So I'm tired of doing weird little freelance things based on "somebody asked me and I felt flattered." I'm tired of doing favours for friends and relatives (although I still love you, friends and relatives!) And I'm tired of underpricing not just my art, but my time. So I'm looking into setting up as a Real Official Freelance Monkey as opposed to Half-Assed Freelancer. The straw is: I want to price my time out and have it be worth it to me. I get passionate about an idea briefly, and then it flames out, and becomes a chore, and then BLECH! I find I'm in a project with a friend or a friend of a friend and I don't want to burn bridges, but man, this piece of work has burnt me out. Plus....contracts provide that level of accountability and Get It Done-ness that I sometimes lack when approaching projects "just for fun."

That said, I've been looking up all sorts of fun things re: the business side of art. I've long avoided this under the delusion that I just don't have a head for business. But as I've started looking into things, my brain is getting a more solid notion of what it means to be a freelancer. And I'm starting to think: I could do this! I really could. I just need to not let the "what am I worth? Oh, but this is for a friend or a friend of a friend...." thing swamp my emotional bits.

Thus, here are some links I've found:

One Deviant's Info on pricing: [link]

Contract Glossary: [link]
Letter of Agreement: [link]
(Here's some information on what rights you want to make available, what

Mistakes a Freelancer Makes: [link]

Wizard of the Coasts' Art Director Discusses Kill Fees: [link](Kill fees are the thing that keep you as an artist from getting screwed over if they cancel a project on you.)

Dan Dos Santos offers up information on how he makes his invoices: [link]


And here's some information I'm wanting:

- As a freelancer do I need to incorporate as a business?
- Setting up a business bank account?
- Taxes? How do I provide for them?
- Contract boilerplate for artists/sample contracts
- What rights do you typically offer up/keep for yourself?  (I ask because I'd like the ability to do reprints, sell art prints, show in Spectrum, etc.) And how much should one charge for the painting itself if the commissioning party wants to keep the original art?

Also, any other links you might think are handy, drop 'em here.