Hello! I'd like to work with publishing houses as a freelance, any tips?

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  • @Brian Grant Hey Brian,
    thank you so much for all the tips and suggestions! I'm sure they'll be very useful! I'll follow them for sure :)
  • Hello Giulia,

    • A good way to start is to generate a list of publishing houses that you would like to work for. You may need to organise the list into categories. You can then research each one and look at the kind of work that would suit each type of publishing house.

    • It would be an idea to approach a couple of smaller publishing houses first to test your presentation skills and then work up to the larger ones when you have enough experience in the field, at the same time if your work is good enough then you will be able to fit in anywhere, so it depends on how confident you are.

    • Another way is look at the work of publishing houses that you like, and find the illustrators and artists that have worked on the projects, you can approach them directly on social media for more information, and at the very least you can see the quality of work required that gets jobs for the kind of clients that you like. Then you can honesty compare if your work matches up to their work.

    • If your work matches up then you can apply directly and share your work with your list of publishing houses.

    • If you feel that your work doesn’t match up then you can practice and hone your skills some more, also you can try smaller houses or work on projects for a discounted rate to get more experience.

    • When you are first trying to get into the door it can be very tough so do not lose hope, keep going and remember that you may need to go through dozens of no’s before you get a yes, or even a maybe.

    • You need a great portfolio website of your own ideally, and high quality work distributed throughout your social media platforms as well.

    • Keep practising and improving your skills, practise your illustration, art, sketching, and so on. There is always something that you can do to improve your marketability for new clients.

    • Follow publishing houses and that you like, interact with them, like their posts, contribute to their pages, take part in challenges and ways to get your work seen by more people, make connections and build trust.

    • Message them, ask questions and do not be scared of rejection. You can only fail if you do not try. Every attempt is another step forward, and even if you do not get the desired result, it is experience for the next time.

    • With all those tips the most important thing is your mind-set of how much you want it, if you want it desperately enough then you will always find a way.

    Good luck and if you need any help then let me know

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