Monday, January 4, 2010

Wisdom Wednesday


I have beat myself senseless trying to figure out which if any Directory I should put myself in. Which ones work, which ones don't? Which are a waste of money, which are a great investment. I eventually decided that:

A. As part of my self promotion I have to be in at least one.
B. I should do some research to see which are the best fit for me, financially and style wise.
C. I have to decide what market I am after to best decide how to promote myself and the artwork that I want to do.

I finally landed on ChildrensIllustrators.com. It was a market that catered specifically to the demographic that I wanted to break into. It has gotten many recommendations from multiple people that I admire and follow. The price point is low enough that I won't hurt myself if no work comes out of it.

Wouldn't you know that the same day I go to sign up for the website, is the day that it crashes. Sigh!! Luckily it will be back up soon, in February. And I will definitely be joining then as part of my Marketing and Promotion campaign.

I am putting up for Wisdom Wednesday this great article I ran across from "How to be a Children's Illustrator" Blog about whether or not to Advertise in an Illustration Directory. It gives a lot to think about. Not only about the fields we want to be a part of, but taking into account the direction the industry is taking and the things that influence that direction. Great article. Check it Out!

Till next time!
-Wilson Williams, Jr.

Also, if you are wondering about the cat! He is Beulah's dance partner from the an earlier post. I'm almost done with that image and will be posting it by the end of the week! Enjoy Sheriff Ginger till then!!! :)

5 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

You know what… I've been meaning to get myself reacquainted with The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. I never really utilized their resources but I plan to now. They have tons of workshops and networks that you can tap into. They also have national conferences that you can attend and push your personal work in. Their web address is: http://www.scbwi.org/ You may know of them already so I apologies if I’m giving you info you already have. But if not, they are pretty much worth their weight from what I can tell.

WilsonW said...

Yep, I am a card carrying member for almost a year now! ;) A link to their website is shown in the column on the right. It's a great organization!

Korey Scott said...

Hello Wilson! I have seen your work on linkedin also and just saw you are on the artist blog I post on sometimes too..Louis Grant started it. Nice to see you around again. I joined SCBWI last year and got some great jobs out of that too...hope to get more this year once it gets back up. Thanks for putting up some great resources for all artists. Talk to you later!

Shirley said...

Thanks for the link, Wilson..this is very valuable! And good for you re: ChildrensIllustrators.com. I wish you well with it. It's awesome to hear how much you're pushing towards attaining your creative goals. : ) Neat to meet Sheriff Ginger!