4 Out the Door by Katie Eberts

4 Out the Door is a challenge hosted by SCBWI Michigan for illustrator members (from any region) to send promotional postcards quarterly to art directors and editors that they would like to work with. It was started in 2018 by our former co-ICs, Deb Pilutti and Kirbi Fagan, and was really well-received by our members. It stopped during the pandemic because everyone in publishing started working from home and stopped receiving mail from their offices, but now that things are going back to normal, I thought it would be a great program to revive.

Rebecca Howe

To participate, illustrators create promotional postcards with their artwork and contact information to send  quarterly to a personally curated mailing list. The mailing dates are the first days of February, April, July, and November. These dates were picked based on publishing industry's habits: In September, many people in publishing take vacations, and December is often very quiet. To join the community of other SCBWI illustrators participating, images of the postcards can be posted on Instagram with the hashtag #4outthedoor.

Thalita Dol

Why is sending a postcard important? For starters, it lets the publisher know you and your work exist and are available for hire. Once you start sending on a regular basis, it will keep your work on their bulletin board for consideration. Could you also do this with an email? Absolutely yes. But my thought is that going the extra mile to send some snail mail in our digital-forward world sets you apart.

Bradley D. Cooper

Whatever you do, definitely be promoting you work in some way (honestly, multiple ways)! I really like this article from The Business of Illustration. 

For the full run-down of 4 Out the Door, take a look at our website. 

Katie Eberts studied art at the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design. She lives in Cedarville, Michigan with her husband and their friendly cat in a sweet little red cabin surrounded by flowers in the summer and piles of snow in the winter. As of May 2021, she is the IC for the Michigan Chapter of SCBWI.