Thanks for this helpful and informative post, Sarah. I'm new to Substack and learned a great deal from reading this.
You lost me on some of the finer points, though, so I thought I'd ask for clarification.
Regarding this: "Using stock images is essentially putting artists out of business." Can you please clarify this? Do you mean to say that "Using stock images is essentially putting illustrators out of business?" Or maybe I'm entirely misunderstanding. Please educate me!
I've always viewed stock as being a massive opportunity for artists, illustrators and photographers to disseminate their work to a broader audience than they'd be able to reach on their own.
And it's my understanding that there are artists and photographers whose earnings mostly come from selling their images via platforms like Shutterstock, Getty Images, Unsplash+ and Istockphoto.
Did I get these things wrong?
Maybe my understanding of the situation is outdated. You have me wondering if perhaps the major stock image platforms have recently made changes that make them a lot less viable of an income stream for creators? If that's the case, please fill us in!
I think I understand and agree with many of the other points you're making about stock imagery.
I 100% agree that, in most situations, it's in creators' best interests to create unique imagery to accompany our content. I feel strongly that this is one of the smartest things we can do to differentiate ourselves and our content from the sea of "sameness."
That said, I'm not fully onboard with the directive to "Stop with the stock photos," because I'm painfully aware that it isn't always possible to create the exact image you need -- even if you hold a design school degree and have taken bunches of specialized illustration courses (which I do, and I have -- botanical illustration, fashion illustration, life drawing, and the list goes on.)
Even if you have an artist's, illustrator's and photographer's skills, it simply isn't always workable to produce your own images. It just depends on the topic you're creating content about, and what you're trying to accomplish with your content.
I frequently write about fashion and beauty topics (although not on Substack). As a journalist who has a history of working in that space, I get frequent invitations to Fashion Week events -- so it's theoretically possible that I could hop on a plane, attend the events and take my own photos of them. But, most of the time, it simply isn't practical for me to do that (which is one of the many reasons I haven't jumped into writing a fashion Substack.)
Sure, I could write a fashion Substack by taking photos of what I'm wearing, but I don't think anybody out there really cares much about taking a peek at my coffee-stained organic cotton hoodies and vintage Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. That type of content would get boring fairly quickly.
I'm pretty convinced more people would be interested in seeing photos of the latest designer collections. And to secure those, I see the two most viable choices as being stock photos or getting on a plane to take photos at Fashion Week.
Although, hmmmm. You do have me pondering the possibility of illustrating the designer collections instead. I admit that would be an interesting possibility. Thanks for the food for thought!
I love you. Sorry, but it's true. Your delivery and information and heart are so good for me. Glad I discovered you! I will be booking an appointment, but want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row fro you to go over with me.
For me, illustration is a given! I have written several novels that have already gone through my writing group. I am wondering if there would be an audience for one of them in serial format on Substack because my genre is Middle Grade and my market is 9-10 year old boys. One novel is set in central Texas 13,000 years ago and another in the Front Range of northern Colorado, also 13,000 years ago. (Clovis culture). Would Substack serialization work for me? Maybe parents picking up on it? An agent? A publisher? I don’t really think that a 9-10 year old boy would find it by himself!
Your novels sound intriguing. You’re right: I don’t think children are on here, but other YA novelists are. You might be able to get some really great readers for whichever novel you chose to serialize and improve it exponentially before submitting to agents. Go on Notes and put out a call for other YA novelists.
Thank you for this very illustrative and illuminating post about illustrations :-) The tips are useful--I didn't realize I could resize the images on the page. Do you know if we could align it (e.g. flushed left)? Most content management platforms allow that. When I shrunk one of my images, I noticed the caption remained flushed left but the image was centered.) Well, that was the perfectionist in my speaking, ha! I enjoyed reading about the history of using illustrations in novels. I grew up in an artistic household and throughout grade school I read Japanese manga. It wasn't until junior high that I started reading novels. I always felt that I started my literary education too late! If novels had pictures in them I might have started earlier!
I love this: "If novels had pictures in them I might have started earlier!" Wouldn't it have been great and different? I think being a writer would be different. Substack only recently made it so we can resize images. What a gift! Before, it was like these huge photos would appear. I'm not sure about what might have happened with your caption, but for now, alignment isn't an option. I love this too: "illustrative and illuminating post about illustrations."
Thanks for this helpful and informative post, Sarah. I'm new to Substack and learned a great deal from reading this.
You lost me on some of the finer points, though, so I thought I'd ask for clarification.
