International Directory of Children’s Illustrators

Griffin McPherson

I just discovered this site today and I was so surprised I’d never heard of it before. It’s basically a paid portfolio site just for CB illustrators.

If you’re familiar with it would you recommend it? Seems like it could be very handy but I’d like to hear some first hand experiences.

If you aren’t familiar with it here’s the link
https://childrensillustrators.com/

Asyas_illos

@griffin thanks for sharing the link

Melissa_Bailey

@griffin I've been aware of them for quite a while but never joined because of the hefty $350/year membership fee. If an illustrator can get steady work from the site, that expense might be worth it.

For me, since I've been getting steady work without it and find more value in being a member of SCBWI (which is $80/year), I've never joined Children's Illustrators. But that doesn't mean I've totally ruled them out, either.

You may want to contact some of the illustrators that use their site and ask them what their experience with Children's Illustrators has been like.

DoodleMick

I haven’t heard of Childrens Illustrators, but I was looking at Story Teller Academy (See Link) before I decided on SVS. The SVS cast seems to have a more down to earth personality who seem more real and honest. I didn’t get that feeling with other children book sites I found. They all seem very pretentious and I get a feeling of righteousness from them. I do not get that feeling from SVS, and that is why I choose them.
I hope that makes sense what I am trying to say.

https://www.storytelleracademy.com/

Michael Angelo Go

@griffin I would not recommend illustrator directories nor the Internation Directory of Children's Illustrators. What they do basically is that you pay them (monthly regularly) to promote your work on their website. But the problem is that based on other people's experiences, they just are not very successful at helping you get contracts.

Most of the clients they receive, based on my observations with similar websites, come to them by discovering the directory. However, with an illustration agency, those people are supposed to help promote your work by actively seeking out clients themselves. Contacting people, promoting, encouraging, and overall fighting to have a client pick you as the artist for their work.

Now I'm sure not everyone's experience is the same with these types of directories, but these websites do not guarantee the same level of success in contracts vs. a well-established illustration agency. In all honesty, I did consider utilizing their services at some point, but I feel like the risk is too high, when you have to pay for a monthly subscription of $300+ or more, with a 'potential' reward of a contract in the coming months, years, whatsoever that may or may not pay more than what you are paying for that subscription.

I think there's more success in getting your work noticed, by actively managing your website portfolio, and utilizing social media to interact with your audience, letting them know you care about the content they want to see. Just my personal opinion.

Griffin McPherson

@michael-angelo-go thanks! This was super helpful