Officially an agented Illustrator!

[Valerie Light]

@StudioLooong Wow Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your insights on the process of getting out there!

[PenAndrew]

@StudioLooong Congratulations. you are a great encouragement to all of us hoping to work hard and succeed.

[KathrynAdebayo]

@StudioLooong Wonderful news!!

[Holumpa]

@StudioLooong Wow, thank you so much for the detailed answer, that helpes a lot! And I am sure you found the eprfect fit that way, hope you get some wonderful stories to illustrate

[aurelia]

Congratulations!! What a great news! Wishing you all the best!

[KatrinaF]

What wonderful insight! Thank you for so much detail and inspiration. I've got two book dummies in the works but still not on my front burner. I'm going to have to re-prioritize here soon. Congrats again!

[Heather Boyd]

@StudioLooong

Hi, I have 3 clarifying questions I'd like to ask, if you'd be so kind to help,

1. Does having a Literary Agent mean you always work on your own stories or could you also work on illustrating other author's stories? Are illustrators able to do both?

2. What is 'skip-the-slush-pile' submission? How can I identify these from other submission requests?

3. And do you know if small to medium agencies still work to support more full time pay the bills illustrators?

If you can help me with any of these questions, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks again and all the best!!!

Heather,

[StudioLooong]

@Heather-Boyd
I could also work on illustrating other peoples stories with a literary agent. My agent is connected with editors and art directors and will market me as an illustrator as well as an author/illustrator.

"Skip-the-slush-pile" submission is any sort of exclusive submission opportunity associated with attending an event. The big Winter/Summer SCBWI events do not come with submission opportunities because there are too many people attending them but often if you go to a smaller regional event with faculty, they will give you a special way to reach out to the faculty within a given window of time and normally that means that your submission has a better chance of getting seen.

I'm sure every agency, regardless of size does everything they can to support their authors/illustrators, whatever their financial goals may be, so if your goal is to be a full-time illustrator, that's something to consider when deciding on which agents to query and to bring up with a potential agent when you talk with them before signing. Ask them what they can do to support you in your goals and how much work you can expect them to bring in for you.

I know most illustrators have multiple jobs, or at least multiple streams of revenue within illustration (like teaching, an Etsy shop, or commercial client work in addition to book jobs). That's also something to consider. If you want to be a full-time illustrator, it is probably best not to rely on one individual to bring in all of your income for you (even if that person is a wonderful agent who has your best interest in mind). Here's a survey that breaks down how much children's book illustrators made last year, I definitely recommend looking into it. Over half the illustrators surveyed had an agent or art rep but less than 18% reported making over $30k in 2021. Financial stability and independence is of high importance to me, so I've set my goals accordingly. I'd love to be able to go full-time into children's books one day and will work my butt off to get there but getting an agent isn't a golden ticket.

Hope these answers help!

[Heather Boyd]

@StudioLooong That's tremendously helpful, thank you very much!!!

[jenn]

@StudioLooong Congratulations!!!

[AmberRavenscroft]

@StudioLooong that’s so exciting! Massive congratulations!

[AmberRavenscroft]

@StudioLooong thank you so much for writing this, I’d never heard of PBParty and have just been looking at the site and that alone is full of really useful and interesting info

Congratulations again