Should I take this job...

[Perrij]

WELP, the opportunity I was so excited about has turned out to be kind of a bust. The publisher replied to me that most of their artists work for royalties and 20% commission on sales. Yikes. Do I even bother attempting to negotiate that? Should I just turn it down? It's not like I have anything else, and it sounds like the job is really small.. I could use it to practice my watercolor skills I don't know, what do you guys think?

[braden H]

@Perrij Is the Magink people?

[Perrij]

@Braden-Hallett No no, this is from the publisher of a woman I met in person

[NessIllustration]

@Perrij I think the keyword here is "most" of their artists. Obviously some have negotiated better terms, so I think it's worth at least trying. Nothing to lose right? Royalties are actually common in the publishing world, and 20% is a good percentage (I got 10% on my books). So what you want to ask for is an advance on royalties. Pick an amount that you would be ok working for if that's the only money you ever get for it. If they refuse, that means they don't even think the book is going to make that much. It's basically admitting that they're stringing you along with the royalties offer because they know 20% is going to amount to next to nothing. So it's an easy way to suss out if this is a worthwhile project or not. Besides, advances are the norm in the industry, so it's more than reasonable to ask.

[Perrij]

@NessIllustration Ah thank you ness! I really appreciate your experience, i wouldnt know the first thing about any of this.