Why we do this.

A few days ago, a very close friend of mine in the comics world put up a post on his blog that’s getting a lot of attention.  The fellow’s Jim Zub, and you’ve probably seen him mentioned on this blog quite a bit – he writes the fantastic action fantasy series Skullkickers for Image, as well as many other great titles both online and for print.  Very talented writer and great guy.  If you don’t know his stuff, you should.

Anyway, apart from the writing side of things, Jim is also a very canny businessman.  He consistently finds unique approaches to marketing and promoting his work – for example, his latest arc of Skullkickers is relaunching with a “new #1″ titled “Uncanny Skullkickers” – it’s funny, it’s getting him press and chances are it’ll move him some additional books.  That’s the way you have to be in indie comics (and I’m firmly considering Image to be indie – some people debate this, but while Image does take some of the burden off a creator, really the lion’s share of making the book and making sure people find and care about it rests on the people making the book.)  It’s really not enough to be talented, although that’s where it all starts.  You also need to be a master huckster, smart businessman and be fairly tireless.  Getting a comics career up and running is a full-time job.

The problem, of course, is that while working in comics can take as much time as any other job, it doesn’t necessarily pay like one.  In that recent post I mentioned up above, Jim goes through the nuts and bolts (nickels and dimes, rather) of getting an indie book out the door, and what sort of return you can actually expect.  He uses a mid-range book from an Image-type publisher (so that’s lumping in publishers like IDW, Boom, etc.) as his test case, selling around 5,000 copies per month.  That’s actually a VERY successful monthly run for an indie book these days.  The biggies like Saga and Walking Dead do much more, of course, but they’re the white whales of indie comics – it’s not unusual for an indie book not to crack a thousand.  His model comes to the conclusion that after everyone takes their slice, the creators are left with a page rate that’s well under $100 – to be split between everyone – writer, artist(s), letterer, cover artist, design, etc.  The article is here, and you should really go give it a read – but then come back, because there’s more to be said about it!

Now that you’re up to speed, let me say that I don’t disagree with Jim’s conclusions in the least.  I’ve had books that have sold above the 5,000 number, and books that have sold below (sometimes WELL below), and the basic gloss of what he’s saying is correct – there’s not a ton of cash in comics at the indie book level, and it can be hard to make back your investment … if money is all you’re going for.

Jim’s post is important and really useful, in part because it covers an area that people don’t often talk about, at least not to that level of detail.  But money isn’t all comics is about.  I think there are three reasons people want to do comics: money (not necessarily getting rich, but being able to make a living from telling stories), fame or creative freedom.

Let me handle that last one first: having worked in a number of creative mediums, I can say that creating a comic is one of the purest, least-liable-to-be-fucked-with ways of telling a story out there.  The comics audience is incredibly open to new expression, and if your idea and execution are good, you’ll absolutely get eyeballs.  You also don’t have to compromise your work for financial reasons – because there really are no financial reasons.  That’s the upside.  It’s rare that someone’s going to tell you not to give your character antennae because a focus group said antennae aren’t playing well in Peoria right now.  Because nothing makes a ton of money, nothing HAS to make a ton of money, and that’s freeing.  So no matter how much money or acclaim you get, you can count on that freedom, and for many people that’s enough.

Cash and fame are more problematic.  You can get a certain level of notoriety just by continuing to put work out – there are people with long, storied careers in comics who never really have a “hit,” just like there are plenty of awesome cult bands who never break through in a big way.  But to get famous, even comics famous, you need that big book, and that’s directly linked to the money question, too.  Fortunately, I have an approach to recommend that I’ve seen succeed again and again!  Check it out:

If you want the big dough and the big name out of your indie comics career, I think you need to consider it sort of like you might approach investing in the stock market.  When investing in high-risk companies (basically new, unproven companies – just like your indie comics ideas no one’s heard of yet!) you really don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.  The reason for this is that most companies fail.  So, you spread your capital around and hope that perhaps one of the ten (or the hundred) companies you invest in pays off in a big way.  Same principle can work for comics.  The chances are low that if you find a way to put out one book, then you’ll all of the sudden be on the map.  But if you put out five, and all of them are great – even if they appeal to different audiences – it accumulates into an overall greater probability that you might get that brass ring.  (If you don’t like the stock market analogy, swap that out for Powerball tickets – works the same way.)  Look at the early careers of guys like Josh Fialkov, Sam Humphries, Nick Spencer, Brian Michael Bendis and I’m sure a bunch more that I’m forgetting.  It wasn’t about one book, it was about all the books.

