Well, it looks like I'm gonna be a professional artist. I got a "bite" from a small book publisher to do 2 or 3 covers. But I need to know how much to charge! (Never having done this before). Considering that A) I'm a rookie at this and B) It's a small publisher and they are small works (poetry and a childrens book) How much should I ask? Please let me know as soon as possible as they are asking for info asap. Thanks in advance! Dean

Well a cover is a big thing, and congratulations....I read in a NY magazine, that last year illustrators were getting around $300.00 per cover now. It also said that about 5 years ago they use to get $1000.00 per cover. Times are a changing. But I think $300.00 is good. How many will you do? Sharen PS: that is really good for you. also, it depends on what you charge in time, what do you feel is a justified worth of your time. Let's not go crazy now, see I think my time is worth Bill Gates yearly income....LOL, but I only think that. LOL

Oh I just re read your post 3-4 covers, will there be more in the future with this same company, maybe you could make a contract with them instead of piece price. I guess it depends also on the cover. I did the same with Sony on some photography. Sharen

Well I've been in the "business" for over 20 years and still always under price myself. It's hard to say what to charge. Not knowing the extent of work you have to do and what these clients have to spend. I've found a good rule of thumb is to set an hourly rate on something like this. I useually start at $35.00 US dollars an hour, and up to about $50.00 an hour. But some clients like to just set up a flat fee and go by that. Also concider that these are book covers, and they will print up a number of them. So in commercial art this may fall into a "Ussage" type of price structure which is generally a bit higher than something that's used for a "one time only" printing. I.E. Book versus a magazine ad. I know this may be a bit confusing and I know I didn't give you too much to go on, but I hope this helps at least in a small way. James

And don't forget to ask what type of rights they want to buy. If you sell them all of the rights exclusively - they totally own the image - you can't display on your (or any other website), put it in a portfolio to show other prospective employers or even print off a copy to give your mother without their permission.

I am a sofware engineer working at an hourly rate, I never work fixed price. - Clients usually dont know exactly what they want, they have a "sortof idea" in their heads, on paper if youre lucky, so they keep sending you back to redo things. - An open contract with an hourly rate is commercially more profitable. No need to get new contracts for extra work, just plan more hours in your current contract. With seasonal changes you can safely change your hourly rate. Of course the contract needs to have clauses for that. - Pressure release, for a fixed price you MUST have done a job in the hours caculated, otherwise you would be loosing money. - The clients have the most risk. But hey, look at the great products they are getting for the price paid! - A) Add all costs you have in a month (insurance, car, food, mortgage, etc.) to the amount of money you minimally need for yourself - B) Determine the number of hours youre willing to work in a week. - A divided by (B * number of weeks in a month) = a rough hourly rate. Now consider the quality of your work and adjust your rate accordingly, just remember, going lower than the rough rate may result in not being able to make ends meet in a month... Hope this helps you further, good luck!! Maxx

Lots of viewpoints all good advice. Hopefully this will help you decide what you need. Good luck really. Sharen

Lots of good stuff!!! Thanks all! Though a rookie to the graphic arts, I've been a songwriter for over 30 years and knew there was more to it than just "selling" an image. But I wasn't sure what the "more to it" intailed. Now I have an idea and can go forward with a bit more confidence than I had. Thanks again!!! Oh yea ... I sent off my "requirements" as far as rates and such go. So now we'll see. Dean

Attached Link: http://www.gag.org/

Congratulations on your covers! This is hard work to get. Prices vary wildly depending on region, industry, your reputation & experience, licensing, and so forth. Listen to jshoen, he's on the money. FYI, please check out the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. This is the BIBLE of the working graphic artists. They even have sample contracts. Be polite to your publishers, but try to restrict their usage of your work, or at least define it properly--things like first North American or European rights, define the length of time they have usage (years), and where else they may apply the images. If they are using your images in identity work (logos) or advertising, you may want to ask them to let YOU be the one to change or re-layout the images to suit the application. And you can charge more for identity and advertising/marketing than for just covers. But, sometimes, with very small presses, you can ask for some percentage of royalties if they just don't have money up front, and they may agree. Of course, you have to chase your money after that, which is a bore, but it can ingratiate you with them. Best wishes!