I can’t even remember which book I read first from Joyce Wan, but I do know that I’ve (I mean my son) read all of her cute books, and immediately fell in love with her characters and illustrations. It was true love at first sight.
Luckily, I was able to meet her in person at the SCBWI Metro NY event a few days ago. She shared with us her story of becoming an author and illustrator (fun fact: she originally studied architecture!). I loved how she shared that she is always learning (she’s still taking drawing classes, she taught herself how to code <I can relate to that one!> and she’s still going to conferences). She also showed us how she sent in her “You Are My Cupcake” drafts to publishers in the mail-what I appreciated about that was her courage in putting her work out there, and her creativity with her artwork and illustrations (even her business card is made up of cupcake and whale stickers!). As a result, she got contacted a week later, and her book has sold 180,000 copies. What an inspiring story indeed.
Most of all, I loved how down-to-earth Joyce was, both in person and in her blog posts. It was great seeing how her ideas and sketches come to life in her board and picture books as well. Thank you Joyce for also signing a copy of your book for my son :). I can’t wait to read her “Good Night, Sweetie” book that’s due in August of this year!