You might be thinking, “Great.  It’s hard enough to get ONE book out, and now this ass is telling me to do ten?”  Well, yeah, it’s hard.  It’s INCREDIBLY HARD.  It’s not easy to get famous, and it’s not easy to get rich.  Fortunately, making comics is easy to love, and that’ll get you through.

In my opinion, all you should NEED when you start to make comics is the freedom to create.  Comics will give that back to you in spades.  If you decide you need ducats or standing ovations, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.  It’s okay to want those things, and work really hard for them, just don’t need them.  If you can.

 

Agree to Agree, Part Five

I fondly remember my original intention to have this entire series – a breakdown on contracts and agreements for creators – done over the course of a few weeks.  Fortunately for me, and perhaps unfortunately for those waiting with bated breath for each chapter, I ended up getting so busy with non-blog writing that it was difficult to carve out the time to finish it up.  However, I’ve gotten enough comments, Twitter mentions and so on to know that people are actually finding this series to be pretty useful, so I’ll redouble my efforts to get it done.  Assuming things go as planned, there will be six chapters total, plus a seventh that will be composed mainly of a sample agreement or two for creators to use.

The previous four installments covered contracts in general, rights, term/termination provisions and work-for-hire.  While it’s not essential, I would suggest reading those before going through this chapter, which will discuss scary language in contracts – the sort of things you want to think twice about before agreeing to.

Before I get into those, let me first say that the “goodness” or “badness” of a contract, or any specific provision in it, is very much context-dependent.  To illustrate, let me tell you a story: in the early days of Saturday Night Live, the agreements with the performers were much like the contracts on any television show.  The actors showed up, helped to write sketches, performed, took a day to sleep and then did it all again the next week.  Anything they did outside the scope of that job wasn’t covered under the contract.  As some of those early actors started to get famous (Belushi, Murray, Chase, Radner, etc.), they began to appear in movies during the SNL summer hiatus.  Some of them went on to lucrative sitcom careers.  Others didn’t (Where Art Thou, Charlie Rocket?), but by and large, it started to become clear that SNL was a major launching pad for a career in entertainment.  Eventually, Lorne Michaels and his people realized that if they were going to be picking comedians out of obscurity and essentially handing them (some of them, anyway) multi-million dollar movie careers, then they should participate in some of that.  So these days, if you sign on at SNL, you agree to cut them in to a portion of entertainment projects you are able to get going for a specified period – even after you no longer work at the show.

You know what, though? That’s really not such a bad deal.  SNL is a proven commodity as a talent launcher.  Getting a spot on that show is like winning the lottery as far as national exposure.  So, what would have been a terrible agreement for Bill Murray to sign (because when he started on SNL it was just a scrappy variety show that no one could have predicted would go as far as it did) turns out to be pretty darn okay for a guy like Jason Sudeikis.  The point is that context is really important when dealing with contracts.  The most important thing is to understand what’s in front of you.  If you understand it, and how it might affect you, then you know what you’re going to object to.

So, some things to watch for – first, tread carefully any time you see the word “perpetual” in a contract, or you see a term that doesn’t seem to ever end.  Perpetual means, of course, forever.  If you’re granting a perpetual right, license or anything like that, it means that it’s basically gone forever absent a lawsuit alleging that the contract was invalid for some reason.  I see this a lot – people assume a contract will last for, say, the length the book’s being published, when in fact it might go on forever.  Perpetual provisions can be hidden inside other terms, and they might not be immediately obvious.  There are only a few specific reasons why a term in a contract might need to be perpetual: (1) you’re being paid money specifically to give up a right perpetually, such as in a work-for-hire agreement (see the last installment for more on that); (2) the person you’re contracting with has a valid reason for needing to be able to have that right forever (like if they’re incorporating your work into something bigger that will have a life of its own, and you’re cool with that); or (3) the person you’re contracting with needs to know that they can rely on you not doing something forever (I often see this with confidentiality clauses, where you’ll get to see specific secret information as part of the contract, and they need to know you’ll keep it secret forever).  Otherwise, it’s hard to see why any term needs to last forever – even those SNL contracts probably have a point where the show stops participating in an ex-player’s career.  There can be exceptions to every rule.  Just pay attention if you see something that’s supposed to last forever.

