Thread by @AtlaTheWriter

I think it's high time I double down and bring you up to speed on your rights as a freelance creator.

So here's a small thread on what you Should be getting, and what companies might try to make you Settle for.

Feel free to shout out your own tips in the replies.

Let's start with the obvious: If you believe your work will be extensive, get a written contract.

I've taken smaller clients on their word when we agree to payment terms. Companies should never be those clients, especially because your work will go through dozens of employees.

A given contract should dictate at least 4 ways you can be compensated:

- Flat Fees

- Crediting

- Royalties

- Licensing.

All of these are neccesary in some regard for your art to be used responsably, which is why a lot of gigantic corporations try to skirt past them.

First, the most obvious: The flat fees should be in the hundreds of US dollars, thousands if you're doing a longer comic.

As a rule of thumbs, once you enter the mid-tier publishers, a $150/page rate for artists doing their own inking and coloring is the minimum.

You should always fight on your right to be credited. This will be harder if you're a colorists or letterer, but with larger companies like Mattel, even illustrators will struggle.

Get an agent if you can. Crediting is one of the fundimental ways we humanize artists.

You'll note that recurrently, companies will try to pull this stuff on younger creators, early 20's or so, because we might not know what is or isn't okay to comment on.

But making noise about your contracts is one of the few acceptable ways to make noise in industries.

Next up, royalties. Royalties, roughly, are a collection of money that you're entitled to based on how well a product sells.

I get royalties for choice products I edit, in case they become bestsellers. Not having this loses you potentially thousands of dollars.

There may be a flat/royalty ratio that companies might try to pull. Basically "If we give you a percantage of royalties, you get paid less of a flat rate"

If you're working with any noteworthy client, take the royalties, because they accumulate over years.

And lastly, licensing. Most big clients want the right to use your artwork for whatever might be applicable. Any official t-shirts, mugs and other merch by freelance artists have licensing deals involved.

Which is why these are also the hardest to negotiate with companies on.

In an ideal situation, you want:

-To be notified when a company wants to license your art

-To be credited on every licensed version of your art (or the packaging it's shipped in)

-To be paid either flat or accomulated fees whenever your art is used on licensed products.

Negotiating this will be a part of your freelance life. It's gonna be rough, and in some cases completely unfair. In extreme, very choice cases involving international borders, illegal.

But transparency kills the validity of toxic clients. So let's make some noise together! ^^