Illustration Info
Passive Income and Microstock Earnings for September 2010
Another month in the books. September is usually a pretty good month, but I can’t say that there was too much special about it this year.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Company |
Portfolio Size
|
% Income
|
EL
|
Earnings
|
| iStockphoto |
2330
|
34%
|
1
|
$787.82
|
| Shutterstock |
6198
|
22%
|
1
|
$520.86
|
| Dreamstime |
3032
|
12%
|
3
|
$267.38
|
| Fotolia |
2965
|
8%
|
0
|
$186.09
|
| ClipArtOf |
1994
|
8%
|
0
|
$182.50
|
| Can Stock Photo |
1695
|
4%
|
0
|
$96.40
|
| VectorStock |
1190
|
3%
|
0
|
$60.30
|
| Big Stock Photo |
2185
|
3%
|
0
|
$60.00
|
| Affiliates |
-
|
2%
|
-
|
$57.61
|
| 123RF |
1511
|
2%
|
0
|
$44.83
|
| Veer |
1205
|
1.5%
|
0
|
$35.00
|
| Zazzle |
274
|
0.25%
|
0
|
$7.41
|
| Graphic Leftovers |
644
|
0.25%
|
0
|
$5.20
|
| Crestock |
104
|
0.00%
|
0
|
$0.25
|
|
Total: $2311.65
|
I didn’t do that much uploading this month. I’ve been busy with freelance work. Also, I can’t say I’ve seen much growth from the uploading I’ve done this year, so I’m not sure it made much of a difference not uploading this month. I’ve been thinking of branching out into some new styles. Hopefully, that will help.
Other things to note this month. I joined Stockfresh, but don’t have any sales yet. Also, iStockphoto apparently lost their marbles… I mean announced some changes. Finally, my Veer "Dash for Cash" earnings came in and totaled $1540.
As usual, feel free to post a link to your results in the comments.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
iStockphoto Changing Royalty Rates for 2011
In case you have been living under a rock the last couple of days, iStock announced that they were changing their royalty structure for 2011. The new structure will be based on total credits used to purchase your images in the previous year instead of lifetime downloads and canister levels. Here’s the breakdown of the levels for Illustrators:
|
Credits
|
Non-Exclusives
|
Exclusives
|
|
400,000
|
20%
|
45%
|
|
175,000
|
19%
|
40%
|
|
75,000
|
18%
|
35%
|
|
22,000
|
17%
|
30%
|
|
2,000
|
16%
|
25%
|
|
Base
|
15%
|
25%
|
These are just the levels for illustrators, you can find the levels for photos, video and flash here. As you can see this new policy affects everyone, not just exclusives.The previous flat 20% that non-exclusives used to receive is now the maximum. For exclusives, iStock claims that 76% won’t drop their royalty rate. That sounds like a high number, but when you take into account that only 20% of contributors are exclusive, you begin to understand how many contributors this affects negatively. Also, this doesn’t account for all the exclusive contributors that were close to a royalty raise that feel cheated out of that.
With that explained, cue the angry mob. Posts on blogs and forums have been largely negative and pretty foul mouthed in response to the changes. You’re welcome to sift through some of the angry tirades on the iStock forums here or on MSG. There have been a lot of decisions by the different micros over the years that have raised the ire of contributors, but this one seems to have struck a nerve. It may be because 20% royalty, an industry low, was a barrier that wasn’t supposed to be crossed or that iStock was fairly beloved and being cheated by them hurt even more. Whatever the reason, contributors are madder than I’ve ever seen them.
