Possibly fishy freelance work?

[TigerNation]

I was recently contacted by a small publisher over Coroflot regarding a small rush job as a colorist of a few comic pages. After discussing the terms, I asked to be sent a work order or contract, to which was the reply:

"For the two pages you won’t need a contract. For anything less than five pages we usually don’t give a contract."

This struck me as being suspicious immediately, but it being as small a job as it is, was just curious as to whether it'd be worth a hazard. Input?

[Noah Bradley]

If you don't mind the risk of getting burned, go for it.

Otherwise, it probably won't be a deal-breaker for them to prep a contract for you. It's certainly not an unreasonable request.

[kovah]

There are plenty of template contracts out there which while probably not 100% legally binding at least give you some protection that are easy to edit to your needs and easy to use. I use one from deviantart for small jobs just search contract template on there and i think its like the first one that pops up.

[Aedan004]

the freelancer contacted you . . . did you post to any site or how he contacted you .
i am trying to get any free lancer project from past 2 months but can not find it .

[TigerNation]

I respectfully asked to either receive a work order on the grounds that he's a new client, or to be paid 50% up front. If I don't receive a reply, there's my answer.

To Aedan004, he contacted me through Coroflot (http://www.coroflot.com), which is more or less an a freelance networking site.

[TigerNation]

Sorry for the double-post, but I felt it was important for whomever might be looking at this to know the publisher that contacted me (and a friend I referred him to).

To recap, a Mr. Dabel of Sea Lion Books (http://www.sealionbooks.com) approached me via Coroflot (http://www.coroflot.com) on the 26th, asking if I would have time to color 8-10 comic pages by the 30th. I told him I didn't have the time and referred him to a friend of mine (who is a professional comic colorist), along with a link to his gallery for samples. He then asked if I could do two pages, which was doable. I then asked for samples of what he expected, and got them accordingly. After agreeing on a page rate, I asked for a work order/contract. He then claimed that SLB didn't use them for jobs under five pages, but could send the pages whenever I was ready to work. Uh huh. I have since asked to be sent a work order or alternatively, 50% up front. I have yet to receive a response, despite his relatively quick replies over the past two days.

My friend got a somewhat different story. Dabel asked for samples of his work (though he had already been provided with them), and didn't provide sample pages when my friend had asked at the very beginning of their exchange (though he was able to produce five complete pages immediately after I had asked). Mr. Dabel then said he would get back to him regarding what he wanted him to color (but he claimed to be able to send the pages to me for coloring straightaway). My friend is awaiting response in regard to a percentage of payment up front, but is doubtful that he will receive a response, based on my experience.

So if you happen to get contacted by Sea Lion Books with a work proposition, just have a bit of caution.

[Spreggo]

Never trust a company with haunting piano music on their website.

[Baron Impossible]

"For the two pages you won’t need a contract. For anything less than five pages we usually don’t give a contract."

Absolute nonsense. Avoid them. Simple as that.