Author Topic: October 2021 Brutally Honest Earnings Report (Special Book Cover Edition) (Read 9706 times)

Brasilnut · « **on:** November 01, 2021, 03:06 »

Welcome to the October 2021 detailed monthly report during these increasingly normal times (on the surface at least).

In addition to the earnings report, check out a summary of a super useful/interesting chat with Nash Mascaro, Sales Director at Arcangel who served me a large portion of humble pie and valuable tips on improving my approvals/sales over at Arcangel.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/10/31/october-2021-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Hope you had a good month and keeping healthy.

Alex

Suspect · « **Reply #1 on:** November 01, 2021, 03:57 »

Thanks for a great report as always. The Arcangel article is very interesting.

I contacted MM myself as I was confused about when/what I would be paid.

I made a few comments about communication with contributors. One thing MM said in his replies was this:

'We are working on a new module for the site that will streamline and simplify royalty payments all round'.

I think that would be very useful.

With regard to what you write, you have clarified something I wondered:

'Keep in mind that the more famous the book/author, the larger the potential royalties'.

Is that because what we are paid depends on the size of the print run? Also, am I right in thinking that under this sales model, we can be paid again for the use?

Thanks as ever for sharing your stock photography journey with us

Brasilnut · « **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2021, 04:28 »

Quote from: DOP on November 01, 2021, 03:57

'Keep in mind that the more famous the book/author, the larger the potential royalties'.

Is that because what we are paid depends on the size of the print run? Also, am I right in thinking that under this sales model, we can be paid again for the use?

Thanks as ever for sharing your stock photography journey with us

You're welcome...it's a fun journey which helps to take my mind off my relatively dull corporate day-job.

Not 100% sure how the royalties work (as not involved in the negotiations)...some details here:

https://arcangel.com/buy-stock-images-illustrations/

I only upload Rights-Managed to them so I've received repeat sales for the same image that were printed for different countries.

Following the logic, if an image is selected for a big-time author like Stephen King it will be printed in dozens of places for 100,000s of copies so would produce potentially large royalties. My USA and UK sales have earned me quite a bit more than a book cover published in Poland, for instance.

Suspect · « **Reply #3 on:** November 01, 2021, 04:46 »

Thanks Alex.

For Real · « **Reply #4 on:** November 01, 2021, 08:24 »

A well written monthly report Alex. I enjoy reading them and seeing where there is hope... Thanks

gemmy12 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 06, 2021, 23:09 »

Its always joy to read your sales report and your experience while shooting in public in different countries.. and i do wait for your monthly sale report email notice in my inbox haha
Do you face some difficulty in setting the mindset when you shoot a subject whether it should go for micro or to arcangel ?
and are the images one submit to arangel need to be exclusive ?

Suspect · « **Reply #6 on:** November 07, 2021, 09:30 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 06, 2021, 23:09

Its always joy to read your sales report and your experience while shooting in public in different countries.. and i do wait for your monthly sale report email notice in my inbox haha
Do you face some difficulty in setting the mindset when you shoot a subject whether it should go for micro or to arcangel ?
and are the images one submit to arangel need to be exclusive ?

The images must be exclusive.
My experience is that the images I submit to Arc are nothing like micro (although I don't actually create for micro nowadays).
The images Arc tend to accept of mine are conceptual, especially vintage, and model released.
I can spend time at the beach taking lots of photos (as I recently did), upload a few, and have them all rejected (as I recently did) ...

Brasilnut · « **Reply #7 on:** November 08, 2021, 06:50 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 06, 2021, 23:09

Do you face some difficulty in setting the mindset when you shoot a subject whether it should go for micro or to arcangel ?
and are the images one submit to arangel need to be exclusive ?

I don't shoot primarily for micros anymore...these days I'm only scouting for book cover scenes. Most of book cover stuff won't really sell as micros and vice versa, for instance this one that has been recently approved. During my scouting I may come across a microstock type scene and I'll send it off to Wirestock as they do their own keywording (the less I bother about microstock the better).

As DOP has mentioned, the images need to be exclusive. Arcangel do have a non-exclusive collection "NX" but you may only duplicate the images as Rights-Managed.