So, what happens now? That’s a good question. There doesn’t seem to be any backtracking on iStock’s end, so I don’t think a compromise is in the works. Many contributors are talking about stopping their uploads. Some are going to stop being exclusives. Others are saying they will close their accounts. Some are even making predictions that this will be the moment in time remembered for iStock’s downfall. I can’t say what will happen come January, but squeezing your suppliers for more money couldn’t have been worth all the turmoil they’ve caused.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
Passive Income and Microstock Earnings for August 2010
Well, it was better than last month, but still pretty slow. I’m just not getting an increase in sales from the growth in my portfolio. Hopefully, all the hard work pays off down the road with more sales. On a positive note, congrats to ClipArtOf for jumping past Fotolia and Dreamstime.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Company |
Portfolio Size
|
% Income
|
EL
|
Earnings
|
| iStockphoto |
2306
|
30%
|
0
|
$680.70
|
| Shutterstock |
6185
|
27%
|
2
|
$622.99
|
| ClipArtOf |
1954
|
10%
|
0
|
$240.00
|
| Fotolia |
2960
|
10%
|
0
|
$235.53
|
| Dreamstime |
3014
|
9%
|
1
|
$218.65
|
| Affiliates |
-
|
3%
|
-
|
$73.50
|
| Big Stock Photo |
2185
|
3%
|
0
|
$63.50
|
| VectorStock |
1190
|
2.5%
|
0
|
$60.90
|
| Can Stock Photo |
1551
|
2.5%
|
0
|
$57.50
|
| 123RF |
1511
|
1.5%
|
0
|
$34.61
|
| Veer |
1105
|
1%
|
-
|
$21.00
|
| Zazzle |
274
|
0.5%
|
0
|
$7.26
|
| Crestock |
104
|
0.00%
|
0
|
$1.25
|
| Graphic Leftovers |
644
|
0.00%
|
0
|
$0.00
|
|
Total: $2317.39
|
I hit 3000 images at a few agencies. That was supposed to be the mark for making it to $3000 a month, but my royalty per image has been dropping like a rock. I’ve been mulling over changing up the kind of images I’m uploading at the agencies this year, and my slump has convinced me that that is a good idea. I’m hoping things pick up in September too.
As usual, feel free to post a link to your results in the comments.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
Illustration Friday Topic: Caged
|
I’ve been pretty busy with freelance work lately, so I haven’t done an Illustration Friday in a while. That all changes this week.This week’s topic was caged. I drew a big caged gorilla in Illustrator. Enjoy! |
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This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman.
Passive Income and Microstock Earnings for July 2010
This month was way down. It was my worst month since Februaury. Both iStock and Shutterstock were slumping which pretty much killed my numbers. I did have a record month at a couple agencies though.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Company |
Portfolio Size
|
% Income
|
EL
|
Earnings
|
| iStockphoto |
2210
|
29%
|
1
|
$638.25
|
| Shutterstock |
5922
|
24.5%
|
1
|
$539.93
|
| Dreamstime |
2896
|
13%
|
0
|
$280.64
|
| ClipArtOf |
1505
|
11%
|
0
|
$240.00
|
| Fotolia |
2828
|
9%
|
0
|
$200.10
|
| Affiliates |
-
|
3%
|
-
|
$65.59
|
| Big Stock Photo |
2185
|
3%
|
0
|
$65.00
|
| VectorStock |
1190
|
2.5%
|
0
|
$54.90
|
| Can Stock Photo |
1153
|
2.5%
|
1
|
$50.75
|
| 123RF |
1511
|
1%
|
0
|
$23.42
|
| Graphic Leftovers |
644
|
0.5%
|
-
|
$10.40
|
| Veer |
505
|
0.5%
|
0
|
$7.00
|
| Zazzle |
274
|
0.25%
|
0
|
$5.84
|
| Crestock |
104
|
0.25%
|
0
|
$3.75
|
|
Total: $2185.57
|
Hopefully the summer slump ends a little early and things pick up in August. iStock did rally a bit at the end of the month, but not enough to recover from the beginning.
As usual, feel free to post a link to your results in the comments.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
Mail Me Art an Illustration Mailer Book
I’m always interested to see how other artists promote their work. Half the battle to getting freelance jobs is the marketing. So, how do other illustrators promote their art? Well, Darren Di Lieto and the folks at HAI! have put together a book of mailer pieces. If you are interested check it out at Mail Me Art. Here’s a little more info and how to help out:
“Mail Me Art: Medium Without a Message is the follow-up to the successful 2008 Mail Me Art: Going Postal. We are proud to announce we have over 700 new pieces of mail art. Medium Without a Message is be an amazing collection of envelopes and boxes from around the world decorated by some of today’s most talented illustrators and artists. What makes the work special is that every single piece of art was sent through the postal system, exposed and on view as regular mail. At the end of this month all of the work will be on display at the London Mail Me Art exhibition.
