Question: Is it better to go with an art publisher or an art licensing agent?
I’ve been getting some interesting questions lately that have caused me to really think about what I would do. An artist recently emailed me with what I consider a very high class problem – they have submitted their portfolio to a few art publishers and agents and now have a few that are interested in signing the artist. The main question was
Is it better to go with an agent or a publisher/licensor?
First it is important to understand the distinction, especially if you are new to art licensing.
A publisher is a company that publishes art prints – for wall art, canvas, etc. Many publishers also act as agents for their artists because the majority of those artists have no interest in pursuing licensing themselves but are happy for the added income. It becomes a win-win with the publisher not only licensing their work but connecting them with manufacturers in other areas. You can have a relationship with a publisher and NOT have them act as your agent, but many do both for their artists.
Then there is the more traditional agent. An agent is a person or company that represents artists and works to connect the art with the manufacturers. That is all they do – they don’t have the publishing business first and agency aspect second, they are agents. Agents can connect artists with publishers as well.
Back to our artist’s conundrum -
They are each telling me they are the answer of course, and then within that I have each of them (being the various publishers & agents) saying that THEY are the best choice. Each is making a strong argument for me choosing to work with them. I don’t know what to do and I just want to give myself the best opportunity to make money. I’ve asked so many people….please help. I can’t tell if a publisher has the same opportunities an agent does….
So publishers are saying going with them as a publisher and an agent is better than just having an agent. The agents disagree. Both are quite persuasive and the artist doesn’t know what to do.
Here is the advice I gave to them and how I would handle it if I were faced with the same situation.
First, I congratulated the artist on having so many people interested in their work. Agents don’t pursue people they don’t think can be successful and make money in licensing so this is a fabulous sign.
Next I asked to artist to be clear that they want to work with an agent and don’t want to market themselves – if they weren’t sure, I thought they should read this post:
http://artlicensingblog.com/2011/11/02/faq-do-i-need-an-agent-to-succeed-in-art-licensing/
As to who will be best and are agents vs publishers better – each artist will have to make that decision – if I did if for you I might as well pick your spouse or life partner while I’m at it. I’m not an art licensing yenta! 
When making the decision, you need to look for the best fit in terms of the working relationship – who will you trust with your business and who do you believe is most aligned with what you see for it? You either go with a publisher who then promotes you elsewhere or you go with an agent who finds you a publisher and other deals.
If it were me I’d be doing a serious comparison of the contracts – what are they asking of you and what are they promising – in writing – to do for you? How long of a commitment and how can you get out of the contract if you don’t feel it’s going well? And when – after a year, 3 yrs? etc.
My advice would also be to consider the eBook How to Understand Art Licensing Contracts as well as having someone review your contracts. My co-author Maria Brophy does contract reviews (and you get $50 off if you buy the book) or you could have an attorney look at it/them. Make sure the attorney has experience in the industry tho or they won’t catch the nuances. Here is a link to some attorneys if you don’t know any that work in licensing: http://artlicensingblog.com/attorneys/
It is one thing to review and negotiate your own contract for a one-design license for a specific product or products for a period of time. If you make a mistake, it will be a lesson learned but won’t affect your entire business. When you choose an agent or publisher/agent, it can so I would definitely get a second opinion before signing.
Of course this is just my opinion – if you have other advice or ideas, please add them to the comments!
This is pretty exciting and I hope more artists are faced with this type of decision! I also hope this helps you think through your strategy for your business.
Wishing you much success -
– Tara Reed
P.S. Not sure if you want an agent or want to go it alone? Download the survey to help you figure it out…
P.P.S. If you aren’t to this point but want help getting ready to find an art licensing agent, be sure to check out How to Find an Art Licensing Agent.
FAQ: Do I need an agent to succeed in art licensing?
The answer all depends on you!
The art licensing industry is accessible to individual artists who want to do the work of marketing their art. However, there are also many agents who help artists who choose not to take care of that side of their business.
Here are five facts to consider when deciding if you want to work with an agent:
FACT: Agents want to work with artists who “get” licensing and have enough work to make it worth their investment of time and energy to promote. If you only have a limited portfolio, you may have a hard time finding an agent. Licensing is a numbers game – manufacturers are always looking for “what’s new” so agents need artists who can really produce on a regular basis.
FACT: Agents do the marketing side of your business and for that, they share in the royalties. Most art licensing agents work with a 50/50 split while some take less and a few take more. So you need to assume that you will get more than twice the business with an agent than you would on your own, or you will be behind before you get started.
