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Spend some time getting to know the industry by reading the Illustrators’ Guide (The Book, pg. 17) and "Putting Together a Prize Winning Portfolio" (pg.25). You should set up a blog as well as a website where you can frequently and easily put up new pieces. If you are an SCBWI member, submit to the SCBWI Bulletin, set up your free portfolio in the Illustrator Gallery, contribute to Draw This!, and enter your work in the SCBWI illustration awards. Once you’ve identified the publishing houses you are interested in, you will typically send postcards to art directors and they will contact you if they want to see more work.

It is not necessary to copyright your work if you are planning on submitting it to a traditional publishing house. The publishing house will file copyright for you if your work is accepted. However, if you are self-publishing a book, you can do it yourself at www.copyright.gov.

The information in “Publicizing Your Published Work” (The Book, pg. 229) is a good place to start. SCBWI also offers many promotional programs such as BookStop, Happy Book Birthday, and the Recommended Reading List. If you are open to school visits, make sure you sign up to appear in the SCBWI Speaker’s Bureau through your member profile.

If you plan to traditionally publish a book, you shouldn’t look for an illustrator on your own. In the event that a publishing house acquires your book, the publishers will match your text with an illustrator of their choice. Focus on sending agents and editors an excellent manuscript. If you are preparing to self-publish a picture book then you probably will need to find an illustrator, and you can find tips in “Hiring an Illustrator for Your Self-Published Picture Book” (The Book, pg. 51). Browse the SCBWI Illustrator Gallery to find artists who may work with you.

When preparing to self-publish, you should be prepared to cover all of the editing, illustrating, design, production, storage, and marketing of the book yourself, or hire individuals to do these things for you. “Self-Publishing: Best Practices” (The Book, pg. 45) covers many of the ins and outs of self-publishing, and can help you determine if it's the right course for you.