again, but I do things in a topsy-turvy way as I mentioned with my character illustration in the question above. I need to feel I’ve written a good first paragraph to start with before I can commence with the rest of the book.
Don’t weigh yourself down with too much research either, just get writing – beginning is the most difficult part.
Another great piece of advice that established authors will give you is to be authentic. Neil Gaiman says “I think it’s really important for a writer to have a compost heap. Everything you read, things that you write, things that you listen to, people you encounter, they can all go on the compost heap. And they will rot down. And out of them grow beautiful stories.”