Vladimir Todorov is an animator, designer and story board artist who has worked on many Hollywood feature films including The Polar Express, Harry Potter, Beowulf and the forthcoming Jack the Giant Slayer. In 2009 Vlad published a book titled Moon Rock which is about to be released an an e-book.
FLIP: Your book "The Moon Rock" is about to be released as an e-book. What is the book about?
Vladimir: The Moon Rock is an illustrated fantasy novel. The story is about a boy’s magical journey to a city, build in the deepest crater on the far side of the Moon. A city ruled by a wicked librarian, a city where gravity is defied and time can be twisted for good or evil.
When Elliot is shown the Library of Time, he finds out that the precious Moon Rock he “stole” from his Astronaut grandfather holds a hidden key which can open the forbidden wing of the future. He also finds himself caught in the middle of a civil war, raging between the Librarian and a group of rebels called the Defiers.
The story is about an adventure, but also about the difficult choices our character faces.
FLIP: You worked for Sony Imageworks for many years as an artist and designer - what is your favorite project you have worked on?
Vladimir: I left Sony about seven years ago, to become a freelance artist. Since then I have worked almost exclusively as a character designer and concept artist on the last few Bob Zemeckis films, starting with The Polar Express and going all the way to Christmas Carol.
From my days back at Sony…probably the two Stuart Little films and the first Harry Potter were the most fun to work on.
FLIP: How did you find the time to write "Moon Rock"?
Vladimir: I did it entirely in my spare time, working evenings and weekends. There’s no other way, unless you give up your day job to become a full-time author/illustrator, and I wasn’t going to do thatJ It was a long process, very time consuming mainly because of the complexity of the artwork which is photo real. I also did it the wrong way around…starting with a few illustrations and a very rough and basic story idea. It was meant to be a picture book with very little text, but…as it often happens, the story evolved and grew bigger and more elaborate. By that time, I had already done a big chunk of the artwork and it was a big headache to try and fit the story around it. I’ve learned a lot since then.
Anyway, a few years back the book was optioned by Disney and Robert Zemeckis and set up for him to produce as a movie. Eventually the project fell through - which is quite common in this industry.
FLIP: What was involved in turning it into an e-book?
Vladimir: The original printed edition of the Moon Rock was released in 2007 if I’m not mistaken. It is still available as a hard copy, but…with the advance of the digital media devises like the iPad and the Kindle fire readers, I decided the time has come to give it a second (or new) life as a digital book. In fact, it was probably always meant to be, since all the artwork was done entirely on a computer and it always looked much better on screen then on paper. No matter how good the quality of the print was, there was always something missing. At the time, print was the obvious choice since it was the only option. Things have changed, and although the illustrated e-books are still a fraction of the market, I think we’ll be seeing more and more releases in the next few years.
In my case, turning the Moon Rock into an e-book was pretty straight forward on one hand, since the artwork was all digital and it didn’t involve scanning and reformatting traditionally painted illustrations. On the other hand…the illustrated e-book market is still in its infancy and there are formatting issues for each of the few different devises and readers. In short…it’s not an easy process, but not impossible.
FLIP: What advice would you offer anyone looking to get a book published?
Vladimir: I only have two traditionally published works so far (the second one is a picture book called “Oliver’s Tantrums” and it should be coming out soon), but I know one thing for sure…the traditional publishing world, as we’ve known it for years and years, is changing dramatically.
The century old formula…author-agent-publisher is breaking up, the industry is in chaos and slow-reacting to the new times (very much like the music industry’s slow reaction a few years back to digital downloads). Self-publishing is no longer such a “bad” word and doesn’t carry the stigma that has been attached to it for many years. Especially with e-books and the self publishing platform Amazon offers. We’ve seen quite a few phenomenal successes already, and there are more to come.
So, like I said, I can’t advise authors to not seek and pursue a way into traditional publishing. Everyone has to find their own way and what fits best their projects. I, personally, have decided to abandon the traditional ways and jump into the self-publishing experience. I believe it gives me more freedom, flexibility and control over the product. Of course, I’m yet to discover how that works, so I’ll let you know in a year’s time.
(Editor's note: You can find out about other artist's books, like Sydney Padua's upcoming graphic novel, and the new iPad version of the Animator's Survival Kit, here. )
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