FACT: Marketing your work isn’t easy. Licensing is a competitive industry and there will be lots of rejection – or lack of response – so you need to have a thick skin and the ability to keep at it. Just as you need to create a lot of art, you will have to make a lot of phone calls, send a lot of emails, and nourish relationships to get business. Sometimes you will feel like you are communicating into a void… the reality is that many manufacturers are so busy that you won’t get a response unless they want your art.
FACT: Some artists will find every excuse under the sun to postpone making a call or showing their work to anyone. Those are the artists that should absolutely consider an agent – SOMEONE has to do the marketing, if you aren’t going to, try to find someone who will.
FACT: Finding an agent doesn’t mean guaranteed riches. You still have to do the work, create the art, study the trends, meet the needs of the manufacturers and work as a team with your agent. You don’t head to an island to sip margaritas and paint every so often.
Not sure if you would be happier working with an agent or doing your own marketing? Click here to get a free questionnaire to help you decide…
No matter what you decide is best for you – for now – I’ve written an eBook to help you shorten your learning curve.
| I want help finding an agent…
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I want help doing my own marketing…
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If you want to find an agent, there are more than 25 listed on the AGENTS tab of this blog. Thirteen of them gave feedback in the eBook and the rest have asked to be listed for artists to find. This is a resource only and I can’t guarantee that you will hear back if you contact them.
Whatever you decide – I wish you much success!
– Tara Reed
Tips for Getting from an Art Licensing Dream to Art Licensing Dollars
Every business starts as a dream and artists making a living in art licensing are no exception.
My dream started with a phone call: “You should check out this SURTEX show – artists are showing their work to manufacturers who want to put it on products. You should do this.”
The phone call was followed with about 5 months of reasons why I wasn’t good enough… and a persistent friend who kept telling me I could. So we shared a booth at the Licensing Expo in 2004 to see what happened.
Now I work full time at licensing my art (and writing about the industry here and in eBooks).
So how did I – and how might you – turn the dream into dollars?
1. Learn about art licensing and decide if it is a fit for your art and your lifestyle. Don’t decide to do art licensing based on the dream of the huge success stories – the artists who have built multi-million dollar businesses so why can’t you too? To my way of looking at things, you should honestly consider how you will feel about the day-to-day efforts you will need to put in to get from the dream to the big bucks – and know that you might just get to getting-by bucks. If the effort to give it a shot sounds like torture, look at other options. There are many, many ways to make money with your art – find the one that sounds like the best fit for you.
Recently there was an article about the author of The Help – a novel made into a great movie recently released – and how her manuscript was rejected 61 times before she found a publisher. It’s a really inspirational story but it doesn’t mean that everyone who wants to write a best-selling novel will succeed if they send their manuscript to enough publishers. It still has to be well written, a compelling story and the author has to have a mountain of tenacity to keep on trying. Not everyone will be able to deal with the day-to-day work of writing, revising, sending things out, getting feedback, etc. And there is more day-to-day than there are success stories like this. (Read the full article here)
If you are new to the idea of art licensing, check out the FAQ page of this blog for basic information as well as the many resources for people new to the idea on the ArtLicensingInfo.com website.
2. If you get past step 1 and think this sounds like a viable option for you and that you are motivated to put in the effort, it’s time to create or organize your art for licensing. In art licensing, manufacturers usually want to see groups, or collections, of art more than stand alone pieces.
How an artist goes about creating these collections seem to fall into two categories – those who take a ‘fine art approach’ – creating painting that could be put in a frame and hung on the wall. The type of art that easily lends itself to gallery sales, for example. The other way is to start with icons and build to a scene or image digitally. Art can either be done by hand or completely digitally – there are both types of artists successfully licensing their work. Click here to read more about creating art in collections…
3. While you are creating art, it’s a good idea to be thinking about the types of products the art would be best suited for. Not many kitchen textiles feature baby art and not many school fundraising companies use wine art for products sold by children. Noticing what art is on products in stores is a great way to get your product placement juices flowing to start making a game plan of the types of companies to contact when your art is ready.
Click here to watch a video about shopping research…
4. While you are creating art, you can also be weighing the pros and cons of doing your own marketing or working with an art licensing agent. Do you enjoy both creating the art and doing the sales and follow-up or would you rather leave that to someone else? Click here to download the free questionnaire – TO USE AN AGENT OR NOT TO USE AN AGENT – this 25 question assessment will give you a better idea of what will work for you.