Next thing to watch for: deferred compensation, aka “I’ll pay you later.”  As I’ve discussed in previous chapters, there’s nothing wrong with not getting paid up front if you’re sure that’s what you want to do, but it’s an area to make sure is handled in a crystal-clear fashion in the agreement.  If you’re taking a piece of the overall revenues from a project, you want to know exactly how much you’re getting, and exactly when you’re supposed to get them.  Watch for the terms “gross” and “net” when applied to deferred pay.  If the contract says you get a share of the gross, it generally means that you get your percentage from the first dollar earned by the project.  If it’s net, it means that you get paid out of what’s left after a bunch of other expenses are paid (printing, marketing, maybe even other creators).  There are no absolutes here, and again, the most important thing is to understand what you’re agreeing to.  Anything dealing with what you’re supposed to get paid should NOT BE VAGUE.

In fact, that’s another biggie – vagueness.  A good contract is perfectly clear.  There shouldn’t be anything to hide.  Legalese has its place, but it’s not always necessary.  Watch for a contractual partner who says something like, “well, it’s not in the contract, but if this happens, then we’ll definitely do this – you’ll be fine.”  Incorrect – if something goes wrong and you end up in court, it’s almost always the contract that rules the day.  (That’s called the “four corners” rule, as in “unless it’s inside the four corners of the paper that the contract’s printed on, then whatever.”)  If someone is telling you something verbally that isn’t in the agreement, it doesn’t count.  If they mean to stick by what they’re saying, they should be happy to put it in the agreement, in writing.

Alternative dispute resolution – this is a fancy term, also called ADR, for any way of solving a disagreement in a contract besides going to court.  It primarily covers things like arbitration and mediation.  The intention is to streamline disputes, so everyone can get an answer quickly and move on with their lives.  These provisions are usually structured so that both sides waive their right to a jury trial or other court proceeding, and instead they have to do something else, like arbitrate.  In many cases, arbitration and mediation are awesome – they really do speed things up, and they can reduce some of the uncertainty and expense connected with jury trials.  However, that’s mostly true when the parties on both sides of a contract are either corporations or moneyed individuals.  The thing about ADR is that it’s still pretty expensive.  Filing an arbitration claim usually costs thousands of dollars.  In addition, if you give up your right to a standard trial, it also means you give up one of the most powerful tools for freelance creators when they need to get paid: small claims court.  In every state, you can go to small claims if you’re owed less than some threshold amount (usually $5,000-$10,000) and get a quick resolution, from a judge, that costs you almost no money.  You don’t need a lawyer, you just have to show up and present your case in plain language.  However, if you agree to an ADR clause, this right goes bye-bye.

Similar to the preceding point, watch for “choice of venue” clauses that would force you to sue the other party only in one specified location (usually the home base of the person giving you the contract.)  If you live in Miami, and the contract requires you to sue in Oregon, that can be troublesome.

Watch for the term “best efforts” – if a contract says you’ll use best efforts on a project, it seems like you’re just supposed to try really hard – do your best.  Nope.  “Best efforts” is a legal term that means you will use every ounce of energy you have to complete a project, to the exclusion of everything else in your life.  If you don’t, and the other side can prove it, then they can say you’re in breach and refuse to pay you.  Best efforts is a term that almost never has a place in a contract.  If you see it, object, and ask it to either be deleted or, at worst, amended to the phrase “commercially reasonable best efforts.”

