There's nobody between you and the print. Nobody. It's you and the subject and the final print. And if you get it published that way, you've said it.
Photographer's advice: Stand in the right place.
Some guys can run fast, some guys can sing, I found I could take photographs that people were interested in.
My objective always is to stay as close as possible and shoot the pictures as if through the eyes of the infantryman, the Marine, or the pilot. I wanted to give the reader something of the visual perspective and feeling of the guy under fire, his apprehensions and sufferings, his tensions and releases, his behavior in the presence of threatening death.
I never felt in competition with anybody in war photography. You're lucky to get your ass in and out again. It's as simple as that. It's the easiest photography in the world to shoot somebody who's been shot up. It doesn't take a genius. That's easy. The only thing you need to know is your photography. Get in and if you're lucky get out. And get as close as you can get.
It's very simple... this banging around with a camera and typewriter as a business is just one helluva lot of fun.
I would question any fee. Let them know you're comparison shopping among several lenders.