#agentkillfee

[dearartdirector]

Dear Art Directors! Thank you so much for all the helpful answers. I have a book cover licensing question! I licensed a cover piece to a different company for an audiobook version. While I only gave them the type-less art I created, I noticed they ended up using the full cover from the original publisher. I don't know if a separate agreement is usually reached between publishers concerning the in-house designer's work. Is this something I should bring up with the designer? Thank you!

This area of licensing is called “Sub-Rights” and it’s a very standard part of publishing. The publisher who initially buys the manuscript and releases the book has a contract for a certain amount of rights from the author. Usually it’s for certain formats (Hardcover, paperback, ebook, digital audio, physical audio, large print, etc) and certain languages/territories. If another publisher wants to bring out that same book in a different format or region or language, they have to contract that with the author (if the author retained those rights) or with the originating publisher (if the publisher, say, bought world rights). Either way, there’s no point in re-editing the book from scratch, you want the version the originating publisher finished. But to do that you need to pay for the work that publisher did. 

If you want to use the same cover, you need to pay for that too. If it has art on it from a freelance artist then you have to go back to the original art contract and see what the AD licensed. If the originating publisher bought all the book usage from the artist then the 2nd publisher pays the first publisher. But if the 1st publisher didn’t license the art for, say, other languages or formats, then the 2nd publisher is directed back to the artist to negotiate a re-use fee with them directly.

Once that is done, however, they usually are still going to use the files from the 1st publisher because the design and type and final color correction is part of those files. They were really only renegotiating the USAGE from the freelance artist, not the actual file. But they usually take the file too, just in case they need it.

In MOST cases the 2nd publisher has already talked to the 1st publisher and that is how they knew to contact you to reuse the art. They would have checked to see if the 1st publisher licensed the rights. Sometimes there’s something shady going on, with very small publishers or some foreign countries, but I wouldn’t expect the artist to be policing that. If a 2nd publisher comes to you looking to relicense art, they’re usually legit, or they wouldn’t have contacted you at all. 

And in that case, let me answer the next question: negotiate whatever you can for the reuse fee, but know it’s usually much less than the original fee. 2nd format publishers and foreign publishers usually have very little budget to relicense art. Consider it a little bonus money, and don’t stress too much about figuring out exactly what it’s worth in the book market. You can always say no if you don’t want them to use it, but honestly it’s usually only $100-$500 max.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Dear AD, is it okay to ask for more information about the job before accepting, particularly regarding subject matter? It is a huge factor in whether or not I want to accept a job, but all of my experiences have involved an AD asking for commitment for a due date, then contract, THEN details...I presume due to some details being proprietary information. If not, is it cool to ask if the job would fit in with my existing body of work before accepting?

Absolutely! In fact, I would think well of an artist who wants to know the project content before they sign on. I usually give a few lines of description, to give the general idea, though I will save the whole detailed brief until I know they're signed on. You can always respond to an email that’s just bare info with something like “My schedule is a little tight right now and I’m being selective about choosing projects, can you tell me a little bit about the content before I answer?”

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Is it important to use a real name or pseudonym rather than a username? If it's something easy to remember and without a gazillion numbers? I'd like to avoid using my real name due to issues with my family (let's pretend it's the Mafia, it sounds more movie-like like that) but I heard in a freelancers advice video that you're not taken seriously if you use a username rather than a name.

A lot of artists use artist names or pseudonyms, but you might not actually know they are, you know. It’s the same with actors. Many authors & actors don’t use their legal name, but the name they make up still sounds like a name, or it’s a nickname, or it’s a name they wish they always had, or it’s their grandmother’s name, or it’s their real first name and a different last name, or they just go by their first name. 

Other artists use a name that’s obviously NOT a “real name” and that’s fine too…to a degree. Don’t use something that’s going to sound silly or in jokey later. As you say, no numbers. Really, the rule of thumb is: if you can’t imagine someone yelling it at you across a room to get your attention, then don’t use it. There’s a line right about there between a nickname and a username. Stick to the nickname side of the fence.

