The Bu$ine$$ of Illu$tration: Books

The Bu$ine$$ of Illu$tration: Books

"Book publishers offer a considerable market for jacket designs (in the case of paperback books, cover designs), illustrations, and artwork for their advertising," wrote Fred C. Rodewald in the October 1954 issue of American Artist magazine.


"Prices vary somewhat with different publishers. One practice that may cause an artist trouble is that of offering an over-all fixed price for a jacket or book illustration regardless of its complexity or the amount of preliminary work required."

"There is considerable prestige and publicity in bookjacket and book-illustration work, particularly the latter, because the title page of the book gives credit to the artist. Artists should always sign jackets, and many publishers repeat the artist's name on the jacket's inside flap."


Recently, Mitchell Hooks explained to us that paperback covers went for about $300 when he began doing them in the early 50's and that as a member of the Graphic Artists Guild he worked to encourage publishers to pay better rates. After a few years, the average cover was going for $800.

Harry Borgman, who painted the cover below, told me the following from his own experience illustrating book covers:

"I did a few paperbacks from 1965 to 1973, probably a total of 12 or 15. For most of them I was paid $900, the first ones were a bit lower."


This is not an area I have any experience with, so I asked my friend René Milot how much he has been paid in recent years for book covers. René tells me that he has received as much as $5,000 for a cover from a major publisher... but that price has actually dropped in the last few years. $2,500 to $3,500 is now more typical, as publishers, like all purveyors of 'analog' media, struggle with diminished markets in a digital world. Still, compared to other traditional areas of illustration, I'd say that not only do books remain a safe-haven for literal, painterly illustrators, they also seem to pay relatively well.

Children's book publishing is another market that seems to continue to provide opportunities for the artist. While financial success in children's books can be hit-and-miss, those shortcomings might be offset by the potential for personal expression and artistic experimentation.

Rodewald writes, "Very frequently, especially in the case of children's books, a publisher will offer the artist a share of the royalties on the book. A contract also provides for an advance against royalties ranging from a few to several hundred dollars, depending on the estimated sales of the book."


"The royalty is based on a percentage of the wholesale price of the book, and of this the artist will get his percentage, which varies depending on the arrangement between the author and artist. Sometimes, when the art work in a children's book is as essential as the text, the artist is viewed as a collaborator, and the royalty rate is split between artist and author on equal or near equal terms."


"The rates of royalties in book work, as well as flat fees, differ widely from case to case, and each must be judged on its merits."

*Once again I must sing the praises of 5m@5hYdez, whose paperback cover archives are a visual feast the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else on the internet.

* Thanks also to Harry Borgman and René Milot for providing information for this post.
Source : http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com

Bringing diabetes to light

There is a growing consensus to raise awareness about diabetes in the 50 days leading up to World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2008. The International Diabetes Federation announced that the theme for this year's campaign is "Diabetes in Children and Adolescents."

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases to affect children. It can strike children of any age, even toddlers and babies. Every day more than 200 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, requiring them to take multiple daily insulin shots and monitor the glucose levels in their blood. It is increasing at a rate of 3% each year among children and rising even faster in pre-school children at a rate of 5% per year. Over 70,000 children a year under the age of 15 get diabetes.

"If not detected early enough in a child, diabetes can be fatal or result in serious brain damage. The obvious warning signs of increased urination, increased thirst, weight loss and tiredness are at times completely overlooked and the disease is misdiagnosed as the flu or not diagnosed at all" said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant, who heads the Diabetic Foot clinic at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University and is a senior consultant at Gandhi Memorial & Associated Hospitals in Lucknow, India.

"Every parent, school teacher, school nurse, doctor and anyone involved in the care of children should be familiar with the warning signs and alert to the diabetes threat," said Dr Martin Silink, President of the International Diabetes Federation. "Children who are not diagnosed or misdiagnosed can die from DKA (diabetic coma). In the developing world insulin is not reaching many children who need it and the children are dying. The International Diabetes Federation is advocating that access to appropriate medication and care should be a right for a child with diabetes and not a privilege."

World Diabetes Day made a global splash last year, organizing the lighting of several of the world's most recognizable monuments in blue. For 2008 the Federation is reaching out to the global community for their ideas on how to raise awareness.

"There are activities planned worldwide. We hope to have them all listed on the World Diabetes Day website," said Campaign Director Phil Riley. "We're encouraging people to join in with activities in their community and contact us with their ideas."

