Breaking Into Freelance Illustration (prop) by Holly DeWolf

Author:Holly DeWolf
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Adams Media
Published: 2019-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

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1. How willing are they to give advice and critiques?

2. Ask them how involved they are in the industry and in online groups.

3. Ask where they advertise the illustrators they represent.

4. What ways do they promote their talent—mailers, sourcebooks, online, newsletters, websites?

Some agents represent illustrators who write. Some like to focus on specific markets, such as children’s publishing or licensing. If your work is very specific, such as children’s art, an agent may be the perfect fit.

I asked Holli Conger how an agent has helped her career.

“My agent is awesome, and I tell everyone I can that she is. She is very attentive and has really allowed me to step away from wheeling and dealing with clients and trying to get them to pay. Having her for my business has allowed me to just create and not worry about the administrative things. She does get me a good bit of work, but I think I am as successful as I am because I have two cheerleaders out there for me. Her and myself. She never wants me to shortchange myself even though she would benefit from it (taking her percentage of the fee).

“I never really thought about getting a rep when I first started illustrating. I didn’t know how they worked, and I thought an illustrator had to be superexperienced to sign with an agent. When my goal of giving myself a year to be a full-time illustrator and stay-at-home mom was coming to the twelve-month point, I decided to e-mail some agents specializing in children’s illustration, and I found my current agent that way.”

The underlining thing to consider is flexibility. You are hiring help, not a dictator. If you need to pursue other types of work, you’ll have to address that up front. Remember to ask as many questions as possible and get as much information as you can before signing anything.

As you go along, you may realize you don’t need an agent at all. Should you be represented? Anna Goodson had this to say: “Not all illustrators should be represented, only the ones that really want to be. If an illustrator has the time to do all that a rep or agent does, then when do they find the time to illustrate? At [Anna Goodson Management], there are four women working full-time, about one hundred sixty hours a week. They handle all the business development, marketing, promoting, advertising, public relations, preparing of quotes, negotiating billing, etc. All this for a 25 percent commission of the business that they bring in. If any illustrator doesn’t see the advantage in having a great rep, then they shouldn’t have one.”

Susan Mitchell believes hiring an agent was the right choice for her. “It’s hard, however, to say if an agent is for everyone. I tried for a couple of years on my own, but in the end signing with a rep was the right choice for me. You do have to accept that 25 percent of your fee goes to

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