Agent or no agent. How to get work and what's your dayjob
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Hi Irina,
You are moving to the BEST place for children's illustration, London is always buzzing with opportunities, exhibitions, events, artist collaborations etc, so you definitely won't be short of work once you get going!
Are you familiar with the Children's Writers and Artists Yearbook? That is a must for all illustrators and writers as it will give you all of the latest publishers/agencies etc in the Uk, and has some great advice and information in it.
Bright is probably the best agency in the UK, it's who i aim to be signed with one day if I can, but there is also The Organisation (who i was with and they were great), Plum Pudding, Beehive, Advocate Art - there are loads!If you're happy with your portfolio as it is, then I would definitely make some sort of portfolio site/website, there's one called Portfolio box which is free and has some great templates, I think you can also link a domain too if you have one, or I find wix is pretty cool if you want to pay per month.
I would always recommend getting an agent to start you off so you can relax a bit and learn about the industry as you go so then you can always go alone if you decide to. Agents tend to take about 30% commission in the UK, in my experience anyway so it's whether you want to lose that much or not, they are great for getting your name out there though and bringing work to you so that 30% is worth it!
I'm sure once you get an agent, they could have a look at your published book and see if there's any way of getting it published in the UK too or advise you in the right direction
Or you could always approach publishers yourself and see what they say?I work as an inhouse illustrator and designer for a technology company in North Wales, UK so I basically illustrate in all sorts of styles 40 hours a week, so it has been a BIG struggle for me to do my own illustration work in my spare time as my day job seems to drain all my creative juices sometimes. I think getting a part time retail/cafe job is a great idea, it takes the stress off of getting an income, keeps you healthy mentally and physically and hopefully it will help motivate you to work on your illustration career in your free time.
I'd love to have a part time job to have more time to work on my portfolio, but I bought a house last year so mortgages/bills and all that rubbish needs paying
My goal is to be freelance again in the next couple of years so fingers crossed! My day job is teaching me new techniques and is keeping me drawing, so I guess that's a good thing.I did freelance for about 2 years in 2013-2015 and I loved it (I still lived at home though), I started straight from Uni as I exhibited my work at New Designers in London. It's this huge Artists and Designers fair they hold each year where students can exhibit their work and agents and publishers from across the country come and look around - that's where I signed up to my agency The Organisation.
try not to panic, you don't need to do everything straight away. Just get yourself settled in your new home with your boyfriend, moving to a different country is big enough in itself, so worry about your career later. Like everyone has said, you can always just get a part time job for now while you plan your next move in your spare time.
Also, hopefully Brexit won't happen for us so you might be okay in that department, there's still hope anyway
I don't want to leave the EU! No, your agent will only take commission on the work they find you, so if you happen to get work by yourself then all that money is yours. Just read up on how to write contracts/invoices etc (The AOI is perfect for that). Your agent will explain all that to you
You shouldnt have to pay your agent anyway in between getting work from them, unless they want to put your portfolio on a website such a Childrensillustrators.com, then you have to pay a yearly fee.Good luck with the big move, you'll love London and the UK, there are so many opportunities here! If you ever find yourself in Wales, then let me know
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@irina An agent takes a percentage of the jobs they find for you. My agent takes 25%, for example. The jobs I find myself don't have to go through them, and I retain 100% of the wages for those. If any agent offers you an "exclusive" contract, where you aren't able to find your own work without them, RUN! What if they don't find you any work, and you would be left not even allowed to find your own! That's a shady practice though, and good agents will offer you a contract on a non-exclusive basis.
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Actually many agents will insist on exclusive contracts - particularly literary agents. This means that no matter who finds the job, if it is in their remit, they will get a percent of the contract. This is quite standard, as it is difficult nowadays to know what triggered a contact in the first place. Was it something you did or something your agent did? If your agent pitches you at a meeting and then the client contacts you directly six months later for a different job, is that your agent´s contact or yours? Marketing is also just a small part of an agent´s job. They negotiate fees and deadline and take care of all administrative or legal tasks. My agent consistently negotiated more than double what I would have asked - so I’m very happy to have her tune in even on stuff that comes through a direct contact.
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@smceccarelli It makes a lot of sense for literary agents! For illustration agents, not so much... But agents find clever ways around the problem you described, in fact in my contract it says if I'm contacted by someone that I did not contact first I have to ask them where they found me - if it was on Beehive's website or through some of their efforts they get the contract, if the client found my website or social media then it is my contract. Of course, I think if I was contacted for a really big job outside of my expertise I might ask my agent to help me out with it anyway! Like you said, they're very helpful on a variety of levels! However, I've heard horror stories of young artists getting signed by an illustration agent exclusively, and then it took 6, 7, 8 or more months for that agent to find them work, and in that time they were legally prevented from seeking their own illustration work, meaning they couldn't do anything to earn money but get themselves an unrelated job!
