In the beginning, any illustration job in publishing was an automatic “YES!” followed by texts to my wife featuring several exclamation points. I was so freaking hungry for any foothold in the industry, I’d ignore all kinds of red flags and stoplights.1
We’d like you to illustrate a salt shaker.
I’m in.
We’d like you to work on a project involving items in perspective where we dictate every artistic choice.
Where do I sign?
This is work for hire and we can’t pay you in actual money. You’ll be able to say you worked with the 15th biggest fake cheese manufacturer in New England and post it to your socials!
Do I get complimentary cheese?
I think this is a tricky spot for people who are not yet past the gatekeepers and need the work and means to support themselves. Working on less than ideal projects sapped my joy on more than one occasion and the goal posts got moved to “do work I love for fair and equitable terms” rather quickly. I won’t pick on any publisher, but I illustrated like 600 pairs of scissors for one project in those early days. <Shudder>
I wouldn’t trade the experience of working on real paying projects for anything. But I have learned that to say yes to the good stuff means saying no to lots of the other stuff. As I get more established and better know my own value (shout-out to my agent!), I’m able to be more selective, more of the time. This is really nice.
Along the way and at every stop along this twisted road, I’ve learned some things about what kind of work gets the green light and what I’ll say no to. A proclamation of sorts:
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