How to find clients and contracts

[xin li]

@NessIllustration I am going to try postcard mailing next year. I want to do some cards, and posters for Bologna anyway, so I will also do a round mailing before and after the fair.
I heard from multiple sources that mailing works long term, but almost never do that magic of getting you hired right away. Many art directors still keep a box of postcards on their desks. They might love an illustrator's work, but they have nothing they think suits the style, and they might contact the illustrator 3-4 years after, you never know.

I guess post cards is similar to social media in a way - it is a long game.

One positive thing about doing postcards and posters of your artwork is to see your work on paper. Illustrator's work ends up on paper most of the time if they work with children's books, so it is really good to see the artwork on paper from time to time. I always feel a big difference when seeing my illustration printed out in actual size. I often rework things after seeing a piece on paper.

[NessIllustration]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz It's worth mentioning that it's rare to find a decent contract on there - but it happens! I only go there once every few months, but usually what I do is I'll check the newest posts in job offers twice a day, never bother replying to anything underpriced, and copy paste a message linking my portfolio or email address to the rest. I usually get a hit on one good job within a week Then promptly leave Deviantart for the next 5 months hahaha

[Jose A Nieto]

@NessIllustration Thanks a lot sharing. I've gotten all my work through Fiverr. Terrible pay. Some nice portfolio pieces have come out of that, but that's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to try the postcards next year. But tomorrow I'm using your techniques because Fiverr clearly does not do trick

Cheers!

[NessIllustration]

@Jose-A-Nieto Yes it's terrible! The whole concept of Fiverr is being a place people go to when they need a job done and only want to pay like 5 bucks ^^''' Fiverr's target audience is just not the kind that's prepared to pay good money for top notch service. It's more like a dollar store kind of place, where no one is prepared to pay anywhere near a fair wage.

[StudioLooong]

Does anyone have any experience with reedsy.com? I heard about it through One Fantastic Week's webshow, one of their mentees mentioned using it for freelance. It seems interesting and higher paing than Fiverrr but I was wondering if anyone is on there and could speak to it. I started to fill out a profile and their staff has been emailing me to finish it but i'm not sure if it will be worth it or just another platform where I have to field low-ball requests.

[NessIllustration]

@StudioLooong This seems interesting, thank you for the tip! I've never heard of it before but I might set up a profile during the holidays and see for myself if it's worth it In the illustration Q and A they say people should be looking at 2k-10k for illustration ranging from book covers to fully illustrated books, so at least they're setting up realistic expectations for the clients.

[StudioLooong]

@NessIllustration I might do the same and we can compare notes!

[smceccarelli]

What a beautiful Etsy shop @NessIllustration !!! I’ll put it at the top of my list of inspiration! I’ve been thinking of opening an Etsy shop since a couple of years, but it’s such a lot of work and I never seem to find the time.

I’m rarely on the forum these days (I’m an old SVS alumna), but I wanted to tune in for @xin-li because I’m going to Bologna too in April (like every year), and I’m always happy to meet new faces with shared experiences. If you’d like to meet, just DM me and we can set up a place and time for a coffee and chat.

I work nearly exclusively in book publishing and I can confirm that Bologna is a great source of contacts and contracts both. Most of my work is from return “clients”, and many of them I met at Bologna. That first contact is often the start of a multi-project collaboration, that keeps growing and evolving. If it’s your first time in Bologna, feel free to ask how to “walk the fair”.

To contribute to the topic: I get work from my agent (I’m repped by Transatlantic Literary), book fairs (Bologna mainly - I’ve just started going to Frankfurt this year) and sometimes from Behance. I got my very first book contract from Instagram but I think that it’s a very rare occurrence. I think one contract in a year for a literary agent and a debut illustrator is not bad - it gets more and more when the first books come out and you get a bit of a “name”. The publishing industry moves very slow, book projects take a long time, etc... But once you’re in the door with medium-large publishers, contracts keep coming and keep getting better.

I’ve done my first book in 2016 and now, at the end of 2019, I was in a place where I could quit my day job to do full-time book illustration. Maybe now I’ll have the time to open that Etsy shop!

[xin li]

@smceccarelli Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I will contact you via email when it is getting close to Bologna. Would love to meet up with you for coffee and chat. So excited.

[Rachel Horne]

@NessIllustration Brilliant - thanks for sharing all of these ideas. I've only recently gotten into illustration so I haven't tried anything yet - I'll let you know when I do!

www.rachel-horne.com
www.instagram.com/rachel_horne_art

[NessIllustration]

@smceccarelli That's so nice of you Simona, and means a lot from you! Etsy is a LOT of work indeed and it's a struggle to find the time, especially since it's a completely different skill set from freelance illustration (learning about SEO, marketing, social media, and creating a product that's most suited to your audience). But it's so much fun and it's my ultimate goal to make this shop my full-time occupation one day! I've been doing a lot of classes, webinars, Youtube videos and blog posts trying to figure it out. If you and others are interested I could list some Etsy resources I have found helpful so far.

