A Site for Emerging Artists
Art Licensing
Do You Want to License Your Art? Here’s Your Contact List
Nov 4th
By Carolyn Edlund
A recent reader’s poll on Artsy Shark indicated that many artists want to know more about the world of art licensing and how to get involved and build their businesses. thanks to Kate Harper, artist and author of the “Greeting Card Designer” blog, this has just gotten a lot easier.
With the help of her loyal readers, Kate has compiled, over eight long months, a comprehensive list of companies who accept submissions from artists. Below are the “a’s” from that directory to whet your appetite for more ~ which can be viewed here. Thank you, Kate!
ART LICENSING DIRECTORY
List of Submission Guidelines
by Kate Harper Blog – Licensing Directory Project
Alluminare
Home Accessories
http://support.alluminare.com/entries/22726-how-to-submit-a-pattern
Air Waves
Heat transfers
http://www.airwavesinc.com/Art_Licensing/Art_Licensing.html
Artaissance
Canvas Wall Art
http://www.artthatfits.com/art/ForArtists.aspx
Antioch Publishing
Stationery, bookmarks
http://www.antioch.com/
(Go to: “About us” on right, then “Art Work Submissions” on left.)
Art in Motion
Art Reproductions, home decor
http://www.artinmotion.com/t-howtosubmitart.aspx
African Art Products
African Artists Products
http://www.africanartproducts.com/you_artist.asp
Arts Uniq’
Prints and Posters
http://artsuniq.com/guidelines.asp
The Art Group
Contemporary Art Publishing
http://www.artgroup.com
Ad-Lines
Posters and Prints
http://www.ad-lines.com/artist_submission.cfm
Allport Editions
Gift wrap, Gift bags, greeting cards
http://www.allport.com/Artists_Commitment.aspx
Andrews McMeel
Calendars, puzzles, books
http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/submissions.html#_submissions
Abacus
Greeting Cards
http://www.abacuscards.co.uk/content.php?id_content=3
Artists To Watch
Greeting Cards
https://www.artiststowatch.com/art.html
Avanti Press
Greeting Cards
(Look under contact+submission guidelines)
http://www.avantipress.com/#/contact/
Alligator Books
Kid products and toys
http://www.alligatorbooks.co.uk/contact
Amber Lotus
Greeting Cards
http://www.amberlotus.com/submission-guidelines.html
See the rest of the Art Licensing Directory by clicking here . . .
Another new and Fantastic Resource is the Art Licensing Community – You can join and get guidance on an ongoing basis:
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Secrets of Trade Show Success/Interview with Surface Designer Khristian Howell
Oct 14th
By Carolyn Edlund
Khristian Howell is a familiar face in the Art Licensing industry. She has exhibited at many trade shows, and has a lot of commercial success to show for her efforts. Not only does she create fabulous designs for many products, but she has business savvy as well, and has written an ebook to assist other artists who would like to pursue a career in this field. She graciously agreed to share some of her trade show secrets with us.
AS: Khristian, you are very involved in the world of Art Licensing. Who are your customers and what types of merchandise are your designs used for?
KH: I am currently licensed in fabric, online stationery, paper, tableware, scrapbooking, wallcoverings, lamps, and the list is growing everyday! Some of my current clients include Anthology Fabrics, Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Creative Converting, IMGS Wallcoverings, Alluminare, Tiny Prints, etc.
AS: Currently, you’re preparing to release your second ebook about trade shows. What’s so special about it?
KH: I am over-the-top thrilled about this new release called SHOWSTOPPER – Road Map to Rocking Your Trade Show. After writing Confessions of a First Timer, I got wonderful feedback and I was thrilled the book was energizing artists from all over the world. However, I also got loads and loads of questions and comments asking me to go deeper on a whole range of topics. What makes SHOWSTOPPER so exciting is that it is much more than just an ebook. This time I have created a tool that will literally walk you through all the key items you need to do to prepare for a show. On top of that I have included special video interviews with experts on topics you want to know about most like “Blogging for Artists” with Tara Gentile, and “File Management and License Tracking” with Tara Reed to name a few.
Topics and Action items will be delivered straight to your inbox 2-3 times per week for 14 weeks. This way you can concentrate only on the goal for that week, do it fully and cross it off your list without feeling immensely overwhelmed. The ebook in its entirety will also be included for your reference. Of course there is an option to use the ebook on its own, but then you will miss out on the videos from the amazing guest stars!
