More About Julia Mills (She/Her)
Languages: English
On the day before her 11th birthday Julia wrote in her journal “I would like to be an author and illistrator when I grow up”. Now she is proud to say she has accomplished that goal and even improved her spelling. Julia is also an art teacher, mom, and avid knitter. Her perfect afternoon would involve iced coffee, freshly sharpened pencils, and the sandy beaches of Southern New Jersey she calls home.
Julia has an extensive background in the arts. She holds an MFA in Visual Art and has been teaching art for over 10 years. She currently teaches kindergarten, 5th and 6th grade art. Her students love her positive and supportive approach to creating art. She has also led several workshops for adults including portrait drawing, still life painting, picture book creation, oil painting and color theory.
You can find her online at:
Julia’s strengths are…
Taking big emotions and fitting them into stories for children. Helping others tame wild ideas. Working with traditional art materials (paint, pastel, color pencils) and helping traditional artists embrace technology and new techniques. Public speaking, especially with school visits and speaking to children. Knowing what teachers are looking for in picture books.
What Julia is looking for…
Julia is looking for a mentee who is excited about story telling. She's looking for someone who thinks about their audience and wants to bring them authentic, engaging stories.
She would be very excited to work with an illustrator who is working to become an author/illustrator, or someone with a fine arts background looking to move towards illustration.
She is looking for manuscripts that make her laugh and tug at her heart.
A Note From Julia:
“I'm not looking for perfection. I'm looking for a story that has engaging characters and plot. I'm looking for something that a five year old would ask to be read aloud again and again. If you are showing illustration work I'm looking for images that tell stories with interesting characters.”
Julia’s Published Books
I am Stuck, Clarion, 2023
If Julia created a Visual Wish List, it would be made up of…
*Unless otherwise stated, the below serves as a wish list only. Each mentor is excited about the opportunity to find a manuscript they can’t stop thinking about. Please apply if you think you’d be a good fit.
The Truth about Max, by Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen
The Very Impatient Caterpillar, by Ross Burach
Leave Me Alone!, by Vera Brosgol
Mixed: A Colorful Story, by Arree Chung
Neither, by Airlie Anderson
Snail Crossing, by Corey R. Tabor
Wolfie the Bunny, by Ame Dyckman and Zachariah OHora
Julia is a good fit for…
Illustrators
Author/Illustrators
Illustrators who dream of being Author/Illustrators
Illustrators who work in traditional mediums and want to bring them to their books. This includes (but is not limited to)oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolors, pencil, printmaking and collage. (Julia does work digitally as well but traditional mediums are her favorite and her area of expertise).
Fine artists trying to move into illustration and storytelling
Humor
Social Emotional learning books that still have humor/interesting plots -Clever stories
Big ideas in small packages
Things that kids really like
Animal protagonists
Books that relate to art or artists
Julia is not a good fit for…
Nonfiction (with the exception of books about artist or art related topics)
Who can apply to Julia? Unagented illustrators and author-illustrators only.
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