An argument with someone on Craigslist
Someone on Craigslist is asking for an artist to draw his/her graphic novel, which will then be pitched to publishers and maybe produced, and maybe make money. Maybe.
My email to this person:
Hello,
You accidentally posted in the ‘Jobs’ section on Craigslist. You are asking for spec work. Spec work is not a job. For more information please see the links below:
“Draw My Graphic Novel” - http://srbissette.com/?p=13107
“On Speculation” - http://www.alec-longstreth.com/blog/659/
All the best,
Dakota
This person responded:
It’s not spec work, it’s a partnership. The work is being produced. I’m not asking for anything other than your portfolio or samples.
My response:
You’re also not paying anything unless your project makes money. Therefore it is speculative. It’s theoretical money, not real money. It does not pay, so it is not a job. You can call it a partnership, but you’re still asking artists to potentially spend hundreds of hours drawing your story without the guarantee of any payment.
I’m not sure how much you know about the cartooning process, but a single page can take anywhere from 3-10 hours from pencils to finished inks. Even if your graphic novel is a modest 80 pages, that would be between 240 and 800 hours of labour. That’s 6-20 weeks of full time work. About 2-5 months of unpaid work. Even at a low hourly rate of $20/hour, that would be between $4,800 and $16,000. And any artist capable of producing the kind of quality work you probably have in mind would expect a higher hourly rate than that. Between $30 and $60 per hour.
I’m sure you believe in your story, and maybe it will even hit it big (though with the way publishing and especially self-publishing works you’ll be lucky to pay for printing, distribution and promotion). But if you really believe in this project, you’ll front the money for it. There are grants and loans out there.
You wouldn’t expect a carpenter to renovate your restaurant for free. Don’t expect an artist to shoulder the risk of your dreams.
Best of luck,
Dakota
Awaiting further correspondence. I should probably be working instead of doing this, but it feels so cathartic.