A good example of how you can get caught is ComicBookGirl19. She built a huge following under that handle on youtube and social media, and now that she wants to be known as less of an internet celebrity and more of a full person and creator, she’s having trouble changing it. Right now she’s using DanikaXIX — kind of a hybrid between her name and her username — but it’s an awkward transition. See also Flaptraps/Richard Anderson. I’m never going to  call someone Flaptraps to their face, sorry. Sparth is kind of the outside limit of what can be considered callable-across-a-room.

Some artists sidestep this and make up a studio name, but in a lot of cases it ends up being weird because humans talk to humans, not to studio names, so in emails/etc you’re still going to need to be talking as a person…so then you’re an employee of yourself? Also, it’s always a bit odd when an individual tries to sound like a studio…you’re just one person, you’re not fooling anyone.

So take your time, and come up with something good, because once you start having a following you’re not going to want to change it, even if it’s really embarrassing (like that terrible tattoo you got when you turned 18 that you thought you’d love forever).

Just remember, when you do take jobs professionally and sign contracts and do tax forms, it all still has to be under your legal name, so it’s not going to be a complete secret unless you change your name legally or form a legal business.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Hello! I'm a cover designer, and am usually always supplied with blank InDesign grids by the client, just with all the guides, logos, barcode box, credit lines etc in place. A couple of newer publishing clients have ask me to set the grids up from scratch, which is fine, but I wondered, since they are one of the Big Five, they would have them already set up, as a matter of continuity in design if nothing else. Is this the norm? Should I request them or set them up myself?

If you are just doing the front cover, then templates aren’t terribly important - you design to the rough front size (5.5 x 8.25, 6 x 9, etc) and then the in-house designers will build it out to a mech. Be nice to them and make sure your file has lots of bleed and keep everything layered. But ultimately you don’t need to worry about the perfect size.

If you are being asked to do the full mechanical (which, for the non-book designers means the spine, back, and flaps if there are any) then they should be giving you either a template already-made OR specs from the printer. If they forgot, just ask for the specs. Also, most of the industry is using an Indesign plugin called Make Book Jacket now which makes it WAAAAAAYYY easier/quicker to set up book mechs, so if you’re doing a lot of them, I’d say invest in that, it’s only $20 and worth it’s weight in gold.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

I recently finished an illustration of a dark-skinned warrior wearing loincloth and tribal body paint, as instructed by my client for his fantasy game world. I like how it turned out, and I want to add diversity to my portfolio, but now I'm super anxious about posting it. I know that appropriation vs. appreciation is a big issue in some countries and I have no way to figure out if this artwork (or any I make in the future) is possibly offending someone, or totally fine to post. Any thoughts?

These kinds of questions are VERY hard to answer without seeing the art so here’s a few steps to take if you’re concerned:

1—Is the image objectifying or does it have agency? In other words, does the character look like they are in control of their own destiny or do they look submissive, or like an object for other people to control. This more often comes up in sexy/pin-up images, but it applies in general as well. are you portraying the character as someone who probably has a story of their own, or are they an object for others to use? Are you respecting the characters you are creating? Respect for the source material is the basic difference between appropriation vs. appreciation.

2—Show it to some people of the (race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, etc) that you are depicting. If you don’t have friends of that manner of person, ask genuinely online in an art crit group (there’s tons of them on facebook and discord, try to find a diverse one) - but no matter what people say, don’t argue with them, just accept all the feedback that comes, and see what the ratio of ok-to-not-ok it is as a whole. It’s really important to make sure you’re not missing something historical or important that you might not have known about. A good example is how brands can “accidentally” make things look like Minstrel Show imagery. Many European artists do not know this history and accidentally use these extremely racist images as reference, not realizing there’s a whole history there they’re unaware of. In publishing, we ask for “sensitivity reads” and this is kind of a “sensitivity view”.