5. An art licensing business isn’t all about pretty pictures – it’s important to treat it like a business. Create a plan and set goals to keep you on track. Get organized. Build systems early on to organize your art (create a code system), your contacts and your follow-up.
If goal setting and staying focused is a challenge, you might want to consider my system – The Goal Wheel for Artists…
6. At some point you won’t be able to do everything yourself, so get help! When you are starting out, you can probably handle everything in order to save money. But at some point, you will be losing money by doing your book-keeping- clerical work that is taking away from your studio time when you create the art that brings in the royalties. Even before you can afford help, think about what someone else could do when you build your business to a point that can support outsourcing some of the work.
Maybe someone can help with your website, press releases, even some of the graphic design/layout work. Don’t think the artists making the big-bucks (the ones they write inspirational stories about) are doing everything themselves– they have employees helping this process along!
The best advice I can give anyone trying to turn a dream into a reality is to take some action – no matter how big or small – every day.
Here’s to your creative success – where ever you may find it!
– Tara Reed
Do you have an art licensing attorney that you would recommend?
I need your help! I am regularly asked for attorney referrals by artists starting out or needing help with specific issues in art licensing. I have decided to create a page on this blog to list attorneys who work in the art licensing industry. This won’t mean I’ve worked with them personally and give them my stamp of approval, but that they have worked in the industry and it will be a great starting point for artists to decide who might be a fit for them.
We have a similar page for art licensing agents – it started with the 13 agents who responded to my email and contributed to the How to Find an Art Licensing Agent eBook. Since then, more have contacted me asking to be listed and there are almost 30 agents there for you to consider for representation.
I need your help to make this new resource a reality. Please contact us at info@artlicensinginfo.com if…
– you are an attorney who works in the art licensing industry and would like to be included on the upcoming Attorney page on this blog. I will need your basic contact info – name, address, phone, email, website.
– you are an artist who has worked with an attorney that you would recommend to others. Send me their basic contact information and I will get in touch with them to see if they are interested.
Thanks so much – I look forward to your recommendations!
– Tara Reed
Artist Questions about Agents and Manufacturers Answered!
I got a few last-minute questions that we weren’t able to get into the call line-up but I thought would make helpful blog posts. These two are related to agents and manufacturers….
Marilyn asked: What are the best ways to let agents or licensing companies know about my work – website, mailing, etc?
There are many things you can do to get the attention of agents or manufacturers – here are a few basics.
- Have some sort of website they can go to to see your art. It could be a blog with some images or a more traditional website. These days most people expect you to have some space on the internet so they can quickly look and decide if they want to learn more.
- Email or Direct Mail or dare I suggest you pick up the phone? Getting your name and art in front of the right individuals is important since they make the decisions. Check manufacturer websites to see if they have submission guidelines or pick up the phone and ask who to contact.
- Trade Shows. There are a variety of trade shows for artists in licensing as well as industry shows where the manufacturers can be found. Here’s a blog post with links to the art licensing shows.
Be sure to look at the “agents” page of this blog for a growing list of art licensing agents and their contact information. They have all asked to be there so they are open to new artist submissions. I have also written an eBook – How to Find, Interact and Work with Manufacturers Who License Art if you prefer to market yourself.
and Karen wanted to know: Once you sign up with an agent and submit images, how much time can you expect to pass before you start seeing results?
Karen’s questions is a bit trickier and if we were on the live call I’d start with my famous “it depends”… There is simply no way to answer this because there are so many moving parts.
Things that could influence the timing could include:
- The time of year you start working with an agent and how your art lines up with what manufacturers are looking for at that time.
- How much art you have in your portfolio for them to license. Licensing is like a dart game – the more art you have the more likely you are to hit the bulls eye.
- The agent’s process – how long does it take them to get you into the line-up and out the door to be presented to manufacturers? What type of marketing do they do for new artists, if any?
I think this is a great question to ask an agent that you are thinking about working with. You want to go into an artist – agent relationship with some realistic expectations. If you think you should see results within 3 months and they have found it takes a year to see if your art will be a fit for them and the market, that’s good information to have upfront.
FAQ: What kind of art works for art licensing?
I get a lot of emails from people asking me to review their art and tell them what to do. Do I think their art would work for licensing? Who would be the best agent for them to contact? What manufacturers should they work with? Is their art a fit? If so, where? Is it good enough? You get the idea.
Honestly, judging art makes me really uncomfortable.
If I worked for a manufacturer and knew what my product was, who my market was and what sells well, it would be easier. I’d have some guidelines and experience to back up my decision.
