Solving Webcomic Issues We All Face.

Today’s discussion…

Freelance illustration can be a great additional source of income, but how to pursue it?  What about creating or negotiating contracts?  What are ethical practices for clients and creators?  What is fair to expect from a large company verses a small indie publisher?  Robin Childs (LeyLinesComic.com & MokoPress.com), Dawn Griffin (DawnGriffinStudios.com) and Chris Flick (CapesNBabes.com) are joined by much-missed Drezz Rodriguez (DrezzWorks.com) to talk about illustration work and how the time away has changed him.  (The rumors were true…he wears pants now.  We were shocked too.)

Additional resources:

Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market 2017

Finding a lawyer:  If you are looking for help with a legal matter, check your local American Bar Association.  There is free legal help for folks that qualify as low-income and unbiased referrals to affordable lawyers in your area.  

Contracts

As an example of what kinds of things a layman’s language contract can have, here’s a list of headers from Robin’s 2-page contracts:

Contact info and names of both parties

Summary: One sentence summarizing project including, size, rate, and purpose.

Agreement:  Details what each party is responsible for

Project information:  Summarizes what the project is, the service the artist will provide, and how the content will be used.

Price and Payment Terms:  How much the artist will be paid.  How to invoice the company.  When they will be paid.  Other things like Rush Rates or partial payments, etc.

Schedule:  When the work starts and when it is due.

Ownership and Independence:  Work for hire terms.  Intellectual property.  Establishing artist as independent contractor (ie: freelance) vs employee.

Liability and Legal Issues:  Warranty, Assignability, Severability, Indemnification, Limitation of Liability, and Governing Law.  IE: The legalese portion of the document.

Acceptance of Agreement:  Where people sign.  Not valid until signed by both parties, and both parties should get a copy of the mutually signed document.

For other examples on writing simple, but binding, contracts: 

Freelance Graphic Design Contract from Your Freelance Career

 Designer Sample Contracts from Smashing Magazine 

“8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without” Article

Artist Plugs:

Learn more about the work of Jonas McCluggage and Jackarais (the Great!) and his comic Bicycle Boy.

Warning: Podcast may contain some language not suitable for all-ages