Regarding this: "Using stock images is essentially putting artists out of business." Can you please clarify this? Do you mean to say that "Using stock images is essentially putting illustrators out of business?" Or maybe I'm entirely misunderstanding. Please educate me!
I've always viewed stock as being a massive opportunity for artists, illustrators and photographers to disseminate their work to a broader audience than they'd be able to reach on their own.
And it's my understanding that there are artists and photographers whose earnings mostly come from selling their images via platforms like Shutterstock, Getty Images, Unsplash+ and Istockphoto.
Did I get these things wrong?
Maybe my understanding of the situation is outdated. You have me wondering if perhaps the major stock image platforms have recently made changes that make them a lot less viable of an income stream for creators? If that's the case, please fill us in!
I think I understand and agree with many of the other points you're making about stock imagery.
I 100% agree that, in most situations, it's in creators' best interests to create unique imagery to accompany our content. I feel strongly that this is one of the smartest things we can do to differentiate ourselves and our content from the sea of "sameness."
That said, I'm not fully onboard with the directive to "Stop with the stock photos," because I'm painfully aware that it isn't always possible to create the exact image you need -- even if you hold a design school degree and have taken bunches of specialized illustration courses (which I do, and I have -- botanical illustration, fashion illustration, life drawing, and the list goes on.)
Even if you have an artist's, illustrator's and photographer's skills, it simply isn't always workable to produce your own images. It just depends on the topic you're creating content about, and what you're trying to accomplish with your content.
I frequently write about fashion and beauty topics (although not on Substack). As a journalist who has a history of working in that space, I get frequent invitations to Fashion Week events -- so it's theoretically possible that I could hop on a plane, attend the events and take my own photos of them. But, most of the time, it simply isn't practical for me to do that (which is one of the many reasons I haven't jumped into writing a fashion Substack.)
Sure, I could write a fashion Substack by taking photos of what I'm wearing, but I don't think anybody out there really cares much about taking a peek at my coffee-stained organic cotton hoodies and vintage Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. That type of content would get boring fairly quickly.
I'm pretty convinced more people would be interested in seeing photos of the latest designer collections. And to secure those, I see the two most viable choices as being stock photos or getting on a plane to take photos at Fashion Week.
Although, hmmmm. You do have me pondering the possibility of illustrating the designer collections instead. I admit that would be an interesting possibility. Thanks for the food for thought!
I love you. Sorry, but it's true. Your delivery and information and heart are so good for me. Glad I discovered you! I will be booking an appointment, but want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row fro you to go over with me.
Wonderful! Thank you!
For me, illustration is a given! I have written several novels that have already gone through my writing group. I am wondering if there would be an audience for one of them in serial format on Substack because my genre is Middle Grade and my market is 9-10 year old boys. One novel is set in central Texas 13,000 years ago and another in the Front Range of northern Colorado, also 13,000 years ago. (Clovis culture). Would Substack serialization work for me? Maybe parents picking up on it? An agent? A publisher? I don’t really think that a 9-10 year old boy would find it by himself!
Your novels sound intriguing. You’re right: I don’t think children are on here, but other YA novelists are. You might be able to get some really great readers for whichever novel you chose to serialize and improve it exponentially before submitting to agents. Go on Notes and put out a call for other YA novelists.
I will check on notes and see if there are any other MG novelists around. By the way there is a big difference between MG and YA writers.
Understandable..you write adult non-fiction. Kidlit is another world! I would be happy to explain the basic divisions to you ifnyou wish.
Yes, you’re right! Apologies. It’s a new world to me. I’m catching up.
Thank you for this very illustrative and illuminating post about illustrations :-) The tips are useful--I didn't realize I could resize the images on the page. Do you know if we could align it (e.g. flushed left)? Most content management platforms allow that. When I shrunk one of my images, I noticed the caption remained flushed left but the image was centered.) Well, that was the perfectionist in my speaking, ha! I enjoyed reading about the history of using illustrations in novels. I grew up in an artistic household and throughout grade school I read Japanese manga. It wasn't until junior high that I started reading novels. I always felt that I started my literary education too late! If novels had pictures in them I might have started earlier!
I love this: "If novels had pictures in them I might have started earlier!" Wouldn't it have been great and different? I think being a writer would be different. Substack only recently made it so we can resize images. What a gift! Before, it was like these huge photos would appear. I'm not sure about what might have happened with your caption, but for now, alignment isn't an option. I love this too: "illustrative and illuminating post about illustrations."