Which original story characters did agent Nicole Tugeau pick out to see finished this month?
May 24 Guest Group Critique with Nicole Tugeau!
In an exciting but highly competitive 2016 children's publishing market illustrators need to consider taking one more step to make their portfolios compelling for art directors and editors, suggests literary agent Nicole Tugeau of Tugeau2 Inc.
"We've seen this market only get more and more saturated," she says in the above video.
"Ten years ago – even five years ago – you used to be able, as an individual unrepresented artist to go into New York City, submit your portfolio to a design team or an art director in the morning and pick it up three hours later with comments or post-it notes on it or a 'thanks, but no thanks' card.
"But you knew you would have eyes on that portfolio.
"What I've found in the past few years is...portfolios alone, sometimes, are not enough," she says. "Even the best portfolio, unless you are dangling a little bit more or sweetening the pot a little bit more, may not be enough..."
Watch our visit with her below to find out what she feels to be the needed – but often missing – ingredient in artists' portfolios and mailings.
Click here to subscribe to monthly Guest Group Critiques – or purchase a seat (and your replay access) for only the May 24 session with Nicole. Next month Penguin-Random House senior art director Giuseppe Castellano is set to critique some of our work. You'll receive the details for that session when you subscribe.
The 'missing piece' will be the focus of next month's Guest Group Critique, when Nicole reviews 15 final, full color illustrations that she's assigned from the May sketch submissions.
Last week Nicole picked the 15 sketches she'd like to see brought to final art stage.
We'll join her live on May 24 when she critiques the results. She'll also be available to answer your questions about the children's publishing art market and how to maximize your opportunities there.
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Mira Reisberg, author-illustrator, teacher and founder, Children's Book Academy
Karien Naude, illustrator
Chris Schechner, designer, illustrator and art director for 20+ years for "Pockets" magazine
Loraine Joyner, senior art director for 23 years with Peachtree Publishers
Jeff Crosby, author-illustrator
Marsha Riti, illustrator
Christy Stallop, illustrator
Nick Balian, illustrator animator, art manager for digital publisher ustyme Books
Nicole Tugeau, agent and artists' rep, Tugeau2 Children's Illustrators
C.S. Jennings, author-illustrator
Annette Simon, author-illustrator
Mark Mitchell, author-illustrator and moderator
Denise Fleming, award-winning author-illustrator
Wendy Martin, author-illustrator and teacher
Mary Sullivan, award-winning author-illustrator
Jodell Sadler, founder KidLit College and agent
Kelly Sonnack, senior agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
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