Art by Taylor Ackerman
This week, Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry take on listener questions — should you work with a small publisher, and what red flags should you look for? Should you track all your ideas and inspirations? Should you do spec work? Should you get more training if you already have an art following? Listen on as we tackle these questions and get you practical answers!
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SHOW LINKS
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INTRO
Do the guys agree too much? Should they fight more? Let us know what you think!
Will is in Surprise, AZ right now so he doesn’t have his good mic. Pardon the audio fuzziness!
SMALL PUBLISHER WOES
Question from Beth:
I recently got an offer to illustrate a children’s book for a small publisher. I’ll spare y’all the details but I was offered a significantly lower rate than I’ve ever worked for, but I love the story and want the experience of working with this company. I even did some free spec work for the main character’s design which I don’t usually do.
They took a month before actually sending me the contract after asking me to do the project. In the meantime, I was approached by three other self-publishing authors, each willing to pay around twice the amount of the first offer.
I told the publishing company that I had other, much higher paying offers on the table, but I had made a verbal commitment to do their project and I would need more time allotted for the due date. But I said I would be happy to work with them anyway. Oh, also — the contract had a very low cancellation fee.
I asked about that point, especially considering how unstable the economic situation is with COVID, and all they offered was a very very low cancellation fee of a few hundred dollars, even if I was to complete the entire project. When I questioned these things and asked for a compromise, the publishing company told me I was being unprofessional to ask for more time and to mention that I had higher paying offers.
They told me it was my personal business to manage my time, schedule my clients, and none of their concern. Also, it was not “industry standard” to include any higher of a cancellation fee. Then they ghosted me, and never contacted me again as to whether they were willing to move forward with my contract. I was happy to move on to the higher paying opportunities, but I am confused:
Is it really unprofessional to mention that I have higher offers on the table, or that I would need more time? Or to ask for a fair cancellation fee? Can an illustrator do these things, or are they breaking some unspoken rule of courtesy?
Will loves questions like this because there is no right or wrong answer, it’s an issue of nuance. He would not say that he has higher offers, but it isn’t necessarily wrong to suggest that you have other opportunities in a tactful way.
Lee thinks it is a little crass to mention your higher offers, but phrasing it as “my going rate is …”, you don’t have to say that something is lower than your rate or threaten with higher offers.
Jake thinks it could be a good negotiation tactic in a job offer or in a corporate setting, going to your boss with a competing job offer/rate.
Illustrators are super reluctant to talk about money. You can’t compare costs or ask for more, rates are hush-hush, which means that all workers have less bargaining power.
The best way to approach it is to say “This is my rate”. There is no arguing with your rate.
Kill fees should be 100%. In no other line of work can the client decide to change their mind and then not pay after the work is done. You must pay for the work whether you use it or not. There is a quality element, though — the kill fee is when the publisher falls through for some reason. If you didn’t deliver what you were supposed to, that’s a different issue. Sometimes the illustrator doesn’t come through. But delivering art that is subpar and having to return the money is so rare that we haven’t really heard of it before.
The kill fee should be 100% through to where the work is done, if you are at the sketch phase then they should pay you 100% up to the kill fee.
Large publishers are usually super enthusiastic and humble. They tend to treat their illustrators really well. It’s a red flag when the client is trying to make the illustrator feel like they are beneath them. The publisher should be grateful to have you, they sometimes just don’t get it. The bigger the publisher, usually the better it goes and the better the working relationships that take place.
One thing small publishers can offer is 100% attention to your project and your title.
Sometimes small publishers are more flexible and give you more freedom to do what you want, and can also target more niche interests/subjects.
If your publisher can’t offer you a good fee or a high amount of money off the bat, you should consider negotiating for royalties. Doubling your royalty rate could be a huge win down the road. It would give you more incentive to be part of the marketing and selling side of things as well.
