I am a Ferry Tale Illustrator

On the exact same day that I first blogged about getting paid for photographs, I was contacted by a representative of ShipPax, a Swedish publisher of books and magazines about shipping and ferries, to inquire about obtaining publishing rights to a photograph I took during my honeymoon. Having immediately blogged about my negotiation failure, I approached the new deal cautiously, simply asking, "What sort of compensation are you prepared to offer?" The response came back:

Of course, we are prepared to offer a copyright fee, which is normally around EUR 75. Alternatively, if you are shipping interested, a copy of the book once published in 2012?

Seventy-five euros!! Wow! My previous sale was fifty measly US dollars for ten photos, and now someone is offering me 75 euros for only one! Awesome!

Again, because I'm a dumbass failure of a businessman, my counter offer of "50€ and an English copy of the book" was immediately accepted.

Unfortunately, the book is internal to the shipping industry and not actually going to be published to the public (i.e. not available on Amazon). The book is, I'm guessing, going to be about ferries and shipping. Not really of any interest to me, but I look forward to having a book on the shelf that references me in a photo caption.

This is the photo I have sold ShipPax the right to publish:

Apparently this is a Swedish ferry. We snorkeled around it during our honeymoon in Venezuela. (Marga, honey, better if you don't click on that link and see how flat your stomach used to be.)

I'll blog again about this ferry and book in 2012.