When dealing with money as a freelance artist, the best advice I've been given comes up to four words: what is your budget? If you're discussing price, that's how you do it. Ask them what their budget is and try not to say anything else. If they won't tell you, sit there and mull it over. Keep them on the phone or in their office. Eventually, they've got to go to lunch or meetings or whatever and they'll give you an offer (sometimes higher than you would have expected). Beyond that, take a look at the Graphic Artists' Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. If they absolutely will not tell you what they're willing to pay you, look at the handbook and use the figure they have if they've got one. But try and make them name a price and then compare to what's in the handbook.
Also, consider what's more important to you: getting the work or getting payed well for it. If you really want to break into kid's books, the work may be more important. Regardless, you shouldn't let anyone shaft you. Congratulations on the book!
Also, if you have the opportunity for a percentage of royalties go for that. If your children's book is a hit, that will lead to a lot more money.
Also, if you have the opportunity for a percentage of royalties go for that. If your children's book is a hit, that will lead to a lot more money.
Heh, this is pretty funny...royalties?
But, i'm an editor for a major scientific publisher and i work with freelance artists all the time. Every artist that i work with has his/her own pricing scheme but every one of them has 3 different prices for level of complexity. I would say on average that a simple line drawing goes for around $60 a pop, medium level for $80 and complex for $100. I ask for an itimized invoice so i can see what they consider simple, medium, and complex but i can honestly say that i've never felt cheated by an artist as far as their billing goes. I also have a budget for every project that i work on, so it is imperitive for the author who is writing the text and wanting the illustrations to have a pretty good idea of a hard count for figures. This is the cap for what i can pay an artist for his/her work and as long as everyone is up front with that budget, things have ALWAYS run smoothly for me.
A few things that I think a freelance artist should know (from my experience):
1) All the art that my freelancers draw is contracted for the company and owned by the company upon acceptance.
2) I pay my artists upon completion and acceptance of the artwork (most often accepted by my author, not me)
3) A completed piece of artwork is expected to go through one round of revisions without extra charge. Further revisions should be billed extra as it is not the artist's fault if authors can't make up their minds about a piece.
4) It is the author's responsibility to supply the artist with a complete list of figures they want drawn. Those figures will be rendered and the artist gets paid for them weather or not they are used in the final product. If further artwork is required, a new agreement will detail the additional work.
And as an aside, i have heard and read about many many artists complaining that they have been screwed in one way or another by a company that prints their artwork. I will tell you that i have never encountered that problem personally nor have i at my place of employment. If the company that is buying your art is fair and worth working for, then there won't be any problems with contracting and executing freelance art contracts.
(BTW, royalties for art? Not a chance!)
Best of luck and hope this helps!
As ever,
ACE
Royalties may not be the technical term, but it's something like that. In class last year we spoke to an illustrator that had been on Disney's payroll and actually painted all of the Disney character stamps. When they became really popular, he was glad he had taken the comparative pay hit in exchange for residuals depending on sales. It's more plausible to expect residuals on something like stamps, or a deck of tarot cards (as one illustrator had done) or a children's book rather than a cover image or an interior.
Fly-by-night stuff in publishing isn't as big a problem now as it used to be in the '60s and before that. All of the illustrators of a certain age at my school had stories about doing jobs for publications, turning it in on time and then going to collect their check and finding an empty office. Or dishonest reps selling your work without telling you and keeping the money for themselves. Can you get screwed? Of course. But the important thing is reading the contract, understanding what's expected and keeping communication open. Revisions-based horror stories are what a lot of freelancers encounter more often. Art directors/editors demanding huge changes at the last possible minute or completely changing their minds or simply not knowing what they want and cutting you a kill fee when you've pretty much made the illustration they originally wanted.
But, yeah, if you don't already have the Graphic Artists' Guild Handbook, I recommend it. Even just taking a look through it at Barnes and Noble to learn what you want to know could be useful.
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You are required by Artistic Law (in accordance with statute 7b, paragraph 14, subparagraph VIIc of Section 22, and as noted on the reverse of your Artistic License) to charge a very nominal fee. This is in keeping with the required Starving Artist profile issued to all Art School Graduates. To wit, you are reminded that you, perforce, must comply with said statute for a period not less than seven (7) years, or until notified by Artistic Periodic Evolutionary Committee that you have been summarily selected to advance to Acclaimed Status in a period of time to be determined by said committee, status upgrade at discretion of lottery or corporate connections, as defined in Chapter 14, and not reliant upon talent, et cetera, et cetera.
