Nobody is born knowing how to pitch.

(Katie here) I've been known to pitch once, hear nothing, and decide 'Oh well. Never mind.' Then never reach out ever again. 😅

So you can imagine my SHOCK and INCREDULITY (is that a word?) when Kira told me that she will reach out 7 times to a brand before giving up. Whaaaaaat!?

Kira Matthews (aka Kira the Bold), is like confidence in a bottle. She's mastered pitching and landing work with names like Squarespace, Ganni, and lots more.

If contacting publishers and/or potential clients makes you do a little bit of sick in your mouth, this episode will definitely help! At the very least you'll feel inspired to send more than one follow up email.

In this episode, we chat about:

• What to do when the work… just stops coming in
• Why pitching can feel so scary
• The real reason people don’t hear back. (And nooo, it’s not because they hate you)
• Why one email is basically just saying hello
• How to follow up without being annoying (or feeling like you are)

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Kira (Queen of Pitching 👑)
01:00 From fashion styling to building a business
02:00 When the work disappeared… and what she did next
03:00 Learning to pitch (while still being terrified)
05:00 Fear doesn’t go away. You just get used to it
06:00 The 3-year journey to landing Squarespace
08:00 Why most people give up after one email
09:00 The stories we tell ourselves about rejection
10:00 Why you need to follow up (a lot more than you think)
11:00 How to make each email actually count
12:00 Applying this to illustration and getting your work seen
13:00 Inside Kira’s talent agency experiment
15:00 Why smaller creatives need to pitch more, not less
17:00 Agents, money, and what’s really going on behind the scenes
19:00 Why agents aren’t a magic solution
20:00 Sales: the bit everyone wants to avoid
23:00 Why follow-up feels rude (but isn’t)
24:00 Rejection challenges and building resilience
26:00 Rejection = start of the conversation
28:00 Momentum, energy, and creating your own opportunities
30:00 The actions that actually lead to results
31:00 Telling people what you do (important!!)
32:00 Katie’s rejection challenge story
34:00 Auditing your time and what’s worth it
35:00 Kira’s final pep talk

Links & stuff wot we mentioned

• Kira’s website: https://www.kiramatthews.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirathebold/
• Weekly pitch tips newsletter: https://kirathebold.myflodesk.com/m0elc4qip7
• The Good Ship Illustration https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freebies

Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This week we're pulling up a chair at Helen's kitchen table to finally spill the beans on Salty. Salty Dog and Pals is the book that started as The Picture Book Course branding and somehow ended up as a 2-book deal with Walker Books.

The big question: How do you write a zillion short stories with your pal in 10 sessions flat?

We chat about the origins of Salty (and which printmaker Bernard the duck is named after), the brilliant questions from the editors at Walker Books, why Kitty is basically Tania 😆, and the Nissen Hut story that didn't make it into the final draft no matter how hard we trieeed!

p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.

You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories

It's instant access, so no need to wait.

(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – Where did Salty Dog come from?

01:00 – From course mascot to Walker Books character

03:00 – Bernard the duck, and colour palette chat

05:00 – The thumbnail template that started it all

07:00 – The Jarvis format: not a picture book, not a chapter book

09:00 – Writing at the kitchen table: how it worked

11:00 – The Walker Books character questionnaire (we read it out)

13:00 – Who is Bernard, really? (William Hanson + Cameron)

15:00 – Kitty is Tania (reckless, chaotic, beloved)

17:00 – Lindisfarne, upturned boats + Helen's grandparents' Nissan Hut

20:00 – The story that was too violent to make it in

22:00 – Titles first, stories second

24:00 – What the editors actually did (magic, basically)

26:00 – Procreate vs paper + the cover saga

28:00 – Pre-order Salty Dog and Pals + free masterclass! (You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here.)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This week we're dragging ourselves away from our hypothetical gardens and custom urn businesses (lol) to have a proper sofa-chat about the big question: what would you do if you weren't an illustrator?

Specifically: Is your identity too wrapped up in your work? What happens when things go quiet on the work front?

COMMUNITY IS MAGIC.

That is all.

Happy listening.

p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.

You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories

It's instant access, so no need to wait.

(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – What would you do if you weren't an illustrator?

01:00 – Tania's custom urn business plan (trademark pending)

03:00 – Katie's nanny agency pivot

05:00 – The famine panic spiral ("day three with no enquiries: my life is over")

06:00 – Identity and rejection: when your work IS you

08:00 – Service illustration vs the author-illustrator beast

10:00 – Picture book advances, royalties + why multiple income streams matter

12:00 – Artist dates and keeping your ideas fed

15:00 – The real deal: what makes author-illustration different

16:00 – Katie & Helen's picture book Salty Dog & Pals (!!!) + the Walker Books Irish jig

18:00 – Live illustration: when the job you loved becomes just a job

20:00 – Community as salvation

22:00 – Good Ship origin story + the Christmas fair era

24:00 – Isolation is corrosive (and what to do about it)

25:00 – Finding your people: local groups, Instagram communities + Pencils on Toast

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