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DGMPhotography · Apr 7, 2016

Guy wants me to take a photo for his book cover for $50.

He is printing 1200 of them for sale.

Something seem off here? Idk if selling the book (with my photo) counts as directly selling my photo, but it feels pretty darn close to it.

480sparky · Apr 7, 2016

I don't understand. Someone wants to buy rights to your work. He's offering $50. What do you think it's worth?

tirediron · Apr 7, 2016

I would hope that if an image is good enough for a book cover it's worth a little more than 4 cents/ cover.

vintagesnaps · Apr 7, 2016

A little, yeah! I think this falls under licensing usage; I'm more familiar with a print run for something like a brochure. For that, 50 bucks wouldn't even be close, much less use in a book, much less on the cover.

Is this being self published by the guy? Sounds like it at that price and him contacting you directly.

Try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA or maybe look up some resources on book publishing and see what you can find out about standard procedures, licensing, and payments, etc.

cherylynne1 · Apr 8, 2016

My sister-in-law self-published a book, and I know she bought the stock photo she used for the cover off of a website. I don't remember the exact details, but I think that's about how much she paid and she can print up to 1500 copies with that photo. But that's probably where your author is coming up with his numbers.

I'm not saying you should just take it because of that, of course. There's a big difference between picking a stock photo and commissioning a personalized photo shoot. But maybe that helps a little for context.

Vtec44 · Apr 8, 2016

Well, counter offer him!

Designer · Apr 8, 2016

DGMPhotography said:
Guy wants me to take a photo for his book cover for $50.

He is printing 1200 of them for sale.

Something seem off here? Idk if selling the book (with my photo) counts as directly selling my photo, but it feels pretty darn close to it.

Very cheap!

What happens when he wants to print another 1200 copies? (what is in the contract?)

What is his price for the book? (it has to do with proportionality)

How much will your attorney charge you to review the contract? (typically lawyers charge by the hour, and $50 is in the basement)

waday · Apr 8, 2016

What's the photo of?

JacaRanda · Apr 8, 2016

This will be interesting.

robbins.photo · Apr 8, 2016

Well if you decide to do this for the notoriety you might want to ask him if you can read the book first before agreeing to have your picture associated with it.

Just a thought.

waday · Apr 8, 2016

robbins.photo said:
Well if you decide to do this for the notoriety you might want to ask him if you can read the book first before agreeing to have your picture associated with it.

Just a thought.

Hmm.. that's a good thought.

I am going to reserve judgement until I know: (1) what the picture was supposed to be and (2) what the book is about.

Wouldn't it be fun if the photo was of a book and the book was about photos?

DGMPhotography · Apr 8, 2016

It's a photo of a monument in Richmond. Might be a confederate thing. I'll find out.

50 just seemed really low, and the reason I got that offer is because I asked him what his budget was and he seemed pretty dead set on it. 4 cents per book... that sounds kinda meh. I would think a larger lump sum for a license to the photo, or some sort of royalty agreement would be more fair.

I appreciate exposure, but I think there's a balance between that and the price. I'm in the middle area between building my portfolio and being a "pro."

Perhaps there's some sort of compromise possible here.

JacaRanda · Apr 8, 2016

DGMPhotography said:
It's a photo of a monument in Richmond. Might be a confederate thing. I'll find out.

50 just seemed really low, and the reason I got that offer is because I asked him what his budget was and he seemed pretty dead set on it. 4 cents per book... that sounds kinda meh. I would think a larger lump sum for a license to the photo, or some sort of royalty agreement would be more fair.

I appreciate exposure, but I think there's a balance between that and the price. I'm in the middle area between building my portfolio and being a "pro."

Perhaps there's some sort of compromise possible here.

Still seems strange. Did he ask about the photo first, or did you shop the photo to him? If his budget is dead set on $50, why go any further; if you are dead set on 4 cents not being enough? Is it that you want to have your photo on the cover more than what he is willing to pay?

tirediron · Apr 8, 2016

eal76 said:
In the future I would advise you against asking a potential client what his or her budget is and instead find out what they are looking for from you and then give them a quote. That way you remain in the driver's seat. You may not get this gig (because he's already low balled you and he is in the driver's seat) but it's a good learning experience as you go into this field as a pro.

I'm going to disagree with this. The way the market is now, and with all of the dirt-cheap stock imagery available, I think having an indication of the client's budget ahead of time beneficial. You certainly don't have to accept a low-ball offer, and nor should you, but you can say, "Well, normally it would be $XXX for that, but if I do this instead of that, I could offer it to you for $YYY.