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Illustrated Creative Writings

kfd69kfd69 Posts: 5
in Art Studio

Illustrated Creative Writings is actively searching for and accepting submissions from creative writers, photographers and graphic artists from around the world to submit their own work for publishing in one of several upcoming coffee table books.  The project currently includes 20 categories to be published over the next several years. Additional categories, themes and volumes may be added provided sufficient interest and submissions. Our creative staff has postulated that during the next twenty years, 100 books could be produced.  All submissions must be in English; however, we will gladly publish in a 2nd properly translated language, if provided.

We will be judging submissions on artistic value regardless of experience level, age, sex or country of origin. If we like it – we print it.  This is a great opportunity for students, new-comers and professionals to get their work published free of charge.  Tentatively, each book will feature approximately 450 submissions for a 250 page book.

Illustrated Creative Writings does not charge for submissions, so submit as often as you like in as many categories as you please.  We also will not pay anyone for use of their work.  By submitting your work, you allow Illustrated Creative Writings the right to commercially print your work with full credit given to the artist in print.  There will be a submission form and Consent to Use form that must be filled out for each submission.  Plagiarism is illegal and will not be condoned by any party.

Every great project needs an incentive, and artists invest a tremendous amount of time and talent to produce their work. As such, Illustrated Creative Writings is awarding the best submission in each of the three disciplines: creative writing, photography and graphic art; that is published in each book a free copy and a short biography of the artist.  For all other submissions, we will offer the opportunity to purchase up to three (3) copies in which the work is exhibited at a fraction of the listed sale price.

We look forward and are very excited to viewing and reading everyone’s work.

The Categories

Railroad                                                 Emergency Services (Police, Fire, EMS)

Farming                                        Soldier Fellowship

Nature                                          Humor

Science Fiction                              The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)

Fantasy                                         Storms & Natural Disasters

Horror                                          World Cultures

Mystery                                        Astronomy & Universe

Steam Punk                                  Cowboys & Cowgirls

Music                                           Love

Sports                                          Mature Audiences (Explicit Language, Nudity)

*CONSENT FORM is available as an attachment.

Website: http://johncrandall.wix.com/illustratedwritings

E-mail: IllustratedCreativeWritings@gmail.com

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ILLUSTRATED CREATIVE WRITINGS CONSENT FORM.docx
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Comments

  • LintonLinton Posts: 542
    edited February 2016

    How is it an artist gets anything from doing this? They are providing their work, in art and writing form, to you free of charge with no compensation. All provided content for your book that you publish will give you full ownership of their material. You're profiting from all their work. Sure you take on publishing costs, but you're getting free stock, and all purchases go to you.

    Hardly seems a fair deal for the artists. In your own words 'artists invest a tremendous amount of time and talent to produce their work' receiving a free copy of the book in exchange for hundreds of hours of work is not exactly what I would call a fair deal. The 'exposure' giving away 'free' content supposedly brings is negligable, if not non-existant.

    Can you please explain to me how this would be of any benefit to the artists and writers you are targeting?

    Post edited by Linton on
  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    I agree with Linton. In this era of easy access to POD (I can put my work up on Lulu or CreateSpace myself), I don't see the need for this.

    Oh well, if you don't like a "service," don't use it.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,011

    Ah yes, that wonderful payment, 'exposure.'

    I'm sure the utility company will be happy to accept exposure for next month.

     

  • ToborTobor Posts: 2,300

    I didn't read the consent form (BTW, it should be a PDF, not DOCX; the latter is too commonly used for malware), and not knowing anything about the OP, having written my share of "paid-in-copies" articles in the 70s when I was starting out, it's not a foregone conclusion that this is a one-way street.

    For one, I don't see anything noted about full rights assignment. They appear to be seeking non-exclusive reprint rights, so the artist is still able to sell the work elsewhere.

    As an artist I'd be interested in knowing the planned print run, and the distribution channel. A traditionally (web or sheet offset) printed 4-color book with an initial print run of >1000 copies, and distributed through Ingram, is a far cry better exposure than POD. However, if the book turns out to be POD itself, and distributed only through POD channels like Lulu or Amazon Create Space, then I agree, there's not much reward in the exposure. As someone who sometimes commissions art for publication, I'll put a lot more credence if the artist's work is in a traditionally printed book, and nearly none if it's a self-published POD work. I'm more inclined to trawl DA for raw talent.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    I think the OP did a good thing about being upfront about the payment- aka none- but agree it doesn't give much information, as you stated, about the print/distribution. So I went to the website to see what I thought of it. (But wasn't even considering doing it, I'm busy with my own book and don't need help with publicity by wasting time doing things for other people.)  BUT, and take this as it's intended, a kind suggestion-  advertisements about Wix all over the site don't do you any favors.  To attract professionals/ folks who are good at what they do, get a website that is advertisement free, not a freebie site that advertises freebie all over it.

    Good luck with your project, hope it works well for you. Thank you for thinking of us.

  • kfd69kfd69 Posts: 5

    I want to thank everyone for their comments, although not quite what I expected. As I am a new artist and recent graduate after being retrained as an Artist for being a disabled veteran [I was a firefighter & medic], I am just trying to help other artists out. My own art work is somewhat lacking, but I am better at writing and editing and compiling. I would greatly appreciate HOW to make this more appealing to you the artist.

    - As for publishing, identified by Tobor, I initially plan on paying for all publishing (printed) costs out of pocket and hope that work of mouth and social networking, especially those of those who submitted works to make initial sales. An initial run of 1000 copies would be wonderful, but 500 is probably be reality for the first book or two, but hope higher numbers for a second run. I will be printing in full color, hopefully on semi-gloss/coated pages. If you have any suggestions, I would be most grateful.

    -.doc Consent Form: still learning in how to make a PDF that can be electronically filled in and electronically signed without requiring the user to print off and then rescan. I hope to get a better form in the coming weeks. Any suggestions as too how to make you the artist feel better about the form and how it is written?

    -Wix website host - as a start-up company with no extra funds to have a proper website, this is the best I could do for now. But I am hoping to have a proper hosted site in before the year is out.

  • ToborTobor Posts: 2,300

    Given the nature of the permission (and indemnifcation that should come with it), personally I'd insist on a physical signature. I know print/sign/scan is a hassle, but from a legal standpoint, electronic signatures are not considered as valid as a real signature. You might also consider asking for it in the mail. so you get an original. The rationale is that your use carries personal and/or business risk, as some contributors may submit infringing works, and you want the best protection possible. Anyway, this isn't legal advice, just a suggestion.

    For some artists, being able to say they are "published" can be an important credit, and the credit is more useful if the book is not POD, and is distributed via traditional means, e.g. Ingram. For the bragging rights aspect, the print run isn't as important. On your site you might indicate how you plan to distribute the book, and maybe even include a sample 2-page spread.

    I'm afraid I agree about the Wix sentiment. You can get decent hosting for as low as $5/month, and a free site doesn't (to me) say you're all that serious. I'm sure you are, but appearances do count. If a free blog is all you can manage for now, wordpress.com provides a less spammy alternative.

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