[emanuel-wiemans Posts: 8 Status: Offline I draw and write!]

Hi everyone, my name is Emanuel Wiemans. working as an cb illustrator from the Netherlands. Im in the process of finding out the do's and dont's regarding finding a literary agent in the US.  My style, i think, would be pretty suitable for comic/graphic novel work too. Do any of you have any tips on what agencies or agents work with GN illustrators and GN writers?  (i read "for beginners"? )
And how many of you illustrator are working on commissioned GN work? Thank you

[dewsanddamps Posts: 2,320 Status: Offline]

Hi, Emanuel! I'm not an illustrator, but I think it might help you to look at agentquery dot com and querytracker dot net. They have extensive lists of agents, including what they represent. You can look at the acknowledgments of books illustrated in styles similar to yours, too. Once you have a list, it's important to go to each agent's website . If there's a conflict between what one of the big websites (agentquery) says and the agent's own website, go with the information on the agent's site. They'll be more updated on who's open and who's not, too.

Don't worry about the "for beginners" thing--most people who query are relatively new.

[emanuel-wiemans Posts: 8 Status: Offline I draw and write!]

Hi, Emanuel! I'm not an illustrator, but I think it might help you to look at agentquery dot com and querytracker dot net. They have extensive lists of agents, including what they represent. You can look at the acknowledgments of books illustrated in styles similar to yours, too. Once you have a list, it's important to go to each agent's website . If there's a conflict between what one of the big websites (agentquery) says and the agent's own website, go with the information on the agent's site. They'll be more updated on who's open and who's not, too.

Don't worry about the "for beginners" thing--most people who query are relatively new.

Hi and thank you for your help! Ill definitely look into those sites. The "forbeginners" was actually a website that somebody mentioned some posts below. not sure that is the kind of graphic novelwork id like to be doing though.
thanx again! best, Emanuel

[HDWestlund Posts: 951 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

Honestly, when I was agent hunting, I researched the agents of any author/illustrator whose work I admired. I found my agent at least partially by writing an effusive fan letter about one of her authors. (The other part of the equation was the conference I attended, hosted by her agency, Andrea Brown Lit.) Having looked at your website, I am pretty sure that you will not be out of line with a relatively cold query for any agents who you know represent graphic novels. You might also be able to find out more about the tastes of individual agents by seeing who they follow and promote on Instagram. This is the Instagram page for my agency's promotional purposes: https://www.instagram.com/andreabrownlit/ I also like to follow https://www.instagram.com/rodeenliterary/ to see who they are promoting, too.  I know other agencies have Instagram pages, too, but I haven't kept up on the illustrator market, since I am mostly a writer at this point. Although maybe some day I will have my art skills where I want them and be able to consider illustration, too.

[emanuel-wiemans Posts: 8 Status: Offline I draw and write!]

thank you for those insights. really helpful! The Netherlands is too small for lit agents. I work directly with publishers. So when i decided i wanted to look around outside Holland i found out that the literary agents field is huge!  I had Andrea Brown on my radar. as they are relatively present online. I was taken aback a bit by their submission guidelines though a lot of do and donts. Bookends and Root are others that i've picked up. In the beginning of my search i was under the impression that literary agents were only interested in illustrators if they would present a dummy for a gn of cb. Which i thought was odd because i suspect theres a lot of commissioned childrensbook work out there. After digging deeper i found out there are some that have a illustrators portfolio too. thank you again

[HDWestlund Posts: 951 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

When you already have publications under your belt, you can definitely lead with the professional work you've already done. At least, when you're an illustrator! Your portfolio is your professional product.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,068 Status: Offline Language is so cool!]

You might also consider seeking artists' reps. They represent artists and author/illustrators.

[emanuel-wiemans Posts: 8 Status: Offline I draw and write!]

You might also consider seeking artists' reps. They represent artists and author/illustrators.

Hi Debby and thank you for your reply, I do already have an artist rep for my commercial work. They dont have the connections for publishing though.