#PicturesMeanBusiness Who is behind the campaign

Karl-Mountford_Picturesmeanbusiness
© Karl J Mountford
In 2015, Sarah McIntyre and James Mayhew got together on Twitter to think up a hashtag for this campaign. Their mission was to get illustrators credited for their work. They started with the Carnegie Medal, urging its committee to include illustrators’ names in their award list, since writers were included in the list for the accompanying Greenaway Medal for illustration. Led by librarian Joy Court, the committee took the criticism graciously and included the illustrators’ names. The next step was pointing out to The Bookseller trade magazine that they had published a large picture book feature on ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ with no mention of its illustrator, Helen Oxenbury. Through discussions, The Bookseller apologised and its journalists became much more attentive to including illustrators, in their article and in their sales charts, and are now a growing force for promoting UK illustration.
 

Nicola Solomon from the Society of Authors, on her regular rounds of publishers, encourages publishers to credit illustrators by showing them how they can benefit. Since the campaign’s launch, the team have experienced genuine positivity from publishers and seen progress: more illustrators mentioned on the front covers of books, artists credited when cover artwork is revealed for the first time, and reviewers including illustrators credits in reviews. Sarah’s agent and ally, Jodie Hodges, has mentioned to her that the phrase ‘Pictures Mean Business’ is useful shorthand at meetings because publishers understand immediately what she means and the arguments behind it.

Professional illustrators ARE business people, and we’re standing up to be recognised as people who contribute to books and bring money to the economy.

“Picture books are called picture books for a reason. The illustrations matter as much as the text – if not more. This needs to be acknowledged by the publishers, the trade and the media (the public is somehow more aware of this.) I have been very lucky to have had such a huge success with the books I have done with Julia Donaldson and often feel a little embarrassed by our position on the market. But I do, of course, hope that it will make people buy more children’s books by other authors and illustrators and to enable them to make a living out of  their incredibly important creative work.” 

– Axel Scheffler, writer & illustrator

“ ‘Pictures Mean Business’ is a crucial initiative for ensuring that artists and illustrators get proper credit for their work, which is not lesser than the work of writers. The industry needs to name them in the book data of illustrated books so they can be searched and their sales tracked.”

 

– Nicolette Jones, writer & journalist

Sarah McIntyre

"Translators and illustrators are fighting side by side because of the way our work plays a vital role in a reader's experience of a book. We usually work freelance and like any business, our names become our brands, what people come to respect and look out for. But they can only do this if they know our names. We want to see our names included in award lists, on book covers, in digital book data, in the media, anywhere people are writing or talking about our books. "

James Mayhew

"Illustrators are significantly disadvantaged by quirks in the publishing world. EVERYONE in the industry would benefit if this was properly addressed! Do you think it's unfair that illustrators are often ignored and not mentioned in reviews, lists and media? It has to stop. Please support #PicturesMeanBusiness"

Soni Speight

"I'd been following #PicturesMeanBusiness on twitter for a while, so when Sarah McIntyre put out a call for further help I thought, if I can help, I will. There are so many positives to giving mutual credit where it is due. The book industry is a great community and by fully including illustrators it will get stronger"

Woodrow Phoenix

"It has always seemed bizarre to me that illustrators barely get the credit they deserve for their work - the clue to what makes a picture book special is in the name, right?! Nobody should be scared to ask for their names to appear on books they have drawn and it’s the least publishers should do. As a new member of the Society of Authors Management Committee, I look forward to representing the concerns of illustrators to the union that represents us to publishers and to the media. Feel free to DM me on twitter if you have issues you’d like to raise at the SoA."

