Sending your book to an agency

A booker sees dozens of submissions a day, mostly on a phone, often between castings. Whatever you send has a few seconds to answer three questions: what you look like today, what you have shot, and how to reach you. Everything below serves those three.

1. Digitals first

Natural light, plain background, no make-up or very little, fitted clothes. Front, profile, three-quarter, full length, smile and no smile. Date them. Old digitals are the most common reason a submission is skipped: if your hair or body has changed, shoot new ones before you send anything.

2. Fewer, stronger pictures

Eight to twelve images beat forty. Lead with the frame that looks most like you on a good day, not the most styled one. Mix one or two editorial images with clean commercial ones, and cut anything where the clothes or the retouching are the subject.

3. Measurements that match the pictures

Height, bust, waist, hips, shoe size, eyes, hair. Measure again before you send them — agencies re-measure at the first meeting, and a mismatch costs trust.

4. Credit the photographers

Name who shot each image. It is fair to the photographer, and it tells the agency who you have already worked with.

5. One link, not an attachment pile

Large attachments get stuck in filters and expire on transfer sites. A single link that opens fast on a phone, with digitals, measurements and selects in one place, is easier to forward to a client. On Mefolio that is your page at mefolio.co/name; for a specific casting you can send a selection link with only the frames that fit.

6. A short, plain message

Name, age, city, height, whether you are represented anywhere, and the link. Two or three lines. No need to explain every picture.

7. Check that it was opened

If a week passes without a reply, a short follow-up is normal. Knowing whether your link was opened at all tells you whether to follow up or to send it somewhere else.