how to choose a stock agency

[arjen van de merwe]

<p>I have been approached by Getty images on Flickr. They are interested in licensing my work. I am not satisfied with my current stock agency (who shall remain nameless for now) because of the low returns I get. It could be that my work is not good enough or not commercial enough or that there is low demand for images from Malawi. It could also be that I am not with the right agency. How do I find the best stock agency for my work? Does anybody have good ideas about this?</p>

[suzanne_powers]

<p>I got interested in photography about a year ago and bought an SLR camera. I interviewed with I-Stock an intro level company owned by Getty Images. On the I-Stock website a successful contributor with an exclusive contract with I-Stock was interviewed, stating it took her about a year to sell any images. It takes a while as you probably are aware for the customer to find you in the sea of contributors. The next year was more profitable for her. Getty images may be different since they are the industry standard and the largest and business may be brisker. If you don't find the answer here you may be able to with the photo stock forums on the internet. All of the stock companies would like you to sign an exclusive contract and only contribute to them. The perks are a higher percentage of payout and faster processing of photography submissions. The advice given at the forums is to contribute to several stock companies until you meet your financial goal and then consider signing an exclusive contract. If you are not sure they are if they are asking you to sign an exclusive contract you can always ask them.<br>

There is a soft bound book titled 'Photographer's Market' that lists established stock companies and other opportunities for photographers. The cost for a new copy is $45 in the bookstore. Your library probably has a copy although probably not the 2013. The copy from my library is from '07. I did not find any difference between my library's older copy and the new from the bookstore. If there was any difference it was insignificant and didn't apply to me. Another good thing about this book it can give you other ideas as to marketing your photographs even outside of the companies listed. I hope this is of some help to you.</p>

[arjen van de merwe]

<p>Thank you Suzanne.</p>