Graphic Artists Guild

It has been said that although talent is a requisite to entering the industry, knowledge levels the playing field.
I wish I had had access to the information available in this big, thick book when I was freelancing. Even if only to give myself an idea of what I should have been charging my clients!

The legal information is specific to the United States and would be worth looking into for your own specific country; but, as a guideline it is near as perfect as you could ever ask for. If nothing show more else it makes you come across a great deal more professional by virtue of a bit of background knowledge.

For instance:
If a job is cancelled after work is begun, through no fault of your own, a kill fee can be charged (covering all work done, including research time, sketches, and compensation for lost opportunities from refusing offers of other work, etc.). I had felt this was a moral obligation, anyway. But it is a standard legal one!
Worth knowing since this has happened to me on several occasions in the past, and I could have demanded between 20-50 percent of the original price - Ouch!
It was just such an incident which ended my career as a freelancer, since I had been forced to buy in some expensive perishable materials on the client's request a few days before my client then dropped me.
The biggest loss however was to my confidence; as during this incident, I know that I rejected at least one high profile contract. Although I was also charging such inadequate fees at the time that it still wouldn't have brought me much reward!
This book would have helped me here also, as it furnishes rough prices you can easily scale around your own work.

Reading this book, and its updated editions, has filled me with renewed optimism.
The question is: after so many years, am I tempted to take the bate?
Even if I don't bite, this book has certainly rekindled my interest in an area which till recently I had written off. show less

This 8th edition of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook deals primarily with putting a price on a creative work.
It can't really suggest a maximum or minimum price for artwork in hard figures (although examples are given). Instead it provides you with the tools to negotiate a fair price based on a set of important factors, which is far better as it allows the artist to properly value themselves and calculate their own market worth.

Once again, I hear myself saying: 'if only I had known about show more this book years ago. How things could have been so much easier for me!' show less

This 10th edition of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook is an indispensable source of practical business knowledge that the freelance artist can reference at their fingertips.
When I was freelancing, I wish I had known about this tome!

Although it is an American product and does not necessarily reflect law in Great Britain it is still an excellent place to start.

As usual individual disciplines are examined in detail: book covers and postage stamp design, web and computer game design, show more cartooning, careers in animation etc. As well as lots of information about contracts and licensing agreements.
Everything you need to know about getting paid fairly and preserving your rights. show less

For over 30 years The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook has been a source of invaluable information and advice.

In this the 12th edition, you find the first half concentrates on fees and copywrite issues, as you may expect, as well as advice on managing professional relationships, and different types of contracts etc.

There are chapters on individual specialty disciplines such as:
Cartooning and animation, textile design, illustration for books, greeting cards, and stamps; as well as motion show more pictures, television and video games.

The back pages have samples of standard contracts, business tools and more importantly a glossary of legal terms and their meanings: define 'fair use' for instance.

A valuable source of information for the freelance artist. show less