Gratefully, I haven't signed anything or even started the artwork.
Good! Keep it that way!
ALWAYS obey
YOG'S LAW: MONEY FLOWS TO THE WRITER.
Welcome to AW!
I've heard you can either pay an illustrator upfront for their artwork or share in the royalties. Do any of you know if this is true? If so, which is better?
Thanks again!
In professional publishing for illustrated books the *publisher* hires the artist, NEVER the writer. You don't spend one penny to get published or to pay for the art.
If a writer and artist
collaborate and submit a book
together, that's one thing, but if you're submitting words-only to a publisher, then you don't worry about the art.
Real publishing houses have art departments and a stable of freelance artists they contact first to see if any are available to do illustrations.
Black Rose Writing is NOT a venue you want to deal with; the guy running it has no idea what he's doing, no professional experience in the publishing industry, and even fell for the
Publish America scam line. He then started up Black Rose Writing as a means to sell his own books.
It would seem he's picked up some bad habits from PubAmerica when it comes to persuading inexperienced writers to part with their money.
His website design has improved somewhat, but unlike other pro publishers he seems to think the weather conditions in San Antonio might be of interest to aspiring writers. There's also a rather silly "web poll" so you can vote about his favorite books.
I suppose that's an improvement. He used to have family pics up, much to the delight of any child predators that might be lurking on the Net. However, you won't find stuff like that on the sites of truly pro publishers such as Random House, Tor, or Little-Brown.
RUN AWAY. Seriously.
Now I want to make sure you're talking about Black Rose Writing in Castroville, TX or
Black Rose Books which is a different group, located in Montreal, Canada. They seem to focus on non-fiction with a political bent.
Here's a clue for anyone considering starting up their own publishing house--check to make sure the name's not been taken!