Hi Daring Adventurers,
The other critical aspect of the proposal is the schedule. You should have calculated your estimated time for the completion of the project while doing your pricing, but that is not the only aspect to scheduling. You should also include specific milestones to be met and payment that will be due per milestone met. Typically, these milestones may include concept sketches, character designs, preliminary sketches, and completion of individual illustrations when the project contracted is for multiple illustrations. Often there will be a schedule devised for the proposal, but a finalized version should be included with the contract. Usually you would want to avoid giving specific dates in the proposal schedule; instead you would give a number of days after the contract has been signed that the work would be due. This will insure you do not begin work prior to a finalized agreement, and if the client needs a quick turnaround it will motivate them to work toward finalizing the contract. Sometimes, you will be working on multiple projects at once and must have good organizational skills to balance and meet all clients’ needs. It may be wise for you to set up a personal weekly work schedule detailing what times and days you will be working on your concurrent projects to insure none fall behind and that the contracted schedule is met.
– Anthony Summey