Exposure Bucks: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

[Jenny-Toons]

EHHHHHHHHH

Ok -- so this is gonna be tough for me to sugarcoat because in my family, no one "works for exposure" XD
Even when I'm applying for engineering internships, my mom strongly encourages for paid internships. In her words and voice:

"For the amount of work they give you and the hours they expect you to work, they better pay you"

It goes for engineering, so it goes for art.

And when I see people put up things that require a lot of work, a lot of time and effort (like a professional), and offer..."exposure", you've colored me skeptical.

I think the only way I would accept exposure is if I am guaranteed 110% some very good connections to people who WILL pay me. As in, you have demonstrated you have amazing connections to people who can and will commission me or hire me. As in, I trust that when you say exposure, it'll go somewhere -- that it won't pay off "somewhere down the line" but "immediately following". As in, "the moment people know I've worked with you, they want me to work with them and pay me"

That is my top condition and my only condition.

Funny thing about exposure -- that shit's gotta actually happen. I don't bank on "maybe" -- I bank on "it better". And while each and every experience is important for me growing as an artist and as a person, I also take into account that some people will hold back on their word the moment they get my best.

So if someone wants my best, they need to give me their best too. O-O

[fischhead]

1. Never
2. Never
3. No
4. A project that you can be genuinely interested in and excited about

Little experience is required to understand that working for free is not fair to the person doing the work, or that exposure is no guarantee of future payment.

[Kyuu]

1) Exposure bucks are good when the bucks are young and don't have much experience to know that they are being scammed into a slavery work :3

2) You accept such offer when your body is ready for abuse and your soul is up for sales

3) Offerings much be pure and without fault. It must please our LORD Evil Bob Ross who delights in abundance of Instagram followers and twitter retweets.

4) The alternatives to offering exposure is perhaps lend them ur support and love for their art. Making the young art bucks pleased with their art is a good way to make them blind to the sacrificial rituals you are prepping.

I have no personal experience with Exposure Bucks, but that sounds a little painful for my rear.

[Samuraiflame]

Little experience is required to understand that working for free is not fair to the person doing the work, or that exposure is no guarantee of future payment.

Can we like frame that at the top of the forums or something

[fischhead]

Can we like frame that at the top of the forums or something

Only if I'm getting royalties. I'm not offering advice for the exposure, y'know.

[Samuraiflame]

You drive a hard bargain sir. I think I'll have to take my business elsewhere.

[Luminosophy]

1. When might 'exposure bucks' be a good thing?
2. On what conditions might you accept such an offer?
3. Does the person offering need to have a certain amount of popularity/following to make it worthwhile?
4. What alternatives to offering 'exposure' can you think of (that isn't purely monetary)?

To answer 1-3 in one fell swoop. When the offer is coming from a legitimate company that ties directly into what I am trying to do/ relevant to my work and actually, legitimately has a following that would be interested in my content. Something that is mutually beneficial where I will directly profit from it, and at the very least the work I produce for it is something I can proudly put in my portfolio. I struggle to think of a good example but basically there is such a thing as working for exposure. It's just that most people are incompetent tools who don't understand that business deals/ contacts must include benefits to both parties. ఠ_ఠ

For number 4, I am doing that right now, actually. I work with a writer though there's no pay involved. He happens to be my long term partner and we mutually benefit from having equivalent experience in our respective fields. If there's no money available, you trade skill/ labour.

"Have you had any personal experience with Exposure Bucks? (outside the threads on this forum - that would be too easy)"

The odd note on Deviantart promising I'd get ... (???) out of making their supa amazing manga that will totally rock Japan and be the next superstar shounen hit. They never even said what I'd get out of them being famous from it.

[A-weird-girler]

Nope I never do exposure unless it's like a shoutout or something because last time in the brony community, I poured out my soul for a drawing and then the guy doesn't acknowledge me, just puts at the very bottom "This picture was made by *my name then *). I wasn't exposed properly and he got my hours of work.
@spudfuzz not even then unless you're guaranteed that they will acknowledge you! Some companies have used artists and have never even mentioned them after

[Luminosophy]

@spudfuzz not even then unless you're guaranteed that they will acknowledge you! Some companies have used artists and have never even mentioned them after

Yeah, but that's why I qualify "legitimate" company. You still don't sign up for it without doing some background research. I've been in a deal that was beneficial at the start but the way the guys started becoming demanding, I fled instantly. Nothing was lost on my part because I still produced a type of artwork I had been wanting to practice, and they had no ability to use.

