United StatesHow much for a corporate headshot for a book cover?
You should not go below your price, it was a fair one!
Here in Israel where the prices are are around half of those in the USA, I am charging minimum of 400$ and I say to the customer:
" in the time you are sitting and posing for me, I put into the job my 25-30 years of experience " This worth money.
Usually, if it is a general manager of a big company, I ask him to think how much worth 1 hour he put into his job, that hour I save him with my experience to short the time he is with me
With any author portrait the most important item is to negotiate with the entity controlling the rights and paying the bill and that is typically never the author but rather the publisher. Your price may or may not have been fair in part because there is much more information needed to establish a fair price. You first need to know the print run, the language or languages and the distribution whether local, regional, national or international. You also need to determine how many editions you are granting usage for and whether it is just print or whether it includes electronic rights. Lastly you need to determine the length of time the license will be for and if there any ancillary usage as in publicity. Only after you have all the facts can you really provide a quote that is fair to both parties. The range based on the above can easily be between $400 and $1500 plus expenses.
Hi Seth,
Thanks very much for your response above. You're absolutely right. I should have gotten more information. I kind of have a minimum of $500 for any on location job, so I wouldn't have done it for $400. I quoted $600, and most likely, $600 would have been low. I guess I was guilty of thinking the true rate would probably be more than $600, and knowing he wasn't going to pay more than $600, and at the same time knowing that I would be happy getting paid $600 for the amount of work involved.
About your comment about the publisher paying the bill rather than the author...I'm not sure about that here? I really get the sense that it's the author responsible for supplying the headshot, and that the client was paying, rather than the publisher.
Seth, I really appreciate your comment above and was wondering if you would also respond to another question I posted, if you have time? It's at http://www.shakodo.com/assignments/57/how-much-would-you-charge-for-corporate-headshots-for-a-realtor/
Thanks again!
Irene
Irene unfortunately pro photography is no longer seen as a profession because of the many unemployed and under employed that think because they picked up a nicer camera they can do a professional job.
The guy that you quoted and said that he wanted to spend $200 is a little low I would have said $ 275 for a one time use on the book cover. Again he will find someone to do the photography for less than $200 and be happy with the not so professional result because pro's have created this great look that simulated the snap shot look of the amateur and he can't tell the difference.
One last thing is that he probably does not see the difference of a professional with skill and the so called pro-amateur. It's very frustrating to see and be witness to this.
Michael
Hi,
Your quote was fair! Saddly we see this more and more often. Clients don't value image maker any more! The only thing you can do is tell the client that you have experience and you know how to do the job... You are a professional. Ask if they are going to do the same with their lawyer, plumber... etc.
I recently quoted a client for a headshot that he needed for a book cover - a retail book, where he is one of 3 authors, and each author gets their headshot on the cover. I quoted $600 for one retouched image with usage rights on the book cover AND 2 yr use on his corporate website. I didn't get the job as he just wanted to spend $200. I'm interested in hearing how much other professional photographers would charge for this.
Thanks!
Irene
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