在公司是做什麼的呢？基於我終究是個外國人，大部份我處理的事不是直接面對客戶的工作，像是網路跟紙本的行銷、整理更新作品集，還有尋找明日之星。總的來說，我負責挖掘、整理、包裝以及行銷旗下的插畫師。這整個過程包括：我看上一個插畫師，跟老闆討論適不適合簽、簽了之後怎麼整理和呈現他的作品集、應該要登上那些宣傳管道、買多少廣告，跟插畫師的溝通則包括作品集的補強跟往後發展方向等。就ㄧ個全職的自由插畫師而言，我們在討論的幾乎是他的整個事業。
為什麼需要經紀人？我自己的經驗談是插畫師們...
1. 不知道如何建立正確的人脈、適當的推銷自己的作品。
2. 看不見自己的發展性，只做自己想接的案子。
3. 沒有耐性閱讀合約、看不懂合約、沒有律師可以協助訂立適合的條約。
4. 無法與客戶談價錢、爭取該有版權及費用。
5. 情緒管理不佳，無法理性的處理與客戶之間的衝突。
6. 無法追蹤每一筆款項以及催繳尾款。
這也是為什麼在網路興起之後，人人都可以自我宣傳的時代，插畫經紀這個行業沒有式微，反而越來越多的小型公司在市場上冒出頭來。
開始寫之後發現每一個工作上的理所當然都可以成為一篇獨立的blog... 學問很多。也許我在這六年裡學到的東西比我以為的要多很多。所以先這樣吧！
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My job is always a topic that I've tried to avoid in a social conversation. I don't know why. I just don't want to share the boring nature of the job, and I hate to tell people that it's actually not a "creative position". I'm a staff, not an artist in the company. But today, the first day I come back to blogger after two years, I decided to write about my job.
I've been working with Richard Solomon Artists Representative since 2009.
As you all remember, 2008 to 2009 was the worse time ever to look for a job while the worldwide economy went into toilet. There was basically no chance for a foreigner like me, who need a visa, to find an illustration related job which would possibly sponsor my H1-B. But miracle happened. I got my job in the Fall of 2009 after interning with the company for half year. I was extremely grateful for this opportunity, and still am. Maybe not extremely anymore, but still am.
So... What do I do in the office? Since I'm not a native English speaker, I deal more with our own artists than with clients. (Clients are my coworker, May's job.) I manage everything internal in the office, all the promotions, online presence, artists' portfolios, and all the printed source books. The more creative side of my job is that I get to pick the new artists that I think are good enough and well suited to be in our group.
Why do artists need an agent? Based on my own experience, it's because...
1. Illustrators do not necessary know how to promote themselves properly. Sometimes they do need second opinions.
2. They don't usually see their own potentials. They take the job they feel comfortable with but sometimes they forget they may need some challenges once a while to expend their horizons.
3. They don't have proper source for possible legal issue.
4. They don't feel comfortable to negotiate a proper fee and rights for the assignments.
5.They sometimes can not hold back their artistic temper or personal emotions when they are dealing with difficult clients.
6. They are not designed to deal with paper work and contracts. They don't have time or energy to hadle invoices and track down every single late payment.
I feel this is why the artists agents still exist while the Internet makes self promotion 100 times easier than it was in old days.
There are so many topics that I can write about this job. I didn't realize how much we do in the office until now I'm writing about it. So I'll talk more in the next post.
I've been working with Richard Solomon Artists Representative since 2009.
As you all remember, 2008 to 2009 was the worse time ever to look for a job while the worldwide economy went into toilet. There was basically no chance for a foreigner like me, who need a visa, to find an illustration related job which would possibly sponsor my H1-B. But miracle happened. I got my job in the Fall of 2009 after interning with the company for half year. I was extremely grateful for this opportunity, and still am. Maybe not extremely anymore, but still am.
So... What do I do in the office? Since I'm not a native English speaker, I deal more with our own artists than with clients. (Clients are my coworker, May's job.) I manage everything internal in the office, all the promotions, online presence, artists' portfolios, and all the printed source books. The more creative side of my job is that I get to pick the new artists that I think are good enough and well suited to be in our group.
Why do artists need an agent? Based on my own experience, it's because...
1. Illustrators do not necessary know how to promote themselves properly. Sometimes they do need second opinions.
2. They don't usually see their own potentials. They take the job they feel comfortable with but sometimes they forget they may need some challenges once a while to expend their horizons.
3. They don't have proper source for possible legal issue.
4. They don't feel comfortable to negotiate a proper fee and rights for the assignments.
5.They sometimes can not hold back their artistic temper or personal emotions when they are dealing with difficult clients.
6. They are not designed to deal with paper work and contracts. They don't have time or energy to hadle invoices and track down every single late payment.
I feel this is why the artists agents still exist while the Internet makes self promotion 100 times easier than it was in old days.
There are so many topics that I can write about this job. I didn't realize how much we do in the office until now I'm writing about it. So I'll talk more in the next post.