AS: Please share with us some of your secrets for creating a super-successful trade show experience.
KH: Sure, I’d be happy to. Here is my list:
- Presentation IS everything: Always think of your business as a brand. When you are designing the pieces of your marketing package for the show (booth, promo pieces etc.), make sure they all speak to and compliment each other. They should all make a cohesive statement about you and your art. You want to create synergy across all your platforms.
- Use social media. Don’t be shy! Use all the major social media outlets to let everyone know your are doing the show. Create excitement around the event. Let everyone know that you are excited about the show and your new work!
- Do your research. Contact the companies that you are really hoping to connect with at the show. Try to set up appointments in your booth with art directors. Taking the initiative to get on their calendars will show them your are VERY interested in working with them, and a potentially great business partner.
- Tell, don’t sell. You do not have to sell great artwork. Just be you, be excited, and be optimistic! Remember licensing is not a hard sell. You are at a show to foster and develop lasting working relationships, so be authentic.
- Have a follow up plan. The vast majority of new contracts will happen weeks or even months after the show. You must have a super organized plan for how you will follow up with the contacts you met. Often times it will take your diligent efforts to really seal the deal. Be prepared to take detailed notes on who was interested in what pieces, what is their timeline like, etc.
Artsy Shark has an affiliate relationship with Khristian Howell. Sales of her publications help to keep this blog alive and well.
How to License Art to Manufacturers
Jun 15th
by Guest Blogger Joan Beiriger
The key to being able to license your art is to create the right art for products that appeals to manufacturers, retail stores, and ultimately consumers. You also need to know the ins-and-outs of the art licensing industry but before you jump into it you need to decide whether licensing your art is right for you. Read “Is Art Licensing Right for You? / Interview with Tara Reed.” If the answer is yes, you need to learn about art licensing, create the right art, create a strategic plan on what types of manufacturers to license your work, find those manufacturers, and most importantly follow up with the contacts you make.Art licensing Resources
I feel that knowledge is power and the more that you know about art licensing the better you will make good decisions in licensing your art. Networking with others that are knowledgeable about licensing is very helpful in learning about licensing and I recommend joining one or more internet forums. Read “Networking Resource – Art Licensing Forums“ for more information.
Many resources are available about art licensing on blogs, teleseminar question and answer sessions (telephone dial-in muted conference sessions), websites, newsletters, magazines, etc. They discuss how to get started in licensing your work, describe the importance of creating art collections and product mock-ups, copyrighting your work, using Adobe Photoshop and/or Adobe Illustrator to manipulate art, and much more. Note: Each licensing expert is NOT an expert in all aspects of art licensing. Getting information and opinions from multiple persons will give you a more rounded perspective of art licensing so that you can decide what works best for you.
Check out the following blogs for art licensing information.
All Art Licensing by licensing consultant/agent J’net Smith
Art Licensing Blog by artist Tara Reed
Create the Right Art
I am a firm believer that ALL art is licensable to some degree but it can be difficult to find manufacturers willing to license your art if your style and subject matter is for a small niche market or is not right to be put onto products. Also, photography and art for some industries are not normally licensed but purchased outright. For instance, if you are a surface designer and want to license your art for clothing and home decor fabrics, you will find it difficult if not impossible to license your work unless you are a well known designer. But the home sewing and quilting industries are open to licensing surface designs IF the designs are right for their market. Read ”How to become a Porterfield’s artist” to find out more about the art licensing industry and what type of art that agent Lance Klass of Porterfields Fine Art Licensing can and cannot license. Also read articles about different manufacturers, to find out what kind of art those manufacturers want.
Plan Strategically
Art agent Eric Kuskey of Creative Brands Group (artist Thomas Kinkade’s agency) recommends that you plan strategically on what manufacturers to license your art. By doing that, you can use your core manufacturers as a foundation to gain exposure and build equity in your art brand. Read more about this in “Eight Steps to Become an Art Brand.”
What type of manufacturers to first license your work depends upon your art style and the themes you create. For instance, if your art is surface designs, it makes sense to first license your work to fabric quilt companies. Later you can license to the scrapbook, possibly the gift wrap industries and other industries that use patterns. Or, if you paint themes that show sentiment and emits an emotional response (how cute, how beautiful, “I can relate to that,” etc.) than the greeting card industry is the right industry to begin. And if you create art that uses unsaturated colors with themes suitable for the home décor industry, you might start licensing your work in that industry.
