We are looking for staff artists to create covers for our print and electronic fiction. Previous experience illustrating covers is not necessary, but is desirable.

Terms
Virtual Tales purchases non-exclusive worldwide electronic and print rights to the artwork you create for us, but retains exclusive rights to the cover art derived from the artwork (that is, we have the right to publish that version of your artwork which bears the Virtual Tales logo, story title and author byline, a.k.a., the "cover art"). You also grant us the right to use the cover art for any promotional purpose, including on merchandise, with sales of promotional merchandise bearing the cover art resulting in additional compensation as discussed below.

Deliverables
For each title, the artist will provide a single file of artwork in a layered PSD, TIF, AI or other compatible software, with the artwork and text treatments on seperate layers. The artwork should be sized to measure at least 6" x 9" at 300 DPI in RGB format. All files must be delivered electronically via our FTP site or e-mail, and should be compressed using WinZip or Stuffit.

Method of Work
Artists are provided with a brief discription of the story, along with suggestions from the author about a suitable scene from the story, including character descriptions, architectural details, etc. You will be provided with the title text and author name, which should be positioned over the artwork on separate layers. Artists work directly with the Director of Marketing & Promotions to produce the finished artwork and can direct all requests for additional information and/or feedback to the Director of Marketing. When the artwork is approved, artists can upload the final product to the Virtual Tales FTP site or send a .ZIP or .SITX attachment to the e-mail address provided.

Payment
Payment for artists is on a royalty basis of 10% of all print and electronic sales of the work(s) they illustrate, minus PayPal fees. In addition, Virtual Tales maintains a CafePress store with a variety of story-specific products. Artists receive 70% of all profits from CafePress merchandise featuring their cover art.

In addition to royalty compensation, artists also receive a brief biography and/or photograph on the Virtual Tales website, along with a link back to your own website, and a cover art credit in the print version of any works produced. If you do not have a professional biography, we will work with you to create one.

Artists are also free to include any artwork done for Virtual Tales on other web sites, or to sell prints of said artwork, as long as a link back to Virtual Tales is included. All rights revert back to the artist should the accompanying story be removed from our site.

Royalty payments are sent quarterly. We pay through PayPal, so artists must have a PayPal account.

Application Instructions
Due to increasing amounts of spam, we are no longer publishing our direct e-mail addresses on the website. To be considered for an staff artist position, please use our contact form to request the appropriate e-mail address to send us your submission package, which should contain:

• A summary of your background and/or experience
• Samples of previous work, or the address of a web-based portfolio containing samples.