CB Illustrators?

Laurel Aylesworth

I was recently invited to join the CB Illustrators website, but it's a paid service (I think $120/yr) to get your portfolio on the site. Does anyone know if it's worth it to pay for this? Does it get any more exposure than the SCBWI website? Is this a resource that art directors or agents actually use? If not, I'd rather put my money toward postcards/postage/go to conferences and do a surgical approach to marketing. Thanks!

Will Terry

@laurel-aylesworth No. My experience is that they don’t drive enough traffic to their site and subsequently to the artists who have paid to display their portfolios. My theory is that art buyers like editors, art directors, and creative directors want to maximize their time looking for illustrators in “target rich environments” (to quote Tom Cruise in Top Gun). Illustration agency sites and illustrator rep sites are curated by talent gathering in the best in the world and displaying their artist’s work. Paid portfolio sites will allow anyone to buy space and post their images no matter what level of quality, low to high. This policy creates a wide range of quality on the paid portfolio site and art buyers have to waste time looking at sub-industry standard work. Since it’s just as easy for them to look at an agency site as it is to look at a paid site - I’m assuming they spend much more time on agency sites. If I were an art buyer - that’s what I would do.

Lydia M

My agency asked me to get on one of those portfolio sites and it hasn't led to anything. It was almost $300. Looking back I should not have done it but I felt guilty because they told me it was part of a package deal with other illustrators. If I didn't accept then the whole deal would fall apart. Ha! So easy to see through now.

Don't do it.

Donfito

@will-terry hi will, can you post some agencys or sites that we could apply ( apart from scwbi)
?