[NEohioPAL] How To Pay An Illustrator...?

[Michael A. Miller]

Hi,

Thanks to those who recommended printers so I can begin to budget for
the *Atrocity
Parade* prototype issue. All have worked with me to different degrees, and,
for the most part, talking with them has been educational and encouraging.
I'm still open to referrals.

Having gotten that under way, I need help budgeting for illustration. I'd
appreciate input about how those of you who have secured paying assignments
prefer to get paid. By the piece? By the project? As you go? At completion?
Or what? This is your opportunity to express how you like the money to
flow, since I'll likely be recruiting from NEO-PAL, among other sources.

 Every illustrator I've spoken with, without exception, has gone out of his
or her way to make it abundantly clear that artists won't work pro bono
like actors and other theater people will. Otherwise, I could have had a
complete product two years ago and everyone would have gotten paid by now.
Instead, I'm aiming for Kickstarter.

I'm guessing a laid-out *Atrocity Parade* will be in either 52 or 48 pages,
including both sides of the front and back covers. Not every story requires
illustration, but the majority of them do. I'll also need help creating
mocked-up ads as placeholders. The stories range in length from 251 to over
15,000 words. Obviously, the novella will be pocked with art.

*Atrocity Parade*'s look is going to be a throwback  to the underground
rags of the '60s and '70s, designed to look cheap and lurid. Think *National
Police Gazette*,* *vintage true-crime magazines and tabloids.

*Illustration Styles:*
*     *Sketch: Think Penny Dreadful or Edward Gorey
     Woodcut: Just like the ones from the 17th Century, give or take
     Vintage Sideshow Banner: Full color, a la Fred Meah, Nieman Eisman,
Snap Wyatt

*Maps:*
     One each in the styles of E.H. Shepherd's "Hundred-Acre Wood" map, a
medieval "Here Be Dragons" map, and a colonial surveyor's map.

*Ad mockups:*
*   *  In the style of the Johnson-Smith ads (Onion Gum!) from the inside
of comicbook covers, as well as other combicbook-style ads (Sell *Grit*!),
and skeezeball-looking ads from scandal sheets.
*
*
I see no more than three artists illustrating the entire magazine, cover to
cover. It's a big job but needs consistency. I see myself assigning
different portions of the magazine to each artist and paying with the
completion of each individual assignment. I might have to bring in a
graphic designer as well.
*
*
So, I need feedback about how artists price their time, effort, use of
supplies, participation in field work, transportation, etc.—anything about
how you place a value on completing assignments and how you expect to get
paid. If there's something you want to address that I haven't specifically
asked, feel free to raise your point.

Further, I'd like to know how you, as freelancers, have successfully
handled work-for-hire issues. I have a position in this, but I want to hear
 yours.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Cheers,

Michael A. Miller, Publisher
*Atrocity Parade*
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