The recent speech given by Iggy Pop for the John Peel lecture on BBC Radio 6, Free Music in a Capitalist Society (the transcript is available here) got me thinking of the parallels between popular music and the illustration business, especially the world of children’s books. Think for a moment of an industry dominated by big companies, but with numerous smaller enterprises (usually with limited budgets), and lots of DIY producers of varying levels of ability and success. An i

Back from the delights and inspirations of Bologna. The books, the events, the meetings, the socialising, the food… where to begin? Yes, Bologna was good this year, skedaddling away to Italy was a tonic to my work and outlook, a week of frenetic activity in a city and Book Fair that never ceases to inspire and encourage. Publishers seemed quietly optimistic compared to the gloom of last year, I sensed a real tone of confidence in the air from all around. For me Bologna was go

No I’m not panicking, but all the bleak news of recession, failing industries, belly-up banks and job losses make it well to shore up the defences against whatever may loom on the horizon. So Spring cleaning this year for me is all about polishing up my business as an illustrator, updating my website, focusing on work, hopefully getting some new children’s stories on paper. Publishing is getting tougher by the week we hear, if the public has less money to spend then book sale

The UK was a busy trip for us, four days in Lichfield to see the family, a couple of nights in Oxford, and finally five days in London before heading back to Japan. I wrapped things up with a meeting with my children’s book agent in London. Naturally I wanted to hear some good news that would encourage me to come running back to the old country, but all was gloom and doom. “In 40 years in the publishing business I’ve never known it so bad for illustrators” I was told. She eve

There’s a lot of hooha at the moment about the way copyright protection for artwork is being eroded in the US. This is mainly over proposed legislation that will strip copyright protection from “orphan” works, i.e. copyrighted artwork where the owner of copyright cannot be traced. The proposed legislation would enable anyone to reproduce a piece of artwork for free by claiming they can’t find the copyright owner. Not only does it threaten the copyright of artists, it creates