Finding Manufacturers that License Art
Finding manufacturers that license art requires research, research, and more research. You need to find manufacturers that are a match with your art style, find out what art themes they want, how they want art submitted and in what format. To get suggestions on how to find manufacturers, read “Finding Manufacturers that License Art.” And remember, you need to submit art that is right for the manufacturer. Read art agent Jim Marcotte’s of Two Town Studios blog article “Do Your Homework” for his perceptions on submitting appropriate art.
Contacting Manufacturers and Follow up
After you select the manufacturer(s) you wish to submit your art, you need to contact them. It is better to find out the name of the art director and submit the art directly to her/him unless submission guidelines state that art is to be submitted to a committee. For more information on how to do this, read “6 Tips in Writing Winning Query Letters to Manufacturers that License Art.”
And the most important step is to follow up after submitting your art to a manufacturer. It is not enough to submit your art and hope to get a response. Often manufacturers do not respond to submissions. You need to be persistent and continually follow up. Art agencies know how important it is to be persistent and I have heard that they continue submitting art and inquires until the manufacturer responds with a yes or no. Many artists give up too soon when the manufacturer does not contact them and thus they lose the chance in getting a licensing deal.
Comments to this article are welcome.
Press Release Tips For Artists Who License Their Art
May 5th
Guest Post by Tara Reed
If you are an artist who licenses their art, and you exhibit at one of the industry trade shows, make sure you take advantage of the press room at the show as well as letting the press know about you ahead of time. This often overlooked detail can be a great way to get the attention of new clients or increase brand recognition. The more someone sees your name and / or logo, the more likely you will come to mind the next time they need art.
But what do you put in a press kit? A press kit is a collection of information that lets people who write for magazines, online publications and more know who you are and what you do. It should also make their job easy — if they decide to write about you or include you in a story, have everything they need at their fingertips.
Here are 5 things to include in a press kit:
- Contact information. Don’t overlook putting your business card in the press kit. You want them to find you if they decide they want to do a cover story about you and your art, right?
- Press Releases. If you have done any press releases that would be relevant to the press at the trade show, be sure to include them. Speaking of Press Releases, make sure you are giving good information for a reader and not just talking about yourself. You are more likely to be included in an article, etc. if you give tips that people can use (like “5 things to include in a press kit”) vs. tooting your own horn (like “I’m really great at making pretty press kits”) — see the difference?
- Company Fact Sheet. Now that I told you not to toot your own horn, that doesn’t mean you don’t include some basics. Who are you? What is your story? What do you do? Are you an award winning artist? Put it here. Supporting charity? Write it down. New in business or going at it for 20 years? This is the place
- Promotional Materials. Do you have postcards, brochures or flyers that show / describe your art or products? That should be in there! Like everyone, press people are busy people. And they have a LOT of press kit choices to look at… I had the pleasure of getting in the press room when I worked with Simple Scrapbooks(TM) magazine, trust me, it can be overwhelming. The person needs to “get” who you are and what you do at a glance… what can you include that will catch their attention and make them want to learn more? That is the key to a successful press kit!
- Presentation. How you present your press kit is as important as what is in it. As I said in #4, I’ve been the press person and walked the press room. Usually they have racks and racks of press kits, some are in folders, some are tied with bows, some are really ornate. (How creative the kits are depends a lot on the industry.) So you need SOMETHING on the outside to make someone stop and say, “Cool! What is this about?” Maybe it’s a catchy headline, or a captivating image. I’ve seen press kits in pocket folders, envelopes, even pizza boxes. I caution you against doing something too big (they may not find a spot for it) or too small (people may not notice it).
| To learn more about how to prepare for an art licensing trade show, consider Tara’s Trade Show eBook
ArtLicensingInfo.com is the place for artists to learn how to earn an income licensing their art. Get a jump start on licensing your art by claiming the first chapter of the eBook “How to Get Started in Art Licensing” FOR FREE when you visit http://www.artlicensinginfo.com/freebie.html From Tara Reed, a licensed artist who is doing what she is teaching. Make art. Make plans. Make money. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tara_Reed Artsy Shark is an affiliate of Tara Reed and any purchases made through links will help support and maintain this blog. |
Exclusive Sneak Preview: A Guide to Art Licensing & Publishing
Apr 15th
Jan Weiss, an art publishing industry insider and veteran of 15 years, has written a new ebook to help artists understand the world of publishing. Should you choose to license your work to an art publisher? What about self-publishing?
