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Katie Mazeika

 

By Margaret Lea       

Author/Illustrator Katie Mazeika will present The Power of Pivoting: When the Only Way Forward is to Change Direction at our online chapter meeting on Sept. 14, 2026. One career pivot for Katie was going from illustrator to author/illustrator. And in 2020, she pivoted her illustration style by creating a completely new portfolio featuring brighter, dynamic art with more movement. 

     Katie’s early life also took a scary pivot when, at age three, she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Even rarer, the cancer was in her optic nerve and the doctors had to remove one eye to save her life. Thankfully, she is now cancer free. 

     Her picture book Maybe Just Ask Me, which came out in 2025, is based on the time when she started first grade after a six-month hospitalization. She wrote this story to show others that, “Disability is not a bad word.” Surprisingly, in real life, none of the other kids in her class asked her why she wore an eye patch and headscarf. Katie speculates that their parents told them to be “polite” and not talk about it, but she would have preferred they just ask her. 

     Katie attended the Columbus College of Art and Design, majoring in illustration and minoring in creative writing. Her first art agent didn’t work out, and her second quit the business. But in 2019, she participated in #DVPit on Twitter, a pitch event for marginalized creators. Through that, she found literary agent Sorche Fairbank at Fairbank Literary and has been with her ever since, publishing five books as an illustrator and five more as author/illustrator. Her latest picture book House in a Box? will come out in 2027 and is an informational fiction story about a family building their own home by ordering a kit from the Sears catalog. 

     When asked for tips for unpublished authors, she shared the following link: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/02/31-days-31-lists-2025-picture-book-readalouds/

She explained that Betsy Bird makes yearly lists of great books. This particular one is for 2025 Picture Books, but poke around the site and you’ll find many more lists. Katie recommends reading a lot, studying mentor texts and just getting your first draft down, even if it’s lousy. Then revise and polish. She has been an SCBWI member for a decade, learning much and meeting great people there. Currently she lives in northern Ohio and attends chapter events there. 

     For published authors, she says, “Don’t drive yourself crazy with marketing. Just do what you can. And don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone’s journey is different.” For illustrators, she recommends studying the yearly children’s art honored by The Society of Illustrators. 

     You can check out Katie’s website at katiemazeika.com/.

     


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