Agents and Reps

NessIllustration

@xin-li Bright and Plum Pudding art illustration agencies mainly, but some of the artists they represent are author-illustrators. Also your work is more than pro enough for getting an agent.. You don't have to have done x amount of client work to get considered or signed. After all they are there to find you work! Requiring you to have client work would be like saying "prove to us that you don't need us". Please don't give yourself obstacles by hesitating and doubting yourself! It would take you 5 minutes to email them your portfolio link, and the worst thing that can happen is you get to try again in a few months. So why not do it now?

Apart from Plum Pudding and Bright, the CAT agency could also be a nice fit for you. They are very nice and gave me advice when I applied even though they didn't pick me. They said my work is too commercial and they're looking for something,,, more like yours

Jeremy Ross

@Deborah-Cantlon-Lambson, agree 100%!

Keep it authentic gents and let the conversation flow organically. Listening in makes me feel like I’m right there in the studio during the real-time conversation.

xin li

@NessIllustration thank you so much for the encouragement. I will start sending out emails after the holiday season. I considered the CAT also.

I am also considering developing myself as an author-illustrator and find a literary agency instead - such as Writers House, but I will have to finish my first dummy book before I can go this route. (I have been trying, and not succeeding yet).

NessIllustration

@xin-li I'm so glad to hear that Agents will be recruiting in preparation for the big book fairs in early Spring, and then they will not be looking anymore for several months. Right after the holidays is a great time, don't miss your window! I truly believe you're a thousand times better than myself, and me being signed by an agency already and getting full-time work while you are not is a huge travesty that must be corrected!

Being an author-illustrator is a wonderful goal I do think maybe getting a few books solely as illustrator first would help tremendously to understand picture books before making your own. Going by that logic, finding an agent that works that can do both would be the ideal fit for you. They can get you work and experience while you prepare your dummy!

StudioLooong

@NessIllustration @xin-li I'm in the middle of querying agents and I got some very kind words from Cat Agency as well. They said I was too similar to some of their other artists but by their response I could tell that they had actually spent time looking through my work and Chris took the time to give me a few tips. It's so nice that some agencies still take the time to review and respond to illustrators like that (even when it's a no).

xin li

@NessIllustration Thank you so much for the insight on the recruiting window. I will give a shot :-). I think your work is lovely and super cute. We have a different approach and personality in making art and it is really hard to compare :-).

@StudioLooong thank you so much for sharing your experience. Really interesting hearing your story. I hope you land in an agency you are happy with soon :-).

NessIllustration

@StudioLooong Yessss Chris is so nice! She spent some time giving me advice when she really didn't have to She told me my style was too clean and commercial for them but listed some industries where my art would work very well. It's thanks to her I started focusing on board books, activity/toys and education publications. She's the nicest!

carlianne

Does anyone here have an agent or an agency they like or recommend? I thiink my biggest question was how do I know if this agency is legit or reputable? Do you just do google searches for agencies? Is there a list somewhere?

StudioLooong

@carlianne here are some methods I use:

if you want to work in trade picture books, Go to publishers weekly acquisitions report. They list the author, authors agent, illustrator, illustrators agent, and publisher which is extremely useful for finding agents that are making book deals with the publishers you want to work with or in genres you want to work in.
Look at your favorite illustrators website and see if you can figure out who they are repped by (sometimes you can’t) you could also try messaging them and asking if they have representation and with who.
If the agency is asking for a monthly fee or application/sign up fee, don’t take the deal. The agent should only make money when you make money.

carlianne

@StudioLooong thank you so much!!!

Rachel Horne

@peteolczyk yes they do - I love a lot of their artists...!

charitymunoz

I'm loving the relaxed feel of the podcasts - keep the rambling, the stories, and the ribbing because it's great! Also a thought that I had in response to a comment Lee White made - he was talking about if one area dries up, he's got other streams of income. Is there a multiple streams of income class for artists? Maybe focusing on balancing them all? I know there's the How to Make Money as an Illustrator Classes, but one specifically on balancing varied streams of income for us artists who understand it's a good plan, but are awful at planning without a picture in front of us. Please keep the podcasts coming! They are my oxygen when I on days when I can't get enough time for art.

deborah Haagenson

@charitymunoz I agree regarding the pod casts. I really enjoy listening to them! Please don't change a thing. If anything make more of them!!

RG Spaulding

I love the ramblings of the 3 of them also. I like how Jake and Lee tackle Will and his long stories. Non rehearsed is great as it shows their true personalities. Perfect length of podcast for me to take my dogs around the park and back home. If they were just doing bullet points, I would need to sit down with a pen and paper to take notes and I don't think my dogs will like that.

idid

quick question, anyone knows where can we find a "black list" of agents? it's hard to tell just from their websites and interviews.

Some agents scoop artists as a potential resource, but does not care about their personal development.

xin li

@idid it is a tricky question. I have never thought of such a list exist. I try to build my own list by checking out artists I like, and see who are their agents. A large number of artists I follow currently actually end up in the same agency - Writer's house. I am not sure if they take illustrators only, I got the feeling that they prefer author/illustrators. I might just send out emails to a couple of big ones to get the feel of how it is like to engage with agents. I was very happy to hear from other artists that some agents still give artists feedback and critique even they are going to reject you.

Have you experienced with any agents that just scoop artists for potential resource, but not care? If you are uncertain about any agent approaching you, you can probably post it in this forum and ask if anyone knows anything about them. Alternatively, you can always contact artists they represent, and ask for tips, and their experience so far.

idid

@xin-li Thank you!
Writers house do take illustrators. I have a friend of friend who does not write at all, and end up with writers house immediately after she graduates from a prestigious MFA program. Julia Sarda is another example.

I had the blacklist question because I have a friend of who has been rep-ed by a literary agency for two years, no job so far. Two-years does not seem that long, the problem is some literary agency nowadays began to represent illustrators, but not treating artists in a way that illustrator agencies do, such as bringing in jobs proactively. This friend was very excited at the beginning, but now feels her time has been wasted and she has been treated like a backup tire. It is a well-known literary agency BTW.

xin li

@idid sounds like your friend is in the situation that was mentioned in this podcast. Some big agencies have their top artists in line and they are always busy, and the rest of the artists only get work when the top artists are too busy. I am thinking it might be hard to judge an agency with a single case. I get the feeling that so much is depending on individual agents, individual artists, and their interaction and chemistry.

Your story made me think maybe it is important to negotiate a contract that can end in 2-3 months if things do not work out after a year. It is also valuable to talk to other artists under the same agent before going to sign with the agent.

Hope your friend find her way out of the situation. And thank you for sharing the story here.

alicia

@Will-Terry Don’t let anyone tell you to change your ramblings! I love them! You are the reason I found SVS learn. I enjoyed your YouTube posts, so I followed you here. Don’t let the stuffy folks change you!

peteolczyk

@alicia I agree, it’s just a side effect of explaining things very well and very thoroughly