Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allison Hoffman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Allison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?
Back in 2012, I was really interested in writing a book about crocheting. I felt like I had so many ideas and solutions to questions people asked me so I went to Barnes and Noble and got a couple of books about how to get books published. It was a little overwhelming, and so much of the information was geared towards writers of fiction, so I had to kind of just go with what I knew and I started writing to publishers of craft books I like. It is a very niche segment of the publishing world, and after writing up a proposal and a loose outline, I submitted to several publishers. I was a little surprised to hear back from three saying they wanted to make an offer. I really didn’t know what to do then! I knew a few other craft book authors and they all used the same literary agent it seemed. I wrote her with offers in hand and so it was fairly easy to get her attention. I had also garnered a pretty good following online, so I had the credentials to back it up. I am so thankful for the help of my agent. I have to pay her sure, but I don’t know how I would have been able to negotiate all of the things she has done for me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I learned how to crochet in 2007 when my kids were really little. I wanted to make them toys and I was staying at home with them. I found amigurumi online and was hooked. I started by following patterns from others and then I started designing my own. I kept going and eventually started selling amigurumi patterns. I gained a pretty good social media following when I crocheted a Conan O’Brien doll and he really loved it. It was on his show, in commercials, and started me making people dolls. I’ve done work for lots of galleries, TV shows, and have had collabs with the most random mix of people, from Tommy Hilfiger to the Property Brothers to A$AP Rocky. I feel like my work has some humor in it. I love making things that are unexpected, like a giant autopilot from the movie “Airplane!” or the casts of “The Goonies” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. I am constantly inspired by pop culture and nostalgia of growing up in the 80s and 90s. My biggest joy is when someone takes one of my patterns and makes something out of it and feels that amazing satisfaction of creating with their hands. I am so honored to be able to spread that into the world in a small way.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I am sure a common feeling artists share is the hunger for the world to see your work. If someone approaches me and has a million followers, I am more willing to discuss making something for that person, naturally. I had to learn the hard way that there is a smart approach to getting exposure and then there is a naive way. I have made a lot of dolls for celebrities. Usually someone on that person’s team will reach out to me and request it, with pay, or the celebrity will reach out directly and ask for a doll I’ve made. When it isn’t the celebrity directly I have to do my due diligence and make sure this is a legitimate offer and the person actually has a relationship to the celebrity in question.
A few years ago someone reached out to me on instagram. I was very busy at the time, working on one of my books. I was not taking custom orders. However, the girl said she was an assistant to someone on a very famous comedian’s team. She wanted to have me make a doll and send it to him for his birthday. I didn’t really look into the “assistant to the assistant” much. I should have. I made the doll, laboring for hours on very detailed clothing, getting it to look just like him, and even made a doll of his young son. I sent finished photos and she answered back “I’m not sure it looks like him; I’ll see when I get it if I want to give it to him.” I was floored. It was hours of work, for free, and the finished doll was universally liked amongst people I showed. They all knew who it was without me telling them. I never heard a word about it after I sent it in. Exposure doesn’t pay the bills!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
After working for years in an office and “working for the weekend” (thanks Loverboy), I am so thankful to wake up every day and create stuff. By incorporating pattern and book sales into my art, I am able to make an income and create at the same time. I get to see what people make using my instruction, and I get to make new things every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: craftyiscool.com
- Instagram: craftyiscool
- Facebook: craftyiscool
- Twitter: craftyiscool
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/palhoffman
- Other: tiktok: craftyiscool