How I got an Agent
So you wanna be a children’s book illustrator but how on earth do you get an agent?
Hi friends!
Don’t have much to update you on this month as I’m finishing up a picture book. So I decided it would be a good time to do a more informational newsletter. I did a Q&A on Instagram this month and one of the questions was how do you go about getting an agent? Well you’re in for a treat, I’m going to reveal all my secrets. I’m also going to critique the samples I submitted out to agents and tell you why I think I got rejected to the first few I applied to. To hopefully save you some heartache in the end. Remember, this is all my opinion and personal experience every illustrators journey is different. I think everyone has something special to offer. Now let’s get into it… grab a drink this is a long one.
The Basics
What’s an agent? The difference between a literary agent and an illustration agent? Do you need an agent to get work in the children’s book industry? What’s querying and how do I do it? How do I find agents?
What’s an agent? Well an agent is someone who can advocate for you they handle all of the contracts, negotiations, they also help you submit and get your work out there. Since they have connections in the publishing world they’re able to submit to publishers that don’t accept submissions from illustrators. They also make sure you get paid fairly for the work you do which is invaluable to me personally. I like to spend time on the creativity so if I can outsource the not so fun negotiation stuff I definitely will.
What’s the difference between a literary agent and an illustration agent? A literary agent is necessary if you have a book dummy and if along with illustrating you are also writing picture books and chapter books ect…. Most also, like my agent take just illustrators too. While at the time I didn’t want to write my own picture books I’m now toying with the idea. Now I have that option is really nice. Literary agents also take less of a cut when you get a deal typically between 15-20%. A illustration agent only deals with illustration work so if that sounds like you, that might be something to think about. Illustration agents take more of a cut I believe 20-30% of your deal but they are known for having lots of connections so you might be making up for that in the amount of projects you’re getting. They do all the same things a literary agent does except most don’t represent writers.
Do I you need an agent to get work in children’s books? Short answer no, you don’t need one. A lot of illustrators don’t, but most do because it ends up being so valuable in the end. As I mentioned earlier it helps you make connections with publishers that you might not of on your own. This is different if you’re writing and illustrating unless you go the self publishing route you definitely need an agent.
What’s querying? And how do you do it? Think of querying as introducing yourself in a professional way. Most agents go through a Query Manager and it’s prompts you in what to add in your query. I can’t stress this enough when you are going to contact an agent make sure you look at their query page and see what their requirements are you want to put your best foot forward and not paying attention to their instructions is good way to get rejected or not hear back at all. Some also require a cover letter, just a short blurb about yourself, where you went to school, and other accomplishments you may have. Finally, you’ll submit your portfolio website and possibly samples of your work some may say 3 I’ve had a couple say 10.
How do I find agents? Find artists you admire and see where they are represented. Look at the those agents list of artist they represent and see if you would be a good fit. Can you see your work fitting amongst them? Do you bring anything different to their list? You can also check out resources like the SCBWI a yearly membership system that provides something called The Book it contains all current agencies. Another resource is the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market book. Like the SCBWI, it has a list of agents and also some helpful tips on portfolios and querying agents. They both have new editions every year so it stays very up to date.
The Portfolio
This is my current illustration portfolio it’s not perfect, but it has gotten me work. The number one thing I recommend is having your own professional website with your own domain. I use Carrd it was super easy and pretty inexpensive especially compared to other website host platforms. Other free options are Behance, Wix the free version, or Tumblr, or Wordpress if you know how to code. You just need a space where you can showcase the best of the best of your work. I have it sectioned into picture book work and chapter books.
Now that you’ve seen my current work, I want to show you the samples I sent out when I was querying. While I’m still proud of a lot of this work I’m not surprised I didn’t hear back or got rejected from some of the agents I applied to. I’m hoping by critiquing my old work I can help give you direction in building your portfolio.
These first four illustrations are fine in fact I still have a few of them in my current portfolio it was the best of my work at the time. I had scenes and character driven illustrations but I think I was missing some companion pieces to really finish off the project. I still have my Nancy Drew mock book cover in my portfolio in the chapter book section but I added black and white chapter headings and illustrations to go along with it as if it was a for a middle grade or young reader chapter book. It makes the project feel more finished instead of a one off.
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This is next illustration is good but I wouldn’t put it in my children’s book portfolio now. Why? While yes it’s Cinderella from a fairytale and it shows I can do a character consistently but for children’s books you need to show children! How I would approach this now? Maybe make Cinderella a bit younger or if I want to appeal to an older audience like for chapter books maybe making them black and white.
Now let’s get into the next illustrations, these two are good the first one shows some kids playing in the pool interacting with the environment. I think a piece to go along with this would be good what happens before or after this moment? The following is a great example of a spread illustration I’m showing the mermaid character looking for treasure she’s reoccurring and leads your eye through the page. Still very fond of this spread.
This next one is a study of a scene in Pride and Prejudice. It’s well done but in my opinion isn’t the best choice for your children’s book portfolio. I think the best thing to do for a children’s book portfolio is to leave the fan art behind or put it in a separate section of personal work. You could reframe this into making a YA book cover for Pride and Prejudice or maybe try to make it appeal to a younger audience. Overall, while it may show your skill but I would leave the studies and the fan art to Instagram or in a personal section of your portfolio.
Last two, I was grasping at straws here you could tell. I think I would cut this one out now. Giving less examples and showing a stronger body of work is better in the end, less is more. The last one is a character design of Timothy Green, I love the story and the idea to use him for a picture book but a character sheet isn’t really something you need for a picture book portfolio. Unless it’s for your own reference. To make this a better fit, I would take a couple of my favorites and make spot illustrations instead. It will still show you can repeat characters but now it has more narrative.
If this was my current body of work and I was submitting it to agents. This is what I would pick now.
Remember this is just my opinion and I still have work to do on my current portfolio. I did get an agent with the work I submitted. As I see it, if I had refined it a bit I might’ve shortened my querying process.
Rejection and Final Thoughts
In the end, we all face rejection unfortunately is part of the process but with each rejection we get closer to finding the perfect agent/project for us. See it as a new chance to rework some things and add something new in your portfolio. Also, feel free to reach out to the kid-lit community! Join a critique group or the SCBWI this community is so giving and helpful. I know this was a long one, I really hope it was helpful to you and feel free to comment any questions you may have if I missed anything. I wish you all the best of luck in your journey to finding an agent!
See you all next month!