Stock Photography 101

For years stock was simply any images you happened to have on file. Photographers
would build up massive collections of out-takes and shots taken on spec, and when
they have enough, they'd approach a stock library and try to get 'taken on'.
The stock library would reject most of the images on principle and tell the photographer
to come back in six months with some more. They'd pick through those and gradually
the photographer would build up a decent collection, from which they might earn about
$1-$2 per image per year.
Generally it seemed to work on the 80-20 rule ... 80 of the sales would go to 20 of
the photographers.
Some photographers with particularly marketable work would do well, while many
others would basically be there simply to fill the ocassional gaps. The agencies'
themselves didn't have to worry ... as long as someone's photos were selling they made
money ... it didn't matter who got the actual sales.
For most photographers it was a slow, tedious process, and it wasn't uncommon for
some photographers to go years without a sale. Agencies tended to demand 'exclusive'
rights to a photographer's stock images, usually with contracts lasting 3-5 years or
more, so there wasn't a lot a photographer could do except keep submitting and hope
things would pick up.