How to find clients and contracts

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"

ArtistErin

@NessIllustration Oh I didn't realize how old the post was, I didn't look I feel like a newbie every day!