Our Supporters

If you want to publicly support us please email  picturesmeanbusiness@gmail.com

Writers & Illustrators

Axel Scheffler, writer & illustrator 
Philip Reeve, writer & illustrator

Lauren Child, writer & illustrator
Declan Shalvey, writer, illustrator, #ArtCred campaigner
Lydia Monks, writer & illustrator
Malorie Blackman, writer
Michael Foreman, writer
Jim Field, illustrator
Benji Davies, writer & illustrator
Liz Pichon, writer & illustrator
Michael Rosen, writer
Karl J. Mountford, illustrator
Audrey Niffenegger, writer & illustrator
Hayley Campbell, journalist
Korky Paul, writer & illustrator
Joanne Harris, writer
Nicolette Jones, writer & reviewer
Cerrie Burnell, writer
Robert Macfarlane, writer
Jackie Morris, writer & illustrator
Mini Grey, writer & illustrator
Viviane Schwarz, writer & illustrator
Rob Biddulph, writer & illustrator
Nikesh Shukla, writer
David Wyatt, illustrator
Ian McQue, concept artist, illustrator
PJ Lynch, illustrator
Judi Curtin, writer
Philip Ardagh, writer
Maggie Suggs, illustrator
Sarah Horne, illustrator
Carl Pearce, illustrator
Sheena Dempsey, illustrator
Vicky Stonebridge, illustrator
Tarsila Krüse, illustrator
David Butler, illustrator & event organiser
Sophie Anderson, writer
David O’Connell, writer & illustrator
Mei Matsuoka, writer & illustrator
Simon Cherry, writer
Laura Ellen Anderson, writer & illustrator
Jamie Littler, writer & illustrator
Daniel Hahn, writer & translator
Laura Dockrill, writer & illustrator
Candy Gourlay, writer & illustrator
Gary Northfield, writer, illustrator, publisher
Vivian French, writer & illustrator
Chris Priesley, writer & illustrator
Kate Hindley, writer & illustrator
Matthew Sylvester, writer
Michelle Robinson, writer
Catherine Johnson, writer
Mary Hoffman, writer
Jo Franklin, writer
Keren David, writer
Ian Edington, writer
Tom Morgan-Jones, writer & illustrator
Barry Hutchison, writer
An Vrombaut, writer & illustrator
Cathy Cassidy, writer
Pádraig Ó Méalóid, writer & proofreader
Rikin Parekh, writer & illustrator
Dom Conlon, writer
Jonny Duddle, writer & illustrator
Anne Rooney, writer, Chair EWG at Society of Authors
Alex Milway, writer & illustrator
Karl Newson, writer & illustrator
William Bee, writer & illustrator
Catherine Barr, writer
Lisa Levis, writer, illustrator & designer
Malachy Doyle, writer
Jeannie Waudby, writer
Karrie Fransman, comic creator
Nicola Morgan, writer
Helen Peters, writer
Kathryn Evans, writer
Jo Cotterill, writer
Ian Culbard, writer & artist
Rachel Hamilton, writer
Keith Gray, writer
Cathy Brett, writer, illustrator, comics artist
Sandra Marrs  (Metaphrog), writer & illustrator
John Chalmers (Metaphrog), writer & illustrator
Celine Kiernan, writer
Sara Grant, writer
Phil Earle, writer
Juliet Clare Bell, writer

Addy Farmer, writer
Oisín McGann, writer & illustrator

 

Michelle Harrison, writer & illustrator
Jane Foster, writer, illustrator & designer
Pam Smy, writer & illustrator
Dave Shelton, writer & illustrator
Darryl Cunningham, writer, illustrator, comic artist
Lynn Breeze, writer & illustrator
Ali Pye, writer
Chris White, writer, illustrator, performer
Lucy Coats, writer
Nigel Dobbyn, writer & illustrator
Sinéad O’Hart, writer
Jennifer Bell, writer
Sally Nicholls, writer
Moira Young, writer
Mo O’Hara, writer
Alexander Gordon Smith, writer
Justine Windsor, writer
Gareth P Jones, writer
Garen Ewing, writer, illustrator, comic book creator
Elyssa Campbell-Bar, writer & editor
Jackie Marchant, writer
Katie Lee, screenwriter
Paula McGloin, illustrator
Andrew Whitston, illustrator & publisher
Jayne Baldwin, writer & publisher
John Kelly, writer & illustrator
Kristina Stephenson, writer & illustrator
Sav Akyuz, illustrator
Britta Teckentrup, writer & illustrator
Elissa Elwick, writer & illustrator
Ellie Sandall, writer & illustrator
Michael Broad, writer & illustrator
James Brown, writer & illustrator
Ros Asquith, writer, illustrator, cartoonist
Patrice Aggs, illustrator, comic artist
John Aggs, illustrator, comic artist, concept artist
Paula Harrison, writer
Gabriel Alborozo, illustrator & cartoonist
Katherine Langrish, writer
Lynn Huggins-Cooper, writer
Howard Calvert, writer
Claire Alexander, writer & illustrator
Pat Walsh, writer
Janet Foxley, writer
Maureen Lynas, writer
A.F. Harrold, writer & poet
Anne Wilson, illustrator
Anne Booth, writer
Harriet Muncaster, writer & illustrator

 

Festivals

Isobel Abulhoul, CEO Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
Yvette Judge,  Children’s Programme Advisor, Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
Jane Churchill, Festival Organiser and Children’s Book Consultant
Annie Ashworth,Festival Director, Stratford Lit Fest
Elizabeth Dunn, Festival Chairperson, Listowel Writers’ Week
Angela Pickard, Independent Bookseller and Festival Organiser
John McLay, Artistic Director, Bath Children’s Literature Festival
Gill McLay, Artistic Director, Bath Children’s Literature Festival
Sarah Webb, Programme Director Dubray StoryFest, Children’s Programmer ILFDublin

 

 