Countries like India have an estimated 34 to 35 million of people suffering from diabetes, which is the highest in the world. The prevalence of Diabetes in urban population is 17% and in rural it is 2.5%. This indicates impact of life style and nutritional habits. Among the chronic complications of diabetes, diabetic foot is the most devastating complication and is the leading cause of leg amputation among diabetics. It is estimated that in India alone about 50,000 legs are amputated every year, of which almost 75 percent are potentially preventable, said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant.

This problem is further compounded by the lack of awareness, practice of barefoot walking, home surgery, faulty footwear (slippers) and delay in reporting. The cost, both in terms of human health as well as economic burden of the foot ulcer treatment and complication is very high. In countries like Thailand or India, foot care is very critical as a significant majority of the population stays in rural areas. Therefore prevention of ulcer and its subsequent complications is of utmost importance, stressed Professor Kant.

Recent trends are focusing on prevention by life style modifications, adequate control, multi-speciality treatments and aggressive debridements, open traditional and endovascular surgery, use of stents for improving circulation followed by free use of latest dressing techniques, use of different growth factors, off-loading of pressure points, use of modified shoes and also occasional use of boot therapy or modified boot therapy with a special equipments, said Professor Kant.

Let us hope that the 50 days awareness raising campaign in lead up to the World Diabetes Day this year will be effective in bringing down the incidence in times to come.

Bobby Ramakant

(Author is a World Health Organization (WHO)'s WNTD awardee (2008) and writes on health and development extensively. He can be contacted at: bobbyramakant@yahoo.com)

How to get cash for your gold...Easy and almost instant

Are you interested in selling old gold jewelry? Would you like to get cash for gold that you are no longer using? You are not alone!

With fuel prices and grocery prices approaching record highs, many people find themselves looking for ways to make extra cash. Selling gold jewelry and scrap gold is an excellent way to make money from used jewelry and even dental scrap that may be collecting dust in your home!

If you are new to selling gold, or haven’t sold old gold in several years, you may be surprised to find how valuable your scrap gold is in today’s market. You may also find yourself surprised by how many different ways there are to get cash for gold, and how easy it can be to sell gold.

Before you get started, you will want to determine how much your old gold jewelry and scrap gold are worth. Check online auction sites like ebay to see what similar used jewelry and scrap gold are selling for, but be aware than unless your jewelry is rare or of extremely high value, you may be disappointed to see how much similar items are selling for.

If your old gold jewelry is of high initial value, you may wish to have it appraised. Try a local jewelry store, particularly one that specializes in used jewelry and old gold jewelry. This appraisal can help you determine how much your old gold jewelry and scrap gold is worth. However, be aware that unless the appraiser is interested in buying your gold, you will have to pay a fee for the appraisal.

After you have researched what your scrap gold and used jewelry are selling for, consider contacting ab online gold buyer like GoldPaq. We are here to give you cash for gold and can assist you by taking used jewelry, scrap gold, and other old gold items and recycling them. You can also ask trusted friends or acquaintances who have sold their old gold jewelry and scrap gold to recommend buyers who offer cash for gold jewelry and scrap gold.

You may also want to contact local pawnshops, who are often interested in selling gold, and therefore offer cash for gold jewelry, used jewelry, school rings, and scrap gold. Local pawn shops have many pitfalls. To be assured that you are dealing with a reputable buyer who will give you your money’s worth for your old gold, contact the Better Business Bureau to see if the business to whom are you interested in selling gold to is a member. Also bring a friend since pawn shops are often in dangerous neighborhoods. You may not want to risk bringing your gold to these dangerous neighborhoods.

Having trouble finding a local buyer who offers cash for gold? Unhappy with the experience of selling gold to local buyers? Want to sell gold in a confidential setting? Consider selling your scrap gold to an online buyer! Online buyers offer you the convenience of selling gold in a discreet manner that allows you to receive cash for your gold in the comfort of your own home. In addition, many online gold buyers, unlike jewelry stores and pawnshops, are interested only in buying old gold, rather than gemstones or other items, and are therefore more knowledgeable about the market. You may also find that they offer you considerably more cash for your gold.

How does working with an online buyer of scrap gold work? Online gold buyers will send you what’s commonly known as a “gold kit,” or insured envelope in which you place your old gold jewelry, used jewelry, school rings, dental gold scrap, and other gold scrap in in order to safely mail it. Once the online gold buyer receives your gold kit, he or she will then appraise your scrap gold and make an offer for your gold.

