September Sales Updates:

 

John Major - good sale at Shutterstock

A steady month in September with an especially strong showing from Shutterstock.

First place (as suggested above) went to Shutterstock. Two $$ downloads really helped here with a Single download of anti pornography campaigner Mary Whitehouse - a 1989 archive shot and an Enhanced Download (remember those?) of former Prime Minister John Major.

Second place was taken by Istock with 31 downloads and a reasonable RPD overall. The Greek island of Tilos featured well this month with a variety of images sold.

Alamy took third place with 3 modest priced downloads. These were all from my B/W archival images. Though not showing as sales yet the month started well with my 1989 images of Charles Wilson (former newspaper editor) being used in the Telegraph, Guardian, Racing Post and Independent. Should see those coming up in the next few weeks when they do their reporting of usages.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with 2 product sales (a sticker and a greeting card). I am hoping for the

Margaret Thatcher - as seen on Channel 4

usual upturn in sales here as Christmas (sorry to mention it!) gets nearer. Meanwhile, they have a number of new products in their range especially in the pet category such as dog/cat feeding mats, bowls and bandanas. All ideal for the pet lover in your life.

Adobe took fifth place with 7 downloads. Again my electric vehicle charging point sign featured.

Sixth place was taken by Pond 5 with a single download of Margaret Thatcher. My archive images seem to have gone down well here though certainly not with the frequency as elsewhere.

Dreamstime managed seventh place with 7 downloads (virtually all editorial images).

Finally, in eighth place were Bigstock with just 2 downloads. 

Sunday Sport launch issue - new upload

The month saw me scanning and uploading some more archive images including the old Ministry of Agriculture building in London and the masthead of the very first issue of tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport (which launched in 1986). I've actually got a few first/last issues of various newspapers so I will give some more a try.

There was a nice surprise when watching the new Channel 4 (UK) series Make Me Prime Minister where members of the public compete to come out on top and be the next (fictional) PM. The set for this is a mock up of 10 Downing Street complete with portraits in the corridor of (real) previous PMs. There's my images of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. These were all sold on a custom license on Pond 5 back in June. They also bought an image of Ted Heath but that hasn't appeared yet!

October can be a good month for sales but has started off slowly so far so it remains to be seen how it goes overall. Regards, David.

December Sales Updates:

Tony Blair - Christmas mug sales on Redbubble

A mixed month to end the year with strong performances from a couple of agents and some pretty poor ones from others.

Shutterstock took a decisive lead despite only producing one On Demand sale all month. A substantial Single Download of former Prime Minister John Major turned it around here financially.

Second place went to Redbubble with 12 product sales in the run up to Christmas. The December General Election here obviously influenced some choices with no less than three mugs featuring another former Prime Minister -Tony Blair and other products with Margaret Thatcher.

Istock took third place with 28 downloads but a really low RPD dragged down the earnings substantially. I cannot remember the last time I earned so little at Istock.

A surprise at fourth place as Mostphotos delivered a worthwhile single sale of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell. Sales on Most are rare for me but as I am opted out of subscription sales those I do get pay at a better rate.

Fifth place went to Dreamstime with 9 downloads.

Sa Calobra road, Majorca - mug sale on FineArtAmerica

FineArtAmerica came in sixth place with 2 mug sales of actor Alan Alda and the Sa Calobra hairpin
bend road on Majorca. The latter is a famous destination challenge for cyclists so I would guess that is one cyclists Christmas present sorted.

Seventh place saw Alamy back from zero last month to just a small personal use download with single figure commission to me after they deducted their 60% commission. Still, good to at least see some action there again.

Adobe made eighth place with just 1 download. Still waiting for Illustrative Editorial to be opened up to all with, hopefully, regular editorial to follow. Who knows what 2020 will bring there?

John Major - large single sale on Shutterstock

Finally in ninth place we had Bigstock with just a single subscription sale. Again, I cannot remember such a low result from them before.


Uploading in December went on hold as I prepared to move home from my seaside Hastings where I have been for eleven happy years to the charming Kent country town of Tenterden. Finally getting everything ready and moved just a few days before Christmas. It's gradually all coming together and I'm getting everything up and running in my new home.

Wishing everyone a very happy and successful 2020! Regards, David.

March sales updates:

A variable month in March underpinned by one basic fact: Shutterstock sells! Month after month this agency just keeps performing well. I still have a few zero sales days there (usually weekends) but these have become the exception.

So, starting there, Shutterstock pulled in 108 downloads ($51.43) with $18.43 coming from the increasing number of On Demand sales.

Dreamstime produced 16 downloads ($10.92).

Istock bounced back from February with 17 downloads ($17.21) with a further $1.68 from 6 PP sales. Most of these were editorial images. My portfolio now stands at 443 but I must admit to not uploading in the last few weeks - the process is just so tedious that I need to take a break now and again. No other agency makes you upload images one by one and then makes you disambiguate virtually every keyword. Please -just give us batch upload, batch editing and let us put the keywords we want! There were hints some while back with talk of an easier "upload process" so I live in hope.

123rf dropped a bit in March with just 11 downloads ($5.51) which was dissapointing given their strong performance recently.

Bigstock also dissapointed with 4 downloads ($2.50) and just to make things worse the "bridge" connector from Shutterstock seems to have stopped working. I keep checking but none of my SS accepted images over the last couple of weeks have crossed over. Time to email support!

Fotalia produced one download (0.20 credits). I still need to push my back portfolio to them but the high rejection rate isn't much of an incentive.

Recent uploading saw me concentrating on my archive political images which I am still working through. I especially liked my images of Nina Temple, Secretary of the Democratic Left party (pictured) at their manifesto launch. This party (more of a campaign group in truth) grew out of the old Communist Party of Great Britain. She is holding up an issue of their New Times newspaper which clearly shows their opposition to the then Conservative government of John Major. A little slice of political history there. Regards, David.

Portfolios hit 1000 at Shutterstock and Dreamstime:

Quantity isn't everything I know but I'm pleased to say that my portfolios at Shutterstock and Dreamstime both reached 1000 in the last week. Dreamstime slightly overshot when a batch of six images took me to 1003 there. I was at 999 at Shutterstock so just submitted one image of John Major, former British prime Minister, to neatly take me to a precise 1000.

It was really just chance they they both reached this point at the same time as many images have only been accepted at one or other of the agencies. Now I have to get working on the next 1000! Regards, David.