More details: http://www.imagebank.photography/wp-content/uploads/arcangel-contributors-photographers-and-videographers.pdf

gemmy12 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 09, 2021, 01:20 »

i thought its not bad to be a contributor there and sent my getty port link and they rejected lol i love the kind of images you and some other arcangel contributors uploading.. i used to shoot similar style of photos before coming to stock and i actually enjoy taking such shots

Suspect · « **Reply #9 on:** November 09, 2021, 04:51 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 01:20

i thought its not bad to be a contributor there and sent my getty port link and they rejected lol i love the kind of images you and some other arcangel contributors uploading.. i used to shoot similar style of photos before coming to stock and i actually enjoy taking such shots

I tried 3 times and on the 3rd (+ accepted) attempt I'd taken mostly new photos aimed directly at book covers (including model released) and uploaded them to a Google folder and sent Arc that link.
I think it's a minimum of 20 but am not certain of that.
Just linking to another stock site won't work I think.
Good luck if you try again

SariMe · « **Reply #10 on:** November 09, 2021, 08:14 »

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 04:51

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 01:20
i thought its not bad to be a contributor there and sent my getty port link and they rejected lol i love the kind of images you and some other arcangel contributors uploading.. i used to shoot similar style of photos before coming to stock and i actually enjoy taking such shots

I tried 3 times and on the 3rd (+ accepted)

Same

gemmy12 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 09, 2021, 08:59 »

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 04:51

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 01:20
i thought its not bad to be a contributor there and sent my getty port link and they rejected lol i love the kind of images you and some other arcangel contributors uploading.. i used to shoot similar style of photos before coming to stock and i actually enjoy taking such shots

I tried 3 times and on the 3rd (+ accepted) attempt I'd taken mostly new photos aimed directly at book covers (including model released) and uploaded them to a Google folder and sent Arc that link.
I think it's a minimum of 20 but am not certain of that.
Just linking to another stock site won't work I think.
Good luck if you try again

Thanks for the advice. I will try that but I am more reluctant to keep trying kind of things these days.. Is it worth to upload exclusive images in archangel? How have your experience been there who are uploading there for a while...?

Suspect · « **Reply #12 on:** November 09, 2021, 09:11 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 08:59

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 04:51
Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 01:20
i thought its not bad to be a contributor there and sent my getty port link and they rejected lol i love the kind of images you and some other arcangel contributors uploading.. i used to shoot similar style of photos before coming to stock and i actually enjoy taking such shots

I tried 3 times and on the 3rd (+ accepted) attempt I'd taken mostly new photos aimed directly at book covers (including model released) and uploaded them to a Google folder and sent Arc that link.
I think it's a minimum of 20 but am not certain of that.
Just linking to another stock site won't work I think.
Good luck if you try again
Thanks for the advice. I will try that but I am more reluctant to keep trying kind of things these days.. Is it worth to upload exclusive images in archangel? How have your experience been there who are uploading there for a while...?

I've had one sale when I got to about 100 images and have been uploading for a year.
Unfortunately I still don't know how much I've earned.
Alex is the more experienced contributor. He writes about his experience on his website.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/tag/arcangel/

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #13 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:16 »

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 09:11

I've had one sale when I got to about 100 images and have been uploading for a year.
Unfortunately I still don't know how much I've earned.

How do you not know how much you earned if you made a sale? Don't they tell you?

gemmy12 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:28 »

Yes Dop. How can you not know about your sales..

Suspect · « **Reply #15 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:39 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 11:28

Yes Dop. How can you not know about your sales..

Quote from: Uncle Pete on November 09, 2021, 11:16

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 09:11

I've had one sale when I got to about 100 images and have been uploading for a year.
Unfortunately I still don't know how much I've earned.

How do you not know how much you earned if you made a sale? Don't they tell you?

I'm awaiting an email telling me .. there's no interface like there is with Sstock etc.

Brasilnut · « **Reply #16 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:54 »

Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 11:39

Quote from: gemmy12 on November 09, 2021, 11:28
Yes Dop. How can you not know about your sales..
Quote from: Uncle Pete on November 09, 2021, 11:16
Quote from: DOP on November 09, 2021, 09:11

I've had one sale when I got to about 100 images and have been uploading for a year.
Unfortunately I still don't know how much I've earned.

How do you not know how much you earned if you made a sale? Don't they tell you?

I'm awaiting an email telling me .. there's no interface like there is with Sstock etc.

At at beginning of a given month you'll receive a notification by email if you had a sale go through on a previous month.

