It’s 2023, Thoughts on Social Media for Artists:

[kayleenartlover]

I wish I could get my instagram account to grow, even just a little bit. I've made hundreds of posts over the years, showing my progress in developing my art skills. But my work doesn't show up in anyone's feed anymore. I've been stuck at 200 followers and really could use some help figuring out how to do better. Kinda like a portfolio critique, I guess? My account is @kayleenartlover

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @kirsten-mcg, yep! Saw that too from @carlianne , which is awesome! I’m doing the shotgun approach, Reels, Carousels, Stories and Posts.

Given I just started with IG, with zero social media experience, I offered to be the SVS Guinea Pig about social media from the recent 3PP podcast episode.

I’m about 10 days in on IG with 47 followers (most probably from this group), and posting daily, preferably Reels.

Few thoughts so far:

1. I like making reels. Really. I prefer making art, but I don’t mind adding some music to my art and doing micro-animations and Timelapse videos.
2. The only post with 900 views was the one Carlianne re-posted (thank you Carlianne). I’m consistently getting 20 views on the others.
3. I finally get to see what my favorite author/illustrators/artists are up to and socializing, so to speak. Pretty cool! In the past, I would just see the books at the store, lol.
4. I’m getting faster at posting, but I dislike hashtags and feel a little bad for promoting my designs, even though I know it’s necessary. Shameless self promotion feels weird, but I have to eat.
5. I have skipped a few (okay all) workouts to post on IG; therefore, my health can deteriorate quickly if I choose IG over Exercise. I do not intend on this, but so far - exercise has taken a back seat. Not sustainable, I know. The algorithm is cruel.
6. I’m a family man, husband, work full time job in construction, and only have a small fraction of time to do art. Recently, I joined IG and have added just another thing to do to get my art in the world. This makes me want to pull out whatever hair I have left. Why is it so hard for artists?
7. I’m learning what it takes to gain a reputable, organic following, and frankly - it feels exhausting. I might be repeating #6 again.
8. I’m trying to enjoy this, but I can see how burnout is real for artists. I can spend hours on an illustration and get a few likes , but someone posts a picture of their bellybutton and gets like 100,000 likes. Where’s the logic?
9. Sometimes I feel too old to be doing this. I’m 44!
10. Most of you know from SVS that i’m persistent. I don’t give up. I never won a single critique arena, but I entered most.

I did say a few thoughts, whoops.

Anyway, thanks for reading and would love to know if anyone else feels like me?

[Chantal Goetheer]

@Jeremy-Ross Hi Jeremey, so relatable!! Im nowhere near thinking of building up followers. I hardly find time to draw too though and im still having to learn so much before I will take any next steps. When you have so little time these lists of stuff to do, like posting, besides what you want to do are so draining. It swallows the little time there is. My exercise also went out of the window lately with too many things on my to do list. Im not on IG even as a viewer, it will suck away too much time, but I don't think there is any logic to why stupid stuff gets soo many likes. When I see what my students like or what gets shared in app groups, it's often just brainless entertainment. I don't think you're ever to old. But im 37 and I don't really get the way it works either. All I can say is keep at it. The long game wins it. But if you feel IG is getting too much, choose sanity over success. Getting burned out is never worth it. Hang in there!!!

[xin li]

@Jeremy, I completely agree with what the others said about not letting IG distract you from building your portfolio.

I got my first book deal back in 2019 when I had 200-something followers.

Using social media to promote artists' work is always a bit mysterious to me. I understand artists using the platform to sell art prints and custom-made art products, etc. But I never felt it was the biggest drive to get book deals in the traditional publishing industry, at least that is not in my experience.

I think it might be good to have a social media presence, but do not let it take over your focus. Now I am seeing the in-person kidlit conferences, bookfairs are opening up again. I started to consider traveling for in person events next year.

[Lee White]

@Jeremy-Ross We are starting portfolio reviews on March 1st. We have 6 different instructors to choose from. : ) Stay tuned!