And thank you for sharing your experience about book fairs! I really hope I can make it to one sometime in the near future. It's interesting to hear about return clients. I haven't been doing this too long, but even I have noticed I'm having to spend less and less time looking for contracts because a few old clients are the ones contacting me now. It's good to hear this is a trend I can expect to continue in the future!

This is also a very good case for everyone to remember to always be on their best behavior at all times, be professional and do your very best work no matter the circumstances. My first book was an abysmally low pay and the designer got on my nerves, it was a struggle to stay the best me possible until the end. I did the most beautiful illustrations I could manage even though the budget did not afford it and stayed super nice and professional. I've now been contacted for a 3rd book with them, one that would be a series, and the budget is nearly triple. Keep those relationships up, artists!

[NessIllustration]

@Rachel-Horne Your art is absolutely stunning, and perfectly suited to children illustration! I think if you start emailing your website link to agents and publishing houses, you will be surprised by the amount of work that comes your way

[smceccarelli]

@NessIllustration Absolutely! I still hear Will’s words: handle each job as if it was a 30K dollar job, even if you’re only getting 300...Or, as I say to myself: if I take it, I’ll do my best. If I can’t do my best, I won’t take it.
The book industry is based heavily on word-of-mouth and reputation. Illustration is a bit broader, but probably very similar at the end. You need to treat your reputation as your biggest asset.

Definitely, I’d love to hear about resources you’ve found useful for your Etsy shop!

[NessIllustration]

@smceccarelli At some point I will compile them and write a new post about it

[Rachel Horne]

@NessIllustration Aw thank you so much, that's made my day, I'm really flattered

[MimiHecher]

• I make a desk calendar, a little bit bigger than a postcard, with 12 sheets every year. 6 illustrations from my sister, 6 from me, and send them to 100 - 120 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

It's of course more expensive than a postcard, but they then have our pictures on their desk for the whole year, so I think it's worth it.
From that kind of advertisment we got contracts with 3 different publishers so far, from a 4th we are waiting for a contract zu start working.

• I tell EVERYONE in my social environment that I am a children's book illustrator.
  Because of that I got a foot into a handcraft publisher: A friend of a friend started to work as an editor there and asked me to send a portfolio, so he could show it to the editors that do children's handcraft books.
  And tadaah - now I'm working on my 5th project with them, as they love my style!

[Mimi Simon]

I'll put in my two cents worth about how I've gotten jobs though I've never had a job in traditional publishing so this probably wont be too helpful for that. However I have had jobs is traditional comics, webcomics, gaming, animation and indie publishing.

Discord groups: I'm a member of two discord groups that have job posting channels and I've gotten a few jobs through those. these channels can be really great because they are a collection of things people find online what you probably wouldn't come across yourself because people see them in thier twitter feed or other websites you don't know to look at or studios yo've never heard of. people also post about stuff at the companies they work at that arn't necessarily listed anywhere. If you'd like to join the servers they are: Warrior Painters https://discord.gg/KRHFnxV
and Backgroud.art https://discord.gg/PXTUChDjpT

animatedjobs.com
great website for finding animation and gaming related jobs that arnt posted elsewhere. often from smaller companies that dont have thier own careers site or from individuals looking for help on a project. it also aggregates jobs from studios websites.

animationireland.com
similar to animated jobs but just for Ireland. Since Ireland is a small country with a lot of animation studios and they speak english they are fairly willing to hire people from abroud. I've also been looking on their recently because I would love to move there.

I'm also part of a private facebook group run by a former teacher for all his artist friends. I've gotten a few jobs from other artists on there who needed help on a project or recommend me to work at the company where they were at.

My current job I got from going to Lightbox Expo (great show, highly recommended) and meeting someone from a studio who liked my work. At his recommendation, I applied to the studio and was turned down because i wasn't willing to move to be on site. I then applied again months later and they changed their mind about weather I had to move so I got the job. (guess they were getting desperate lol)

Anyway hope this is helpful. Last thought, the main reason I was able to get all these different jobs is being flexible about what kind of art you're willing to do and having a broad skill set. Some of these jobs definitely taught me what I don't like doing but I tried it, made some money and learned more about who I want to be as an artist.

[AngelinaKizz]

Great post! Thankyou for sharing! I too have gone to the bookstore and started my own list of publishers and illustrators who I would love to work for or with.

[ArtistErin]

@NessIllustration This is so good to hear, it's been my modus operandi in lots of ways in my current job as well, I figure the habits do cross over and it really does pay off. I love this thread you started. Thank you for compiling such an integrated list and it helped me to see there are many ways to make money. So thank you for this. I actually subscribed to your channel a couple years ago, way before I found SVS and you are one of the best informative and educational channels in the realm of children's book illo.

[NessIllustration]

@ArtistErin This is a super old post from 2019 that got dug up recently! But many things on this list still applies The #1 thing that's always worked for me to get contract is querying by emails, and following up religiously every 1-2 months. At first you don't hear back, but after 3-5 times most art directors send a reply even if it's a "no"