Everyone likes to hear compliments about their work. If an artist displays his images and shares them with the world, that's because he want to trigger an emotion in the viewers, and get a feedback about their experience with his images.

Well, unfortunately there are people out there who abuse artist's good will, and who use artist's desire to be praised by art appreciators, only to fulfill their goals to earn money, with total disrespect to art.

There are plenty of examples about this, but recently my email box has been progressively filled with a specific type of proposal, which leaves me no doubts about it's scam-orientated nature. Worst then that, some people came to me, thrilled, because they had been invited through the same kind of email...


I'm talking about publishing companies who send mass emails to artists, asking them to send some of their best photos, in full resolution, so that they can be judged, and perhaps proceed to the next phase... The book to be published usually has a very striking title, ego-tripping style, along the lines of "Best photographers of the century". Who wouldn't want to be featured on one of these?

But the problem starts here... Not only you have to send full resolution files (which you should NEVER do, unless you have a written contract in your posession), but you'll also have to PAY them to enter the next phases, in case you are selected. As if this wasn't enough, you'll have to buy a certain amount of copies of the book, which sum up to quite a considerable amount of money. Wasn't I one of the "best photographers of the century"? So do I still have to pay?!...


Then.... you can try to search for the book to see if it is available for sale on popular bookstores, as promised on the email.... well it isnt'....


And then you start doing the maths... Well... this kind of proposal is sent to thousands of artists, of which a small percentage answers. From that small percentage, a fraction will pay all that is demanded, and will buy the obligatory number of copies of the book in the end. Bottom line? The publishing company makes a HUGE profit just based on the money the artists payed them to publish the book... That tells it all doesn't it?


This is just one example of many, and you should be alert to this situations. I advise you to be cautious, and never take this kind of proposals lightheartedly. If someone proposes you a deal, make sure you are dealing with a reliable source. It's incredibly tempting to accept a deal which says "YOU are a GREAT artist, so we want your work!", but unfortunately most of the times this aren't more then scam schemes to steal your money or intelectual property.



I hope I've helped you into not falling prey of these situations. Art needs to be respected on the internet and the world, and so we must be conscious and informed about those who are obstacles to our evolution as artists.