You may wonder how online gold buyers will process your payment for your scrap gold. Online gold buyers will offer you several options for turning your gold into cash. Many will allow you to receive cash for your scrap gold through secure payment methods such as Western Union or other online methods. If the amount of old gold jewelry and gold scrap you offer for sale is larger, the buyer may opt to pay you by bank wire transfer or company check.

Selling gold is a great way to turn used jewelry and gold scrap into cash. Give it a try!

Source : goldpaq

Custom Logo Design - Branding Tips For The Business Owner

Many business owners ignore the subject of branding simply because it's an elusive subject that is hard to grasp. The understanding is that branding cannot be seen or touched, and therefore cannot be measured. But this is certainly not true, as you shall see later. First, let's explore a little bit more about branding and see what it really is.

Branding, no doubt, is just a concept. It's a concept about superior quality. And this depends heavily on perception. A successful brand means that when someone thinks of a product of service, they will immediately think of all the commodities associated with a certain brand. For instance, what brands do you think of when you feel like eating cheese? Are there any good brands, and not so good brands that come to your mind? You get the idea. But what really shapes this perception? Is the product really of higher quality? In reality, that may or may not be true. Of course, successful business owners know that for a brand to be successful long term, its products have to be of superior quality. But when we are speaking strictly in terms of perception, the quality in reality doesn't really matter. What matters is the perception of the customer. If a person thinks that it's a superior brand, he or she will buy the product or service. That leads to revenue, and it's the desired end result that all businesses want. But before that result is achieved, what actually helps to shape the perception of the consumers?

Anything that the consumer sees, hears, or touches with will affect the brand. For example, if a consumer sees a professionally designed website, he or she may form some kind of impression about the company and the product or services that it delivers. Whether its a good impression or a bad impression depends on the quality of the website. And the website is just one example. The consumer comes in contact with many forms of physical items such as receipts, invoices, stationery, etc. Some may appear to be minor items on the surface, but when a consumer is exposed to these items constantly, each and every experience will help shape the impression that the consumer has on the company. And a successful brand is built upon countless contacts with the consumers through these different means, so much so that even on a subconscious level, the consumer remembers the company as an entity that offers truly quality products and services.

To give a more specific example, consider the company logo. This is an image that appears to the consumer more often than anything else. You see it on minor items such as invoices, stationery, posters, and you see them in major advertising campaigns. Consumers are bombarded with logos, and they start to form impressions about the company. So are you starting to see what this is going? Do you now realize the importance of a company logo?

Differentiate your business from your competitors. And reflect these differences in your logo. That is truly powerful branding at work.
Source : ad-matrix.net

Getting Cheaper Car Insurance Using an Online Quote Service

Are you looking to renew your car insurance? If you are, perhaps you should consider sourcing for cheaper car insurance quotes online. There are many benefits in doing so, which we will go into later in this article. But first, let's examine the traditional process of selecting car insurance.

Before the days of the World Wide Web, buying car insurance was a tedious and cumbersome process. First, you had to get a list of car insurance service providers. And from this list, you then had to contact them one by one and go over the same basic criteria, such as driver and car details. This was usually done over the phone or by fax.

Once they had the details, they would then get back to you on the pricing, this could be hours or even days later. Only then would you start comparing the prices and choose the service provider that offered the best car insurance deal for your needs.

Most people simply don't have the time to sit down and go through such a cumbersome and time consuming process anymore. Imagine having to contact over fifty car insurance suppliers to request quotes! What a waste of time. So most just contact two or three, and make do with the best from those two or three. The end result is that they fail to capitalize on the best car insurance deals in the market.

Fortunately, all that has now changed. With the evolution of the Internet, many websites have been developed as web applications to offer car insurance quotes. These websites have a wide network of car insurance suppliers in their database, and they are able to furnish quotations in a timely manner with just a few simple clicks. These sites save you the trouble from having to source individual quotations from many car insurance suppliers. From a single point of contact, you can now source many different quotations, all at the same time. The end result is that you get all the critical information in a matter of minutes.

In fact, car insurance suppliers actually prefer you to request quotations online. Online quotations lead to tremendous cost savings for the car suppliers due to reduced administrative and labor costs. There is no need for call centers to deal with telephone quotes. Often, they pass on these savings to consumers in the form of discounts. These discounts are meant to encourage consumers to request quotations online whenever possible. The whole buying process is streamlined, much easier, and hassle free.

Finally, when visiting a car insurance quote website, remember to prepare the necessary information required. The basic information that is usually required will be your name, contact details, age, driving record, and make and model of your car. So be prepared to provide these details upon request, and get your discounted quotes in just a few minutes.