Developing your social media following.
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Hi. I just listened to the How to Get Your First 10k Followers, which was illuminating. I'm trying to take Jake's advice and start with following 100 people on Twitter and/or Instagram, but whom do you choose? Do I target agents, publishing houses, favorite illustrators? Should I keep the personal stuff (like friends) to a minimum since I want this to be mostly about getting the gigs? How do you all not get sucked down this potential huge, gigantic rabbit hole? Thanks!
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@Laurel-Aylesworth Not that I have all that many followers, but I started by first going to all of the publishers, game companies, ad agencies, etc. as well as artists I admire including ones I may have not known of at the time but saw they were popular & seemingly influential. I also found Art Directors and other related people/orgs (including events/conferences, etc.) and also simply areas of interest.
To get you started with more followers, I'll follow you on Instagram & Twitter now!!!!
I am:
http://www.Instagram.com/QuietYellSketches
(I usually post on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday here; sometimes more)http://www.Instagram.com/QuietYell
(it's been awhile since I've had something that I've wanted to post here, but I hope to relatively soon & more often)http://www.Twitter.com/ScottMonaco
(This is M/W/F and more)My other social media is on my site http://www.QuietYell.com (under the connect dropdown)
Scott Monaco | QuietYell.com
IG/FB/LI: @QuietYell
IG-2: @QuietYellSketches
TW/PIN/BEH/DEVART: @ScottMonaco
SCBWI: http://bit.ly/1r8Dmqr -
You can start by looking at hashtags and keywords - for example #kidlitart is a good one. Once you start following people, Twitter and Instagram will do a good job of proposing people with similar profile to you.
I follow writers and illustrators of children literature, all major publishing houses and their art directors and editors(when you can find them!), bookshops and libraries (or librarians), elementary and mid-grade teachers, people that review children books and other children media publishers. The most important thing is to dedicate some time every day - and to keep posting! Both these points can be real challenges sometimes.... -
@Laurel-Aylesworth oh another tip to finding whom to follow is to look at the people/orgs that your admired artists/orgs are following and follow them too (well, follow the ones you are interested in)
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@QuietYell You are too kind - thanks for following me! And this is great advice. And I am humbled by your amazing work. Wow.
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@smceccarelli By the way, Simona, I've seen a few of your pieces here and there on this site and your work is wonderful! Love, love, LOVE the dragon with little boy piece.
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@Laurel-Aylesworth Hi! Thanks for watching the 10k lesson.
Sounds like you want to get gigs in publishing, in which case the account types you mentioned are a great start. I would follow art directors and editors too.
Lot's of great suggestions here. I like to look at who I am following and see who else is following them, and see who the person I'm following is following.
All of this is about you staying current in the discussions and posts that are happening in the publishing world. And on another level it's about you making genuine connections to people. Be engaging in a way that gets people to want to know you and your work and that they will want to meet you in person.
I know myself, and a lot of other pros check people's twitter and instagram feeds to see what a person's personality is like, whether or not they are crazy, or polite and professional.
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Jake's lesson was great, and it inspired me to sign up for Instagram. So I'm new also.
I have decided to follow and interact with a few friends and family members there (those who want to, basically--not acquaintances from my email contacts list or whatever), but I'm not going to post anything that isn't art related to my account. 
So the focus is definitely on sharing art and being inspired by and learning from other artists. I thought James Gurney had some good advice for using Instagram/Social Media in general:
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/11/72-tips-for-sharing-art-on-social-media.htmlI find it interesting that he doesn't follow more than 100 people at a time--it makes sense that following a great many people would limit your ability to actually see the posts of and interact with the people you're following, which is kind of the point of social media, eh?
I've already followed more than 100 people, but perhaps I'll prune back a bit every now and then and switch it up as suggested. -
@K.-W. I'm following 672 people on IG. Maybe too many?
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@Jake-Parker Haha! There are just so many awesome people to follow, is the thing. xD
