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Tools you can use — pricing guides and back-office software
Don’t go it alone when trying to price your work.
Editorial Photography Estimator
This program, developed by Ken Richardson, is available at www.fotography.net. Several free versions (based on Excel, Filemaker or online service) and commercial editions are offered. The commercial product has additional features that help you justify your price and sell the value of your services.
ASMP carefully examined and extensively discussed this program and the author has incorporated several features as a result. The fee calculator is supported by ASMP as a tool for arriving at fair compensation for editorial assignments, and it is the opinion of ASMP that using it for determining minimum fees for editorial assignments would be in the best interests of all photographers. ASMP applauds Ken Richardson for developing this valuable resource and for making it available through ASMP and EP.
A database of magazines with information including their circulation and advertising rates, which is very useful when using the Editorial Photography Estimator, has been developed by EP and can be found here.
Additionally, information on the stagnation of editorial photography fees can be found in this ASMP White Paper.
FotoQuote
Originally developed for pricing stock licenses, FotoQuote has a Coach feature that offers help in negotiating a sale and a Usage Tips feature that gives you specific info on each of its 218 categories of image use. Recently, the program added similar support for assignment work.
The program includes a RightsWriter tool that lets you select terms from a menu, then prints out a quote with the specific license items. Another option lets you quote prices in foreign currencies.
You may wish to take a look at the FotoBiz back-office software, which was written by the same programmer. It contains the FotoQuote system and adds invoicing, sales tracking, equipment inventory and other features.
Robin Road Software
As part of its Full Spectrum line of business and image management tools for photographers, Robin Road Software offers an estimating module that works with the inventory module (for pricing consumables and personnel), then brings in your terms & conditions to generate a formal estimate, invoice, etc.
It won’t tell you what to charge for license rights, but it will help make sure that you recover the true cost of purchased goods and services.
HindSight Ltd.
HindSight’s Photo Price Guide is an automated book of prices and guidelines on usage pricing, designed to help you calculate fees and stock license prices. Info is at the HindSight site.
HindSight also offers the InView office management program (contains client contact database, scheduler, license generator, accounting package) and the StockView image management system (catalogs your photos, tracks your submissions and license aging).
NPPA Independent Photographer’s Toolkit
The National Press Photographers Association offers extensive advice on best practices for the independent photojournalist. Included in the online toolkit are sections about contracts, business forms, negotiating, copyright and, of course, pricing.
We highly recommend that you explore the free NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator online worksheet. It helps you analyze your overhead costs, profit targets and the possible sources of revenue to meet those targets. Includes a helpful FAQ and pop-up explanations of worksheet elements.
PhotoByte
This shareware program (free download; suggested $100 donation if you keep it) is an integrated back-office system specifically designed for photographers. It contains a Copyright Composer module that writes the licenses for a wide range of uses, a Virtual Paper Trail that tracks all the paperwork for jobs and fees, and a client contact manager with direct-mail functions.
Books
Pricing Photography: The Complete Guide to Assignment & Stock Prices, by Michal Heron & David MacTavish. Order from Amazon or from Allworth Press.
Negotiating Stock Photo Prices (Fifth Edition), by Jim Pickerell. Order from the Selling Stock website.
Photography: Focus On Profit, by Tom Zimberoff (the author of PhotoByte; a copy of the software comes with the book). Order from Amazon or from Allworth Press.
Other recommended books on the business of photography are available in the Allworth Press catalog.