From where I sit, I’m simply uncomfortable. I create art and license it. I blog, write and teach about art licensing – the business side, how to create collections, how to figure out who to contact, things like that.
I draw the line at telling any artist that their art is or isn’t good enough.
I can tell you if you need more to really get started in licensing. I can tell you that manufacturers look for collections of art and what that means. Can I say, with certainty, that your art will or won’t work in licensing? Not always. Sometimes I see art that I love and think would be great – but then I don’t see it on products. Maybe the artist didn’t make the effort, maybe they went a different way in their desire to earn a living from their art, who knows.
Other times I will see art on products and scratch my head. I’ve been in this business long enough to know just how much amazing art is out there – why didn’t this manufacturer choose what I would consider to be “better”? The answer again is, who knows.
I believe that anyone that really wants to make a living with their art, who is willing to learn, adapt and be honest with themselves can do it. Maybe not in art licensing, but somewhere. I can assure you I’d be a big failure if I decided I wanted to make my living selling large canvas in art galleries. I’m not a fit for that market.
What I do is offer information.
I teach about how the industry works, the mindsets and skill sets you need to be in the business. Then it is up to you to decide where you fit, how you measure up, what products would be best for you, what agent might do well for you.
I know that you’d like to be able to send me, or anyone, your website link and get an email with a road map for success all drawn up for you. I’d like that too! But we each have different things we bring to the table and must chart our own course. I can help you understand the waters, but I can’t steer your ship.
I can give you a general observation about art that works well for licensing – in relation to the full spectrum of art.
If you think about art as a long line – with ultra-abstract styles of art on one end and ultra-traditional and portrait art on the other – art that will do well for licensing will fall in the middle of the spectrum. I’ve said this many times but art that will do well in licensing has to appeal to the masses. While you need one buyer for an original piece of art, a manufacturer has to believe that hundreds or thousands of people will want to buy a product with the art they choose on it. For that reason, you see less “risky” art on stuff. (That’s how I tell people what I do – “I create art for stuff you buy in the store.” )
If your art falls a bit outside the mainstream does that mean you won’t make a dime in art licensing?
Not necessarily. You might license your work for a few products but it will be harder to make licensing your art a full-time profession. It might need to be a piece of your income pie and not the whole thing. (Watch my video – How Your Art Business is Like Pie – to learn more about this concept.) The more your art is in the middle of the art style spectrum, the more success I believe you will have in licensing your art.
At the end of the day, there really is no way to know if your art is a fit until you try. I look back at the art I was creating in the beginning and don’t think it is up to par – but if I’d been told it wasn’t good enough and didn’t keep trying, I wouldn’t be here today. Far be it for me to judge!
So if you email me with links to your website, I will probably send you right back to this post.
While I chose not to make judgment calls about the quality or suitability of art, I will give you these bits of advice:
1. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you want to make a living with your art, I believe you can. I can give you information to help you decide if art licensing is that way.
2. Look at the art you see on products in stores and honestly consider how your art stacks up to the competition. Do you need to work on your technique, style or subject matter or do you simply need to learn to create in collections and start showing your work?
3. Keep reading this and other blogs about art licensing, sign up for the bi-monthly newsletter, listen to the Ask Calls, watch the videos of artists just like you talking about how they got into licensing… learn, create and see what happens!
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
What do agents think are the biggest mistakes artists make when submitting art to them?
In my eBook – How to find an Art Licensing Agent – there are 13 agent perspectives included. I emailed more than 30 to give their input and was pleased with the feedback. (The agents included in the eBook are on the AGENTS page of this blog with an asterisk after their name.)
The agents who chose to participate replied to 8 different questions. to help give you a feel for how they work and think about art licensing. Reading through them all will make you understand when I say, “Every agent is different and you have to find the one you think will be the best fit for you your business.”
I wanted to share some of their answers to the question: What is the #1 mistake you see artists make when submitting art to you for review?
Read some of the responses and think about how you present your work to agents or manufacturers. There are some great insights in these replies!
- Not thinking about how the art would translate on product and who the buyer would be. Not all great art is right for licensing. Shop the stores to understand what makes a compelling art-based product.
- By far, the number one mistake artists make is presenting their work while bragging about the existing licensees they have in place. They tend to think that makes them more attractive to an agency, however, it has the opposite effect. We has over 400 licensees. These companies count on us to bring them fresh, new, marketable artwork. They do not need us to present artwork to them that they have already seen at shows or on their competitor’s products.
