Post

Why AI art is a pox on the art world

For whatever it’s worth our standard contracts prohibit the use of AI. AI art can't be copyrighted because it isn't created by a human. In book publishing if we can't own it, we can't sell it.

And that’s super cool and appreciated. I just think it’s a good question for your presentation. (Reworded of course)

Thanks for posting this here too. I'm liking Bluesky! You already answered my Instagram question about if you will look through a post with multiple images, on Twitter. How often would you like to see new work from people?

I think that question might be better directed at an AD who welcomes physical postcards and/or emails. Since I primarily use social media for discovery I'm happy for artists to post as much new work as possible! Also, just because I'm not following an artist doesn't mean I'm not visiting their feed.

Is the creation and distribution of books being affected by the same kind of corporate belt tightening that is happening across other forms of media presently?

Throughout my 20 years in book publishing there have been waves of layoffs. The kidlit market is a little soft right now but we’re still doing well. I’m not seeing anything in book publishing at the moment like we’ve seen recently in Silicon Valley.

I have a highly specific one that I've been curious about - if an illustrator submits their work to you (via email/form/postcard), do you expect them to be immediately available, or is it ok if it's more of a 'let's keep in touch for the next few months-year' situation?

Once it has been decided that an illustrator is the right fit for a book I reach out to negotiate deal terms, which include the advance, royalties, sub-rights, scope, and schedule. I try to resolve any scheduling issues. Sometimes it’s not possible. That said…

…when an art director reaches out, the book (or series) will likely already be slotted into a specific month/season, sometimes for very strategic reasons. In some cases an art director will have very little flexibility with the schedule.