Quote Me: On Going Freelance by Luc Belanger

By John Freeman on May 17, 2013

“The first couple of years you don’t make enough to pay the bills. The next couple of years you barely make enough to cover the bills. And then a couple of years after that you make enough to pay the bills. 🙂

“I think a lot of people go work for a company and then jump into freelance. From what I’ve heard it makes the transition easier. Although if you have a lot of support (financial…) and are ready to tackle the market head-on then you might want to go for it.

“The first thing you need (after a portfolio obviously) is a list of people to send submissions to. I would suggest you get a copy of “Artists and Graphic Designers Market” by Writer’s Digest Books. [Note this covers the US market].

“You should also get a hold of “The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines“. This is a great reference source for pricing and what to expect in each industry.

Luc Belanger (Advice posted to the egroup, small_press_comics: used here with his kind permission)
Luc’s Home Page: http://www.gingerillustration.com/comics.htm

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.