Welcome to Sky and the Sea

A new journey begins: publishing, art, news, and tips

Apr 27, 2023

Ahoy there

It’s been a while. I set my newsletter aside for a time, but now I’m back on a fresh platform with new stuff to share about art, writing, and books!

You’re receiving this message because you signed up for my newsletter at some point, and I hope you’ll stay as I set sail on this new journey here on Substack.

Here’s the type of content you can expect to find here:

✏️ Publishing process: Behind-the-scenes stuff about revising, sketching, dummies, writing pitches, slogging through synopses, and more
📚 Book news: I mean, I gotta do it—promo stops for no one
🎨 Illustration: Art that isn’t tied to a book at all; it’s just art
👀 Tips n bits: Random tidbits like art techniques and what I’ve learned from being an independent artist for a decade before pivoting to publishing

I might throw in some other stuff too as I go on (maybe even a rant n’ rave now and then). Let me know what you want to read about: craft, techniques, publishing things, art things, or whatever else.

A bit about me

I’m Skylaar Amann, a children’s book author and illustrator. I was an artist for, like, forever before that, and I used to make zines and ocean art a lot.

Now I mostly make books. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

🐋 Lloyd Finds His Whalesong: My first picture book came out during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Yes, that was as fun as you’re imagining.

Cover of Lloyd Finds His Whalesong, including a big moon behind a humpback whale playing a ukulele

🦕 Smile, Sophia: This book is about a girl who’s unapologetically herself—especially when it comes to smiling and dinosaur bones. Spoiler alert: She only smiles when she feels like it. Smile, Sophia is an ALA 2023 Rise: A Feminist Book Project honoree!

Cover of Smile, Sophia, which includes Sophia scowling with her arms crossed. There is a shovel, pail, pick ax, and dinosaur plushie in the background, which is a lawn full of holes Sophia dug. There's also a big bone sticking out of a pile of dirt.

🕳️ Alone Sometimes: Everybody Needs a Hole in the Ground: This one is coming next year! It’s about a kid who needs some alone time to decompress, and a hole in the backyard is the perfect spot to do it. I’ll have more to share about this one in the coming months!

Buy my books

Deal announcement for a picture book called Everybody Needs a Hole in the Ground. It says Holly West at Feiwel and Friends acquired North American rights for the book and Jessica Watterson at Sandra Dijkstra Literary did the deal for Skylaar Amann, the author and illustrator.

🌊 Mysterious unannounced next project: I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned!

What’s next?

I’ll be in touch on occasion, especially to share book news, but I promise not to spam your inbox. I’m also interested in what you’d like to hear from me. How I make a picture book? What it’s like working with an editor or art director? Other stuff? Let me know in the comments!