For Christmas this year, I am giving my wife a chapbook consisting of several poems and one fairly long story I am writing for her. The story is done, as are most of the poems, and I’ve already planned the layout. I’d like to have illustrations done to accompany the text. Has anyone here ever commissioned such a thing through sites as Deviant Art, etc? if so, I’d appreciate pointers and advice.
I would make sure you get references - and check them out. As someone who has both worked as a writer for hire on the net and who has also scoped writers online for businesses, there are thousands of “artists” out there who will work for dirt cheap and produce very sub-par work. It’s true that you get what you pay for, too - people who will work for dirt cheap probably don’t know the business, do it for a hobby or won’t do a good job for you, forcing you to either find someone else to do the work or get it corrected again and again.
Bottom line: be careful and thorough to make sure you get decent work. And make sure you talk to them and give them very detailed instructions, otherwise they might not provide you with what you want.