[susanne-mason Posts: 2 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Hello,
I wonder where I would find answers re. working with a PB author. I have been approached by an author to illustrate her PB. Her budget is quite low - $2500 Can. Dollars.
As I haven't published anything yet and have no agent yet, I'm possibly tempted to accept... but would that be silly?

I'm sure info to this topic must be hidden somewhere on the SCBWI website or in this forum - but I can't find it.
I'd like to find details about how much I can charge for let's say 32 illustrations, what's the bottom limit, and where  I can find contract samples? Also some advice how to proceed when an author approaches you, etc...

 Please help - thanks a lot!

[Vijaya Posts: 7,162 Status: Online Encourage WWW]

Suzanne.  Most people keep money matters private so the information isn't readily available. Here are some helpful threads for your perusal and I hope there's a link for a sample contract. Otherwise, try an author's or illustrator's guild to see if there's one. You definitely want to have a formal agreement, terms of payment (half upon signing, half upon completion), rights to use, etc.

https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?topic=65417.0
https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?topic=65291.0
https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?topic=65310.0

I hope this puts you on the right track. Consider the time this book might take and decide what your time is worth. I try to shoot for $50/hr but sometimes, the research itself will bring down my rate to $25/hr. I've gotten better at estimating and I won't take anything below $20/hr unless it's a project I lovelovelove. Good luck! Oh, I'm not an artist, only a writer.

[susanne-mason Posts: 2 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Many thanks! Will look into the links you provided. It sounds very helpful - also thank you for the estimate!