Questions about mailing postcards
-
As I’ve been working through building up a mailing list I’ve an encountered some things I’m not sure what to do about.
Some publishers say they want submissions and or tear sheets only. (I’d never end heard of a tear sheet until now). Should I totally avoid putting them on my mailing list for postcards? I’ve created a separate list for publishers that just want submissions. Is it worth the effort to send submissions to these publishers? Some times they want specific illustrations and compared to sending hundreds or thousands of postcards out to publishers, putting in the time to organize each submission for each individual publisher seems like it’s not worth the effort. I’d never heard of sending in submissions like this until I started making the mailing list so it just seems odd to me.
Some publishers say they only work with 1 to 2 illustrators a year (I should mention this information is coming from the 2019 children’s writers and illustrator’s market book), are they even worth sending a postcard to? I guess it doesn’t hurt but it also feels silly to try to get in with a publisher who works with so few artists.
I recall hearing that SCBWI has a list of publisher contact info for members. Is it worth the member ship?
-
@griffin Postcards are super expensive, the postage is going to haunt you lol. So any company you have any doubt whatsoever about mailing, email first. Add to your postcard list later depending on answer.
-
@NessIllustration postage rates are actually much more reasonable for postcards if you're US-based. There are different mail rates for domestic mail and international mail (even just from over the border). Within the US, a stamp for a 4x6 postcard is $0.45 and anything larger is $0.55, where I think from Canada, no matter the size it's $1.30 per postcard.
@Griffin I tend to leave off the houses that only work with one or two illustrators a year unless I go to their website and see that my style really fits with what they're doing. I aim for my mailing list to be around 150 names and I try to cut it down to only the most relevant publishing houses, agents, and magazines. As far as tear sheet requests, I personally would go ahead and send them a postcard. Sometimes when they're specifying tear sheets only what they really mean is "please do not send unsolicited MANUSCRIPTS via mail." - but they are happy to receive art. The SCBWI membership is totally worth it if you're going to utilize it for more than the mailing list by connecting with your local chapter - but if that's not something you want to do, I would not join up just to get access to their book. The listing in there isn't that special and most of the names and addresses can be found by looking at free to access lists of publishers and googling the addresses.
Taylor Woolley
(Formerly Taylor Ackerman / StudioLooong)
Website: www.woolleystories.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woolleystories/ -
@studiolooong I'm curious how are you connecting with your local chapter? I've tried to get in with my local folks and can't seem to figure out how to do that. No one has their information posted, so I have to go through the SCBWI internal messaging system, which from what I can tell was built in 1984 and literally no one sees anything. Is there some secret way I'm not aware of to just see people's contact info so I can just reach out to them?
-
@studiolooong I wish I was in the US haha! It still adds up quickly with the volume of postcards artists send though. To send 200 it would be about $100 with tax, and that excludes printing!
vanessastoilova.com
instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
-
@nessillustration No tax for stamps either! (stamps are technically a postage tax, so are exempt from additional sales tax) - so for someone US-Based, 200 postcards would be $90 in postage, $45-$90 to print depending on the vendor you go with.
There are some third-party vendors who will charge you a little less to mail from Canada, they drive over the border with the mail and pay domestic rates - not sure of the legality of that but it may be worth looking into.
-
@jdubz I just went to the "regions" page of the website and reached out to the regional advisors and illustrator coordinator for my area. They were able to help me find a local meeting and connect me with other regional opportunities. I moved last year and did the same thing - just reached out to my regional advisors and let them know I'd moved to the area and was looking to get connected. All the regional advisors are volunteers so it may be worth copying a few of them onto your email so if one's super busy, the other can respond. Local chapters also have a regional calendar on their homepage so you can also look through there for an event to attend and connect with the regional advisor at the event/meeting. Also, if your local meeting isn't what you're looking for, you can go to other chapter's local meetings (as long as you're willing to travel a little bit farther). When I lived in Illinois, I was technically in the "Downstate Illinois" chapter. I went to those meetings, and they were great, but they were less frequent than I wanted so I asked if I could also attend the Chicago Illustrators meetings and the chapter was more than okay with that!
-
@studiolooong Gotcha - good advice! I'll do that and go up the chain
