Hat in Hand, I Seek Counsel

[TypingSchmuck]

Hi there. I have great admiration for artists. I'm a writer myself, I fully understand that a lot of people ask for free stuff. I'm not one of those people.

I have sent some variation of this email to numerous artists and gotten absolutely zero response. Can you please tell me what I am doing wrong:

Greetings,

My name is Michael McLarty and I am seeking to commission a one time art piece to promote a screenplay. Other work may follow, but I do not guarantee it. I realize your time is valuable so I will cut to the chase:

THE GOSPEL OF SIMON MAGUS is about an immortal sorcerer hunting down his former acolytes to atone for his sins. The piece I am wanting created is set in modern times. I seek a B&W illustration.

Simon looks like a healthy Kurt Cobain, Alexander Skarsgard ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002907/ ), Michael Pitt, something along those lines. Tall, blond, needs a shave. He is in his early 30's.

He is dressed in a tan trench coat, jeans, white T, and boots.

Over one shoulder rests a smoking shotgun, in his other hand is a Roman gladius whose tip is resting in a dead MALLOCK that he just slew. Mallocks are about 7 feet tall and can best be described as gargoyles out of Hell.

In the background is a muscle car, and the silhouettes of two more Mallocks can be seen gliding against an unusually full moon. Simon is looking straight ahead at the viewer, a cigarette in his smirking mouth.

The entire piece will be framed in a "book". On the left side I want the screenplay title, on the right the picture.

Thank you for reading this far.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please write me back with 1) a quote, 2) a completion date and 3) how you prefer payment.

I am obviously writing this to more than one person, but will respond to all who reply even if I choose to go with someone else.

Sincerely,

Mike McLarty

If anyone reads this and is interested, and does "realistic" type drawings, please feel free to contact me at michael.g.mclarty@gmail.com

At this time I am just getting quotes but I WOULD like to pay someone at some point!

[J Wilson]

My suggestions would be to keep the email shorter and more professional sounding. Not that there is anything "wrong" in anything you wrote, but freelance artists develop a sort of filter against any kind of job that might lead to headaches and/or not getting paid. This usually means separating out the professional and business like messages from ones that sound like they just come from "some guy".

Examples of lines that send a "red flag""

"Other work may follow, but I do not guarantee it. I realize your time is valuable so I will cut to the chase"

Unnecessary. A freelancer knows that there is no guarantee of more work, unless it is in a contract or at least established that there WILL be more work.

"The piece I am wanting created is set in modern times. I seek a B&W illustration.

Simon looks like a healthy Kurt Cobain, Alexander Skarsgard ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002907/ ), Michael Pitt, something along those lines. Tall, blond, needs a shave. He is in his early 30's.

He is dressed in a tan trench coat, jeans, white T, and boots.

Over one shoulder rests a smoking shotgun, in his other hand is a Roman gladius whose tip is resting in a dead MALLOCK that he just slew. Mallocks are about 7 feet tall and can best be described as gargoyles out of Hell.

In the background is a muscle car, and the silhouettes of two more Mallocks can be seen gliding against an unusually full moon. Simon is looking straight ahead at the viewer, a cigarette in his smirking mouth.

The entire piece will be framed in a "book". On the left side I want the screenplay title, on the right the picture.

Thank you for reading this far."

Simplify all of this down to "I am seeking a black and white urban fantasy piece to promote my screenplay titled THE GOSPEL OF SIMON MAGUS." That is all an artist needs to know at this early stage to know if they are interested. All of those other details can come in a follow up if the artist is interested.

"If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please write me back with 1) a quote, 2) a completion date and 3) how you prefer payment. "

This is a red flag. This doesn't show that you are flexible, so much as it says "I have no budget in mind and no due date established" which together says "I have no plan." A guy who has no solid plans on when he needs something is someone that might leave you hanging mid project, and possibly end up not paying. Give a due date (better is a series of due dates: one for sketches/design, and another for final art), and if you know what you can afford, say so. An artist doesn't want to respond if they suspect the budget may be $20. If you really have no budget in mind, and you are prepared to pay an artist's going rates to get him, ask for his rates. If you suspect that you can't afford their rate, make the highest offer you are comfortable with (you never know when they have a few days free and will cut a deal to just fill their schedule). This is all in my opinion, but the other professional artists I talk with regularly would largely agree I think.

"I am obviously writing this to more than one person, but will respond to all who reply even if I choose to go with someone else."

Delete this too. Send your message out to the artist you want on the project. This shows you have a clear idea about what you want, and who is the ideal fit. The only time a casting call type message makes sense is when you are filling multiple images for a project and you need a variety of artists. Otherwise this says "this is a waste of my time, this isn't even a firm job offer."

If you don't hear back fairly quickly (in a couple of days), move to your next artist.


I hope none of this advice sounds harsh. It is all meant to be helpful. Good luck with your project!