Creative Business Advice
for Creative People
Last month I posted a piece about what to do when clients are awful. Turns out lots of people like advice on how to deal with crappy client situations! So this week, I’m taking submissions from The World’s Longest Invoice tumblr and suggesting what you can do to avoid similar non-payment crises.… Read More
I’m always excited when I hear that artists I admire are collaborating on a new project. Collaboration — in art or other ventures — lends you a perspective you can’t have on your own, and because of that it can produce some exceptionally cool results.
But just because a collaboration can produce wonderful things, it doesn’t mean the road to creation is smooth and pothole … Read More
You can plan a negotiation to the T, being careful to consider your interests and options, investing time to understand the other party and their needs, even making sure you have a few back up plans ready to go should things not work out.
You can do all of these things, and more, only to have the entire negotiation go cattywampus because of a last … Read More
Hopefully, by now you know that working for “exposure” is fool’s work. People die from exposure! You should only work for free if it involves your mother or a debt that is the result of a life saving organ donation (see Jessica Hische’s awesome flow chart for specifics).
But just because you know you shouldn’t work for free doesn’t mean that people will stop asking … Read More
There’s been a lot of talk recently about how freelancing and independent art “should” work. From discussions about intellectual property rights, to ethical business practices, to dealing with clients who don’t pay their bills, it seems that everyone has an opinion on how it “should” be and there’s not a lot of agreement on how to get there.
These conversations are important because they have … Read More
For Emerald City Comic Con this year, George Rohac (Director of Operations at Oni Press, Freelance Guru, Wizard) and I got the band back together.
We put together a panel about the things we think you need to be a successful freelancer. And because we want to spread the news far and wide, I’m publishing all of the tips, tricks and secrets as this … Read More
Negotiation theory is all good when you’re sitting in front of your computer screen, warm and cozy with a cup of tea and a snoring bulldog on your lap. Anything sounds possible under those circumstances! I’ll stand up for myself! It’ll be awesome!
But what do you say in the thick of things? How do you respond to ridiculous requests and offensive statements?
This week … Read More
Contracts are things that are supposed to make sense. Seriously!
There is a method to the madness and once you figure it out, reading contracts and understanding them gets a whole lot easier. Here is an introductory overview of the anatomy of a contract.… Read More
5 Things to Know Before You Sign Your Publishing Contract
The following is the first of five emails from a free e-course about understanding publishing contracts. You can sign up for the rest of the course here. In any publishing deal, you're in charge. That's because a publishing contract is you giving the publisher permission to use your work. They need permission and
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