My Beautiful "Failed" Book Project

here's what I learned so you don't have to

"Extremely rough sketches with coffee stains included (the coffee was necessary for me to think these looked good)

What I learned about thumbnailing the hard way

After self-publishing my first book A World Within and seeing it do well on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, I was riding high. People were leaving amazing reviews, the feedback was incredible, and I thought: Okay, NOW I'm ready to write a book for literary agents. This is my moment.

So I did what any excited illustrator would do. I grabbed my notebook and started sketching.

And let me tell you, those thumbnails were ROUGH. Like, embarrassingly rough. But I didn't care because I was having so much fun playing with cool perspectives, dramatic angles, and interesting compositions. I was in my creative zone.

The only problem? I had absolutely no story. Just a bunch of cool-looking pictures with no emotional arc, no character journey, and no real message.

But I didn't realize that yet.

POV: You think you're onto something big (you're not, but you'll figure that out in about 3 weeks)

The Project That Taught Me Everything

I kept going. I pieced together these rough sketches, drew cleaner versions on a paper with 9 horizontal rectangles, and started writing copy to fit the visuals. I called it Portals—this beautiful concept about how we can change our outer world by changing our inner world first.

I showed it to a few people. The feedback was... mixed.

Some people thought the concept was deep and interesting. Others were like, "Where's the character? Where's the arc? What's the beginning, middle, and end?"

But I was already in too deep. I had started actually illustrating three of these spreads—full detailed sketches, scanned them, brought them into Procreate with all my new favorite brushes, the whole deal.

And you know what? I'm SO proud of those illustrations. They're some of my best work. They're going straight into my portfolio, and I'll probably finish drawing the rest whenever I have time (aka never, haha).

But as a book for agents? It wasn't working.

A beautiful illustration in search of a plot (still looking...)

The Lesson I Learned the Hard Way

Here's what I didn't expect to learn from this "failed" project:

Thumbnailing isn't just about planning your illustrations. It's about testing whether your STORY actually works before you waste time drawing it.

I had done it completely backwards. I came up with the images first, then tried to force a story around them. And that's exactly why it didn't work.

After stepping back, I realized: It doesn't matter how beautiful your illustrations are if the story doesn't make someone feel something. If there's no character to root for, no problem to solve, no "aww" or "wow" moment... you're just making pretty pictures.

My New 3-Step Process (That Actually Works)

So I started over. Twice, actually. I wrote two completely new books. But THIS time, I did it differently:

Step 1: Figure Out the Story FIRST

• Who's the character?

• What's their problem?

• How do they try to solve it but fail?

• What's the turning point?

• What's the lesson learned?

Step 2: Write the COPY

All of it. Before I even touch my sketchbook. Every single word needs to be there so I know exactly what emotion each page needs to convey.

Step 3: THEN Thumbnail

When you thumbnail AFTER you have a solid story, everything clicks. You're not just drawing cool scenes—you're illustrating emotional beats. You know exactly what each page needs to communicate because the story is already there.

Key Takeaways (So You Don't Make My Mistakes)

1. Thumbnail Early and Thumbnail Rough Your first sketches should be MESSY. You're testing ideas, not making art yet. Don't be precious about it.

2. Story Comes First, Always If you can't summarize your book's emotional arc in 2-3 sentences, you're not ready to illustrate. Period.

3. "Failed" Projects Aren't Failures Those Portal illustrations? They're portfolio pieces now. They taught me SO much about my process, my style, and what NOT to do next time. And they're going to live on my website and help me land clients.

4. It's Okay to Start Over I know it feels like you're "wasting time" when you scrap a project, but you're not. You're learning. Every sketch, every mistake, every pivot makes you better.

What I'm Working On Now

I'm currently working on two new books that I'm genuinely excited about. This time, I started with the story. I made sure there's a character people can relate to, a problem they want solved, and an emotional journey that makes you feel something.

THEN I thumbnailed. And honestly? The difference is night and day.

One of them is called Luna and the Breathing Stars, and it's about a little girl who learns to manage her anxiety through breathing and connection. The other is Cruffy and Moost, a story about a high-energy dog and an introverted cat who become housemates and learn to respect each other's boundaries while staying true to themselves.

Both books have everything Portals didn't: clear characters, emotional arcs, a beginning-middle-end, and messages that resonate. And because I started with the story first, the thumbnailing process has been so much smoother and more intentional.

I can't wait to share them with you all.

Final Thoughts

If you're working on a children's book right now, I challenge you: Before you draw one more finished illustration, write out your story. Make sure someone can relate to your character. Make sure there's a clear problem and resolution. Make sure it makes you FEEL something.

THEN thumbnail. THEN illustrate.

Trust me, future you will thank you. 💜

Have you ever created something beautiful that just... didn't work? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Let's normalize the messy creative process together.

✨ Want to follow my journey? I share behind-the-scenes of my illustration process, lessons learned, and creative updates right here. Subscribe to stay in the loop!

Love, Ari