General Advice Post: Declining a Commission and/or a Trade

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Be it their reputation, their attitude or just the overall theme of what they want you to draw for them - we as artists and people have the right to say 'no' to offers placed upon our plates.

The question is, how does one say 'no' in such a way that it is purely professional and has that weight of finality to it that doesn't allow for weasel room. Lets figure out the best way to create a standard of etiquette for declining inquiries we don't want to handle!

I'm opening the floor to the community on this. Please feel free to advise or suggest ways to professionally bow out of offers for commissions or trades.

If you recall someone making a post or a comment regarding this in the past, and felt it was a big help to you; please link to it for everyone's reference!

Comments

[serious-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Kind of echoing what other people have said here. Really, it works for avoiding kerfluffles anywhere: Keep it short, to-the-point, don't give them room to argue, don't give them reason to argue, and save your feelings about it for your friends, not the person you're declining. I'm picky about subject matter, so I've had to decline before, but no one's taken offense when I did it like that. If you know someone that would be cool with it, you can always direct them that way, too. The old "I can't help you, but I know who can!" If they just happen to be very sensitive people and are stinging just because of a nicely-worded decline, showing them that you're still willing to help- by offering to draw them something else, or directing them elsewhere- can cool that.

Drama seems to happen most with other people when they spill their feelings and opinions all over the place where it totally wasn't warranted. "NO, that is ugly, I don't want to draw your stupid sparkle dog! Gosh!" and "Uhhh no, that really creeps me out!" or the like. Legitimate feelings, but that doesn't make them wise to say to that person if you're trying to keep professional and not step on toes. File your emotions away. Bringing them in to the equation is just trouble. Triple-check what you say, just in case anything unnecessary sneaks in there. Take advantage of how you can proof-read what you say before you say it on the internet.