Crafty Tuesday: Equal Pay?

[puppetmaker]

But first since this is my space on the Internet, I get to be a proud Mother. Caroline got her grades for the second marking period and continues with her straight A average. In fact her GPA went up a little. I am very very proud of all the effort she put into getting good grades and her schoolwork.

The other day Peter received an invitation to write for an anthology. He looked at the page rate and politely declined. It wasn’t worth his time to write a story for that little amount of money. He knows what his writing minimums are for any project.

David Gerrold had a listing on his Facebook page looking for someone to write a 300 page graphic novel for $200 and the possibility of some money in the future if the idea takes off. I can tell you that I have gotten $100 a page for writing a comic book story.

An artist friend, yeah I have a couple of those, was approached by a midsized but growing company to create a logo/mascot for the company. She gave them her minimum and the restrictions on the use of the logo. They told her it would be good exposure for her and could she take less. The less was a third of what she quoted them and they wanted her to sign away all rights to her work to them. She said no thank you politely and walked away from the project. The new logo they are currently using looks very generic and not very interesting.

I was asked recently how much it would cost for me to create a puppet for an event. I gave them my fee which they balked at. They shopped around and found that my fee was lower than a lot of other people they talked to. Eventually they got an FAO Shwartz Muppet puppet and dressed it for what they wanted. Less than what I would have charged but that’s the business. I know how much my time is worth.

I think what I feel most annoyed about is that those in the creative side of the industry are taken for granted. The people who want to purchase from them don’t seem to understand that they are not getting just that story or puppet or logo, but all the work that went behind getting to the point that the object can be produced. All the practice that went into learning a craft. All the words that were written before finally being published. All the puppet parts that were failures. All the seams that had to be ripped out and re-sewn as one learns how to make it properly. All the paper and pens and doodles and drawing that has led to the ability to create some pretty kicking logos.

I haven’t heard anyone try to lowball a heart surgeon or a dentist or an accountant (OK I have heard one about an accountant but that was a weird tale and involved some shady people). Other professionals are not questioned about their fees or offered exposure to further their careers.

I may not sell as many puppets but those I do sell will be worth my time making them. And the buyer gets my 30 years of experience making them during which I have learned a little something about puppet building.

I am grateful when people pay a fair amount for the work I put into my art.

Comments

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

I think that attitude comes from the belief that we should be creating out of love and money sullies that. It doesn't matter that writers and artists have bills to pay like everyone else; we're doing it because it's fun and therefore shouldn't expect payment when we're being paid in LOLZ.

Of course, when you see the difference between someone who knows what they're doing and someone who doesn't, you know just how much an artist *is* worth paying, but at the moment, it seems as though everyone's doing it so why bother paying for quality?

ION, go Caroline!

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

First, thanks.

Second, this video says it better than I could.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine makes leather masks. Circus de Solei tried to negotiate her down to an insanely low price, saying the exposure would be good for her. This is AFTER her masks have been in Hollywood movies, Broadway stage and TV. They finally bought ONE mask and paid extra for the copyright, and reproduced it in plastic for the rest of the cast.

Equal Pay

[(Anonymous)]

I think theafaye has it right, but I would add that I think another aspect of it is the presumption that every artist or creative type is a "starving artist" and so should be grateful for such things as "exposure" or whatever pittance you want to pay, because little money is better than no money at all. And when you politely persist in feeling that your time and expertise are worth more than that, I think it actually hurts their feelings on some level. The fact that Peter can still get lowballed...in spite of his being a best-selling novelist many times over...is an indication that not a lot of thought goes into making these pitches by the so-called "entrepreneurs." If those same people were making a movie, they'd probably expect to get Brad Pitt for scale. Or Morgan Freeman for "exposure."

David Peattie