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An Artist's Worth: Read and Share
10 years ago
General
A person I follow online, a fellow hobbyist writer, got an email requesting a commission. Not only did the person requesting it spell out exactly what was to happen, the would-be commissioner put in all manner of caveats (including "no referencing the male character having an erection", ie: "gay stuff"). The "request" was more stated like a demand, saying that the work would have to be at least "1,000 words" and have a first draft available for review, that night. For all this? The seemingly entitled (and/or "clueless") commissioner said he would pay five dollars ("including tip").
Here are the generally-accepted definitions for writing lengths:
Drabble (100 words)
Flash Fiction (100-1,000 words [usually less than 750])
Micro Fiction (1,000-3,000 words)
Short Story (3,000-6,000 words)
Large Short Story (6,000-12,000 words)
Novella (20,000 - 50,000 words)
Novel (90,000+ words)
To summarize what the paying world offers writers, a low-paid, starting value (in a fair-to-middling publication) is half a cent (USD) per word. In other words, if the person requesting the work thinks you're good enough for them, they'll pay you five dollars for a bit of Flash Fiction. Keep in mind, this is for someone who is getting their work paid-for, for the first time. People who have earned respect for their writing can usually demand more around three-to-five cents per word. Professionals get paid even more.
Nowhere in these payment schemes is an expectation of the resulting story fulfill an exact menu of demands. Commissions usually cost extra because the writer is having to get into someone else's head-space for an audience of one. This is not the same as a commission with a general theme (such as "write a story featuring anthropomorphics for a Hallowe'en-themed thing featuring a ghostly relationship gone wrong"). Such a "ghost story commission" would usually be paid out as per the normal guidelines already mentioned. So, if you think a commission allows you to dictate exactly what happens in more than general terms, you will be paying considerably more.
Luckily, each and every one of the people I have done commissions for have been intelligent, respectful, understanding, and endlessly forgiving of my slow ability to put words to paper. Honestly, I'm amazed some of them still talk to me.
But when it comes to payment for artistic, original work, keep this in mind when talking about writers:
1. You are not paying to dictate the story as if you were the Producer/Director of a movie.
2. You do not own the story and its characters unless that is negotiated; even professional publications only buy "first printing" or something similar.
3. You are not paying someone a starvation wage; if you can't pay what the market will bear for their level of work, you can't just demand to pay them rock-bottom fees.
4. You aren't entitled to hide behind, "If I don't ask, how will I know that I could have gotten a bargain?". Show respect for the author. Ask them their rates; don't dictate.
5. If you're just trolling for the LOLs, fuck off and die in a fire full of rusty razor blades and enough petrol to emulate a fuel-air bomb. These are artists. This is their job ... their life! They are trying to make a living. You are not Andy Kaufman and they are not your goddamned entertainment!
So, maybe you didn't know. Maybe you are ashamed for what you did if you put out a request that bad and clueless.
Y'know what?
I, for one, would forgive you. There is no guarantee that anyone else would be so forgiving, but I believe that some people just don't know what they did wrong and need to be calmly instructed as to the finer points of respectful commissioning.
It's understandable if you are poor. That's a really good explanation for some behavior that people would call "entitled" on the surface. Lacking funds for basic living in a community where it seems that everyone is a Rockafeller, throwing around money to illustrators, painters, animators, and authors, is rough. This is one of the reasons so many artists put a good chunk of their work online for free. It can also be rough if you see the community to which you belong and feel like an outsider because you don't know a creator well enough to be offered a free, short bit of fiction. That sort of thing happens all the time.
This still doesn't exempt you from being polite. No financial circumstance prevents you from asking for rates and finding out what they are. Being poor is never an excuse to behave poorly.
My own rates are rather low considering I've been professionally paid for years at a medium, non-professional-level. I lower them, through some sites, because I want to reach out to poorer members of that community and because I know that I am fucking slow. My pace is horrendous and I'm ashamed of that. Therefore, my rates tend to get adjusted downwards, accordingly.
But each artist is allowed to have their own rates and their own assessment of what they are worth.
A person trying to make a living on their writing, someone who has to pay for an apartment or home, buy their own insurance, put fuel in the car or afford a bus pass, save for retirement, put money aside for conferences where they will work all weekend to make ends meet, buy food (for themselves and/or family members), etc..., may need to make at least $50,000/year. They aren't being greedy if they divide this amount into what it takes, on average, for them to produce work and charge that amount.
You might think that amount is too high and, honestly, it may be.
But it's their right to put that amount out there to see who will meet it.
You don't have to.
But if you think their work is worth paying for in the first place, you at least owe them the respect to ask what they think they need in order to actually make a living.
Just as an FYI, for myself, I find my rates to be good for me (with all my warts and problems, combined with my skills and experience in this community). Consider that I spell out why I charge what I do and what increases my rates. These are my right to set. If it is too expensive for you, that's fine! You don't need to buy anything. I'm good with that. But it would be insulting if you demanded something, trying to set a price without showing respect for my needs as an artist, and offered an amount of money that wouldn't get someone very much at Starbucks (let alone a real grocery store).
My Own Rates Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3834250/
So, in summary: keep this in mind...
TL/DR: Writers are artists. Artists need to eat and live like anyone else. They do not exist to make you happy out of the goodness of their hearts. They will do their best to make you happy in return for something that helps them live and get by, day-to-day. They get to determine what this is. If you would like to negotiate, feel free: but don't expect them to change their rates. It can, sometimes, happen: but it is rare.
Show respect. Don't come across as "entitled". Don't be a dick.
Then we'll all enjoy the artwork: all of us.
