Crafty Tuesday Equal Pay?
Posted By Kathleen David on February 10, 2015
But first since this is my space on the Internet, I get to be a proud Mother. Caroline got her grades for the second marking period and continues with her straight A average. In fact her GPA went up a little. I am very very proud of all the effort she put into getting good grades and her schoolwork.
The other day Peter received an invitation to write for an anthology. He looked at the page rate and politely declined. It wasn’t worth his time to write a story for that little amount of money. He knows what his writing minimums are for any project.
David Gerrold had a listing on his Facebook page looking for someone to write a 300 page graphic novel for $200 and the possibility of some money in the future if the idea takes off. I can tell you that I have gotten $100 a page for writing a comic book story.
An artist friend, yeah I have a couple of those, was approached by a midsized but growing company to create a logo/mascot for the company. She gave them her minimum and the restrictions on the use of the logo. They told her it would be good exposure for her and could she take less. The less was a third of what she quoted them and they wanted her to sign away all rights to her work to them. She said no thank you politely and walked away from the project. The new logo they are currently using looks very generic and not very interesting.
I was asked recently how much it would cost for me to create a puppet for an event. I gave them my fee which they balked at. They shopped around and found that my fee was lower than a lot of other people they talked to. Eventually they got an FAO Shwartz Muppet puppet and dressed it for what they wanted. Less than what I would have charged but that’s the business. I know how much my time is worth.
I think what I feel most annoyed about is that those in the creative side of the industry are taken for granted. The people who want to purchase from them don’t seem to understand that they are not getting just that story or puppet or logo, but all the work that went behind getting to the point that the object can be produced. All the practice that went into learning a craft. All the words that were written before finally being published. All the puppet parts that were failures. All the seams that had to be ripped out and re-sewn as one learns how to make it properly. All the paper and pens and doodles and drawing that has led to the ability to create some pretty kicking logos.
I haven’t heard anyone try to lowball a heart surgeon or a dentist or an accountant (OK I have heard one about an accountant but that was a weird tale and involved some shady people). Other professionals are not questioned about their fees or offered exposure to further their careers.
I may not sell as many puppets but those I do sell will be worth my time making them. And the buyer gets my 30 years of experience making them during which I have learned a little something about puppet building.
I am grateful when people pay a fair amount for the work I put into my art.
Well, it’s tricky. I don’t know how many doctors are hurting for patients, but a hëll of a lot of freelancers are hurting for work. My husband has been known to take less than his page rate if he really needs the job – and most of the time he’s regretted the aggro, but you know, it’s hard for us being a one-income family in NYC.
You get the same sort of thing even if you are an engineer!
Teachers and Farmers are supposed to accept a hand-to-mouth existence because of all the emotional benefits to the job. Semi-Professional Athletes and Coaches are supposed to do it for the love of the game. But the President of a University or their Head Coach get millions, because of the value they add to the brand. And if you are the CEO of Monsanto, the entire world owes you their food.
Basically if you have more money than the person asking, you get respect. If you have less, then you are not worth it. (The fact that they came to you is completely immaterial.)
If I may, on this issue, make another request…
I am an engineer, and we make a device called the Rainbow Color Reader, which speaks the name of the color of an object you use it on. We have been selling it mainly to the blind community, as that is why we designed it, but have hit on another possible use – teaching colors to young children! So, we have thought about marketing it to preschools and kindergartens.
Now, why it is apropos here. We had the idea to make a little children’s book, “Snowy’s Colorful Rainbow Adventure.” We came up with a simple story line, and page layout, but have one problem: Neither my wife or I can draw! So, we need an illustrator for about four simple pages of a book, with a white cat, clouds, grass, an apple tree, and a rainbow on them. Unfortunately, we evidently don’t know where to find them, or what to pay them if we do. (We even considered approaching you and having Caroline do it!)
So, any suggestions. What should such work cost? Our offer of $100 and 25 cents a copy was apparently an insult. 🙁