I think I’ll stop here – there are certainly other things that can be drafted into contracts that can be troublesome, but every contract is different, too.  As I’ve tried to illustrate, one person’s horrible agreement can be fine to someone else.  The most important thing, again, is to read the whole thing, every single word, and understand what all of those words mean.  If you don’t know what you’re signing, then you deserve what you get.  Ask the other side about anything unclear, or even better, ask your own lawyer.  There are plenty of pro bono arts lawyer organizations out there that will help you for free: the biggest is Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, but they aren’t the only ones out there.

Still deciding what to cover for the final installment, but I’m leaning towards some general contract negotiation tips.  See you then!

 

 

More from A 27 Halloween!

As many of you heard this past weekend at NYCC (or in other spots if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook), a new 27 short story is coming very soon!  We’ll start running it on the Shadowline website before Halloween – at some point – and then it should run something like a page a day until the BEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR (or one of ‘em, anyway.)

I gave you a little preview of some of Renzo Podesta’s layouts for the story a few posts back.  Now I’ll give you a preview of some of his pencils – this is 4 panels, all in a row.  In context in the story, ooooh… shiver.

Pencils from the 27 Halloween story, by Renzo Podesta.

 

NYCC Schedule

New York Comic Con starts tomorrow, Thursday, October 11.  Last year I started con-related events with a signing on Wednesday, which had me three-quarters dead by the time Sunday evening rolled around.  I live in New York, and there were things going on (not everyone from out of town leaves on Sunday – many people stick around for a few days to hang out in town or just take a flight the next day), but the idea of doing ANYTHING other than heading home to sleep for as many hours as I could pull off seemed completely impossible.  Even with skipping Sunday night I still ended up with a nasty case of con flu.  At that point, I made a bunch of resolutions about NYCC 2012 – no Wednesday night activities, don’t go out every night, pace yourself, etc.

It’s Wednesday, so I’ll see you tonight at the awesome panel I’m a part of, preceded by drinks with comic book folks before and after!  And then I’m raging like a maniac all weekend!  Screw you, healthy choices!

Truth is, NYCC’s my hometown con, and if I’m going to do it up anywhere, might as well be here.  Here’s my schedule for the weekend – I hope to see thousands of you over the next few days:

Wednesday, October 10 – Pop Music in Comics Panel at Jim Hanley’s Universe, 7-9 PM.  This one should be awesome.  I’m on a panel with some real grade-A luminaries in the world of music-related comics, like Kieron Gillen, Sina Grace and Jamal Igle.  Plus, there will be free beer and eats – I suspect this will be more of a kickoff party for the con than a panel, but you know we’ll chat comics too.  All the details here.

Thursday, October 11 – the con officially begins at 3 PM, for pros, press and people with 4-day passes.  I’ll be set up in Artist’s Alley at table R6.  This is the place you’ll be able to find me for most of the daylight hours during the weekend.  Keep in mind that AA is in its own area this year, off the main show floor, upstairs.  There should be signs for it all over the place, and really make the effort to get up there – some of the most amazing work at the show will be in the Alley, as always.

7-8 PM – I’ll be signing at the Archaia booth, #1520.  I’ll have some exclusive autograph cards and a VERY LIMITED SUPPLY of the Strange Attractors aschan, which you’ll also be able to get at my table over the course of the weekend.  You can see the cover for the ashcan here - ain’t it pretty?

Friday, October 12 – Again, table R6 for most of the day, starting at 10 AM.

3-4 PM – I have a signing for this cool new story I haven’t talked much about yet.  I wrote a piece for the second volume of the History Channel’s “Mankind” series of graphic novels, which will work as companion pieces to their epic miniseries airing this fall.  I haven’t seen the completed story yet, and I don’t know exactly what I’ll be signing, but it should be interesting.  The art and stories I’ve seen for this so far are fantastic.  Booth #1657

5:15-6:15 PM – The famous Writers Unite panel!  This is the fifth time I’ve done the panel, which always includes a real rogue’s gallery of hot indie writers.  This time it’s me, Cullen Bunn, Ray Fawkes, Justin Jordan and our illustrious moderator/kingpin, Jim Zub.  Our focus is on pitching creator-owned comics, and we usually spitball for 45 minutes, comparing notes on our own techniques, and then open the floor to questions.  It’s always a funny, lively panel CRAMMED with useful tips and tricks.  If you feel like putting out your own comics, or breaking in, it’s a must-attend.  Room 1A14, and more info here.

