So I asked the clerk at the gallery who the artist was and if she was local. She said, her name is Erin Griffin and yes she is local! Really???? I left my name and number and hoped and prayed she'd call or email and then one day it came! Erin said she was interested in the project and I was abslutely thrilled. I was a little sad to tell all the other artists they didn't get the job but I had to follow what my heart was saying.
My family and I headed down to Spokane to meet her. We had about an hour interview discussing a VERBAL contract. Mistake number one! Because we were both new at writing and illustrating children's books we didn't have a written contract nor knew what one should look like. I did speak to the illlustrator in Kelowna and he said that they varied from project to project and I should look on line for a template.
As time wore on, I forgot about the contract because we had such a wonderful working relationship, who needed one? I told Erin that I would look for a template and when I found an appropriate one, I would email it to her. Well, I dropped the ball and I didn't find one. My BAD! Erin and I both agreed that 100.00/page was a fair price because of her inexperience. So time passed some more, she completed the title page and then somehow the topic came up about "Rights to the illustrations". We agreed that $150.00/page was fair but this is where the 2nd problem began! We did not make it clear to each other. I meant $150.00/page-TOTAL! She meant $300.00/page! These were 9x6 illustrations...I never would have agreed to $300/page! We agreed at the beginning of each page I would give her 50% down and then the remainder after she was done. So I paid in full one illustration plus 50% down for the next illustration. But then, she submitted another bill for $150.00 and in addition added a $40.00/hour to make correctional changes. So if she had to make changes, it would cost me $40.00/hour. This was never brought up. Really... illustrators charge to make changes to their drawings? Didn't have a clue about that one. So I contacted some illustrators that lived locally and the 3 that I talked to, never charged for correctional changes! WOW! Now it would cost me pretty much the same as the illustrator in Kelowna but I would not be getting full rights to the illustrations or the experience that Alex, the illustrator in Kelowna had.
Alarm bells went off and I emailed her straight away telling her why I couldn't afford such a rate and there was a big misunderstanding about the contract. I also told her that there was no way I could afford $40.00/hour to make minor changes to facial expressions etc... I asked her if we could discuss a rate that we could both agreed upon and I waited for her reply. Two days passed and nothing! So I tried to call her with no success and then the following day she emailed me asking me not to contact her again and she would return my money and I could not use her artwork in any way. So...SHE QUIT! After 5 months of working with her, SHE QUIT in a one liner, "This is way more of a production than I ever imagined and I withdraw my services!"
I gave her a timeline of August 14th to have all the illustrations completed, scanned, and didgitally formatted. At the end of May, she was only on her 1st page. She probably realized, she didn't have the time to complete the project nor the capacity. So now, I am scrambling to find an illustrator that can complete and format 12 pages and a title page in 2 months hmmm....I'll keep you posted.
I made the mistake of not getting a contract so I do not put all the blame on Erin but what I am still in shock over is her level of professionalism. Very surprising!
Lesson learned...never proceed on any project WITHOUT A CONTRACT! No matter how good of a relationship you have with someone, things can turn on a dime!
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