Best Business Practices for Photographers [8]
When I first considered agreeing to author a second edition, I thought about it for some time. Other than updates to delete companies that were no longer in business and change out a few product versions (such as D2x to the D3 or references from Windows XP to Vista), what else was there to change? Wasn't a best practice supposed to be the best? I expected few changes in much of the text.
Then I stepped back and reconsidered the idea, with the notion that perhaps there were things that needed to be expanded upon. Two of the most popular parts of the first edition were the case studies and the client dialogues, so there are now more of them. One case study I forgot to put in the last edition was how to send a DMCA takedown notice when a website is using your photographs in violation of your copyright. I tried to sneak it in at the last minute in the first edition, to no avail. Now, it has made it in.
Of the many new chapters, three are extensive expansions from just a few paragraphs in the first edition. The need to understand how to best migrate from being a staff photographer to freelance is now a solid chapter with advice not just for the photographer doing the transition, but also for the photo community that the newfound freelance photographer is entering. I even ran it past a dozen of my colleagues who just made the transition themselves, and it proved true and insightful to them. Now, with their blessing, it is here for your reading. I have added a massive chapter on licensing, much more than the chapter section it was in the first edition. I have also expanded the "Pricing Your Work to Stay in Business" chapter into two chapters, one of which helps you set your own fees for shooting. These are just a few of the many additions to the second edition of this book.
There are thousands of you out there who own copies of the first edition. "Often read and heavily dog-eared," wrote one photographer. "It is my desk reference that I turn to several times a week," wrote another. A third wrote, "I am running my business so much more profitably now," in a thoughtful letter. So, as an owner of the first edition considering buying the second edition, you have two questions to answer. The first is, "Is it worth it?" My answer is a hearty, "Yes!" There were 26 chapters before; now there are 32. There were 352 pages before, now there are more than 500. The chapters on licensing and the update of the negotiations chapters alone should earn you enough to easily justify the cost of the book.
The second question you might be asking yourself is, "If I buy it, what will I do with the first edition?" The last three words in your first edition should be your guide. Pay it forward. Pass along the copy to a friend or colleague and encourage them to read it. Tell them when they're finished to buy the second edition and again pass along the first edition to someone they think could benefit from it. You might even design your own bookplate, like a well-read library book years ago, where you could read the previous names of people who checked it out by the library card in the book. Sign your name in the front on your own bookplate and see how many people read and pass it along, signing each time before it leaves their hands. You could use something like "This book was the property of..." followed by your name and the date you passed it along.
Our profession, one we have a passion for, is under pressure from all sides. Photo staffs being slashed all over the country, stock photo prices plummeting faster than a lead balloon, and the constant devaluation of our work by people who own their own digital camera and who think "How hard can it be?" continue to make people believe that being a photographer means you produce a commodity. Photographs are not widgets, interchangeable and sold at lower and lower prices each day. To some entities, they might be seen as such; however,