As I go through each week, I find it
interesting when common situations and questions arise among my
individual clients and class members. This week's common theme
seemed to be: put it in writing.
Notice I didn't say "get it in
writing." That relinquishes control to someone else. I'm for giving
you as much control of your art business as possible.
When you neglect written agreements, you
lose control. You might just be busy and not want to think about it,
but, in essence, you are saying that the other person or the job is
more important than you and your artwork. You need written
agreements with:
- Galleries
that represent you
- Venues that are hiring you to teach
or speak
- Museums that are
putting your work on view
- Arts festivals where you have a booth
- Anyone who wants to license or
reproduce your work
- Government entities who selected you for a public art project
- Photographers who take pictures of
your work
- Organizations you
donate your work to
- People
who commission work (and model releases if you will be using an
individual's likeness anywhere for your marketing)
And many
others I'm sure I've neglected.
If these people don't have a standard
agreement, the onus is on you to come up with something.
When you come up with a written
agreement, I suggest you schedule a face-to-face meeting with the
person to go over the contents. It just makes it a little friendlier
and ensures that all parties understand what is being asked of them.
Make two copies--each with original signatures. Put one in your file
and give the other person the second copy.
I also think it's invaluable, before you
get to the written agreement stage, to put your proposals in
writing. I can say from personal experience that this has been one
of the best things I've done in the last two years. I've written
about it on the Art Biz Blog.
