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Hi,

I just got a request for one of my image that is not anywhere for sale, so I have to come up with a decent price, but really have no idea on how much this should be worth.

 

It's 2 images that will be used in an educational textbook at a small size. I have all the info to put a price on that, but then the client wants also in-context promotional rights (such as displaying pages of a sample chapter or catalogue, but always in the context of the book).

 

How do you think this would usually add to the base price of a picture? Personally, I only have a brief experience with that and would be grateful for any help!

 

Math

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Tough question. Have you asked the client what his/her budget is? I always do that for starters.

 

No I haven't. I am hesitant to do so, as I feel I usually have to go along their budget once it is revealed. And besides, I don't think they would tell me the real money they are willing to put on any image considering it's a 700+ pages book. Although, obviously they already told me their budget per image is "rather low...!"

 

In the past, when that kind of situations happened to me, I would ask for a budget and get something pretty low, but never really raised the total by a lot. However, I never got a request for in-context promotional rights.

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My recent text book sales via Alamy were all for around $100 +/- depending on print run, region, etc.

 

Textbook publishers will usually pay considerably more IME.

 

 

I guess mine were for small usage? Either that or Alamy sold me short.

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My recent text book sales via Alamy were all for around $100 +/- depending on print run, region, etc.

 

Textbook publishers will usually pay considerably more IME.

 

 

I guess mine were for small usage? Either that or Alamy sold me short.

 

 

I find that IQ textbook sales are usually under $100. Regular ones are higher.

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You do not have to go along with their budget. You own the copyright to the image and you can ask whatever you want.

 

That being said, you have to be practical and try to come up on the high side of what they are willing to pay, or abandon the buyer.

 

As a former photo editor at a book publisher, my standing orders were to "pay no more than you have to".

 

What I was willing to pay was based on the the company perception of the future profitability of the book.

 

If I was willing to pay $75 and someone asked $10 that was what they got. If they asked $50 that was what they got. If they asked $100 That was what they got because it was not worth swapping out their image with a cheaper one. If they insisted on $200 they might get it if the image was rare, but I would try very hard to find a cheaper alternative before we went to press.

 

Being cheap did not ensure more money to the photographer. In some books we would pay one photographer a total of $200 for 2 images and another photographer a total of $100 for 10 images. We were not running a charity, or a contest, and we were not the photographer's friend. Usually the photographers who asked $100 or $200 had better images, and I would not hesitate to go back to them for my next book.

 

This was before the internet, so things might have changed.

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When I lease images on my own (rare these days) for editorial use, I still try to maintain a $100 minimum for photos used in print media. Surprisingly, I've also gotten some decent prices for e-book and Web use as well. Bill is correct IME, publishers will often pay what you ask as long as it isn't too unreasonable. 

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You do not have to go along with their budget. You own the copyright to the image and you can ask whatever you want.

 

That being said, you have to be practical and try to come up on the high side of what they are willing to pay, or abandon the buyer.

 

As a former photo editor at a book publisher, my standing orders were to "pay no more than you have to".

 

What I was willing to pay was based on the the company perception of the future profitability of the book.

 

If I was willing to pay $75 and someone asked $10 that was what they got. If they asked $50 that was what they got. If they asked $100 That was what they got because it was not worth swapping out their image with a cheaper one. If they insisted on $200 they might get it if the image was rare, but I would try very hard to find a cheaper alternative before we went to press.

 

Being cheap did not ensure more money to the photographer. In some books we would pay one photographer a total of $200 for 2 images and another photographer a total of $100 for 10 images. We were not running a charity, or a contest, and we were not the photographer's friend. Usually the photographers who asked $100 or $200 had better images, and I would not hesitate to go back to them for my next book.

 

This was before the internet, so things might have changed.

 

When I offered to shoot some pics for a running magazine of my local marathon (I was going to be there for stock anyway) a few years ago they offered £25 each, I asked for £70 pointing that was what they had paid a couple of years before. They agreed and paid £70 for each of 2 pics used pretty small but it paid for the morning out.

 

Mind you one has to be sensible, I try to remember my grandmother's advice "Those that don't ask, don't want; those that ask, don't get" ;)

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I had a textbook sale this month for $180, but it was for a 2-page spread.   A while ago I had a sale for promotional image, packaging and wall display 10 year license. Price was $73.

 

Based on this, and bearing in mind that they want your specific image rather than finding another from Alamy maybe a price of about $250 (per image) would be about right.  

 

You could start a bit higher, you can always come down.

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Also take into consideration the number of books printed. It's the promotional rights that make this one different.

 

The below link and the price calculators of various stock agencies may also give you some ideas.

 

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

 

If memory serves me, this calculator has been around since the 1990's. Do you think they ever update it?

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Also take into consideration the number of books printed. It's the promotional rights that make this one different.

 

The below link and the price calculators of various stock agencies may also give you some ideas.

 

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

 

If memory serves me, this calculator has been around since the 1990's. Do you think they ever update it?

 

 

Also my thought. No idea. The test calculation I made wasn't far away from what I would have liked to charge, though. But that was only a single test. Is there anyhing better? Except using the calculator from a few stock agencies.

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Also take into consideration the number of books printed. It's the promotional rights that make this one different.

 

The below link and the price calculators of various stock agencies may also give you some ideas.

 

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

 

If memory serves me, this calculator has been around since the 1990's. Do you think they ever update it?

 

 

Also my thought. No idea. The test calculation I made wasn't far away from what I would have liked to charge, though. But that was only a single test. Is there anyhing better? Except using the calculator from a few stock agencies.

 

 

Unfortunately, there is not a lot else out there as far as I know. At least nothing up-to-date. With prices all over the map, I guess that's to be expected, though.

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Also take into consideration the number of books printed. It's the promotional rights that make this one different.

 

The below link and the price calculators of various stock agencies may also give you some ideas.

 

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

 

Yes thank you, I knew that site, but couldn't remember the name!

 

Anyhow, I submited an amount to the publisher, which after checking your index seems to be the average price for the usage (and that is without considering the promotion stuff). So I consider my price a pretty fair amount. I just did not recieve any news on the matter, so maybe they are looking for cheaper alternatives out there as Bill Brooks mentionned. That should not be an easy task for them, fortunately for me!

 

Anyway, thank you everyone for your input.

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Also take into consideration the number of books printed. It's the promotional rights that make this one different.

 

The below link and the price calculators of various stock agencies may also give you some ideas.

 

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

 

Yes thank you, I knew that site, but couldn't remember the name!

 

Anyhow, I submited an amount to the publisher, which after checking your index seems to be the average price for the usage (and that is without considering the promotion stuff). So I consider my price a pretty fair amount. I just did not recieve any news on the matter, so maybe they are looking for cheaper alternatives out there as Bill Brooks mentionned. That should not be an easy task for them, fortunately for me!

 

Anyway, thank you everyone for your input.

 

 

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

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When I license directly to publishers my minimum is $180 but the average, for the same parameters you list is somewhere between $225 and $300 per image for one-time usage rights. I'm in the US licensing to US publishers, mainly national textbook publishers, if that makes any difference for you.

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I would wait a few more days and then do a follow up email asking them if they are still interested in licensing the image.  There is normally a delay in their first response to your initial fee as they would have to get the purchase approved by management.  In the past (aka the good old days :) ) sometimes it would take weeks to get approval.  

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