Thank you 

I've just had my first batch accepted at iStock so I'm happy to be 'educated' on what to expect 

Heres what I want....HOLDING REVIEWERS TO THE SAME STANDARDS AS THEY DO SUBMITTERS.

It's a pity there isn't an industry Association of reviewers or some kind of minimum competency standard 

What's the most confusing to someone starting out is the inconsistencies between agencies.  I'm lucky enough, in these very early days, to have a fairly good acceptance ratio at 8 of the 9 I've submitted to (I'm still waiting for CS to accept anything after 21 days in the pending queue  ).  In these early days I am submitting the same images to all agencies.  It's amazing how SS will reject an image for any number of random reasons for others to accept it with no problem.  However it's also quite bizarre how an image accepted by SS and 6 other will be rejected by FT for poor lighting or BS for focus issues when there clearly isn't a problem.

At least fotolia were honest with one declined image when they just simple said they had too many of that subject.

I don't mind rejection (I don't like it but I realise it's part of the business) I just wish that I could learn something from the rejection reasons so that I can improve!

Greek Mountain scene taken under blue skies at 100 ISO is rejected for excessive noise

And yet next image taken an hour later in similar conditions, accepted

It is completely random and I can learn nothing to improve my submissions from the reasons given. 

Initially I used to get upset now I just move on.  I may try slipping one or two of the random rejects in another upload in a few weeks (by accident ), to see if I get a different result, if I can be bothered.

I am happy with the growth of income for me as an illustrator since 2010. My portfolio is at 4000+ and I've been cranking out 60-100 submissions per week since March 2014 (a grueling, but rewarding endeavor). I hope these tips from my experience help. Sorry I cannot share my portfolio on the forum. I stay anonymous here because some agencies have been known to retaliate against us when we criticize them and I really need the money they pay me  .

1. Set clear, simple goals for the year
Example: Submit 10 new pictures to each agency every week.

2. Include general categories to focus on for each month. Regularly write down ideas for the images you want to make (you'd be surprised how quick you'll forget a good idea!).
Example: June=People, August=Health, September=Holidays, etc.
I found these articles useful for planning:
http://blog.123rf.com/infographic-33-trendiest-keywords-by-month/
http://www.shutterstock.com/trends

3. Do all of these things with the idea that you should constantly work on nailing down a style and niche.
Example: I personally focus on cartoons of non-white people and avoid perfect symmetry, lines and perspective (not encouraged, but I don't care because it's fun and some buyers really prefer the "hand drawn" look).

Peace

Thanks for those links and advice.  I have set myself a goal of 100 images online by the end of June.  At the moment I have between 30 and 50 depending upon agency.  My rejection rate is pretty low at the moment so I see no reason why I can't sustain this upload target each month.

I have uploaded a few remote/land rover/expedition images and they have sold (the next day  ) so there is a market for them even if it is small.  I shall sneak a few of these into each upload and see how they continue to fair.  This could be my 'niche'.

I was aiming to 'exhaust' my HDDs (I have 65 000 images to sort through) before I started specifically shooting for stock but you have convinced me to consider a slightly different approach based upon the prevailing 'seasonal theme'.

It seems clear that income in this business is likely to keep declining (although we can all hope  ) so I need to focus on the short term rather than long term when it comes to returns.  I shall also monitor each site for the next 6 months or so before I cut down on the number I upload to.  So far I have had sales on SS, FT and BS.  I'm still waiting for reviews on IS and CS before my files are online but I'm sure they'll get there eventually.

Thanks for that 

I had tried just about everything and gave up in the end.

Now this is all really good stuff.  I can see the points that are being made and will take them onboard.  However it's interesting that (popular) search for Roald Amundsen on SS brings up 29 images, with two of them being a picture of ocean waves.

Obviously, not everyone follows the same thinking.

 Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread.  It would seem that there is a reasonably even spread of advice from the negative to the positive end of the spectrum.

I shall treat it as a business, I shall keep stats, I shall monitor trends, I shall study what the agencies ask for and I shall try and adapt as and when I feel that I want to.  I thank everyone that has given that advice.

