INCREDIBLE NEWS!

NessIllustration

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Oh Nyrryl, congratulations!! I'm so happy for you, hun! You are definitely one of those artists on the forum that I thought was on the verge of a breakthrough and you are so talented that it was only a matter of time You deserve this so much!! Congrats again!

It made me giggle when I read your previous tribulations with agents and even getting blocked by one! We all have those stories of things not working out and it would be nice if like you, we were comfortable to share them too. It's so normal to go through that and doesn't define your future success!

I've taken the liberty to write down below my own resounding failures in my looking for an agent, just in case anyone is looking for a laugh or some encouragement that things get better LOL. I hope I'm not hijacking Nyrryl's post in anyway by doing that, and if you're not interested in my failure anecdotes you can skip everything beyond this point haha

I almost got signed by Advocate Art too! It was 2 years ago, I was still working at a video games studio and looking for freelance side gigs when I found a call for submissions from Advocate Art. I applied, not expecting much since I didn't have much of a portfolio back then. I was really surprised when Advocate said they were interested and asked me to sign their welcome package and send in all my work for final review. That's when I really started to believe it, really started to hope. "Maybe I AM actually good enough to be signed!" I thought. About 2 weeks later, I was told my work didn't pass the final review and they didn't want to sign me after all. Their welcome package did mention that in rare cases, they change their mind when they see the full portfolio. I was completely crushed!

About 6 months later I dug myself out of my cocoon of misery and decided to try again. This time I created a brand new portfolio with a plan, researched and made a list of agents to apply too, created all the pieces I would need and applied. I sent to about 8-9 agents in total, including Advocate Art again. My personal top choice this time was the Bright group. I was hopeful because I thought if I almost got signed last time without even a real portfolio, what would it be like when I had actually worked for it this time? But this time, I didn't even get as far as last time. Everyone either said they weren't interested or didn't answer at all. It was really crushing yet again.

In the following months, I ended up leaving my job, moving to another city and started working as a full-time freelancer. 6 months after, I felt good enough about my work to try again. I had been sustaining myself of freelance work alone for over 6 months, I had a professional website this time, many professional projects to my name and a much better portfolio. I made a list of agents and applied again. I had written a little introduction that I copy-pasted, before personalizing the body of the email itself to each agency. I think you can see where this is going! I sent an application to Lemonade agency that started with "Dear Plum Pudding agency". I realized my mistakes about a minute after sending and started panicking and crying, desperately trying to find a way to unsend the email. As I was googling how to do that with tears streaming down my face, I received an answer back from Lemonade: "Dear Vanessa, we are not Plum Pudding. We will be tossing out your application now." For weeks afterwards, this was the only agency that had even replied. I was so crushed and depressed, I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning. Until one day I received another reply, from Beehive agency. They were interested in signing me. I think this was the happiest, most relieved moment of my life!

It's also interesting to note my story didn't end there. In the following year, I came to realize that although Beehive is a lovely and successful agency, it wasn't actually a great fit for me. I made a whole other thread explaining my experience with them and why I decided to change. I signed with Astound Us just last month, and the process was surprisingly easy and smooth. Like Nyrryl said, when you're actually ready for an agent things just fall into place quite naturally. It's not such a hard fight for it anymore.

If you're in the middle of looking for an agent, if you've had rejections so far: don't give up! Keep improving, keep gaining experience. A rejection now doesn't mean that it's not meant to be

TessaW

I'm so happy for you, congratulations! Your work has always been a treat and an inspiration for me here on the forums and it's wonderful to hear about your progress professionally.

Thank you @Nyrryl-Cadiz and @NessIllustration for sharing your back stories, it's incredibly helpful.

lenwen

wow, congrats @Nyrryl-Cadiz ! thanks for sharing it :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_smiling_eyes:

Eli

Congratulations! That is wonderful

StudioLooong

Congrats! Can't wait to see where you go from here!

BichonBistro

@Nyrryl-Cadiz woohoo!!!!! fantastic news

Johanna Kim

That's amazing news and so well deserved. Congratulations! And thanks for sharing all your insights--very helpful and generous.

Kristin Dudish

Yayyy @Nyrryl-Cadiz !!! Congratulations!!!

Judy Elizabeth Wilson

@Nyrryl-Cadiz This is amazing news. Well done. And imagine this is just the beginning!

Judy Elizabeth Wilson

@NessIllustration Omg, that's brilliant with the Plum Pudding Lemonade mix up. Glad you are with the right fit agency now.

demotlj

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Congratulations and very well deserved! Can't wait to see where you go from here

MissMushy

@Nyrryl-Cadiz awesome news!! Congratulations! And thanks for sharing your experience of the process.

Coreyartus

Congratulations!!! That's awesome!!!

Amanda Jean

Congratulations! It was only a matter of time. Your work is stand-out quality, so it's well deserved I'd say.

There could be any number of reasons for the blocking... if this happens to anyone, I wouldn't take it too personally. Just shows they're not your people, and also that it may or may not have been a blessing in disguise.

Onward to better opportunities!

KathrynAdebayo

Yaaaaay! I was waiting for this and hoping so much that you would find a good agency. I can't wait to see more books out there illustrated by Nyrryl Cadiz! Super happy for you!!!

Kat

Wow congratulations! That’s WONDERFUL news!

Zachary Drenski

Amazing news! And well deserved!

ArtofAleksey

@Nyrryl-Cadiz nice congrats! Im very happy for you and thanks for sharing your experience. It’s the people that keep learning how else to get up as they get knocked down that make it!

@NessIllustration thank you for sharing too! I learned alot from what you’ve shared. I sent my stuff to KAT was it? They said what other agents have said, they like my art but there isnt a market for the kind of art I do. Funny because they werent the first ones to say that but they were the first to elaborate. So thank you for that

burvantill

Awesome news!! Well done

NessIllustration

@Aleksey I'm so sorry to hear that However I must disagree with them: there IS a market somewhere for your art. I think what they mean is there isn't a market in children's book for your art. But your art does fit in somewhere, and you will find it if you keep looking. Maybe it's in comics, or video games, maybe it's T-Shirt designs, I don't know yet. If art directors won't hire you to create a product, you can also create your own products and sell them yourself. Let's all remember that so many people got told that, and proved everyone wrong. Tim Burton was once a Disney animator working on The Fox and the Hound (can you imagine that) and he was the weird kid that didn't fit in. He didn't last long there. But turns there WAS a huge market for his art, it just didn't exist yet. And your art isn't even as out there as his was. Your art reminds me a lot of what is being done in comics. Anyway, you will figure it out I just know it