- Not being aware of the marketplace and their competition in terms of designers.
- Most of the art we receive is usually sent via e-mail as JPGs, which is fine. The only mistake we’ve seen from time to time is art that is submitted in a very raw form, meaning no sense of application. When submitting art, artists should take in to consideration how they perceive the design on product and possibly show application of the design as a border, square, round product shape.
- Not enough variety of style and subject matter to show their potential.
- Some submit everything but the kitchen sink instead of narrowing the artwork down to their very best.
- The number one and I think most important issue for artists is to understand if their art is applicable to the retail market place. We see so many artists who submit a package with a cover letter explaining how Aunt Suzie just loves the art and thinks they should be in Wal-Mart or Target selling a bazillion framed pieces and making a ton of dough. Unrealistic and absolutely no understanding of how the industry works, but no understanding of the current economy and how drastically the industry has changed in the past three years.
- Submitting one or two images or only submitting one style of art, when they may have several different styles. Not giving us a quick rundown of their talents and capabilities. A quick bullet point presentation of themselves and their artwork would be great.
- Not presenting their best. Just sending anything is not a good way to go. Send your best and be sure to look at the agent’s website so that you know the feel and can send what would best represent your art to the agent.
- It is the same mistake that artists often make in submitting to manufacturers – not doing their homework. You would be amazed at the amount of tattoo art that we receive when anyone that takes a look at our website would know right away that this would not fit in.
If you aren’t sure if you’d rather work with an agent or market yourself, don’t forget about the questionnaire I created to help you think about the process. You can get your free copy at http://artlicensinginfo.com/agent-or-alone.html
Learn more about the eBook at www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/agent.html
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
A great art licensing ask call with Jill Seale last night – were you on the line?
We had over 100 artists on the line last night listening to Jill’s great experience and advice about art licensing… (the only advice I recommend you DON’T take is to turn down an afternoon invite to the movies with me! ) We have fun and learned a lot!
Here are the basics of what we discussed:
- We talked about Jill’s newly release book – Stark Raving Motherhood*
- Which do you consider your first calling–artist or writer?
- What has been the most pivotal event in your career? Was it one big event, or a build up to solid work, and then a continuation from there?
- How do you organize your day and still stay inspired?
- How much artwork did you have before you began to contact licensees?
- How do you structure access to your portfolio online?
- When should you reveal in your web presence (website/blog/social media) that you are interested in licensing?
- Should I always register copyrights before showing art to manufacturers?
- Talk about the evolution of Nun for the Road™
- Do you create collections for characters like you do for themed art?
- What would you do when creating a new character line?
- What do you recommend for finding an agent?
If you’d like the mp3 replay of the call, it is available for $20 thru 4/30 and then goes to the regular price of $30 so get your copy today! (We appreciate your purchasing the audios that are for sale – it helps offset the cost of creating these calls and Jill will receive a % of the sales as a “thank you for your time!”)
As promised, here are the many places you can find and friend Jill Seale…
- http://www.facebook.com/starkravingmotherhood
- http://starkravingmotherhood.blogspot.com/
- http://www.facebook.com/JillSeale
- http://www.jillseale.com
- http://twitter.com/jillseale
CHECK OUT HER BOOK – Stark Raving Motherhood – ON AMAZON* – let’s see if we can get it to a third printing!
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
NEXT UP… Paul Brent
The May Ask Call will be on Wednesday, May 25th – the week after the SURTEX show. Paul will not only be answering questions submitted by artists like you but also doing a show review so mark your calendar to join us! Submit your question for Paul at www.AskPaulBrent.com
Why you might need central images even if your focus is fabric and paper design…
I received a great question the other day that I’ve been asked a few times so I decided to put it on the blog. The question was:
After submitting to several agents, two responded saying they were interested in my work, but my patterns needed to have a central image to revolve around. I am not sure what this means really. I am interested in patterns for surface design to use in fabrics and paper, so I don’t know how the central image functions within this?
Great question! And here is my opinion on this – perhaps some agents will add their comments as well.
I believe the agents want to have more opportunity for your art that just fabric and paper, hence the request for central images as well. And many times you need them for fabric too.
