<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">Hi,</font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">Thanks to those who recommended printers so I can begin to budget for the <b><i>Atrocity Parade</i></b> 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.</font></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">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.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"> Every illustrator I've spoken with, without exception, has gone out of his or her way to make it </span><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">abundantly clear that artists won't work pro bono like actors and other theater people will</span><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">. Otherwise,</span><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"> I could have ha</span><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">d a complete product two years ago and everyone would have gotten paid by now. Instead, I'm aiming for Kickstarter.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">I'm guessing a laid-out <b><i>Atrocity Parade</i></b> 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. </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><b><i>Atrocity Parade</i></b>'s look is going to be a throwback to the underground rags of the '60s and '70s, designed to look cheap and lurid. Think <i>National Police Gazette</i>,<i> </i>vintage true-crime magazines and tabloids.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><b><u>Illustration Styles</u>:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><b> </b>Sketch</span><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large">: Think Penny Dreadful or Edward Gorey</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"> Woodcut: Just like the ones from the 17th Century, give or take</span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"> Vintage Sideshow Banner: Full color, a la Fred Meah, Nieman Eisman, Snap Wyatt</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif;font-size:large"><b><u>Maps</u>:</b></span></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"> 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.</font></div>
<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><b><u>Ad mockups</u>:</b></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><b> </b> In the style of the Johnson-Smith ads (Onion Gum!) from the inside of comicbook covers, as well as other combicbook-style ads (Sell <i>Grit</i>!), and skeezeball-looking ads from scandal sheets. </font></div>
<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">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. </font></div>
<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">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. </font></div>
<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">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.</font></div>
<div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">Thanks for your cooperation.</font></div><div><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div style="text-align:center">
<font face="garamond, serif" size="4">Cheers,</font></div><div style="text-align:center"><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div style="text-align:center"><font face="garamond, serif" size="4">Michael A. Miller, Publisher</font></div>
<div style="text-align:center"><font face="garamond, serif" size="4"><b><i>Atrocity Parade</i></b></font></div>