Jan is getting accolades already from other professionals in the field with her complete and easy-to-understand guide, “The Coexistence of Art and Money”. She has given us a sneak preview in the form of an excerpt from the book. Visit Jan’s site at www.theartplanet.com for more information and to order your copy!
Working with a publisher can be fabulous and frustrating and economically smart. You will need a serious reality check working with a publisher because nothing happens overnight. Instant success is a nice phrase but far removed from reality. Patience is key to your success as well as thinking long term.
There are advantages and disadvantages of choosing to work with a publisher. So let’s make a list:
Advantages
- Big budget.
- They do all the marketing
- They deal with legal issues
- You can create while they do all the publishing work.
Disadvantages
- Give up part of the royalty
- They can drop you
- They tell you what to do (this could be an advantage too)
- It’s takes a long time to see a return
Publishers are the ones making all the decisions about what to publish, when to publish and who to sell it to. You don’t get to control this however you get to make art and they spend the money to market it. Though you are leaving it in their hands you are also working with companies that have a long history (hopefully) and the know-how and brains behind the operation to figure out how to make money. If they don’t sell your art they don’t make money so it is of course to their advantage to sell it and then you get to reap the rewards by getting a royalty check. You will like that. I promise.
The disadvantages are simple. You give up a certain amount of control over your art. The publisher may give you direction and then you may be asked to revise it and maybe you think it’s perfect but they don’t. That’s the way the game plays. They aren’t perfect and the publisher may be going in the wrong direction. That’s why it’s important to have good communication with the art director. Don’t be shy about offering suggestions or reasons behind why you have rendered an image in a certain way. If the art director isn’t willing to listen you may need to rethink the relationship.
A publisher will usually work on a royalty basis so that you will receive a percentage of the sales. This percentage can be as low as 5% or as much as 20%. Make sure you know what this number is and are happy with it. A publisher may negotiate but there is generally an industry standard of 10% so expect that. Royalty payments are usually paid quarterly if a minimum royalty is earned.
If the publisher is not making any money on you they may decide to drop your contract. It is frustrating but they are making an investment and must believe in the investment. If that happens ask them to be candid and give an honest reason for dropping you. If you know why, this will help you in working with another publisher or going on your own.
Speaking of going on your own this is a perfect time to segue into the world of self publishing. Let’s begin with another list:
Advantages of Self-Publishing
a) Your own boss
b) Own direction
c) Own schedule
d) You get the whole royalty
e) Print on demand. You don’t have to keep inventory
Disadvantages of Self-Publishing
a) Getting the clients
b) Working alone
c) You are in charge of all bookkeeping
d) You have to do all the promoting and marketing.
e) You are responsible for having to pay all imaging costs such as scanning
If you decide to self publish the weight of everything falls squarely on your shoulders. That may be a good thing if you have business acumen and a realistic outlook. If you have stars in your eyes about becoming famous then you might not be ready or mature enough to take this on yourself. If you have had some measure of success in marketing your original art then maybe you can seriously consider self publishing. Because of internet access to printers and on-line galleries that world of self publishing has opened up. Years ago…it was nearly impossible to get a large print made. You either needed to order 1000 at a time or pay an arm and a leg. Not anymore. Many sites offer resources for you to upload high res files and order the print yourself or drop ship to a customer. And you do not have to hold inventory. When your customer order is placed then you send the files to your printer. This is referred to as Print-On-Demand. The time is right for self publishing. The major disadvantage you will find in this is that you do not have the marketing advantage that publishers have. They have the money to exhibit at tradeshows and have connections to major retail sources. You are free to exhibit at tradeshows and if you have the financial backing it’s an excellent way to get your art in front of potential buyers.
In later chapters we will talk more about social networking. This is key to marketing your art.
Self-publishing can be lonely. Join on-line art groups and connect with other artisans. If you live in a community with artists groups it might be a good time to join. Visit open studios to see what everyone else is up to. Listen and learn.
Featured Artist Julia Hacker
