Unsure about Pricing Logos and Children's Book Illustrations

[miryhis.livejournal.com]

Hello!

Recently, I have been asked for two commissions, and I'm not sure how to handle pricing them. I purchased the Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook, but I can't seem to find a case that relates to the first one. I could be overlooking something, though!

1) Someone has asked for me to draw a logo, a mascot, and 4 pieces of art relating to their business. The 4 pieces are just going to be various electronics on transparent backgrounds. I'm not sure what to quote for a price, so I looked it up online, but I could only find prices just for logos and not for the mascot or the 4 extra pieces. I thought that mascots would fall under logos, but I'm not completely sure about that. All of the art will be used in signs and on their website. What do you think I should charge for this amount of work (logo, mascot, and 4 pictures of art)?

2) I have been asked by an author to draw illustrations for their children's book. I saw something pertaining to this in the handbook, but I'm at a loss because they want 40-50 pictures. I have no idea what to charge for that amount. I received advice that said I should charge a different amount per a page in case the author wants more detailed pictures for some of the pages. I'm going to meet with the client Sunday, so I will update the post with any new information. What would be a good price for a commission this size or what should I charge per a page?

Thank you for your help!

EDIT: Case #1 went through. Case #2 is in limbo. The client decided on 5-6 illustrations and wanted to pay $250 + royalties for the book. I was not sure if that would be a good price for that ammount of art.

Comments

[miryhis.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your input and your concern about the workload! It was a lot, which was why I was concerned about a fair price. Also, getting burned out was also a concern of mine, so I definitely wanted a fair price for something like that (It was essentially a graphic novel at that point), see what deadlines I would be working with, and what kind of art they wanted before I gave them a price.

I'm not sure if you saw the update, but I would not have been doing more than 6 pieces of work. I like to have multiple sources, so I asked other people. I wanted to make sure, because, let's face it, $250 is a low amount for illustrations.
The publisher had charged them a lot to print the book. And, I'll admit, when I heard how disappointed they were I second-guessed myself with their price. Someone advised that, if I thought it was worth it, to give illustrations that weren't going to be as involved. However, I didn't think that putting out work to be published that I wasn't proud of.

As far as content/consistency is concerned, I completely blame myself for not keeping my gallery up to date and not updating regularly. With all of the random updating with out-of-date work being posted along current work and experimenting, that gallery looks all over the place. I neglect to update regularly and have a solid, consistent style. I need to change that. There is always room for improvement.

Being taken advantage of was another thing that bothered me with the price. I am inexperienced in this field when it comes to pricing art. I quickly found out what I should charge vs what people want to pay varies a lot. Even with the book, I lowered the price a lot, because I am new to this.

[kashidom.livejournal.com]

Oh, in that case the price seems fairly reasonable. I personally know an illustrator who offers inks and quick colour work for a similar price per piece (royalties not included) at easily a fivefold of your average level. She's on the low end because her work doesn't sell much, she doesn't have time and she also doesn't offer published illustrations though, because of the hassle, but that's a different matter than creation pricing.

Updating/maintaining your galleries properly might be an effort worth taking up when working professionally, though who am I to speak when I have unstable moods? (I burnt out, nothing is ever the same after that!) Alternatively, you could keep an updated portfolio which avoids the embarrassment of a gallery :P

[cidal-fun.livejournal.com]

You say that they already paid a lot to publish the book, does that mean it's a "vanity-publishing" sort of thing? If so, you should forget about earning much more than they pay you, as vanity-published books rarely sell well. If it is a vanity-published book, it also won't have the same level of recognition for you as the artist that any other type of thing would.

I'd say find out the name of the publishing company and where and how the book will be sold/advertised before you move ahead with anything.

[miryhis.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your input!

I looked up the publisher as soon as I was sent the manuscript, and the company presented itself as a self-publishing press. I tend to lump vanity and self-publishing presses together (they're not necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn't use one to publish). I was told something similar regarding sales and royalties from a lot of other people, too.