What is the name of your state? NC
Hello, this is my problem: I was hired to illustrate a children's book for a publishing company in NY. Four months into the project, I was told to start over with a new style that was completely different than the style I had been using to begin with. Basically I was told to take it down from sophisticated, detailed compositions to extremely minimal 'baby' drawings. I had already had a lot of trouble with the president of the company 'changing her mind' during the course of a project, during the prior books I illustrated for the company, and I was not eager to "start over" after putting so much work into the style I'd started with, figuring she might keep "changing her mind" and never paying me, indefinitely. I received the initial payment, but had not gotten the second payment yet, which was due, since I'd completed the draft (three payments were expected altogether). In the meantime, my father died suddenly, and I put off dealing with the publisher due to the great stress surrounding the event. The president emailed me and told me to not "screw up" my relationship with her company (within a few weeks). At this point I contacted her via phone and let her know I was going through great stress and was not able to cope with having to start a book over and knowing four months of hard work had been wasted. She suggested we "scrap the whole project and start over with a new book". I told her, in a courteous tone, I would prefer if future contracts would allow for me to get paid for extra work if I were asked to "start over" mid-project. She sounded very upbeat, said she wanted to "help" me, and said she would call back in three weeks. She never called back, she never emailed, and around a year later I saw the book I had been working on had been published with another illustrator. The contract was never officially terminated.
Now I want to call the company and ask if they could possibly share a small portion of the royalties from a picture book I illustrated that has been very successful. I am concerned that the president still has something held over my head from the last contract, although I don't see how. That book (the one someone else ended up illustrating) was published in 2016. Could she "sue" me for taking too long to reply once she demanded I start over, at this point? Could she demand I return the original first payment, at this point? I am not sure how this works. All I know is there was no official termination in writing in any form, she just never called back or emailed after our last conversation.
I checked Glassdoor employee reviews and discovered that she treats all her employees in a consistently terrible manner, especially the competent employees, and that the company is "extremely dysfunctional", so that was a comfort, in a way.
By the way, I know that it is a very slim chance she will "share" royalties from the successful book. It would just make me feel better that I had at least tried asking.
Thank you for any advice.
Hello, this is my problem: I was hired to illustrate a children's book for a publishing company in NY. Four months into the project, I was told to start over with a new style that was completely different than the style I had been using to begin with. Basically I was told to take it down from sophisticated, detailed compositions to extremely minimal 'baby' drawings. I had already had a lot of trouble with the president of the company 'changing her mind' during the course of a project, during the prior books I illustrated for the company, and I was not eager to "start over" after putting so much work into the style I'd started with, figuring she might keep "changing her mind" and never paying me, indefinitely. I received the initial payment, but had not gotten the second payment yet, which was due, since I'd completed the draft (three payments were expected altogether). In the meantime, my father died suddenly, and I put off dealing with the publisher due to the great stress surrounding the event. The president emailed me and told me to not "screw up" my relationship with her company (within a few weeks). At this point I contacted her via phone and let her know I was going through great stress and was not able to cope with having to start a book over and knowing four months of hard work had been wasted. She suggested we "scrap the whole project and start over with a new book". I told her, in a courteous tone, I would prefer if future contracts would allow for me to get paid for extra work if I were asked to "start over" mid-project. She sounded very upbeat, said she wanted to "help" me, and said she would call back in three weeks. She never called back, she never emailed, and around a year later I saw the book I had been working on had been published with another illustrator. The contract was never officially terminated.
Now I want to call the company and ask if they could possibly share a small portion of the royalties from a picture book I illustrated that has been very successful. I am concerned that the president still has something held over my head from the last contract, although I don't see how. That book (the one someone else ended up illustrating) was published in 2016. Could she "sue" me for taking too long to reply once she demanded I start over, at this point? Could she demand I return the original first payment, at this point? I am not sure how this works. All I know is there was no official termination in writing in any form, she just never called back or emailed after our last conversation.
I checked Glassdoor employee reviews and discovered that she treats all her employees in a consistently terrible manner, especially the competent employees, and that the company is "extremely dysfunctional", so that was a comfort, in a way.
By the way, I know that it is a very slim chance she will "share" royalties from the successful book. It would just make me feel better that I had at least tried asking.
Thank you for any advice.
