I have heard that large publishers, like Time magazine, will commission artists to create covers for multiple stories. They may have up to 5 tentative cover des

I have heard that large publishers, like Time magazine, will commission artists to create covers for multiple stories. They may have up to 5 tentative cover designs for any publication, then they are free to choose (right up until press time) which fully-designed cover they wish to run. The thing is - they PAY for each cover they commission whether they use it or not. ---- My career began in graphic design. Many people try to get you to submit work and only the winner gets paid (or paid in full). I've had other 'take home assignments' or interview tests that they tell me to block off half a day so they can 'see my work' to 'tell if I'm a good fit'. Don't be fooled by any of it - good work != good workers, and it's much more valuable that they see how you work on their team than how well you perform in skills that can be taught. I quickly made a simple rule: I do the work; I get paid. @Hiring managers: If you want to see a sample of my work, and my past portfolio isn't good enough for you - pay me for a small freelance project before offering me a contract. It's low-risk, everybody gets paid and is happy, and if you don't like what you see, don't give me more work. It's very simple. Anything less is criminal (where I live). @Devs: Only have two prices: Pro, and Pro Bono. Nothing in-between. Pro means there's no such thing as family discount, or friend discount, or a 'deal' on things. If the person knows you and wants you to be successful in life the last thing they'll ask you to do is work for less profit. See those selfish people for what they are. You should be happy to pay full price for anything, and it just makes it better if you're able to support somebody you know while paying full price. Pro bono means it's $0.00. You should always have at least one project on your table that you are donating your time back to the community. Ever use Firefox or Chrome? Linux? OS X? Android? You already understand the benefits of pro bono work in the open-source software community, but as a worker maybe there are ways you can give back to the community you live in as well. Find people who need your skill set and make a habit of learning new things while helping others. If you don't do any pro bono work, it's easy to get caught in the 'discount delusion' and you end up trying to give up all your profit instead. Do pro bono, and then insist on the full (fair) price for everything else.