I now have a maximum of 36 images spread across 7 agencies and have made the life-changing sum of $33 .

My 'most downloaded' image is a tie between a picture I took at the local zoo and one of those  fairly 'remote location' shots.  Both bought 3 times.  However my single best earner is a shot taken, in 2013, of a tourist centre at the northern most tip of mainland Norway, 700 miles inside the arctic circle.  It's certainly not an image I would ever consider hanging on my wall but it does show that I was thinking along the right lines when I took it.    Okay, its a tourist centre so it's not THAT remote, but relative to New York etc. it is.

I currently have over 50 000 images on my HDD.  Assuming a 1% edit and rejection rate I should just about get a few sale-able images from the dregs that are left.  With my current sales rate I might even be able afford a a new camera battery by the end of the year!

Many, but not all, of my images are not just remote but also 4x4/expedition biased.  I am hoping that this is a niche, if it is a niche then I'm hoping to fill it.  If it isn't a niche, or a niche that anyone else is interested in, then I guess I will just have to wait and see 

The aim of this thread was to get some 'realistic expectations'.  I have certainly gained some, not just about microstock, but also about the responses you will get when you ask a question on here

At the moment this is fun, my hourly rate is around $0.00001and I don't expect that to increase much in the near future

Cheers
Ralph

PS:

PS, plus your keywording needs help - words in bold are questionable:

 adventure, amundsen, arctic, atlantic, cape, centre, coast, continent, europe, european, explorer, monument, nature, nordic, north, northern, norway, norwegian, ocean, planet, point, polar, roald, scandinavia, scenic, sculpture, statue, summer, sun, symbolic, tourism, tourist, travel, view

I've thought about this and adventure, coast, continent and ocean are all perfectly reasonable keywords to describe one of the greatest sea going explorers of the last century and isn't a statue of a person fairly symbolic?  Thanks for the critique though

oh no really?? did you tried to message them?

No, TBH I am spending enough time editing, keywording and uploading to 9 different agencies that I can't be bothered to start chasing and messaging

At the moment these are in the lead as the slowest of all the agencies I deal with.  CanStock are a close second (13 days)

pixsol, thanks for the info.  Although I use the word 'cull' I shall probably just leave any uploaded images 'active' and cut down on the number of agencies I actually upload to.

Once they are there I might as well leave them unless I decide to go exclusive with another.  Although I think that's unlikely.

ALL gone.
Nice.
But I still did not find OPT OUT option.
Anybody?

Go to 'Contributor Area', click on 'My Preferences' on the left hand side.  You will see "Sell your files on DPC?" on the right.  Change the 'switch' to OFF.

 

I sent this:

WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

I have only been a contributor for a few weeks and in all that time I have ensured that the option to sell my files on DPC was switched to OFF.

I have now been made aware that my entire portfolio is currently for sale on that site.

Although I am no lawyer, I would suggest that this is at least a breach of contract and at worst a breach of my copyright.

I now need to consider my next action and would request an explanation as to why this has happened.

Please respond to this message as a matter of legal urgency.

Thank you

and just got this back:

Hi Ralph,

This was a bug within the search engine. Customers were not actually able to download the images
and the bug lasted only 1 day. Opted out contributors are still and have remained opted out the whole time.

Sorry for the confusion.

Kind Regards,

Fotolia EU

I must admit I didn't try and download any of the images. 

This message took about 30 minutes so they were pretty quick to respond.

I've just made my first sale on fotolia and I am a bit confused.  Before I go off 'half cocked' with a strongly worded email can I just check something with you more seasoned sellers.

My image was sold with a 'Standard S' licence for 3 credits and I received 0.44 credits commission.

Reading FTs own royalties for non-exclusive; if this was an 'on demand' purchase I should get 20% which is 0.6 credits.  If it was a subs purchase I should get 25%, which is 0.75 credits.

Whereas 0.44 credits is only 14.7%

Am I missing something here?  Have I been short changed?