ComicSpace - Read Bulletin

Home / illustrate_ed / Bulletins / Read Bulletin

Befriend illustrate_ed

« Back

Posted by:

illustrate_ed

Date:

March 27th, 2007 2:31 PM

Header:

Artists' Rights Rant

Bulletin:

I just read the following article in today's Wall Street Journal ("Small Talk," page B5):

Kelly Spors answers questions from readers about entrepreneurship

Question: I have written a series of stories I tell my 5-year-old twins at night, which I would like to try to publish. My problem is that I've tried drawing pictures for the stories and I'm just not satisfied with them. How do I go about getting an illustrator? Should I bring the stories to a publisher without the pictures? --Karita Hannon, Yonkers, N.Y.

Answer: Publishers generally have a pool of illustrators they like, and will match up children's book manuscripts with the most appropriate ones, paying them directly. So it's not something you as an author need to worry about.

In fact, most publishers prefer that authors don't submit illustrations, except perhaps some basic stick drawings if they're necessary to explain what you're writing about, says Stephen Mooser, president of the Los Angeles-based Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. "They don't want the author to be involved with illustrations," he says, because they want the illustrator to have full creative license. A representative of book publisher HarperCollins confirms that they handle lining up children's book manuscripts with the most appropriate illustrator.

Children's book authors choosing to self-publish--an endeavor that can prove much more difficult without a publisher's budget and expertise--have a few different options. Hiring a professional children's book illustrator generally will cost $5,000 to $12,000 and requires some sort of upfront payment, Mr. Mooser says. You can find some free-lance children's book illustrator's at childrensillustrators.com.

A less costly alternative is to find a high-school or college art student who is willing to take on illustrating your book as a class project or to get more exposure for his or her work. But be very selective about which illustrator you go with and get samples of his or her work in advance. The children's book industry is very competitive, so high-qualified illustrations can help you stand out.

***

Where do I freaking begin!?

How long does an artist have to work for free before he or she is allowed to charge for his or her work, let alone his or her time?

Or, is it really "good" advice to tell her readership: Why pay for art when you can get some student to do it for free? Because, God forbid, you engage a professional artist and have to pay something in advance!

Yet, there's a whole industry built on the concept that you pay "artists" fully in advance, and anybody's who's ever had a wedding knows it. You pay everybody in advance: musicians/DJs, caterer, wedding cake baker, invitation printer, and so on. Can you imagine what would happen if people didn't pay in advance? After the wedding, the couple could say, "Well, the music wasn't very good, so we don't feel we should have to pay for substandard work" or how about "You call that a gourmet cake? I've had better Duncan Hines!" or even "Now that I see the invitations in print, the color, stock and font are all wrong. I'm afraid you'll have to reprint everything at your cost."

Doesn't happen. Yet, illustrators are treated like a disposable/easily replaceable commodity, and I can't help but feel that Ms. Spors' comments only reinforce that notion. "Go, get some FREE, high-quality illustrations from a high-school or college art major so your children's book will stand out." How is screwing some kid out of legitimate income good entrepreneurial advice?! And, not to knock the younger members of this grand fellowship, but is it really possible that you're going to get better illustrations from a student's class project than you would from someone with experience who's honed his or her craft for a little while? Is she suggesting that a kid in high school auto shop is as qualified to work on our car as Mr. Goodwrench--and will do superior work?!

Maybe we should all write to Ms. Spors at smalltalk@wsj.com and ask her for some entrepreneurial advice, like: How do we physically survive when everybody expects us to do professional work for free? Doesn't she think that artists read the Wall Street Journal and might be more than a little offended by her lame advice to our present and prospective clients?

Of course, I might be misjudging her. She might be a college intern at Wall Street Journal writing an advice column for free, hoping to build her portfolio so that she can find real, paying work sometime down the line. I wish her the same luck we artists seem to get.

« Back

Befriend illustrate_ed