[Coreyartus]

@xin-li I think social media presence means different things to different people... I listened to a podcast the other day with an art director saying she expects illustrators to have around 15,000 Instagram followers before she'll consider them.

I was floored. Anyone who knows anything about contemporary Social Media knows that one's number of followers means very little in today's world of bots, multiple accounts, paid followings, throttled pay-to-play reach, and passive consumers. It just reinforced in my head how slow traditional publishers can be to recognize change.

That's the terribly frustrating thing about social media in general--what gatekeepers think it says about artists. It would seem it's all about converting followers and exposure to sales, and more of one means more of the other, but statistically those two aren't as linked as they used to be 15 years ago. Even 5 years ago. It doesn't work that way anymore.

In my opinion it says more about publishers/agents/ADs who still maintain the same expectations from decades ago than it does about an artist. Your story corroborates that.

[xin li]

@Coreyartus too bad for that AD you mentioned. I can make a long list of artists whose work is on the top level in the field and who have less than 15,000 followers, or not on Social media at all. I would definitely work with them if I were an AD.

ADs are just people, and people sometimes have strange ideas.

[danielerossi]

An email newsletter came in recently that relates to this thread. A section read:

People need to see your work to know it exists. I don't mean followers on social media. You need to get your work in the hands of the Art Directors who hire illustrators for their projects.

"It's equally important to make work that Art Directors are looking for. I don't mean stylistically; I mean making work that they can actually use.

Once I started promoting my work in a thoughtful, strategic way and included projects that showed off my ability to solve problems, I started to get illustration assignments."

(credit: Mike Lowery. Link to the newsletter if you want to read the full context.)

And the recent episode of the 3 Point Perspective podcast also addressed this topic. The gist is it's all about building relationships with the art directors. Posting a bunch of art day in and day out on social isn't building a relationship because you don't know what happens after someone who may or may not be an art director happens to see your post. Chances are they will remember your art but not your name. Hence, the importance of being social. Building that relationship. It also made me think about using LinkedIn as a means to reach out to art directors.

[Jeremy Ross]

Thanks for sharing your feedback @Chantal-Goetheer , @xin-li , @danielerossi and @Coreyartus.

I can definitely see IG being another tool for artists, but certainly not necessary for success in children’s literature.

Just like everything, there should be a healthy balance.

I’m also very grateful for everyone here sharing thoughts; it’s been extremely insightful.

[Katherine]

Hi Jeremy, I attended a live Q&A on Zoom with the Jack Winter group the other day and this is the question someone asked and the art agent's answer:

How important is the amount of followers in advertising industry? "Depends on the art director. Some agents take pride in finding someone who has great work and very few followers".

[kirsten-mcg]

@Jeremy-Ross I think I feel much the same as you on these subjects...except that I don't like making reels! I'd rather make art lol. I'm curious to see where you end up after a year. And I think that your persistence is a huge bonus. I feel like in the art world there are 2 kinds of people that are successful: those who are just naturally talented, and those who are persistent and hard working. One of the things I remind myself of over and over is that eventually the kids will be grown, and I'll have more time on my hands. My hope is that I'm slowly but surely laying a strong foundation so that when that time comes I'll be able to hit the ground running.

[Jeremy Ross]

That’s pretty cool @Katherine! It’s like finding a diamond for them. Interesting!

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @kirsten-mcg, thank you for sharing your feedback! Regarding your examples, I’m definitely in the “persistent” category!

Sometimes people will tell me, “Wow! You have so much talent! What are you doing in construction? You should be an artist!”

My response:

“Thank you so much for your kind words! Construction is paying the bills, one day Art will hopefully do the same. ️”

What I lack in raw talent, I’m trying to make up with hard work, resilience, grit, persistence and a ‘never give up’ attitude!

This community is helping tremendously with that.

This might sound weird, but I like the humorous art memes on IG and enjoy remixing them with my art.