FIGURE 2.5 Screen capture of Fotolia’s image licensing and pricing.
SUMMARY
Apart from the “big four,” there are a number of other microstock
sites, but all work along similar lines. You should check out each site
for current pricing information and commission levels. What really
matters is sales performance.
When tracking sales over time, it does seem that the subscrip-
tion-based sites such as Shutterstock tend to favor newer images.
Conversely, in the single-sale libraries such as iStockphoto, it can
take some time before an image accepted and added to the library
sells for the fi rst time. Clearly, the pressure is on anyone whose
subscription limit is about to expire to download whatever is avail-
able, just in case it is useful. It is better to have an image of
limited use than nothing at all for your money. It is a bit too simple
to leave it at that; other factors are in play, such as different search
engines, target markets, and so on. Nonetheless, my advice is to
make sure you send your work to both subscription-based and
single-sale libraries if you want to maximize your market exposure
and, thus, sales.
Royalties and Licenses, or “Where Is the Cash?”
If you are a photographer, you are of course interested in the commis-
sion payments you will receive if (or, more probably, when) your work
ROYALTIES AND LICENSES, OR “WHERE IS THE CASH?” 21