The usual professional route would be for a contract to be drawn up between a publisher, author and illustrator – each negotiating and agreeing terms before signing.

HOWEVER – if a friend is asking the artist to do pics. on spec. – that is with no fee or advance, you need to be pretty convinced that your book will be both published and then sold well , if you're going to get just royalties – or you could be completely out  of pocket after months of work, if the book fails to sell – or even get published – as there are no guarantees .

If  the author has a track record, and is already published, and their books have sold- then the artist could take a calculated risk knowing that the author already has a market.

Why must the publisher remain anony,mous? That's a bit dubious – unless the author is thinking of self-publishing and not saying.

The artist might agree to do tthe first book on a royalty only basis – and then re-negotiate terms (ie. an advance against royalties) if the book is a success – but I definitely wouldn't tie up to a whole series on a royalty only  basis.

It's a very grey area and the artist just needs to be aware of all the pitfalls – the Soc. of Authors do brochures covering agreements/contracts etc – and the artist should take a look at th eWriters and Artists yearbook for advice

Another option might be a flat fee for the artist – the renegotiating further books with a royalty , if the first one does well, at least they can pay some bills!

As for websites, you need to be a little careful here as there are a lot which are selling various software, reports and packages on newsletter services which may not be what you need.

I’d also suggest you have a chat to your local Arts Board representative. Social Enterprise which leads to self funding is very popular at the moment and your project could fall into this category.

There’s no doubt that submitting a complete package of words and photographs does greatly increase your chances of acceptance as long as both are of a good standard.

Submitting digital photographs to a magazine can be done in 2 ways, by email or by burning to a CD-rom.  If submitting via email you need to ensure your ISP allows you to send large file attachments and also check with the editor that he can receive large files.  Many ISPs limit mailbox sizes.  You must also check that the editor is happy to receive attachments.  Many are not due to virus threats, although this is less common now that more robust virus protection is available. 

Photographic files can be burnt to disc very easily provided your computer is equipped with a CD burner, (most modern computers have this as standard) and the correct software.  You could also upload them to specialist photographic printing sites and these will print and or burn them to disc for you.  (See article on Photojournalism for more ideas on this).

Which ever method you use you should consult with the commissioning editor first.

As to what type of camera to use there are just so many that will do the job adequately that you will have to do your own research on this as only you can take cost and other factors into account.

One thing I would say, do opt for a digital camera.  The quality of output produced by these is more than good enough for most publications and since digital files are now almost always required it makes sense to use a camera already operating in this mode.  My Nikon D70 would certainly be a good choice since it has a macro feature, (the ability to take close up shots from a very short distance away which you would need for garden photography), but the cost may be prohibitive.

No you don't have to register with anyone although you may find it easier to find work by registering with some of the big job sites now flourishing on the web and also PR agencies.

Take a look also at the our own Jobs board, (opposite), which aggregates some of the best writing jobs from around the web.

Don't forget you will be responsible for your tax, not sure how this effects foreigners working here, but UK residents would be expected to inform their local tax office.  

You will also find a lot of very good advice in the ebook Feelance Writing which covers everything you need to know about launching a freelance career including a comprehensive look at the various ways of using the web to find work. http://www.writelink.co.uk/feelancewriting 

Yes there are a lot of distance learning courses available at the moment.  I always hesitate to recommend anything I haven't had personal experience with so this is what I suggest you do:

1.  Draw up a short list of courses that you are interested in.

2.  Study the credentials of the tutors.  I don't necessarily mean their academic qualifications but whether they have had success in the fields that they are teaching.  For instance if you want to write short stories for competitions then ensure your tutor has had success in this field.

3.  Ask for referrals from past students.  Contact these and ask how satisfied they were with the course.

4.  Make sure you understand what you will be getting and what is expected of you.

5.  Ask how long they have been in business.  Any company that has been around a long time is more likely to offer a quality service.

6.  Look for arts body supported courses.  In order to have received a grant they will have had to convince officials that they are able to offer a quality service.

You might also like to consider self guided courses.  There are many excellent ones around and are especially good if money is tight.

The Magnificent 7 creative writing ebooks and ecourses cover all the main areas of creative writing and have been written by experts in their respective fields.
http://www.writelink.co.uk/magseven

Never under any circumstances send originals to magazines be they photographs or text!  If you could see the “organised” chaos that many publications work under you would soon understand why!

In my opinion digital photography is a much safer and more convenient method of exchanging photographs than sending valuable prints via the postal service and most publications these days prefer this format.

If I’m worried about the integrity of the magazine I’ll add a watermark in Photoshop or stamp the word proof across the image.  (In reality I very rarely do this as I’m all for developing trust).

Alternatively I will sometimes email images at a much lower resolution, 72 dpi.  This allows an editor to quickly browse for suitability although these images will not be of good enough quality for print usage so you must make it clear you have better quality originals.

Regarding the magazines which already have your work.  Eight months is quite long enough to let things ride.  I would certainly contact and find out the state of play.  Unfortunately with regard to the publication that claims not to have received your snaps, without proof you will have to accept their answer and put it down to experience.