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instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
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@nessillustration No, that would be a total no go. Of course you have to be able to seek out your own jobs - that is spelled out quite clear in my contract. The only thing my agent asked is to inform her if I write to publishing houses, so that she can take note that I contacted them already.
Otherwise, my contract covers exclusively book work. Everything else is free range...I can involve her or not, as I see fit. And she can decide not to get involved on a non-book contract if she doesn’t want to. This past year I’ve had all possible variations: jobs completely without her, jobs with her finding and managing the contact, jobs where I had the contact, but she managed it, jobs where she declined to manage even if I asked her ....a whole mixed bag. -
@hannahmccaffery @NessIllustration @smceccarelli Wow so much good information!! Thank you so much. I am literally taking notes hehe
Does a literary agent mean i have to write my stories too? Or does it mean they work in the publishing industry whereas an illustration agent can find you jobs also for say an advertising agency?
I totally need to join the AOI
and now talking to all of you makes me so happy i want to meet you all in real life too
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@irina Literary agents work solely in the publishing world, they represent mostly authors but a lot of them also represent illustrators who don't write. A literary agent is a good choice if you're particularly interested in children's books and only want to do children's books, or if you would like to write your own stories one day and be an author-illustrator. Other agents and agencies that represent illustrators are usually more varied but most of them still have a "specialty". You might find an agency that specializes in editorial illustration, advertising illustration, children illustration, etc. It's good to find an agency that does the kind of work that you want to do or that your work is suited for
But they may occasionally send you stuff a bit outside of their specialty also, it happens! My agency specializes in children book illustration, but I know they've given some editorial illustration to some of their artists as well. -
Does a literary agent mean i have to write my stories too? Or does it mean they work in the publishing industry whereas an illustration agent can find you jobs also for say an advertising agency?
It just means they only work in the publishing industry and they normally represent writers too.
Author-Illustrators are seeked after, though, so if you want to write they encourage that. -
Thank you muchly again. One more thing
Is it customary for agents to help you develop your work? Like offering constructive feedback or telling you what they find is a stregth in your work and what you need to develop? Is there any help with growth in that sense?
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I'm not 100% sure on that, maybe some agents do but my agent didn't really give me feedback on my actual work, but he always told me what my portfolio was missing (e.g more fairytale scenes, different ethnicity etc), which was helpful as they understand the market and what is current and popular at the moment.
It would be great if some did, but in the meantime you've always got this forum and any other illustration forums you can find to get good feedback from -
@hannahmccaffery That's great and helpful. And yes, you are right
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Eventually, I found a studio that could hire me part-time, I would work from home and get about 10-15 hours a week of work from them. I took it, and then looked for more freelance work to fill in the rest of my schedule. I found some small commissions at first, then bigger ones. I continually improved my portfolio and kept sending it to publishers, companies and agents. After a couple months, I had enough work to start dropping the lower paying contracts. I got my first book deal. Then an agent I had emailed contacted me back and signed me. Just last week I received my first contract from the agency. I dropped that very first studio job I had because I no longer have time for it. I kind of fell into this freelance illustration thing and it worked out, and now I'm happier than ever! I'm so glad I didn't get a studio job when I so desperately wanted one...
It makes me so happy to hear stuff like this, because this is pretty much exactly how I'm hoping to transition into freelance. It's great to see success stories, and especially that you accomplished all that in 6 months. I'm terrified of failing as I try to get a foothold in the industry, but this forum really helps give me more confidence that everything might just work out!
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@cgordon I wish you the best of luck with your transition into freelance! It's absolutely possible and you can do it at your own rhythm
I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing it in 6 months hihi... it's quite stressful! But there's no such thing as "failing", if you even get one job in a year that's a success, you gain experience and practice your art and the next year you get more jobs A big success is always built on the back of small successes, and as long as you celebrate those and keep working towards the next small success you will eventually reach your goals Best of luck to you! -
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@irina said in Agent or no agent. How to get work and what's your dayjob:
Thank you muchly again. One more thing
Is it customary for agents to help you develop your work? Like offering constructive feedback or telling you what they find is a stregth in your work and what you need to develop? Is there any help with growth in that sense?
It´s not common for agents to do that. That´s what I understand from listening and talking to other artists as well as my own experience. They may point out illustration styles that sell well (my agent does - though mostly I don’t know what to make with the information), but will not offer feedback. Indeed, my agent is so careful to avoid expressing any comment on my work, that I almost think there is some taboo there....