Saturday, October 13 – at table R6 all day, and signing at Archaia from 10:30-11:30 AM.  I will be joined for that signing, and for the morning in Artist’s Alley, by Robert Saywitz, the creator of the incredible complexity maps for Strange Attractors.  He never comes out to signings, even though he’s local, so if you want your SA ashcan signed by him, this is the signing to hit.

Sunday, October 14 – I’ll only be at the show until about 1.  Signing at Archaia from 10:30-11:30, and otherwise at table R6.

What will I have at the show?  How about THIS STUFF:

The exclusive Strange Attractors 26-page ashcan.  This is the first time any SA material has been made available, and the last time until the book is published next spring.  We only have a small number of copies, so if you want one, this is your chance.

27, both First and Second Sets

Strongman, both Volume 1 and the elusive Volume 2 (again, very limited copies – I believe I’m bringing 27 of them (ha!))

Skullkickers #18, which features a short story by me as part of the third Tavern Tales antho.  Again, just a few, and if you want to go on a treasure hunt to get your copy signed by all the amazing writers and artists who contributed work (Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore, John Layman, Rob Guillory and many more), well, there are worse ways to spend your time at the con.  I may even have a very few copies of the sketch variant cover for this, which I literally think exists only in low double digit numbers.

The 27 T-shirt!

Should be a nice, full table, and a nice, full weekend.  See you at the show!

 

 

 

Strange Attractors at NYCC!

As I’ve mentioned here and there on my Twitter, I’m going to have a special 26-page preview of Strange Attractors available at New York Comicon this coming weekend.  It’s a limited edition thing, only 100 copies, and we did up a special cover for it.  It’s super cool, and I just got them in, so I thought I would show you the cover so you know what to look for at the show.  Here you go:

Cool, right? This combines designs by Robert Saywitz and Matthew Petz – REAL NICE.

 

You can get it, along with the other stuff I’ll have (lots of 27, Strongman, etc.) at table R6 in Artist’s Alley.  I also expect to have a few at my Archaia signings.  I’ll post up my schedule for the week soon – typically crazy, but wonderful.  I hope we all survive all that fun.

 

A little 27 tease…

As I’ve mentioned here and there, Renzo Podesta and I are doing a brand new 27 story that should be out by the end of the month. (I hope so, anyway, because it’s Halloween-related.)

A few teases of Renzo’s layouts are below.  No real spoilers here, but they should be enough to get your curiosity piqued a bit.  More info on when and where you can read the story soon!

Ask me nicely at NYCC (I’ll be at table R6 in Artist’s Alley), and maybe I’ll tell you a bit more about it!

 

What’s doin’…

At the beginning of the year, I wrote two posts talking about a variety of projects I was working on at the time.  I thought it might be fun to catch up on where all of those things went, and provide a similar set of obscure notices about things in the mix right now.  Some of the stuff developed, some of it didn’t, sometimes I got paid, sometimes I didn’t.  Before I run down the list, here’s the first post and here’s the second one.

Let’s start with the active list from that first post.  I’ll put my update below each one:

1. Strange Attractors – OGN about a guy who turns NYC into a sort of engine, and what happens when he turns the key.  Due Q3/Q4 from Archaia.

***Well, Q3/Q4 turned out to be a little ambitious.  We’re now looking at a Spring 2013 release, just because the book is incredibly complex (in a good way) and everyone involved wants it to be as stupendous as possible.  I expect the actual book to be finished by the end of October, at which point we’ll nail down the exact release date.  I have some really fun ideas for getting the word out about it, and I am THRILLED with how it’s all coming together.  You can see some art and other bits and bobs from the book if you search the blog under the ‘Strange Attractors’ tab.

2. Letter 44 – limited series about the research items I mentioned above.  Coming Q4 from[_________]

***The details on this are going to be announced very soon, I think at NYCC.  I CANNOT WAIT for people to hear about this one.  The artist is assigned and wonderful, and (fingers crossed) it’ll be something people really connect to, especially with some real-world stuff going on that the plot connects to somewhat.  Also, it’ll be ongoing, not limited… although that will, as always, depend on you guys. Obviously not Q4 2012, though.  I think probably Q1 or early Q2 2013?

