Ask Me Anything #2 - "Managing" & Paying Artists

Q: "How do you manage and pay your artists?" (J.D.)

A: To start with, I want to be clear about the meaning of the word "manage." None of the artists I work with are people that I need to "manage" in the bossy, managerial sense. I do need to do some tracking of who's doing what, and in that sense, there's some management involved, but it's mostly -me- that I'm managing, not them.

Typically, when I'm in a more diligent mood (and/or when I'm working with several artists at the same time), I have an Excel sheet with several columns:

• Commission name/description
• Artist's name
• Artist's contact (typically, email)
• Cost of commission
• Latest deliverable (none yet/sketch/final)
• Payment made (yes/no)

I keep track of where I'm at using that file and "hide" a row once a piece is done.

Process

Typically, that's how I work with most freelance artists:

• The artist sends a meaningful sketch (so not a 1-minute doodle)
• I immediately make full payment (through PayPal) and send notes (if any)
• I wait for the final version to come in

I typically work with artists who can deliver something within a month. Anything else makes planning the rewards for my backers more complicated, and I don't like complicated.

A note on the process: after several "bad investments" (and some of them with professional artists whose name inspired confidence), I decided I would no longer pre-pay anything/anyone. I instead offer a risk-sharing approach: the artist invests some time in making a sketch (perhaps an hour of his/her time?). That's his/her risk. On my part, I make full payment with the understanding that I may be overpaying for a sketch if the artist disappears. That's my risk. Anything else feels like a burden on a single individual, and that just doesn't strike me as fair.

There are some very rare exceptions to this rule. For example, Wondollar and I have been working together for well over a decade, so he just invoices me once a month and that's that. The fine folks who illustrate Li Fang Fei (Navarro/Cabrera) don't want me to pay until they deliver the final product (again, we've been working together a very long time, so there's a justified trust involved). I've also occasionally commissioned art from Brad Guigar (from Evil Inc); I don't mind pre-paying one bit because I know he's very fast and reliable. I'll get my art within a few weeks and I know he'll let me know if there's any trouble.

But otherwise, no pre-payment, that's a deal breaker.

Rights (Work-For-Hire, or WFH)

Because I'm using the art for commercial purposes, I'm always upfront with artists about this. By default, I seek all rights under work-for-hire rules (US version; Google it for details). I need to own all rights (including copyrights) to the art so I can safely use it commercially. I keep a record of the communications where this is discussed for later reference in case of any trouble (there's never been any). I want those rights because I don't want the art that I share with my backers to be freely available outside my Patreon (otherwise, what's the point of charging my backers for something that's not exclusive?).

WFH art typically costs more because the artist can't monetize the art in other ways. This is one of the reasons I mention it to artists from the get-go; many will charge more for WFH.

Treat Artists Right

This is a big thing for me. I have NO artistic talent and I have tremendous respect for what artists do. It takes tremendous training (and a lot of time) to make good art; artists should be compensated fairly. I've even deliberately paid more for artists that I felt were under charging for their art. After a decade of commissioning artists (and probably spending upwards of $100k in commissions), I know what I like and what I'm willing to pay for some art. I know my budget; if I find an artist who's really talented but isn't charging enough, I'm happy to pay that artist what I'd normally pay another for similar work. Ten or twenty bucks won't break me, and it's an honest and sincere way of building a solid partnership with an artist over the internet. Compliments  are nice, but hard currency makes it sincere.

Aaaand that's about it. Not a whole lot goes into "managing" artists, really. It's PayPal wall-to-wall, and a lot of common sense for the rest.

--Jaycee

NOTE: if you have more questions for future AMA, please write them in the comments below.