More advice needed - Going rates for photography in a National motoring magazine

[Chris24]

Does anyone here have any experience on the going rates for photography for work published in a national monthly magazine.

New Zealand Autocar magazine asked if I could supply them with some photographs for an article they were doing on the Nurburgring 24 Hours. I have seen an online copy of the magazine today and they have used 13 of my photos in total in their 6 page article.

That breaks down for my photos as 3/4 page photo,  1 full page photo with 3 smaller photos inserted, text of article over the main photo, 3 small photos at the bottom of a page, 4 photos on a page taking up about 50 % of that page and finally a full page photo again with article text printed over the photo.

I understand that magazines don't generally pay people unless you send them an invoice, so what would be a reasonable figure to request for my work on an invoice.

The magazine is sold at all news agents, supermarket chains and petrol station chains in New Zealand apparently and i read some figures somewhere that it has a circulation of nearly 12,000 and a readership of around 169,000, so guessing its a main stream magazine.

Any advice welcome, thanks.

[Mr. Rick]

Tricky one Chris. Really this should have been agreed beforehand. Having been right-royally "shafted" by Bloomberg many years ago ("cheque is in the post" type effect) I always get things in writing these days for any kind of shoot work.

Having said that, given the national status of the publication there should at least be a few hundred knocking around in this for you. Although taking them to court could be interesting given the geography.

Good luck old chap!

[clubarnage]

There is no precise 'going rate'. Except for special circumstances, magazines and newspapers generally don't pay a fortune for editorial images (there are too many rich kids handing them out for nothing). As Mr Rick says, it is better to get a number up-front, than to go cap-in-hand after publication. Did they get you to sign a rights release? Your signature on the release is usually the moment when money is discussed. I've found that it is better to ask the editor what they think your pictures are worth, rather than picking a number out of the ether.

I've been a full time professional motorsport photographer for many years and the issue of 'how much' and 'for what' is a perpetual one. All I know is that editors don't like 'surprise' invoices. These days they'll assume they are getting pictures for free, unless you specifically tell them otherwise BEFORE you provide them.

[Chris24]

Thanks for the advice on here. Issue now sorted, had an e mail from the editor last night asking me to put in an invoice for £250.