Is it true that comic book creators have to pay stuff for the publishing company to produce their comic books? Like printing costs and ads. And comic book artists have to do the same thing if the comic book is their own?
Paying for Everything
- Thread starter MilesGX
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,258
- Reaction score
- 287
- Location
- North Carolina
- Website
- www.writingmonkey.com
You need to be more specific.
A lot of variables depending on the publisher.
Which segues nicely into... who is the publisher?
A lot of variables depending on the publisher.
Which segues nicely into... who is the publisher?
From what I've heard and read on the subject, this all depends on the publisher, but when you first start out, your most likely going to be self-published, so your probably going to have to pay for the artist, letterer, colorer if you want your book colored. But everyone is different.
A submission editor at a publishing company, Ape Entertainment, told me the creator is responsible for paying the printing cost and advertisements.
Axler
Banned
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2005
- Messages
- 1,053
- Reaction score
- 63
- Location
- New England...where else?
- Website
- www.markellisink.com
That's a subsidized deal.
Some publishers--like Desperado or Image--will take a percentage to pay for the printing...there's no upfront cost for that, but yeah...if you want to advertise your book, the creator will have to pay for that.
Some publishers--like Desperado or Image--will take a percentage to pay for the printing...there's no upfront cost for that, but yeah...if you want to advertise your book, the creator will have to pay for that.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
- Messages
- 2,068
- Reaction score
- 130
- Location
- NYC area
- Website
- www.josephcalabrese.com
Axler
Banned
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2005
- Messages
- 1,053
- Reaction score
- 63
- Location
- New England...where else?
- Website
- www.markellisink.com
Axler
Banned
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2005
- Messages
- 1,053
- Reaction score
- 63
- Location
- New England...where else?
- Website
- www.markellisink.com
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
- Messages
- 2,068
- Reaction score
- 130
- Location
- NYC area
- Website
- www.josephcalabrese.com
Keep in mind when you get a listing in Diamond's Preview for a particular month (two months before your title ships), you are in essence a tiny phone book listing, especially since Marvel, DC, Image and Darkhorse take up 4/5 of the catalog.
A comic book store owner will usually only buy new titles if...
a) a customer requests it and if enough of them do, then he/she orders a few extra copies for the store.
b) The store owner heard about it from other means (convention, website and/or magazine reviews, award winner, etc...)
c) the Prieview listing has a spotlight (which mostly is because Diamond loves it and want to spred the word about it, or you can buy a bigger listing with art, etc...)
d) big name artist or writer's new title.
c) the title is from a publisher the owner usually follows/buys from.
Now... A customer (fan) will usually only buy new titles if...
a) big name artist or writer's new title. especially if the customer usually buys stuff from that artist.
b) heard about it from a conventon, website, magazine before hand.
c) the title is from a company the publisher usually buys from.
d) The store owner recomends it (see letter b above)
How do you achieve all those points so you can max your potential sales.
1. Know who your fan base is. Demographics, age, sex, scifi versus horror fan, etc...
2. Send free copies to reviewers months ahead of time.
3. Send free copies to store owners or a postcard, flyer or something else.
4. Do book signings at conventions, stores.
5. Build a website for your title. Do blogging, message boards
6. Diversify. If it is a horror title, look at other fan websites and/or magazines for movies, novels, etc..
Advertising is more than putting a listing in Diamond or even putting a full page ad in CGB or having a stellar review from the reviewer at Joe'scomicnews.com. Effective advertising is a campaign that will cost as little as a phone call or as much as a billboard on Holywood blvd and any combination of elements in between.
The important thing is to not expect that everyone will buy it even though they know nothing about it.
A comic book store owner will usually only buy new titles if...
a) a customer requests it and if enough of them do, then he/she orders a few extra copies for the store.
b) The store owner heard about it from other means (convention, website and/or magazine reviews, award winner, etc...)
c) the Prieview listing has a spotlight (which mostly is because Diamond loves it and want to spred the word about it, or you can buy a bigger listing with art, etc...)
d) big name artist or writer's new title.
c) the title is from a publisher the owner usually follows/buys from.
Now... A customer (fan) will usually only buy new titles if...
a) big name artist or writer's new title. especially if the customer usually buys stuff from that artist.
b) heard about it from a conventon, website, magazine before hand.
c) the title is from a company the publisher usually buys from.
d) The store owner recomends it (see letter b above)
How do you achieve all those points so you can max your potential sales.