Yours,
Sylvan Scott
Here are the generally-accepted definitions for writing lengths:
Drabble (100 words)
Flash Fiction (100-1,000 words [usually less than 750])
Micro Fiction (1,000-3,000 words)
Short Story (3,000-6,000 words)
Large Short Story (6,000-12,000 words)
Novella (20,000 - 50,000 words)
Novel (90,000+ words)
To summarize what the paying world offers writers, a low-paid, starting value (in a fair-to-middling publication) is half a cent (USD) per word. In other words, if the person requesting the work thinks you're good enough for them, they'll pay you five dollars for a bit of Flash Fiction. Keep in mind, this is for someone who is getting their work paid-for, for the first time. People who have earned respect for their writing can usually demand more around three-to-five cents per word. Professionals get paid even more.
Nowhere in these payment schemes is an expectation of the resulting story fulfill an exact menu of demands. Commissions usually cost extra because the writer is having to get into someone else's head-space for an audience of one. This is not the same as a commission with a general theme (such as "write a story featuring anthropomorphics for a Hallowe'en-themed thing featuring a ghostly relationship gone wrong"). Such a "ghost story commission" would usually be paid out as per the normal guidelines already mentioned. So, if you think a commission allows you to dictate exactly what happens in more than general terms, you will be paying considerably more.
Luckily, each and every one of the people I have done commissions for have been intelligent, respectful, understanding, and endlessly forgiving of my slow ability to put words to paper. Honestly, I'm amazed some of them still talk to me.
But when it comes to payment for artistic, original work, keep this in mind when talking about writers:
1. You are not paying to dictate the story as if you were the Producer/Director of a movie.
2. You do not own the story and its characters unless that is negotiated; even professional publications only buy "first printing" or something similar.
3. You are not paying someone a starvation wage; if you can't pay what the market will bear for their level of work, you can't just demand to pay them rock-bottom fees.
4. You aren't entitled to hide behind, "If I don't ask, how will I know that I could have gotten a bargain?". Show respect for the author. Ask them their rates; don't dictate.
5. If you're just trolling for the LOLs, fuck off and die in a fire full of rusty razor blades and enough petrol to emulate a fuel-air bomb. These are artists. This is their job ... their life! They are trying to make a living. You are not Andy Kaufman and they are not your goddamned entertainment!
So, maybe you didn't know. Maybe you are ashamed for what you did if you put out a request that bad and clueless.
Y'know what?
I, for one, would forgive you. There is no guarantee that anyone else would be so forgiving, but I believe that some people just don't know what they did wrong and need to be calmly instructed as to the finer points of respectful commissioning.
It's understandable if you are poor. That's a really good explanation for some behavior that people would call "entitled" on the surface. Lacking funds for basic living in a community where it seems that everyone is a Rockafeller, throwing around money to illustrators, painters, animators, and authors, is rough. This is one of the reasons so many artists put a good chunk of their work online for free. It can also be rough if you see the community to which you belong and feel like an outsider because you don't know a creator well enough to be offered a free, short bit of fiction. That sort of thing happens all the time.
This still doesn't exempt you from being polite. No financial circumstance prevents you from asking for rates and finding out what they are. Being poor is never an excuse to behave poorly.
My own rates are rather low considering I've been professionally paid for years at a medium, non-professional-level. I lower them, through some sites, because I want to reach out to poorer members of that community and because I know that I am fucking slow. My pace is horrendous and I'm ashamed of that. Therefore, my rates tend to get adjusted downwards, accordingly.
But each artist is allowed to have their own rates and their own assessment of what they are worth.
A person trying to make a living on their writing, someone who has to pay for an apartment or home, buy their own insurance, put fuel in the car or afford a bus pass, save for retirement, put money aside for conferences where they will work all weekend to make ends meet, buy food (for themselves and/or family members), etc..., may need to make at least $50,000/year. They aren't being greedy if they divide this amount into what it takes, on average, for them to produce work and charge that amount.
You might think that amount is too high and, honestly, it may be.
But it's their right to put that amount out there to see who will meet it.
You don't have to.
But if you think their work is worth paying for in the first place, you at least owe them the respect to ask what they think they need in order to actually make a living.
Just as an FYI, for myself, I find my rates to be good for me (with all my warts and problems, combined with my skills and experience in this community). Consider that I spell out why I charge what I do and what increases my rates. These are my right to set. If it is too expensive for you, that's fine! You don't need to buy anything. I'm good with that. But it would be insulting if you demanded something, trying to set a price without showing respect for my needs as an artist, and offered an amount of money that wouldn't get someone very much at Starbucks (let alone a real grocery store).
My Own Rates Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3834250/
So, in summary: keep this in mind...
TL/DR: Writers are artists. Artists need to eat and live like anyone else. They do not exist to make you happy out of the goodness of their hearts. They will do their best to make you happy in return for something that helps them live and get by, day-to-day. They get to determine what this is. If you would like to negotiate, feel free: but don't expect them to change their rates. It can, sometimes, happen: but it is rare.
Show respect. Don't come across as "entitled". Don't be a dick.
Then we'll all enjoy the artwork: all of us.
Yours,
Sylvan Scott
That's why writers should always make it clear what kind of commissions they're offering and what they are or aren't comfortable writing. Of course people always need to be professional and show each other respect, always.
What this person did was write a demand to the intended author, telling what happens and being rather insulting as well as unrealistic about timeline, payment, and overall respect for the creator.
Yours,
Sylvan Scott
Sometimes I'm glad I'm not well known enough to get "requests."
This person, well... they don't sound very nice.