3. [Project Jazzhands] – 6-issue series being drawn by [____________]. My first foray into superheroes, sort of.  Inspired by old Stephen King books.

***This is still in progress.  It’s mostly written, and the artist is drawing it sort of on the side as he works on other projects.  I haven’t lined it up anywhere yet, but it’s turning out to be a very personal story, so I’m in no rush.

4. [Detroit book] – 5-issue limited series about bringing Detroit back from the brink.  Probably out Q2/Q3 2012.

***Nope! This was a work-for-hire thing, described in more detail in the second post linked up there.  After I turned in my outline, which everyone dug, the client decided they no longer were quite as sure about spending what they’d have to spend to make the book.  I love the story, and I still own it (they didn’t pay), so I suppose there’s a chance this could see the light of day somehow.  The longer I do this, the deeper my drawer of “maybes” gets, but that’s okay – it means I have a deeper bench of fleshed-out ideas I can draw on if I need to down the road.

5. [Untitled Edie Sedgwick project.]  Basically what it sounds like.  Due later this year, I think?

***See (4).  I believe the client still wants to do it, but he has a lot going on.  The story’s a lot of fun, and my pal JK Woodward’s on board to do the art if we get a greenlight.  I spent a lot of time reading about Ms. Sedgwick, and I think it would be fascinating to tell the story we came up with, but what are you gonna do?

6. [AR] – sci-fi action adventure.  Just about to start scripting, probably 6 issues.  Release date unclear.

***This was actually the project referred to in the second post linked above, which I ended up bailing on.  Subsequent to that, the friend of mine at that production company left as well, and it seems as if I may have dodged a bullet.  Still no regrets.  I’ve been told that you take any gig you can when you’re getting started, and I see the logic in that, but time is an irreplaceable resource, and there are certainly projects that aren’t worth taking – as long as you spend that time on something that is worth doing, like one of your own stories or a higher-profile work for hire job.

And now, some new stuff…

A. [Revival of once incredibly popular, now somewhat obscure property] – VERY VERY excited about this one, but there’s not much I can say about it yet.  I’m on board as the writer, based on several rounds of pitching and a super detailed outline that was well-received.  There are some outside factors that need to come through before it gets the full greenlight to be produced to series (or an OGN), but I’m hopeful.  Even though I’m being vague, cross your fingers for me.  It would be a very high-profile, name-making gig for me, so I’m holding my breath on it a bit.

B. [Original crime thriller sort of thing] – working on this with my friend Palle Schmidt, a very talented Danish artist.  The story’s a bit of a departure for me, but I think it’s important to stretch new muscles writing-wise.  We’ll have this out as a pitch at NYCC, and I’m hopeful that it will get some traction.  Kind of an intense story, but that’s what will make it fun.

C. [YA Adventure series] – in the works, with an artist I’ve worked with before (hmm…) and really admire.  I have a feeling that the pitch for this won’t be ready for another few months – he’s busy – but hopefully it’ll something I can talk more about in 2013.

D. Short story for the History Channel’s MANKIND series of graphic novels – THC is doing a three-volume series of big graphic novels to accompany the release of their MANKIND miniseries this fall.  The series will cover the history of humanity from a man-on-the-street perspective.  Instead of telling the story of Washington crossing the Delaware, it might be the story of one of the guys pulling an oar (for example.)  I did a story for Volume 2 related to the invention of firearms in China.  It was a blast to use my China background for a story, and what I’ve seen of the art is sweet.  The editor on the series is Joan Hilty, who’s been absolutely lovely to work with.  I’m not sure when this actually appears in the world, but I think it might be before year-end, possibly.

E. Other stuff… there’s another big work-for-hire thing I have lined up for the fall, a new 27 short story that should hit before Thanksgiving, a short film based on the 27 story “Crossroads Blues” that will hopefully go, more Strongman and more.  I’ve got more to write than I know what to do with, which is the way it should be.
Next post, NYCC!