Customer Reviews

2005 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market

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An invaluable book if you either want to begin or increase your publishing opportunities, "Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market" is the # 1 book to find the markets that fit your talents. The listings are divided into categories; "Greeting Cards, Gifts & Products", "Magazines", "Posters & Prints" and "Book Publishers", and each listing gives the contact person, the type of art they use, the terms they give per illustration, etc., and a web site is usually included, so that you can check if your art is suitable for their product.
There are also many other diverse categories, like "Galleries", "Syndicates & Cartoon Features", "Advertising", and much more, and most categories are interspersed with "Insider Reports" by people who have attained expertise in their field.

The articles in the first two sections of the book will be useful no matter what kind of art you do, and the 2005 issue contains many tips well worth remembering, like information on copyrights, great advice on promotional mailings from postcards to portfolios, and some marvelous interviews with several illustrators, The New Yorker's cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, comic book creator David Mack, and "Success Stories" by Donya Dickerson.

Thanks to editor Mary Cox, for coming up with fresh ideas and improved, updated and expanded listings with every new issue; this is a book I buy every year, and it has always rewarded me well, with new venues for my work, and fresh horizons to conquer.

Certainly, if you're looking to market your creative work, this book is one of the core resources. I've bought several editions, and I do use it regularly. Some of the feature articles have been moderately helpful. That being said, I think artists and designers need to know that if they rely solely on this book, they are missing a vast universe of other opportunities. In the greeting card listings, not only are the listings not comprehensive, but some of the major publishers are omitted. And, there are many smaller "niche" publishers with whom an artist might find a "home" -- but you will have to find them on your own. A huge percentage of the listings will be unusable to the average artist or designer. For instance, in the magazine category, there are numerous specialty magazines listed such as: Federal Computer Week, Golf tips Magazine, Grand Rapids Magazine, Hadassah Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Magazine, etc. etc. And, most of these magazines purchase a very limited amount of work from freelance artists. Regarding the Gallery listings, which take up a fairly large chunk of the book, I checked the listings from my own area and found them to be very quirky and incomplete -- one can do much better with a targeted web search. I would love to see the gallery listings omitted and have the book cost five dollars less. Another thing to keep in mind is that any good resource listed in this book is going to be deluged with submissions -- an excellent reason to do one's own research. My advice to any artist or designer who has a marketable style, skill, or body of work, is to get out there and research your market, whether it be at stores, trade shows, etc., or do some strategic surfing on the web, and find your own potential clients -- some will even be flattered to hear from you. I say this in all sincerity, because -- believe me -- I don't need the competition!

As a professional humorous illustrator/cartoonist, I think that the Artist's Market is one of the best books geared toward helping commercial artists find markets for their work. It has listings of greeting card companies, magazines, poster companies, advertising firms, book publishers and galleries. The listings are up-to-date and there is a short description on what the company publishes and how much they pay for purchased artwork. All in all it is a great book and very helpful.

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Artist's Market provides listings of companies, by category, that might buy reproduction rights to art or art. Categories include greeting card companies, magazines, poster companies, advertising firms, book publishers and galleries. Each section has a short introductory article on how to present work to that particular market. In each section companies in that category are listed along with a short description on what the company publishes (ie pen and ink black and white) so you can read through and target companies that might publish your art.

Interspersed in the directory are short articles on practical businessy subjects that can help in publishing art and success stories of people who made it using Artist's Market to find outlets for their art. The articles are a draw for me because I like to look at other people's art and the articles on copyright etc are always nice.

The draw back to a single source for art info is that the companies might be swamped with submissions. Then again however you find out about a way to license your art someone else could find out that same way.

Artist's Market is a worthwhile investment for someone trying to publish art on their own. Publishing is tough business. Good luck.

I am just starting out as a freelance artist and picked this up on a whim at a local store. It has opened my eyes to the wealth of possibilities out there, and has done all the legwork in finding what these companies are looking for and exactly whom to contact and how to submit work. Many companies are looking for computer-literate artists, and this book states how much of the companies' freelance work requires computer work.

Sure, it is by no means complete, but it is a great place to start. Be sure to mark it up well, mine is! (Of course, the 2006 edition is coming out at the end of the month.)

I want to begin selling my art and I need a lot of information. The "2005 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market" is worthy of owning just for the articles alone, so a copy of this book from any year is a valuable resource for me.

I always suggest this guide to artist and freelancers who ask me about submitting work. It doesn't matter what kind of artwork. To get artwork licensed, it'll take a lot of reading and research. A freelancer will be able to compile a substantial list and then will need to get into a routine of consistently contacting companies in order to see some results. My own greeting card company, Sourire, http://www.cardsorbust.com has been privileged enough to have a listing in the Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market for the past few years and we've been receiving submissions on a regular basis. We take African American and cultural artwork for reproduction onto greeting cards.

My personal advice to artists would be to read the company's description and FOLLOW its submission guidelines. Also, send SASE's if you want your artwork returned.

True, this is a must-have if you are trying to market your art. It just keeps getting better! And so easy to use.

This book is truley still rellavant!! Even though it is from 2005 it has many of the same companies from 2007 & 2008. This book gave me the courage to start sending out my art and illustrations. It is a MUST HAVE for all the artists. Easy to read tabbed sections and easy to follow guide lines for submission.