Publishers

Kate Wilson, Nosy Crow
Tom Bonnick, Nosy Crow
Liz Cross, Oxford University Press publisher
Holly Fullbrook, Designer, OUP
Clare Whitston, Editor, OUP
Hannah Penny, Publicist, OUP
Fraser Hutchinson, Publicist, OUP
Emilie Ferguon, Publicist, OUP
Karen Stewart, Senior Designer, OUP
Kate Adams, Senior Designer, OUP
Lizzie Smart, Designer, OUP
Kate Penrose, Senior Designer, OUP
Sarah Darby, Senior Designer, OUP
Karin Andre, Design Project Controller, OUP
David Fickling, David Fickling Books
Catherine Bell, Scholastic UK
Strawberrie Donnelly, Art Director, Scholastic UK
Pauliina Malinen, Editor, Scholastic UK
Thomas Truong, Little Tiger Press
Anna Howorth, Director of Global Branding & UK Marketing
Corinne Pearlman, Myriad Editions
David Stevens, Knights Of publisher
David Salariya, Salariya Book Company
Steve Bicknell, Maverick Publishing
John Anderson, Soaring Penguin
Alice Corrie, Editor, David Fickling Books
Sabina Maharjan, Publicist, David Fickling Books
Penelope Daukes, Publicist, Scholastic UK

Liz Scott, Freelance Publicist
Philippa Perry, Freelance Publicist
Anne Perry, Editorial Director, Simon & Schuster
Gráinne Clear, Art Director, Little Island Books
Pippa Watts, Contracts Executive
Megan Farr, Publicist
Sarah O’Connor, website developer for book-related things
Ness Wood, designer

Orange Beak Studio

Agents

Jodie Hodges, United Agents
Emily Talbot, United Agents
Molly Jamieson, United Agents
Penny Holroyde, Holroyde Cartey
Philippa Milnes-Smith, Lucas Alexander Whitley
Sam Copeland, Rogers Coleridge and White
Helen Boyle, Pickled Ink
Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown
Stephanie Thwaites, Curtis Brown
Anna Davis, Curtis Brown Creative Ltd
Caroline Sheldon, Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency
Caroline Walsh, David Higham Associates
Felicity Trew, Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency
Alice Sutherland-Hawes, Madeleine Milburn Ltd
Polly Nolan, Greenhouse Literacy Agency
Hilary Delamere, The Agency (London) Ltd
Tamlyn Francis, Arena Illustration
Eve White, Eve White Literary Agency Ltd
Lindsey Fraser, Fraser Ross Associates
Sallyanne Sweeney, Mulcahy Associates
Becky Bagnell, Lindsay Literary Agency
Elizabeth Roy, Elizabeth Roy Literary Agency
Catherine Clarke, Felicity Bryan Associates Literary Agency
Conor Hackett, publisher’s agent & CBI board member
Ben Illis, The Ben Illis Agency
James Wills, Watson, Little Ltd
Megan Carroll, Watson, Little Ltd
Hannah Sheppard, DHH Literary Agency

 

Martin Flynn, V&A Illustration Awards Manager
Maggie Nicola Solomon, Society of Authors
Niall Slater, Society of Authors

Derek Brazell, Association of Illustrators 

Elaina Ryan, Director Children’s Books Ireland
Emily Drabble, BookTrust
Anna McKerrow, BookTrust
Nicolette Jones, writer & journalist
Imogen Russell Williams, journalist & reviewer
Louise JohnsShepherd, Chief Executive, CLPE

Annie Everall, Director, Authors Aloud UK

Picture Hooks

Librarians

Joy Court, Chair CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals and Reviews Editor The School Librarian Journal
Tricia Adams, Librarian
Ann Lazim, Librarian
Kim Harte, Children’s Books Ireland Book Doctor 
Lou Gallagher, Children’s Books Ireland Book Doctor & Academic 
Theo Clarke, Libraries and Information Advisor, Suffolk Libraries
Jonas Herriot, Academic Resource Centre Manager
Lesley Martin, School Librarian
Mélanie McGilloway, School Librarian, blogger
Helen Thompson, Librarian
Barbara Band, School Library Consultant
Margaret Pemberton, School Library and Book Consultant
Sophie Castle, Community Librarian
George Kirk, Learning Resource centre manager
Wendy Knight, Bookaroolifest volunteer, FCBG member
Jacky Atkinson, Librarian, Chair of LiteraryCharity

Booksellers

Andrew Salmond, Gosh Comics
Stephen Holland, Page 45
Bob Johnston, Gutter Bookshop
John Newman, Newham Bookshop
Richard Greenwood, DRAKE Bookshop
Mel Greenwood, DRAKE Bookshop
Matthew Greenwood, DRAKE Bookshop
Andrew Steel, Simply Books
Sue Steel, Simply Books
Margaret Wallace-Jones, The Alligator’s Mouth
Tony West, The Alligator’s Mouth
Marilyn Brocklehurst, Norfolk Children’s Book Centre
Nic Bottomley, Mr B’s Emporium
Juliette Bottomley, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Ed Scotland, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Lucinda Corby, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Kate Morris-Double, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Emma Smith, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Amy Coles, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Henry Tottle
Mr B’s Emporium
Jessica Johanesson-Gaitan, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Sam Drew, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Tom Harris, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Lottie May, 
Mr B’s Emporium
Drew Sumner, comic book retailer
Angela Pickard, bookseller and festival organiser

Dr Melanie Gibson, academic
Mar Dixon, Digital and Social Media Specialist

Simon Smith, Head Teacher, book blogger
Melissa Rogerson, blogger
Philippa Francis, blogger