Steph Fizer Coleman and Denise Holmes both knew from personal experience that the children’s book illustrating was hard to break into.
Steph, a West Virginia-based children’s book illustrator and licensing artist, and Denise, an illustrator and picture book-maker based in Chicago, had never met in person, but they had built a personal and professional relationship after connecting through an online class five years before.
As they stayed in touch, they grew closer. And eventually they started thinking about the resources they wished they had had when they got started in the industry: