I recently had a question posed to me by a self-publishing author about how to choose and negotiate with a graphic designer.

She asks, “…Pay per job, per hour or a combo of paying for the job plus a percentage of the first set # of books sold. Any opinions?”

Most graphic designers, if they are experienced enough to be worthy of doing your project, will know enough about the tasks ahead of them to quote by the job. Some designers do enough print work that they can speed up the process by templating certain technical, unseen parts of the process, much like an editor or writer has a specific methodology that they follow based on successful experience. Templating is not meant to imply that anything they create for you will look like anything else they’ve ever created – I’m talking about codes and document settings, etc.

Most experienced print designers will not accept a royalty, unless it is part of a payment package. If your project is very graphic, such as a profile of a painter or other artist, and the product of the designers work will be considered a work of art in itself, or if perhaps you’re sharing major credit with the graphic designer, a base payment plus royalty may be considered. But as most graphic designers are freelancers, I’ve found that many of them just prefer to keep things simple, and get paid right away.

Paying by the hour may be requested if a designer is working with you for the first time, if they are looking to do some “test” work to see if they like working with you, if they’re new to freelancing (which doesn’t necessarily mean new to design) or if you are hiring them on a number-of-hours-per-week situation to work on a variety of projects that you have on the go.

If a designer pushes you to pay by the hour for a single pre-determined project, first check to see if you’ve been clear about the job specs. With proper direction from you, designers usually know how long a job will take them, and this provides you with better cost predictability.

That being said, most designers will include an hourly rate that they will charge for anything outside the original spec. If you find yourself in a position where you need to make changes, approach the designer and ask them if what you’re asking is minor or major work. If it’s major, either pass or learn for next time.

The most important thing to consider when working with any contractor*, especially in the case of a graphic designer, is a clearly-written spec doc. I usually type up a couple of pages that are as clear a set of instructions for the job as I can make it. Include anything you think might be helpful, such as pencil sketches, colour swatches, charts, diagrams, examples of work you like from other designers, etc. The document should definitely include things like the time frame for completion, exactly how many images you need created and what size / resolution, and a technical description of how the final product will be used. Output specs from the printer are essential for designers, so that they know they will be able to accept certain file types, etc.

As with many things in a large project, communication is the key. If a designer feels that you’re ready to give them all they need to free their creativity, they will do the same for you.

[* Don't forget to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement! Other tips for dealing with designers and contractors will be offered here in a future post.]

I eagerly invite comments and constructive criticism from any graphic designers who read this post. What can we do to make doing business with you easier?

 

 ISBN Numbers Easier for Self-Publishers: Interview with Andy Weissberg of Bowker USA [33:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bowker, the USA ISBN agency, is making plenty of changes that are especially helpful to self-publishers and small presses. I was very lucky this week to be able to get Andy Weissberg, a recently appointed GM at Bowker, on the phone for what turned out to be a rather lengthy interview.

Andy is a great guy, and his job is to head up the Identifier Services division, which is the office responsible for issuing ISBN’s and similar products. Andy generously gives us a gut-spilling interview that is a full walk-through of the entire process for a self-publisher or small publisher.

Andy has brought a fresh, digital marketing-based approach to an old organization that has plenty of credibility and stablility. From the standpoint of anyone who is self-marketing their information product, it’s a match made in heaven. Thanks to features that make the best use of meta-data that publishers insert for their titles, the playing field is becoming more level between large and small publishers.

Key changes include;
- enhanced meta-data optimization for top search engines
- social media enhancements
- self-management of issuing ISBN’s via the web (coming soon)
- dramatic changes to the pricing structure, especially to reduce costs to users who only need a single ISBN (coming soon)

I was particularly impressed with Andy’s statement that it is at least partially the self-publishing movement that is prompting Bowker’s changes. Books, they are a-changin, and Bowker is keeping pace nicely.

Watch for more interviews like this in April, and I’ll be meeting up with Andy at Book Expo America in Los Angeles between May 29th and June 1st for a video podcast. Thanks Andy – it was a real pleasure.

This podcast can be re-distributed without royalties provided that appropriate credit and cross-linking is given. To link back to this podcast, please use the direct link for this post, which is here. (Or, just copy what’s in your browser’s URL bar right now.)

You can also download the MP3 and host it elsewhere, using the tiny “audio mp3″ link right next to the player built into this page. The cross-link must use the link referenced in the previous paragraph. Credit must be given as “All content copyright Humanus Publishing, Inc., 2008. All rights reserved.” Thanks!

Why might you possibly need a UPC code plus an ISBN code for your book product? Read on to find out. This seems to be a confusing thing, when it’s actually quite simple. It’s all about using each term correctly, rather than interchangeably.

An ISBN number stands for International Standard Book Number, and when you are assigned one for your book product, each number is totally unique. A modern ISBN has 13 digits, as of January 2007. Embedded in each number is a code that identifies your country, you as a publisher, and the unique publication. (See a future post for nerdy details.)

There is one ISBN governing body for this entire planet, and each country has an agency devoted to administering it for their country. In Canada, this is Library and Archives Canada – an office in our Federal Government, and in the USA, along with a few other countries, it is run by an organization called Bowker.

A bar code is really a computer font. When you enter a series of numbers and convert them to this font, it appears as a series of lines of varying widths (or dots, or whatever – this technology had matured recently) which can then be read by a computer with the appropriate hardware, a bar code scanner.

An ISBN can be used to create a scannable bar code for your book, making it uniquely identifiable to booksellers who subscribe to the ISBN database. Your ISBN is a totally unique number, making it very easy to convert to a totally unique bar code using the special font.

A UPC code, or Universal Product Code, is a type of bar code, but the core number which is used to create the scannable code is derived from an entirely different source than the ISBN number. A UPC code has 12 digits rather than 13, and is grouped into two sections of 6 digits each. There is one large UPC organization that tracks and issues all the codes for the USA, called the G1-USA. They are part of the G1 organization worldwide, who also has a representative in Canada.

Why have a UPC code plus a bar code on your book? If your book is a product with wide appeal, and is likely to be sold outside of bookstores in venues like giftshops or consumer stores, a UPC code guarantees that any retailer can scan your book successfully. Not all retailers can scan an ISBN bar code, because there are more digits, and they may not have the ISBN database to relate it to.

So to sum up, both ISBN scannable codes and UPC scannable codes are types of bar codes. An ISBN is only assigned to a book or similar product, while a UPC code can be assigned to a book or virtually any product that is meant to be scanned in a retail store. My recommendation to clients is typically that they have both on the back of their books, in order to maximize market expansion options.

AND, always make sure you TEST your bar code before your book goes to press to make sure it scans properly! Your printer may offer to do this for you.

I will be in Las Vegas from this Friday, February 22nd, to the following Tuesday, February 26th. I will be videoblogging from that location, just so that it looks like I’m doing actual work.

Actually, I will be attending the Affiliate Marketing Summit, camera in-hand. I will be posting a report shortly after on this blog and two other as-yet undisclosed locations. (Oooooh – mysterious speculation about affiliate marketing. I’m in with the Big Boys now…)

Writers cannot, repeat cannot do business without a standard Non-Disclosure slash Non-Circumvention Agreement in place between themselves and anyone else involved in the project. I promised a post about this issue some time ago, and when the topic came up in casual conversation today, I was reminded to write about it here.

An NDA, as it’s commonly referred to, is basically a little paper that you sign with a potential client / boss / partner / collaborator before you tell them a single thing about your fab million-dollar idea. The paper basically says that I won’t tell your secrets and you won’t tell mine. A good NDA should bind both parties to exactly the same obligations, the same way. I’m so dead-set on this that I’m happy for anyone who reads this to download a copy of my current NDA here for free.

Now here’s the part where I explain that I’m not a lawyer, and that you shouldn’t take legal advice from me, like, ever. I’m just a person who’s been burned about a dozen times, and has seen others hit the same way. Live and learn – from my experience. When reading this PDF you’ll notice that it’s stamped in blood-red with the word “EXAMPLE” all over the place, which is there to remind you about this paragraph that states clearly that a blog entry is NOT, I repeat, NOT a replacement for quality legal advice. The reason I’m offering this document is so that you can read it through and get a good idea of what I’m talking about.

Pay special attention to the words “To use such information, trade secrets and strategies only for the purpose of evaluating proposals and projects or developing projects pursuant to a written agreement authorizing the application;” which means that you will have to write some sort of contract with your client. This document is not a contract for work – but it should always accompany one. This is what you sign before you discuss their/your, idea or even get remotely close to a contract. I update it from time to time, if I think of anything that needs to be added. But as you read it here, this has been in use for about a year without any edits, so I think it’s pretty complete.

I sign this exact document with virtually everyone my biz comes in contact with, including my authors (of course), my print rep, my marketing guru, my publicist, my channel sales rep, the bookkeeper that only comes on Fridays, the cameraman on the video projects, my regular UPS guy, and the cleaning lady who vacs the office. I’m not kidding. It costs nothing, takes 5 minutes, and shows professionalism. I simply can’t talk to you (or even in front of you – despite how lovely my cleaning lady is) unless we have both signed this document.

This is one of those learn-the-hard-way moments that I really hope you’ll take my advice on.

 

 The Problem With Editors is They Know All Your Secrets [3:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download