If you make it past #1 & #2 you’re probably in the clear. Remember, this is not about saying artists and authors can’t depict or write about other kinds of people, it’s about making sure a) do it accurately and respectfully and b) they don’t take advantage of the community they’re trying to portray.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

First, you guys rock! I love this blog! Secondly, I'm asking this question to check my frustrations at work. I work for a game company as an illustrator, but I feel like more and more of my time is being taken up by file management, organization, creating templates, and training documents for others. Sometimes it is half to the bulk of my week. Is this average for most in-house illustrators? Am I just whining when I don't focus on illustrating?

There is a truth in any in-house job: the better you get, the further up the chain you are promoted, the more managing you do and the less of the actual job you do. This leads to 3 outcomes, in my experience:

—People who realize they like leading a team and encouraging/mentoring others, and seeing the nuts and bolts of how the art dept fits into the bigger picture of the company. They will continue in-house, and probably advance further, and have less and less time to actually make art, but they are able to see wins of their team as wins for themselves as well.

—People who hate managing and don’t want to get away from making the art, so they turn down or aren’t considered for a management role, and don’t advance, until they tend to get frustrated that they’re not making a lot more money, and are eventually forced to go full time freelance, so they can focus on the work and their solo career.

—People who are not interested in managing/mentorship, and can’t get their egos out of the way, yet either choose to take on a managerial position bc it’s a promotion, or due to money, yet they don’t want to give up any control of the art, do not develop the talent under them, and due to ego issues become micro-managing nightmares who break down their teams instead of lift them up. They also tend to be credit stealers. 

Among these options I have respect for 1 & 2 — know thyself, you know if you’re interested in being a leader/mentor or not — and if not, there’s no shame in keeping the focus on your own work —but I have a deep hatred for #3. I have seen so many bad ego-driven managers ruin artists below them and it drives me insane. Over time I have given up a lot of the art-making in my role, but seeing my team make great things makes it all worth it and honestly, it reflects back upon me twice as well.

—Agent KillFee

P.S. If you want to know some good leadership books try Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and Herding Tigers by Todd Henry

[dearartdirector]

I'm currently in charge of hiring for my department at an animation studio and i REALLY WISH i had the time to respond to 500+ emails with advice on how people can improve their portfolios. it's frustrating because i see potential but either their website design is hard to navigate, they didn't provide a website at all in their email, or they dont have common things we look for like anatomy studies. it feels like a failure to put art school grads out there without these common sense resources.

WE FEEL YOU. All of us are in the same boat. Most folks who are ADs or in a similar hiring-artist position really DO want to help artists, but we would drown and never get our real job done if we answered one person at a time. That’s why this Tumblr exists, and all the resources at Drawn + Drafted and Make Your Art Work. Art schools really should be teaching this stuff, but Art Biz Education is spotty at best. So our merry band of Art Directors are doing the best we can to spread reliable info from the people actually hiring artists. Feel free to refer all these folks to our free downloadable onesheets on gumroad. There’s ones on how to set up a portfolio, how to self-promote on social media, how to read contracts. etc.

P.S. If you ever want to answer questions here at Dear AD drop us a note! We’d love to have more folks weighing in from the animation biz!

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Dear ADs, thank you for you wise words, this blog is super helpful! I've been trying to follow your advice, have dusted off my google-fu skills and got on with sending out illustration samples. One of the publishers I was interested in for cover art requests that artists send portfolio, expected $ rate and 2 references from other art directors. Is that normal for a freelance job? I would feel very rude to email a busy former AD client to ask for a reference, especially for a one off cover job!

That’s...not.....how it’s done. Honestly that’s a sign to me of a publisher with either no art director or an AD who is not connected to their field. ADs gossip about artists and give each other references. That’s part of our job. Ignore them and move on. Here’s a great list of resources of how to find publishers: Muddy Colors/How to Get Into Publishing.

—Agent KillFee