In the meantime, the best place imo to check for sales is by searching your name + Arcangel on Google Books. Will also show some interesting results for sales via microstock agencies.

SVH · « **Reply #17 on:** November 09, 2021, 14:46 »

I kind of dislike agencies that will not give you direct information about your sales. I personally never would join this agency. It doesn't fit in today's world. For the same reason I left Alamy (who relies on good trust and selfreporting downloads by clients). Left Dreamstime as well, I wonder if they sell anything at all, but my patience is long gone.

I'd rather stick with Adobe (immediate reporting, minimum 33ct and lot of times more than that, but not that many real biggies unfortunately) and even so Shutterstock (allthough the 10ct sales are getting almost insufferable, so they might have to go as well).

And OK, Istock, I'll hang on for just a while because they have some nice sales now and then.

For Real · « **Reply #18 on:** November 09, 2021, 16:12 »

Quote from: SVH on November 09, 2021, 14:46

I kind of dislike agencies that will not give you direct information about your sales. I personally never would join this agency. It doesn't fit in today's world. For the same reason I left Alamy (who relies on good trust and selfreporting downloads by clients). Left Dreamstime as well, I wonder if they sell anything at all, but my patience is long gone.

I'd rather stick with Adobe (immediate reporting, minimum 33ct and lot of times more than that, but not that many real biggies unfortunately) and even so Shutterstock (allthough the 10ct sales are getting almost insufferable, so they might have to go as well).

And OK, Istock, I'll hang on for just a while because they have some nice sales now and then.

Sad how we allow iStock to screw us over -myself included $:-\$

Suspect · « **Reply #19 on:** November 11, 2021, 04:23 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on November 01, 2021, 03:06

Welcome to the October 2021 detailed monthly report during these increasingly normal times (on the surface at least).

In addition to the earnings report, check out a summary of a super useful/interesting chat with Nash Mascaro, Sales Director at Arcangel who served me a large portion of humble pie and valuable tips on improving my approvals/sales over at Arcangel.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/10/31/october-2021-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Hope you had a good month and keeping healthy.

Alex

Do you know Alex how many contributors Arc has?

Brasilnut · « **Reply #20 on:** November 11, 2021, 05:42 »

Quote from: DOP on November 11, 2021, 04:23

Quote from: Brasilnut on November 01, 2021, 03:06
Welcome to the October 2021 detailed monthly report during these increasingly normal times (on the surface at least).

In addition to the earnings report, check out a summary of a super useful/interesting chat with Nash Mascaro, Sales Director at Arcangel who served me a large portion of humble pie and valuable tips on improving my approvals/sales over at Arcangel.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/10/31/october-2021-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Hope you had a good month and keeping healthy.

Alex

Do you know Alex how many contributors Arc has?

Don't know, but easily a few 1000. Most are no longer active.

As of today, Arcangel boasts 847,652 online images (of which 1,055 are proudly mine

). Drop in the ocean but growing!

Suspect · « **Reply #21 on:** November 13, 2021, 14:34 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on November 11, 2021, 05:42

Quote from: DOP on November 11, 2021, 04:23
Quote from: Brasilnut on November 01, 2021, 03:06
Welcome to the October 2021 detailed monthly report during these increasingly normal times (on the surface at least).

In addition to the earnings report, check out a summary of a super useful/interesting chat with Nash Mascaro, Sales Director at Arcangel who served me a large portion of humble pie and valuable tips on improving my approvals/sales over at Arcangel.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/10/31/october-2021-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Hope you had a good month and keeping healthy.

Alex

Do you know Alex how many contributors Arc has?

Don't know, but easily a few 1000. Most are no longer active.

As of today, Arcangel boasts 847,652 online images (of which 1,055 are proudly mine ). Drop in the ocean but growing!

Just seen that you've had a whole raft of new images published on Arc - that's no mean feat! Looks like your conversation with Nash paid off

Also, just read your interview with Kerem Gogus on your website.

Great article + what a brilliant artist he is.

Brasilnut · « **Reply #22 on:** November 14, 2021, 06:04 »

Quote from: DOP on November 13, 2021, 14:34

Quote from: Brasilnut on November 11, 2021, 05:42
Quote from: DOP on November 11, 2021, 04:23
Quote from: Brasilnut on November 01, 2021, 03:06
Welcome to the October 2021 detailed monthly report during these increasingly normal times (on the surface at least).

