7 must-know tips for illustrators negotiating a book contract

Last week I went to the London Book Fair, where there were plenty of insightful talks for illustrators and artists. After hearing from this year's Illustrator of the Fair, Flavia Z Drago, I sat down to learn all about contracts from Sarah Morris, the AOI's (Association of Illustrators) membership manager. 

You might think that contracts are boring or unimportant, but as Sarah explained, they play a vital role in how much and when you'll get paid, so it's really important not to just blindly sign because you're so excited about the prospect of work. Here's some of Sarah's key advice when it comes to receiving or writing a contract. Her advice is aimed specifically at illustrators signing book contracts (see our how to illustrate a children's book piece if you want help getting to this point), but some of it applies to other contracts, too.

Sarah Morris

Sarah is the membership manager of the Association of Illustrators. A former illustration agent, with a wealth of commercial knowledge and passion for championing illustration, Sarah is committed to supporting illustrators and helping to make the industry more accessible.

01. Set a kill fee

"If your book is cancelled, you still need to get paid for the work you've done," said Sarah. You need to have a cancellation clause in your contract or you won't get paid, she explained. Sarah suggested the following kill fees:

• 25% before delivery of roughs
• 50% after delivery of roughs
• 100% after delivery of final artwork

02. Get an advance

An advance is money you receive in advance against earnings you'll make on royalties and must be enough to cover the amount of work you've done and your time. This might look like:

• 1/3 on signature of contract
• 1/3 on delivery of rough artwork (sketches)
• 1/3 on delivery and acceptance of final artwork

03. Avoid payment on publication

If you get paid on publication then you run the risk of having your payment delayed if the book is delayed. "If the publisher is unable to amend this to 'payment on final delivery of artwork', then make sure you have a publication date that's within 18 months of delivery of artwork," Sarah explained. In this case, you should also make sure that the amount you'll be paid on publication is a smaller proportion of money (ie. less than the third outlined above).

04. Know your royalties

One thing people may not realise is that you only start receiving royalties once the advance has been 'earned out' via sales (so once you've earned enough royalties to cover the advance). Royalties will be shared with the author if you illustrated but didn't write the book, so you'd typically get 4-5%, and if you're the author and illustrator you'd be looking at 9-10%. You earn royalties on 'net receipts', which are the money the publisher receives from the sales of the book (different from the retail price).

05. Understand subsidiary rights

These are rights that are on top of the publishers’ rights to publish the book themselves. "Some rights, like dramatisation rights, are rarely exploited, but you want to make sure they are reasonable, should your book be developed into a TV series," stated Sarah.

She gave the example of Luke Pearson's Hilda books, which have been made into a Netflix series. 

06. Think about 'option for future work'

An option for future work clause in a contract means that the publisher gets the right of first refusal on your next book. "There's no reason why you would want to do this," said Sarah. As you may be unhappy with the way they handled your first book, you may feel they haven't promoted it enough, for example.

If your next book is part of the same series or includes the same characters then this is reasonable, however. Do bear in mind that each new book should have a new contract, though, as there's the potential to better the terms ie. get more royalties.

07. Ask lots of questions

It's worth noting that if you get a contract from a publisher, "it's likely to be in their favour". This doesn't mean that you can't negotiate, said Sarah. Back and forth on a contract is perfectly normal. "Read all of your contracts carefully," she advised. As for asking questions, "its not as scary as you might think, they are humans at the end of the day. The aim is that both parties are happy."

The AOI is a not-for-profit membership organisation supporting illustrators, all over the world at every stage of their career, through 1-1 business support & advice, which includes a contract review service and more. Find community, grow your confidence, make your mark by joining the AOI.

For more information on contracts the Guide to Law and Business Practice is an essential resource.