{"id":1889,"date":"2015-11-24T18:44:33","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T18:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2015-11-24T19:01:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T19:01:57","slug":"artists-beware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2015\/11\/24\/artists-beware\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists Beware!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\u00a0\n

Artists \u2014 how do you feel about someone who says, \u201cGive us\u00a0your ideas for free. If we\u00a0decide we\u00a0like one of them, we\u2019ll use it for our\u00a0own personal branding and for our\u00a0own prestige. We\u00a0will hire someone to make multiple images of it and that person will not receive compensation\u00a0either. We have zero respect for any of you as working professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of today, that\u2019s\u00a0the official message that the World Fantasy Convention<\/a>\u00a0just transmitted to all professional artists as the\u00a0WFC\u00a0searches for a new image for their World Fantasy Award. See their new \u201cWorld Fantasy Award Call for Submissions\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Your ideas and your work \u2014 for nothing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an extremely unprofessional message, and it\u2019s not one that befits\u00a0experienced professionals. It says to all of its members \u2014 writers, editors, agents, publishers \u2014 that the organization doesn\u2019t value its own branding enough to properly invest in it. That\u2019s very sad to see.<\/p>\n

Throughout my career, I\u2019ve had fellow professional artists such as Michael Whelan, Bob Eggleton, and Greg Manchess take the time to point me in the right direction, whether it was toward a\u00a0worthy\u00a0opportunity, or away from a predatory situation. I try to do the same for others. Pay it forward.<\/p>\n

This is one of those moments.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an artist who\u00a0wishes to submit free ideas and free work to this process\u00a0\u2014 don\u2019t do it. Save your energy. Take your ideas and your hard work and channel them into conduits and clients where your work is valued.<\/p>\n

Recently, the writer Wil Wheaton eloquently refused\u00a0to trade his writing\u00a0for \u2018exposure\u2019 from the Huffington Post.<\/a> He\u2019s a major celebrity. He\u2019s presumably doing well financially. The compensation amount\u00a0probably wasn\u2019t a big deal to him one way or the other, but he knew better than to accept nothing for his work. It wasn\u2019t just the wrong thing for himself, but it set a bad precedent for writers who are less advantaged than him, who are much more easily preyed upon, and who depend on fair compensation for their work in order\u00a0to make\u00a0a living wage. He took a stand. These acts matter.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not Wil Wheaton. I don\u2019t have his celebrity power. It\u2019s important to say this though, and I hope it helps my fellow artists and the creative community at-large:<\/p>\n

As a past World Fantasy Award winner and frequent attendee of the World Fantasy Convention, I encourage all artists to boycott this process and do not give your work or ideas to this convention for free. \u2018Exposure\u2019 and \u2018prestige\u2019 are not enough.<\/p>\n

Expect better.<\/p>\n

In fact, expect the best.<\/p>\n

Keep working towards it every day. Don\u2019t fall prey to\u00a0an unprofessional overture such as this one. And if you see artists who are more established than you falling prey, ask yourself\u00a0why and how you might approach the situation better. Don\u2019t follow someone else\u2019s example blindly.<\/p>\n

As for the WFC, I\u2019m sorry\u00a0to see it inflict itself with this\u00a0black eye.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a convention with assets, even if it doesn\u2019t want to compensate artists with money. It could have compensated all professional 3D artists who submitted ideas with a membership to a future WFC. It could have compensated the winning sculptor with a lifetime WFC membership. It could have found any number of creative solutions.<\/p>\n

Instead, it chooses to send\u00a0the message that artists\u2019 work and ideas for a new World Fantasy Award are worth nothing, and in turn that the convention\u2019s new image is worth the same.<\/p>\n

Onward to better expectations and better days.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"