How can you help support the project and become part of it? Well… The running costs for the project are currently at around £6000 ($9120). We’re hoping to recoup most of that by selling the new book and we’re also hoping to make the artists lots of money by selling their work at the exhibition! We’ve just finished the book and we got as many of the mail artists into the book as possible in some way or another! So please help us recoup some of the costs by making a pledge and supporting the project! In return for a pledge we’re sending people copies of the new book. We’ve also got some really cool artwork up for grabs from the likes of Dan May & Jon Burgerman! Please check out the site for more details – Mail Me Art “.
There you have it, so check it out if you have a few moments.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
Passive Income and Microstock Earnings for June 2010
It wasn’t a record month, but is there a prize for second place? I guess everyone talks about their best month ever, but never their second best. So, I guess I’ll show some respect to my number 2… umm… #2 month, that is. Regardless, I seem to be making progress with my lesser performing agencies, but my top two still seem to be lagging a little. Hopefully, that just means I’m setting myself up for a monster month.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Company |
Portfolio Size
|
% Income
|
EL
|
Earnings
|
| iStockphoto |
2118
|
31%
|
0
|
$730.79
|
| Shutterstock |
5771
|
25%
|
2
|
$587.05
|
| Fotolia |
2753
|
12%
|
1
|
$277.45
|
| Dreamstime |
2817
|
12%
|
2
|
$275.42
|
| ClipArtOf |
1005
|
6.5%
|
0
|
$155.00
|
| Big Stock Photo |
1985
|
2.75%
|
1
|
$66.00
|
| Veer Marketplace |
405
|
2.5%
|
1
|
$61.00
|
| VectorStock |
990
|
2.5%
|
0
|
$59.40
|
| Affiliates |
-
|
2.5%
|
-
|
$58.82
|
| 123RF |
1511
|
1.5%
|
0
|
$35.05
|
| Zazzle |
274
|
0.5%
|
-
|
$12.55
|
| Can Stock Photo |
539
|
0.5%
|
0
|
$12.50
|
| Graphic Leftovers |
494
|
0.5%
|
0
|
$10.40
|
| Crestock |
104
|
0.25%
|
0
|
$6.50
|
|
Total: $2347.93
|
I uploaded a lot of images for the Veer "Dash for Cash". I should make a decent amount from it. I guess when the payout finally comes in, it will probably cheat me across my $3000 goal. Hopefully, I can make $3000 in a month without it this year because the point of it was more of a sustained income.
As usual, feel free to post a link to your results in the comments.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
Faux Watercolor Vector Style
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I haven’t done an "around the web" in a while, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t stuff happening on the internet. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to work on a faux watercolor style in Illustrator, and I finally got off my butt to do it recently. After searching the net, I found this tutorial. It had a good way to make a faux look, so go check it out! Here is my first experiment. I used one of my doodle style illustrations and recolored it. |
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This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman.
I’ve Been Watermarked!
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Well, the Wild West of the internet finally got to me. I decided to go through and watermark all my images. I was tired of people just taking my illustrations from this site and using them for their own purposes. Hopefully, this will help avoid any confusion about the copyright holder of these images (That’s me, by the way.). It’s strange because what if these weren’t my images, but a client’s or another artist’s image that I purchased as stock. Would people still use them without permission? |
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Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I am still in the business of selling illustrations, so feel free to inquire about any of the illustrations you see. I sell most of them as stock, so they are fairly inexpensive to purchase. I’m also available for custom freelance work. I’m just trying to make a decent living like everyone else. It takes me time to create these illustrations, so please respect my copyrights. Here are a few links to my portfolio on some of the stock sites I am at if you are interested: These sites have a lot of the images you see here and much more. I appreciate your business and your interest in my work. Thank you. |
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman.
Illustration Friday Topic: Slither
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This week’s Illustration Friday topic was slither. So of course, I drew a slug? I’m not sure if slugs slither. They probably inch more like a caterpillar, but I figured everyone would draw snakes. So, I went with the slug. |
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This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2010 Cory Thoman.