Uploaded 2008-05-05; for current version see http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/IllusPrn.html
The software and equipment required by illustrators does not come cheap and it also requires regular updating. These costs should be factored into illustrators' fees. Any who fail to do this will find technology leaving them behind and become less competitive over the years.
Extra money for free
All freelance illustrators should register with the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) to receive payments from secondary uses such as photocopying, and provide the Society with updated lists of their published works. See Rights and why they are important.
Book illustrators are also entitled to a share of Public Lending Right payments and need to register with Public Lending Right UK to be sure of receiving this: see Rights and why they are important.
These are some things to remember when negotiating rates for illustrations and cartoons. And please send us your accounts of successful negotiations.
- Illustrations and cartoons are copyright work and the rates suggested are for limited licences: each extra use licensed attracts an extra fee.
- The rates are suggested as minima from which freelances will negotiate upward according to their experience and the value of the work.
- Specialist knowledge - for example of a field of medicine, science or technology - commands a higher fee.
- Freelances who are registered for VAT will add it to every invoice.
Retaining rights is particularly important to cartoonists, who may always live in hope that strips will be syndicated and that this will lead to book sales.
For definitions of the categories used, see below
The fees suggested below are for the right to publish the work once. Charge extra for additional rights. See Rights and why they are important.
The Association of Illustrators has conducted surveys that in many instances find higher rates than these. See the link below.
The cost of a licence to reproduce an illustration in a book depends on the territories in which it will be sold - click on the category names for definitions of these.
| - Books - category: A: UK only | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book jackets |  |
330 |
| 3/4 page | |
110 |
| >1/2 page | |
100 |
| 1/4 page | |
75 |
| 1/8 page | |
70 |
| - Books - category: B: UK and Commonwealth bar Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book jackets | |
380 |
| 3/4 page | |
130 |
| >1/2 page | |
110 |
| 1/4 page | |
85 |
| 1/8 page | |
80 |
| - Books - category: C: one language world rights bar USA | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book jackets | |
410 |
| 3/4 page | |
140 |
| >1/2 page | |
120 |
| 1/4 page | |
100 |
| 1/8 page | |
95 |
| - Books - category: D: all Europe, or USA, etc | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book jackets | |
550 |
| 3/4 page | |
185 |
| >1/2 page | |
150 |
| 1/4 page | |
130 |
| 1/8 page | |
115 |
| - Books - category: E: world rights all languages | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book jackets | |
600 |
| 3/4 page | |
210 |
| >1/2 page | |
200 |
| 1/4 page | |
150 |
| 1/8 page | |
130 |
Magazine rates also fall into categories - bands determined by the budget of the mag, which is loosely related to what it charges for advertising.
| Commissions - Magazines - category: A: large-circulation and glossy mags | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
140 |
| Minimum per image | |
115 |
| Commissions - Magazines - category: B: smaller consumer mags | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
130 |
| Minimum per image | |
95 |
| Commissions - Magazines - category: C: larger trade and trade union mags | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
130 |
| Minimum per image | |
95 |
| Commissions - Magazines - category: D: smaller mags | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
115 |
| Minimum per image | |
75 |
| - National newspapers - category: Newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip | |
180 |
| One column | |
115 |
| - National newspapers - category: Newspapers' supplements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip | |
125 |
| One column | |
95 |
| - Public relations - category: High budget | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full page | |
500 |
| 3/4 page | |
450 |
| 1/2 page | |
400 |
| 1/4 page | |
300 |
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
180 |
| Single frame larger than 100 sq cm | |
160 |
| Single frame up to 100 sq cm | |
115 |
| - Public relations - category: Low budget | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full page | |
450 |
| 3/4 page | |
380 |
| 1/2 page | |
340 |
| 1/4 page | |
240 |
| Feature strip up to 4 frames | |
160 |
| Single frame larger than 100 sq cm | |
140 |
| Single frame up to 100 sq cm | |
95 |
| - Regional newspapers - category: Regional daily newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature strip | |
115 |
| One column | |
65 |
| - Regional newspapers - category: Weekly/local newspapers |
|---|
Notes:
- Rates paid by many local and free newspapers are too low for the NUJ to recommend that members carry out this work.
Definitions
Here we define the categories used in the suggested rates sections.
Books
The more territories a book is marketed in, the more photographers should charge. The following are typical sets of territorial rights used by UK publishers.
|
Category definitions for National newspapers |
|
|---|---|
| Newspapers | National newspapers: daily and Sunday titles produced in London and distributed throughout the UK; The Herald, Sunday Herald, Daily Record and Sunday Mail (Glasgow-based) and The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday from Edinburgh. Although the London Evening Standard is not a national newspaper, similar rates apply; likewise for Lloyds List. |
| Newspapers - broadsheet | A size of paper: 17 x 22 inches. Until 2003 this was the size preferred by quality papers in the UK. |
| Newspapers' supplements | Glossy colour supplements to national newspapers and their matte equivalents - which should pay more than the parent paper for words and pictures. Unfortunately many of the plethora of dingier supplements - Buy Into A Mutual Fund Now You Idiot, Lifestyle Options Involving Shopping and so forth - pay toward the low end of their parent paper's range. |
| Qualities | What tabloid editor Kelvin McKenzie called "the unpopular press" - national newspapers that were still broadsheet sized in January 2003. From London, for example, the Telegraph, Guardian, Times, Independent and Financial Times (in ascending order of unpopularity). |
| Tabloids | Strictly, a size of paper: 11 x 17 inches or 280 x 430 mm. In terms of rates, conditions and culture, however, tabloids are those newspapers that used this size of paper before January 2003. From London, for example, the Sun, Mirror, Mail, Express and Daily Sport. |
Public relations
Given the huge disparity between the rates available from a desperate corporation that needs to save its reputation from nasty allegations, and those from a tiny (or stingy) outfit wanting a routine press release, these are the broadest of broad-brush strokes...
Texts © Mike Holderness & Andrew Wiard; Moral rights asserted.
The National Union of Journalists must not, can not and would not wish to dictate rates or terms of engagement to members or to editors. The information presented here is for guidance and as an aid to equitable negotiation only.
Suggestions apply to contracts governed by UK law only. In any event, nothing here should be construed as legal advice.