First let’s talk about fabric. Not all fabric is repeat patterns. When I have full collections of fabric and not just a pattern or two for a specific retailer, I always have to have central images for panels. It might be an image for a quilt top – like you see in the photo of the Midnight Monsters fabric. This collection also had a fabric panel with different squares – the images shown on the plates and more – that could be used for quilt squares, as appliques and more. So don’t be surprised if you get the same request from a fabric manufacturer interested in your art. I recommend you head to a quilting shop and see how lines of fabric are put together. JoAnn Fabric isn’t the best choice for this shopping research – an independent or specialty store will have more fabric that coordinates for you to look at.
Next consider a line of products for the kitchen. In the image below, you will see that there are repeat patterns – coffee beans, dots, words, but also the central image with the two coffee cups and “Good Friends Don’t Spill the Beans”. In each collection I create, I do 4 such images – not always with words – that can be used alone or combined with borders or patterns.
Finally, look at the 4 appetizer plates that are from four central images in a group. The collection also has repeat patterns of zebra prints, leopard print, tosses of the shoes… but this company has used the central images for dishes and coasters.
Adding the central images will make your work marketable to more companies for use on a wider variety of products. That makes you more desirable to an agent.
Of course this all applies to creating art for licensing in general, not just if you want to find an agent. If you aren’t sure whether working with an agent or going it alone is best for you, download the “Agent or Alone?” assessment to help you decide. Or, if you know one way or the other, I’ve written an eBook for the artist who wants to fly solo – How to Find, Interact and Work with Manufacturers Who License Art – or the artist who wants to find an agent – How to Find an Art Licensing Agent.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
New Art Licensing Agency looking for artists… are they looking for you?
I just received a press release from a brand new art licensing agency looking for 10 – 12 artists to represent. I don’t know either of the people involved but thought I’d pass on the information – if you are looking for an agent, you can decide if they might be a fit!
PRESS RELEASE: Experienced artist, longtime business pro launch licensing agency for artists
A successful artist and an expert in contract negotiations and business innovation – with a combined 60 years of professional experience – have partnered to launch Huffman Licensing, a fine art licensing, marketing and consulting firm.
The new firm will represent a select group of artists, each with a unique style and perspective, and will assist the artists in promoting their work to manufacturers in the gift and paper products industry, according to Huffman Licensing President Jim Huffman.
Huffman, an expert in contract negotiations, business start-ups and venture capital, joined with Kimberly Montgomery, a fine artist with a successful career as a licensed artist, to start the new business.
Huffman Licensing will serve as a professional intermediary between the artists and the manufacturers to handle contracts, distribution and fees, Montgomery explained. The agency will seek to get artists’ original work placed on a range of items, from cards, coffee mugs and decorative flags to gift items, notebooks and journals – essentially any item that can feature an illustration.
“We plan to start out representing 10 to 12 talented artists with whom we will work diligently to advance their art and make sure their work is commercially successful,” Huffman said.
The duo’s combined expertise are a perfect match for artists looking to make in-roads into the profitable licensed art field.
Huffman has a 35-year track record in corporate and independent bank operations, lending and sales. Along the way he found a niche in local bank start-ups and assisting banks in adjusting their focus from operations to sales mode.
“It just comes natural for me,” Huffman said of his expertise in contracts and negotiations. “I can see a challenge, hear the parameters and turn that into a win-win situation.”
Montgomery’s background as an artist and art instructor make her a strong evaluator of artists’ portfolios, and a valuable advisor on how to develop a portfolio that is sellable. “I know art and I have a deep respect for the talent and time that goes into each piece. That’s what I bring to the table,” she noted. As an experienced licensed artist, she also touts strong relationships with a variety of reputable manufacturers.
“Having Kimberly as an artist and my background in negotiations and corporate contracts make this partnership a perfect pairing,” Huffman summed up.
Huffman Licensing is currently reaching out to prospective artists in need of representation. The company seeks to represent artists from a number of styles and genres, as well as graphic artists who perhaps work more with words than imagery to create their art.
“There are so many exceptionally talented artists out there who have incredible work, but don’t know what do to do with it. We want to help them make their work successful,” Montgomery said.
If you want to contact Huffman Licensing and see if they might be a fit for your work, here is their contact information:
Kimberly Montgomery, Vice President
916-208-7705
HuffmanLicensing@gmail.com
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. If you are looking for an agent, don’t forget about the eBook – How to Find an Art Licensing Agent – that helps you understand the working relationship, prepare to contact agents and also includes insights from agents and manufacturers. Learn more at www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/agent.html
P.P.S. You’ve seen the “agent” tab on this blog right? It has contact information for other art licensing agents as well…
P.P.S. Not sure if you want an agent or want to go it alone? Take the self-assessment and see if it gives you any insights!
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