Drawing a Blank

Drawing a Blank

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Tales from a Kidlit Try-hard
My teenage son has taught me a word.
Apr 8 • Jacob Souva
Weird Books for Kids
5 things from the studio this week
16 hrs ago • Jacob Souva
5 Big, Big Things
Celebrating a new book!
Apr 10 • Jacob Souva
Finding the Mystery in it
5 things from the studio this week
Apr 3 • Jacob Souva
Underwater Picture Book Making!
5 things from the studio this week
Mar 27 • Jacob Souva

Free from the Archives

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Why Make Things?
How dare you!?
Mar 6 • Jacob Souva
The Publishing Golden Ticket
Chasing success in the wrong ways
Aug 15, 2025 • Jacob Souva
The Truth About Making Books for Kids*
*According to me, just one guy, so far
May 23, 2025 • Jacob Souva
Allow Me to Re-introduce Myself
Many, many moons ago I auto-added my Mom and my wife to this newsletter and hoped beyond hope I’d add a few more without belly flopping into…
Jan 17, 2025 • Jacob Souva
Big Bike, Little Bike Cover Reveal
As many people come to find out, one of the weirder quirks of the publishing industry to outsiders is that there is very little contact, if at all…
Jul 19, 2024 • Jacob Souva
Crafting an Illustration Portfolio
1/2 part how-to, 1/2 part don't do
Jul 12, 2024 • Jacob Souva
Preparing for Querying Success
A mostly true account of the time I queried my literary agent (Part 2)
Jan 19, 2024 • Jacob Souva
How I Queried My Literary Agent
A tale full of intrigue, doubt, and success (Part 1)
Jan 12, 2024 • Jacob Souva

Deep Dives

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Tales from a Kidlit Try-hard
My teenage son has taught me a word.
Apr 8 • Jacob Souva
Proof of Concept
A while back I decided to run a test at my local library.
Mar 25 • Jacob Souva
The One Thing you MUST Have to Survive in Children's Publishing
Imagine an island castle, the sea and the cold briny rocks serving as a moat.
Mar 11 • Jacob Souva
The Making of a Robot World
What I learned illustrating the picture book, WHIRBY
Feb 11 • Jacob Souva
100 Days of Picture Book Umami
An aha moment, followed by a commitment to get better at it
Jan 28 • Jacob Souva
Let's Make Ugly Art Together
In which I share bad art through the years that is still important to me.
Jan 21 • Jacob Souva
Go Deeper
On Querying a Literary Agent
A tale full of intrigue, doubt, and success (3 part series)
Lessons From Making That Book
Specific things gleaned from books I've worked on
Finding Picture Book Ideas
A framework for finding and developing book ideas
Using Color
How I think about using color in illustration
Thoughts on Style
The many twists and turns of cultivating an illustration style
Goal Setting
for the wayward inclined
Pulling a String
Interviews
Top posts
Illustrating with Color
Apr 26, 2024 • Jacob Souva
Keep Going
May 24, 2024 • Jacob Souva
How I Use the Internet
Jan 10, 2025 • Jacob Souva
Carrying a Weight
Jun 7, 2024 • Jacob Souva
The Creatives Cheat-code
Dec 13, 2024 • Jacob Souva

5 things from the studio this week

View all
Weird Books for Kids
5 things from the studio this week
16 hrs ago • Jacob Souva
5 Big, Big Things
Celebrating a new book!
Apr 10 • Jacob Souva
Finding the Mystery in it
5 things from the studio this week
Apr 3 • Jacob Souva
Underwater Picture Book Making!
5 things from the studio this week
Mar 27 • Jacob Souva
Recommendations
View all 54
Slowpoke
Slowpoke
Carson Ellis
Am I Doing This Right?
Am I Doing This Right?
Lian Cho
Secret Sketchbook
Secret Sketchbook
Nanette Regan
MOONBOW
MOONBOW
Taylor Sterling
Notes on Illustration
Notes on Illustration
The Illustration Department
© 2026 Jacob Souva · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
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