1. Know who your fan base is. Demographics, age, sex, scifi versus horror fan, etc...
2. Send free copies to reviewers months ahead of time.
3. Send free copies to store owners or a postcard, flyer or something else.
4. Do book signings at conventions, stores.
5. Build a website for your title. Do blogging, message boards
6. Diversify. If it is a horror title, look at other fan websites and/or magazines for movies, novels, etc..
Advertising is more than putting a listing in Diamond or even putting a full page ad in CGB or having a stellar review from the reviewer at Joe'scomicnews.com. Effective advertising is a campaign that will cost as little as a phone call or as much as a billboard on Holywood blvd and any combination of elements in between.
The important thing is to not expect that everyone will buy it even though they know nothing about it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,258
- Reaction score
- 287
- Location
- North Carolina
- Website
- www.writingmonkey.com
Frankly, if you're at the stage where you're following the above (excellent) analysis, I would forget the deal.
This is me personally. I'm a writer, not a marketing exec.
I can go to Ka-Blam, forget all the advertising and sell the book at cons for the cost of a table.
Of course, there is no guarantee there, but it's easier and cuts out a lot of stuff you might feel doesn't play to your strengths.
You could always take it to another publisher. OR work on the existing publisher for a better deal. In print, with the exception of the cost of printing NOTHING is a fixed amount.
This is me personally. I'm a writer, not a marketing exec.
I can go to Ka-Blam, forget all the advertising and sell the book at cons for the cost of a table.
Of course, there is no guarantee there, but it's easier and cuts out a lot of stuff you might feel doesn't play to your strengths.
You could always take it to another publisher. OR work on the existing publisher for a better deal. In print, with the exception of the cost of printing NOTHING is a fixed amount.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,258
- Reaction score
- 287
- Location
- North Carolina
- Website
- www.writingmonkey.com
Back end pay for what?
You might get creative talent on a back-end deal. And if you have guaranteed publishing WITH advertising then you might have more luck there. But you won't get to pay for anything else on the back-end.
You might get creative talent on a back-end deal. And if you have guaranteed publishing WITH advertising then you might have more luck there. But you won't get to pay for anything else on the back-end.
I'll see what deal I can make. Here is what the submission told me.
Every contract is different. Ape offers mostly “creator owned” contracts. It’s the creator who foots the bill for all of the comic book production, advertising and printing costs. The comic book publisher acts as a distributor and helps guide you along the way. If you really have a good project, then maybe the publisher would offer to pick up the printing costs in lieu of a small percentage of the ancillary rights – meaning, if the comic gets made into a movie, video game, etc,., the publisher gets a percentage of that.
Like I said, every contract is different. It really depends on how good your submission looks, but 9 out of 10 times, you will have to pay for everything and you’ll get paid out of the sales of the comic book – if it covers printing – which most of the time it does not.
Comic books really are a labor of love. In order to break in these days, you really have to accept the fact that your first few projects will most likely lose money. This isn’t a high-paying industry and it’s hard to make a living at it. One way to avoid paying out of pocket for your artist is to get your artist to agree to take back-end pay or share the copyright with him or her.
Hopefully I haven’t discouraged you, but I’d rather tell people how the industry really works, than have them find out the hard way.
And here's another message he sent me after I replied that I might not be able to afford the stuff.
One thing you can do is just pay someone to produce pencils for the first 5 pages and then use that as your submission package. If a publisher picks you up, then maybe they can do the rest for back-end pay. That’s what I did and it worked out nice.
Every contract is different. Ape offers mostly “creator owned” contracts. It’s the creator who foots the bill for all of the comic book production, advertising and printing costs. The comic book publisher acts as a distributor and helps guide you along the way. If you really have a good project, then maybe the publisher would offer to pick up the printing costs in lieu of a small percentage of the ancillary rights – meaning, if the comic gets made into a movie, video game, etc,., the publisher gets a percentage of that.
Like I said, every contract is different. It really depends on how good your submission looks, but 9 out of 10 times, you will have to pay for everything and you’ll get paid out of the sales of the comic book – if it covers printing – which most of the time it does not.
Comic books really are a labor of love. In order to break in these days, you really have to accept the fact that your first few projects will most likely lose money. This isn’t a high-paying industry and it’s hard to make a living at it. One way to avoid paying out of pocket for your artist is to get your artist to agree to take back-end pay or share the copyright with him or her.
Hopefully I haven’t discouraged you, but I’d rather tell people how the industry really works, than have them find out the hard way.
And here's another message he sent me after I replied that I might not be able to afford the stuff.
One thing you can do is just pay someone to produce pencils for the first 5 pages and then use that as your submission package. If a publisher picks you up, then maybe they can do the rest for back-end pay. That’s what I did and it worked out nice.
- Status