In addition to the earnings report, check out a summary of a super useful/interesting chat with Nash Mascaro, Sales Director at Arcangel who served me a large portion of humble pie and valuable tips on improving my approvals/sales over at Arcangel.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/10/31/october-2021-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Hope you had a good month and keeping healthy.

Alex

Do you know Alex how many contributors Arc has?

Don't know, but easily a few 1000. Most are no longer active.

As of today, Arcangel boasts 847,652 online images (of which 1,055 are proudly mine ). Drop in the ocean but growing!

Just seen that you've had a whole raft of new images published on Arc - that's no mean feat! Looks like your conversation with Nash paid off

Also, just read your interview with Kerem Gogus on your website.

Great article + what a brilliant artist he is.

Appreciated Kerem's attitude to creating art and not just thinking about the $, I trust that he'll have success at Arcangel much more so than at the micros where they don't value his work.

Here's a link to the article for all those reading: https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2021/11/13/interview-with-keremgo3d-creative-digital-artist/

As for my port at Arcangel, having a record month number of accepted at currently 48 (here's 4 recent ones)

Nash's talk has certainly helped to bring down the rejections to a much more reasonable 30-40%!

Suspect · « **Reply #23 on:** November 15, 2021, 13:45 »

I've been paid for my 1st Arc sale. A little disappointed in that it was just under a 3 figure £ sum. However, it's a lot better than microstock.

I believe from what I've read that the smaller sales £ amount is probably due to lower distribution/licensing numbers. It's a German language novel only, as far as I know only printed in Switzerland.

I think that English language international best sellers will earn more.

So, the project is that everyone who reads this please buys this novel, to turn it into a bestseller, that will then be translated into several languages (for which I think I'll be paid again).

You may have to learn German 1st.

Christof Gasser: 'When the Shadows Die'.

Incidentally, for anyone who cares to look, the red brush strokes are mine (on an authentic vintage photo).

I was in an email discussion today with Ole (formerly of the Sstock forum) about whether the contributors who spend more (in money and time) say on models, sets etc, are paid more, but my gut feeling is that it's just down to distribution numbers/usage of the image. I'd love to know the answer to this question ...

Brasilnut · « **Reply #24 on:** November 15, 2021, 17:02 »

Quote from: DOP on November 15, 2021, 13:45

I've been paid for my 1st Arc sale. A little disappointed in that it was just under a 3 figure £ sum. However, it's a lot better than microstock.

I believe from what I've read that the smaller sales £ amount is probably due to lower distribution/licensing numbers. It's a German language novel only, as far as I know only printed in Switzerland.

I think that English language international best sellers will earn more.

So, the project is that everyone who reads this please buys this novel, to turn it into a bestseller, that will then be translated into several languages (for which I think I'll be paid again).

You may have to learn German 1st.

Christof Gasser: 'When the Shadows Die'.

Incidentally, for anyone who cares to look, the red brush strokes are mine (on an authentic vintage photo).

I was in an email discussion today with Ole (formerly of the Sstock forum) about whether the contributors who spend more (in money and time) say on models, sets etc, are paid more, but my gut feeling is that it's just down to distribution numbers/usage of the image. I'd love to know the answer to this question ...

Congrats again on your first sale, many more to come.

I don't have a huge sample, just 17 sales but my UK and US royalties are about double that of other countries. So, you're right that if it's translated into English you should expect some good returns.

Repeat sales are the beauty of the Rights-Managed model and one such book has sold 4 times, earning me commission on each sale.

Yes, it's purely down to print run and perhaps resolution size of the image used. There is also negotiations going on between Arcangel and the client, especially if they are a regular client.

Investing in make-up, clothes, setting and post-processing with a strong concept should help the image stand out and in turn sell. I'll be heading down to Granada during the Christmas break with my girlfriend and research some Arabic clothes she may wear when we visit Alhambra!

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Author Topic: October 2021 Brutally Honest Earnings Report (Special Book Cover Edition) (Read 9706 times)

Brasilnut

Suspect

Brasilnut

Suspect

For Real

gemmy12

Suspect

Brasilnut

gemmy12

Suspect

SariMe

gemmy12

Suspect

Uncle Pete

gemmy12

Suspect

Brasilnut

SVH

For Real

Suspect

Brasilnut

Suspect

Brasilnut

Suspect

Brasilnut

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