Editorial Rate Advice

[paulr]

So, I got hired to shoot a historic house for a magazine (the magazine of a historical preservation non-profit). This is pretty random, since I don't ordinarilly do assignment work at all, but the price was right and the assignment seemed more or less within my abiliities. The money offered was decent, and the creative director has been easy to work with on getting me a contract (not signed yet) and licensing agreement, etc.

It's now the day before the shoot and he's sent me a new brief which includes instructions for the COVER of the magazine. He's making a big deal about it, since this issue will mark a relaunch and a new design.

Would it be normal that this would entail a renegotiation of the rate? The previous brief made no mention of a cover photo.

Checking the magazines stats on their site, they claim a readership of 350,000, and they charge $14,200 for an ad on the inside cover.

Any thoughts? I have a phone meeting with the creative director in an hour, so if anyone is reading this over their coffee and knows anything, please share!

[paulr]

Some additional info ... the original deal was a lump sum ("soup to nuts") that was to include a day of shooting, expenses, and with the expectation that I'd deliver roughly 6 final images to go with the story (there was a shot list).

[Kirk Gittings]

I always get a bump for a cover, whether stock or assignment. If I shot a set of images with no expectation of a cover and then they decided to use one on the cover, I would expect a bump for that use.

[paulr]

Thanks Kirk.

I know this is a vague question, but how big a bump, percentage wise, would you expect for a cover (compared with a half dozen interior pics)?

[Kirk Gittings]

Thats really hard to say. It depends on the size of the magazine etc. One example, a local shelter magazine here with about a circulation of about 30K-the bump was $500.

There are many reasons for magazines to do this. The primary one is to encourage photographers to do killer cover shots which is of course the major hook of the magazine.

[paulr]

Thanks Kirk. $500 is what I got, seat of the pants. I didn't want to negotiate harder than that since I don't 100% know what I'm doing here :)

[rdenney]

So, Paul, how did it work out?

Rick "whose last magazine cover was considered 'work for hire'" Denney