Cover letter for email portfolio submission

[Pinky]

Does anyone have experience with submitting your portfolio link? I'm guessing there should be some sort of cover letter or introduction, but "here's my link, you know what to do" doesn't seem too professional. Thanks!

[smceccarelli]

It depends who you are sending it too, but a standard:
“As discussed/requested, here is a link to my portfolio. Thanks for your time and consideration!” Is a line that works in most letters.

I once read a blog that said that you should always start and/or end your business e-mails with “Thank you”, rather than “Best Regards”; “Best”; or any of a million other ways (or, as it seems increasingly common, nothing at all).
I started doing it at least 50% of the time and funnily, ending or starting your e-mails with “Thank you” forces you to change the whole tone of the interaction. Like instead of writing “your un-motivated change requests do not make any artistic sense” you write “Thank you for your thoughtful input on the art. I am concerned that changing the hair color to red may disrupt the color scheme, but I will give it a try and we can see how it looks.” ;.-)

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@pinky I'm no expert but I certainly think that you should send an inquiry first, asking if that art director/ illustration representative is currently accepting illustrator submissions/applications. You should do this regardless of what their submission page says. Sometimes, those pages are not up to date. This will save you a lot of time in writing letters that they will never even read just because their submissions are already closed or they're not looking for new illustrators.

I also tend to add my portfolio link in that first inquiry so that whoever will read it can have a quick view of my works. Sometimes (in my experience and when I get lucky), if they like what they see, they'll give you the green light and will ask you to submit a CV.

You should try it. I don't think there's anything wrong doing it. The worst thing that can happen is that they still ask you to submit a cover letter.

I hope this helps.

[Pinky]

@smceccarelli Thanks so much!

[Pinky]

@nyrryl-cadiz Thank you!!