TRACKING IDEAS
Question from Dean:
At 35:14 of Episode 59: What to do After College, Will mentions that he wished he kept a journal recording when he recorded certain artistic principles during his work at BYU. I do something similar when I have a creative idea, whether it’s an illustration, animation, or sculpture, etc — I track when and where I am, and what sparked the inspiration.
What do you think of this as a habit for an artist?
There’s probably a lot of value in doing it. Will wishes that he had kept a journal so that he could follow how he learns and how he has learned in the past. It might not be that important to making great art, but it helps you develop an appreciation for the things you have learned and from whom you have learned.
You should be able to condense any principle into a paragraph or some distilled idea. You should take it further, and come up with labels for a principle, or give names to principles and ideas that you have developed. Naming ideas makes it easier for you to remember them.
Jake doesn’t go back through journals looking for specific principles, but does like going through old sketchbooks. Looking at old stuff can help you realize how far you have come and can boost your confidence.
There are lots of paintings that the guys have thrown out because they do not want them to be seen, even though people want them. There is some art that just shouldn’t be seen any more, it’s painful to the artist. But there are some pieces that are just good enough that family members have, that they hang up.
DO YOU DO SPEC WORK?
Many artists say you should create the art you want to do. I want to make art for podcasts. How do I go about getting that kind of work? Do I do spec work or fanart work for different podcasts? Is podcast illustration too narrow of a market to go after?
Should you do spec work?
You only have so much time in a day. There are lots of types of work you can go after, we hire contest winners for Critique Arena. But the market might be narrow, definitely do your research.
Doing a free sample is not a bad way to get work. It’s worth giving it a shot but it might be too narrow.
The logical extension is book covers, or theatre posters. Posters for plays and children’s theatre is very lucrative. Don’t go after the one niche that doesn’t pay anything!
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What careers afford an affluent lifestyle, and how do we make art for them? What art do they want on their walls? You could target specific occupations or markets or niches like this.
ACCIDENTAL ILLUSTRATOR
This artist has had no formal training as an illustrator, and has a very simple style. It is done with care and rendering, but the subject matter and voice is more unique and a stronger value. She keeps getting job offers for children’s books or greetings cards, and she has developed some degree of imposter syndrome — should she accept these jobs even though she doesn’t have a formal education or isn’t a “real” illustrator?
She should definitely get more training, but it takes a while to get to the point where you have learned what you need to know. Lee disagrees though, training is a little bit of a trap, because if you have a style that is like folk art, you should just go in that direction further and enhance that style. It is dangerous to be in a middle ground between a folk art style and a traditional art style. Enhance what you already have.
Will disagrees, we don’t know this artist or their portfolio. The general approach is to get training, but depending on your style you might want to be careful that the training does not damage your style. Anyone can go through 4 years of art school or take online classes and learn how to render a ball, but not everyone can develop a strong voice for their work. Jake’s advice was to keep doing what she was doing, and if she wants training then she could add elements to her work, but not to change the ultimate voice of her work.
Doing 2D art with 3D rendering can be a weird and unpleasant mish-mash.
She has a huge following on Etsy, selling prints and art. Her style is decorative, and great for Moms. A Harper-Collins editor contacted her to illustrate a manuscript, and she ended up going to Will’s class and asked for help. He taught her and she learned stuff over time and it worked out.
In some fields like accounting, you go through all your classes and learn how to work the software and you can either do it or you can’t do it. In illustration, it isn’t like that. Everything is you easing into the deeper end over time. Every illustrator goes through that. Sarah has gone on to do several children’s books and has leaned in to her style a lot.
The three types of illustration you would do in a children’s book: Spot Illustration, One Page, Full Page. You should be familiar with these before you tackle a children’s book.
LINKS
Jake Parker: mrjakeparker.com. Instagram: @jakeparker, Youtube: JakeParker44
Will Terry: willterry.com. Instagram: @willterryart, Youtube: WillTerryArt
Lee White: leewhiteillustration.com. Instagram: @leewhiteillo
Daniel Tu: danieltu.co.
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