Business advise needed😳, reg estimate to illustrate

peteolczyk

@smceccarelli thank you for sharing that, your answer and this whole thread is incredibly usefulI. I’m still trying to get my head around the norms of business practice in illustration. Is there a such thing as a definitive guide or is it, because of its complex nature, an undefined and vague rule book.

burvantill

I just sent out my follow up response. I feel kinda okay about it. I've been doing research on pricing, and not feeling invested in this yet is giving me some mental freedom. I am not trying to coddle to client. I had to keep telling myself to NOT drop the price, I am worth it. I think I'm worth more, but that could be my arrogance talking. LOL. But considering that this is a SMALL publisher I was trying not to gouge too hard. I really would like this job, but not at my own expense. I feel that this is a healthy place to be. Thank you for listening, I will keep you posted on our further communications. Also, if you want to comment on my email to her, please do so. Any bit of critique or advise is welcome.

{Hello XXXXX,
From your responses I am assuming you want up to 5 black and white spot illustrations plus one full cover (front and back) illustration in black and white with graphic design for the cover. I will not be responsible for the layout of the book pages and their images. Since you want black and white I am still unclear on which medium that you saw of mine for this project. I have black and white art, in pencil, ink, watercolor and ink, and digital.
$750 is a little low from my perspective for a flat fee of 5 images and a full cover. I am thinking closer to $2000 for a 2 year licensed contract, at which point, if you would like to renew, we can renegotiate. For this I would provide rough sketches for one round of comments, finished sketches with values and character designs, and finished art, provided digitally.
I hope that we can come to an agreement, I am excited to draw little [characters name].
Thank you,
Lisa Burvant}

J L Martin

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burvantill

@J-L-Martin Thankyou!
I did download a portion of that handbook back in spring. I've been using it along with articles and blogs on the subject of pricing to narrow down a fit for myself. Some parts of pricing are very straightforward (my cost per image) and others are so arbitrary that its tough to pin down an accurate number without experience (licensing). I am happy we have this forum to help talk ourselves through all of it. I think we would all need therapy if we didn't have SVS. LOL.

J L Martin

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burvantill

@J-L-Martin
It was nice to have a basic guideline to start from. To get an idea of where I stood. Lee White mentions it a lot so I figured it would be smart to check it out.

J L Martin

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jdubz

When talking about a licensing time-frame, is 2 years a "standard" or is kind of all over the place depending on the publisher??

burvantill

@jdubz The article that I used as a reference tool for this response actually said 15 months. I felt that was a weird arbitrary number so I just said 2 years. I’ve heard of licensing being anywhere between months and decades. I felt 2 years was appropriate because I think this is a VERY small publisher and if the book does well then that time frame should be appropriate.... i think

jdubz

@burvantill Great thanks! That's one piece I feel like I have absolutely no handle on lol

burvantill

@jdubz you’ve joined the right club then