Karla Ortiz tweeted this informative twitter thread concerning artist pricing, rates and salaries of various industries (US focused). It’s also includes lots of good general information. This will help explain to anyone who doesn’t understand why artist rates “seem high” or are trying to get things done free “for exposure”. Remember, artists are still doing a job and deserve to be paid like any other profession. Here is the thread:
Source: Karla Ortiz
I get what she’s saying.
but to play devil’s advocate, what world does she live in?
I’m an author. I hired a darn good artist for ~$500 for cover art.
if I wanted the ultra high-end-award-winning-big-name artist, it would have been…
$900.
Seriously… if that person is asking $3600 she’s going to lose all her business to the people willing to ask a reasonable price.
A book cover at $500-1k usd is usually photo manipulation. Can you get a good cover for this price? Yes. But the post is talking art and if you want original hand draw art, from a professional, the kind of art that can be licensed for merch then it is going to be 1k+. I have known a fantasy author who paid $3500 for a single cover with 2 human figures and a dragon. Price was per drawn figure. And her artist was booked out for months. Can everyone pay that? No. But clearly if you have talent, it is valuable and should be compensated.
Any time you feel like starting something off with some combination of the words “to play Devil’s Advocate”, just delete everything you wrote and go for a walk in the forest.