Meet Annie Herzig | Picture Book Author & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Herzig and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Annie, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important thing that has gotten me to where I am today with my career is my creative community. Years ago, I worked in a comfortable corporate job doing design and art direction, then left to work as a freelancer, so I was often working in a silo. When the pandemic hit, I lost all the jobs I had lined up for the year. After floundering for a month or two, I signed up for a course called Let’s Make Picture Books. I figured it was time to finally face my lifelong dream of making children’s books—and it was time to see if I could in fact DO it. In this course, I built a new portfolio and learned everything about the business of publishing, but the most important takeaway from it were the friends that I made there. One day on a Q&A chat, I asked if anyone out there would want to do a zoom to draw together afterwards. One person said yes. The next week I asked again and two people said yes. On the third week each of them invited someone else they had connected with and eventually we formed a little circle of friends all scattered around the globe, and we started meeting twice a week! I also attended a virtual conference for “Kid Lit” a month later, where I met another circle of peers, this time one of them reaching out to me and the others, and all of us ended up meeting weekly to this day. Between the two groups and a critique group I joined in Denver, I made some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and now they are also my highly esteemed “colleagues.” They push and inspire me, they lift me up when I am down or insecure, they give me constructive feedback to help me grow, and they cheer for me when I have good news. Besides all of that, they care deeply for me, and for the stories I create. I know for a fact that I could not have become a published author-illustrator without their warm presence in my world.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a soon-to-be published author and illustrator of children’s books (my debut book, WONDER & AWE, comes out October 15, 2024). It still feels surreal to say that sometimes. It was something I hoped to do from the time I was a little kid. As I got into adulthood and the workforce, it was a dream that was put on hold for quite some time. I held it so close to my heart that it’s almost like it was a secret, even though I would have easily told you about it, I’d just say, “One day I’ll do it.” But guess what? You may not have enough time for “one day” to arrive. The pandemic was the first thing that put that in perspective for me, and that is when I finally moved towards becoming an author and illustrator of books. Ironically, a year into it, I was faced with a cancer diagnosis and feeling heartbroken, set aside my efforts to find an agent and get a book deal, but the universe gave me a much-needed gift a month into my treatment. A literary agent reached out to me and asked to talk. After a three hour conversation in which we hit it off, she immediately offered to represent me, and a year later (my active treatment had ended), I got my first book deal. Now I try to avoid talking about “one day.” If there’s something I want to do, I take steps towards it. Life is ridiculously short, especially to be doing things that don’t fill you to the brim.

Aside from writing and illustrating books, I also work as an illustrated note taker, or a graphic recorder. This means I go to conferences, meetings, and events where I sit and listen to content being shared and I draw out visual notes for the audience to enjoy on a screen while they listen. Because visual content is processed by the brain at a much greater rate than text, it helps the audience to retain information better, while also providing a bit of theatre. I love the challenge of coming up with imagery for complex ideas and concepts—it keeps my on my toes, and excercises my brain and hands, and I love connecting with different kinds of people there.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh this is an exciting question as some of my pandemic illustrator friends who have never been to Colorado need to come and visit! We would certainly center our time around some drawing visits. I would take them to the Denver Zoo or the Wild Animal Sanctuary, DMNS, Union Station, and the Botanic Gardens, all to draw animals, plants and people. We’d pick up snacks or a picnic items from Marczyk’s on the way. We would also have to visit Meow Wolf because there is simply nothing like it. We would go hiking up in the mountains, and stop by Bread Bar for a drink and some live music. Of course we would have to visit Red Rocks too, and while I love a concert there, I also love going to a film in the summer! Being creatives, I’d make sure they came on the right week and we would attend the Denver Creative Mornings talk to make new friends and get some inspiration. We would have to get banh mi sandwiches at Vinh Xuong, bagels at Rosenberg’s, and ice cream at Sweet Action. But I’d also have to google the latest and greatest restaurants because I haven’t eaten out as much since the pandemic and my treatment. We would go find Mister Christmas(Scott Hildebrandt)’s hidden dioramas on Pearl Street. Oh and of COURSE, we would make trips both to Guiry’s and Meininger’s to clean them out of all art supplies!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to Mes Amies, The Tuesdees, and Ladies Bridge Club—my illustration and storytelling support groups.

Website: https://www.annieherzig.com/books

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annieherzig/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-herzig-423b86b4/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annieherzig

Other: https://cara.app/annieherzig

Because Meta is unsupportive of artists, automatically using our posts to feed AI, many artists and I are now moving to the Cara app, which respects the work of artists and our right to own the rights to our own work. I still have and will use Instagram to make announcements, continue to display old posts, and to share work from my books (which are copyrighted).

Image Credits
Grace Dilka
Bryan Beasley
Annie Herzig