[Zhengo]

You know...this thread got my wheels turning. I sometimes do requests for people on Deviantart (not all the time, just limited time cases) and I did them with no strings attached...but now maybe next time I do a request event I will force people to pay me in 'exposure bucks' in return for a request XD

[TheFalseVyper]

Omg that twitter account is everything I could have wanted, thank you for sharing it! LOL

[Samuraiflame]

(￣▽￣)ゞ It's a blessing

[joannekwan]

EDITED for clarification

1. When might 'exposure bucks' be a good thing? If the entity you're doing the free work for has a massive audience and dedicated following and if it's clearly stated that you will receive credit and they will promote your piece with your social links, etc for more than one day or one post.
2. On what conditions might you accept such an offer? If I really like what the entity is doing and meets the requirements above and the piece of work is a standalone illustration. NO long-form work. Like I wouldn't mind joining a fanart contest.
3. Does the person offering need to have a certain amount of popularity/following to make it worthwhile? YES, Because if they don't then what the hell kind of exposure are they offering you?
4. What alternatives to offering 'exposure' can you think of (that isn't purely monetary)? Service trades! You make art, they give you whatever they're good at, poetry, prose, music, merch, etc.

[skicoak]

The biggest flaw in thinking that giving work/time away for exposure is worth it based on the amount of potential exposure.... is that those doling out that exposure, are usually in a better position to pay for your work/time.

[droidmonkey1]

Exposure currency only works if it's a sure thing, other wise it's a gamble
When some one offers you exposure as payment, you need risk management.
exposure = potential viewers/clients.> if can get really noticed, like a big content creator says your name and that he liked your creation and ask to check your creations. downsize, people may want to get the same deal, creation for exposure.

money talks exposure sometimes.

[Kann]

Long time ago a guy on Deviantart sent me a note. He was working on some "AMAZING" rpg game and would pay with exposure for my art. What kind of exposure can an account with nothing on it give you?

As for questions, I would work for exposure only if it would be a sure thing.

[HGohwell]

As a general rule I'd say no to exposure. Almost always.

The only time I'd seriously consider it is in the form of guest comics or official fan comic anthologies or fanbooks if it's a series I'm already a fan of. You get exposed to their audience, they get exposed to you audience and you get to draw some official fanart for something you love. But even then I'd have to weigh up time it'd take to do it vs the pay off.

[sushy00]

1. NEVER
2. NEVER. You could be the queen of England but I do not care. I work hard for my artwork!
3. NO, it doesn't matter to me if you have 1 or 100.000 followers.
4. Alternatives would be stuff I want to have, such as clothing, yarn, drawing supplies, books, hosting etc

I may sound harsh but I want to clarify why this is. I sacrificed so much for drawing the way I do. I went to school for it, I practiced so much. I practiced until I was in tears. I practiced until I damaged my arm. That moment taught me that it is always worth it to be paid for your work. Literally anyone with a job gets paid for it, why wouldn't artists be paid? It is a specific skill! It is a valuable skill!

[Kura]

1. When might 'exposure bucks' be a good thing?
In my experience. Never.

2. On what conditions might you accept such an offer?
Absolutely fking Never again.

3. Does the person offering need to have a certain amount of popularity/following to make it worthwhile?
The significant amount of popularity I would require also means that this person has the money and SHOULD have the human decency to pay me for my work.

4. What alternatives to offering 'exposure' can you think of (that isn't purely monetary)?
That benefit the person doing all the work? None really. Unless we're talking trades of goods and services, and even then it would most likely have to be something I need... like I would need money

I used to do a lot of 'for exposure' work with organizations that HAD the numbers and followers, most notably being anime conventions that had thousands to ten thousands of attendees attending. It got me absolutely nothing. No additional business, no new offers, no instances of my art getting more know. Absolutely nothing except all the time and money I lost drawing art for their guidebook comics, badges, trophies and pretty much anything else that needed art.

For several years after the convention still used my art. With absolutely no credit to me for the following years.

[GesuGesu]

I do things for free if it's with friends I'm already close with, or a team fill of volunteers and NO ONE is getting paid. Generally I do art requests in very casual settings, and I won't take random DM /PMs from people I haven't talked to at least 5 times