Recently, in a group for authors and illustrators, I came across a post from a frustrated illustrator. An aspiring author had approached her to illustrate a children’s book. They had been in regular email contact, and she had already invested a significant amount of time and effort into the project, even before it officially began. And then… silence. The author disappeared without a word. The illustrator was left disillusioned, full of unanswered questions. That all-too-familiar feeling of “been there, done that” welled up inside me. We all start out a bit naïve, but over time, through trial, error, and shared experience, we learn. It’s business, not personal. However, to us, it is personal.
I get a lot of requests through Google, email, and social media. A lot. Some are fantastic projects I’m dying to do. Others? Mèh. But I always want to meet every person. However, I don’t like any slithering into my DMs. No, I genuinely enjoy meeting and talking to people who are serious about their work. That’s why I send everyone a link to my Calendly, so they can book a Zoom meeting.
Why, you ask? Because real scammers don’t want to appear on camera. That’s how a lot of questionable “projects” fall through. If we do meet on Zoom, they’ll see I’m a real, hardworking woman, not some underpaid team overseas. But mostly, I want to feel the project. When someone talks passionately about how it all started and what they envision, I want to hear it. I want to see the spark.
After the first Zoom meeting, it almost always leads to an actual project. But every now and then, someone slips through. They’re wildly enthusiastic during the meeting. They hope I have time because they only want to work with me. And then… nothing. Silence. The project I put on my working schedule, now slowly sinks to the bottom of my list. Even after sending a follow-up email, hoping for a reply, it remains silent.
Every so often, when I’m digging through my old archives, I’ll Google some of those names. Did they ever publish? Did they go with someone else? Often, I find nothing. But occasionally, I’ll see they hired another illustrator. And that’s perfectly fine. Whether you moved forward or not, whether you chose me or someone else, it’s all okay. Just be kind enough to let us know. It’s a small courtesy that may seem outdated, but what is highly appreciated.
So from all of us in the creative business; don’t be that “ghost writer” who ghosts people. You wouldn’t like it if your date did that to you. We don’t like it when potential clients do it to us either. We appreciate a short mail that says: “Thank you for your time but I am going a different route with this.”