Children's book illustrator - is this a good deal?

SimonG

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Hi all. I'm a freelance artist who does a lot of children's books, and I often talk to authors who want to self-publish but can't afford illustrations. So I've been thinking of ways I can give them a really good deal, and I've come up with something I think might work, but I don't know how people will feel about the terms.

...And this is where it gets awkward, because I don't want to spam the forum with an ad, but I really want to hear whether authors think my idea is fair. What I'm proposing is that I'll illustrate books for $80/£50 a page, a quarter of what I'd usually charge (these are detailed color illustrations). The main catch is that the price doesn't include revisions. Normally I start by sending an initial design for feedback, and if it's not quite right we go back and forth until the author's completely happy with it. With this deal, you get what I send, and if you want changes, you have to pay extra.

What do you think? A good deal, or too harsh? I know it's impossible to say without seeing examples of my work (it might be rubbish!). There are loads here, and the deal described in a bit more detail too.

I realize this looks like I'm shilling for business, but I'm after opinions, not customers. Is it a deal you can imagine going for, or do I need to rethink?

Would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks in advance, and I'm really sorry if this feels too much like an ad!
 

RexZentah

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I'll tell you your greatest problem. You are taking on an unskilled, unproven editor and publisher. If it works you'll be a hit in a small audience and the book will credit your reputation. If the book doesn't work for one reason or another your name and artwork will be in a bad book.

Good luck.
 

sissybaby

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Simon - I can't offer any advice, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your illustrations on your site. I wish I could find a way to get epubs interested in doing something like this. Maybe they do and I just haven't found them yet.

Best of luck!
 

janischa

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another illustrator

hi Simon; I can only speak about an illustrator that i know. She's very good (she has a lot of work, but mainly design, no really picture book illustrations) and I know that she helped someone publish with a start up publishing company, by charging about 50 Euro a page plus 3% of the book sales. That way, at least she got paid for her work even if the book would not work out; but she'd get extra if the book would become a success.
Included were revisions of her work though (which were quite some....)
I think offering a cheaper price and no revisions is a little tricky because after al, it is YOUR name out there as well.... asking a % of the sales can't be that heavy on self publishers since it's no upfront cost... you should also be selective in which books you tie your name to....
 

Undercover

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I took a look at your site too and think your work is really good too. I like the faces of the characters and animals, simple and sweet looking. Bright colors, very well done on that.

I agree with Jan here, I think you should get a percentage of the sales too since your name will be on it and you've done half the work (IMO). You'd have to be careful who you work with too, make sure they're legit, maybe draw up a contract too if you haven't done so.

Good luck to you.
 

sissybaby

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Okay - I knew I was dense. Sorry I missed the part about self-publishing. Now it makes sense.


Well, now I'm getting confused.

I can understand charging a page rate, but I wonder about the percentage of sales above that. The author of the book doesn't receive so much per page of writing, simply a percentage of sales. I thought the percentage was usually split with the illustrator, that's if an agency or publisher supplies the illustrator.

So I must be misunderstanding something here in the process. Sorry to be so dense.
 
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SimonG

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Thanks for the feedback!

If the book doesn't work for one reason or another your name and artwork will be in a bad book.
It wouldn't be the first time! I'm afraid I've had the dubious pleasure of illustrating some pretty dreadful books before now. Generally the bad ones sink without trace so hopefully don't tarnish my reputation too badly, but you're right, there is a danger there.

A few people have suggested I ask for a percentage of sales. I don't usually do that, mainly because a lot of self-published books don't sell in great numbers, so it's quite a gamble. Even if the story's fantastic, so much is down to the author's marketing skills, which might be good, or they might be awful. It would be different if I was working with a traditional publisher who I know will do a decent job. Having said that, it probably is something I should look into as another way of reducing the initial cost. I think what I might do is ask some of my past clients if they'd mind giving me some rough sales figures, and then I can work out what sort of arrangement would be profitable.
 

escritora

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The main catch is that the price doesn't include revisions. Normally I start by sending an initial design for feedback, and if it's not quite right we go back and forth until the author's completely happy with it. With this deal, you get what I send, and if you want changes, you have to pay extra.

How many "back and forths" are there with regular paying clients? Is it one? Where we can assume that the first go around meets expectations the majority of the time? Or is it more?
 

Polenth

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I don't think it's a bad/unfair deal, but I don't know how many people would go for it due to the lack of revisions. I guess the only way of knowing would be to try it and see if anyone takes you up on it.

I would suggest you make the rough pricing for revisions clear up-front, so they know what it'll be if they need changes. I'm going against the crowd and saying I think a flat fee is the way to go... you don't want to get tangled up in percentage sales from numerous different self-publishers.
 

Kelkelen

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Having worked with more than one aspiring author who wanted an illustrator, all I can say is that usually, they *really* want to be in on the illustrating process. If you open yourself up for revisions at all, anything beyond an initial back-and-forth over sketch studies, you may be in for a headache.