I just placed my second order on Indy Planet over the weekend. The first took almost three weeks to get to me, but that's still faster than the three-month waiting period for stuff from comics shops.



Depends on what you're selling. It also depends on how deep you are in the "Other Publishers" section, which is why there are more companies that start with A, B or C than the entire rest of the alphabet.



Their products are movies and merchandise. The comics are just placeholders for the trademarks.



I'm not suggesting creators turn to anything. I'm suggesting real publishers turn to publishing comics, and real book stores shelve those comics in their relevant genre sections instead of a catch-all comics section.

That's what I love about you Allen. The longer the discussion grows, the crazier and more defiantly ignorant you become.

1. Continuing to deny that people are commonly more talented at one thing than another is so barking-at-the-moon insane that it's almost impossible to know how to respond. It's like some bit of retarded genius, the retarded part being how utterly unpersuasive it is to anyone who doesn't have their head up Allen's ass.

2. If you bought those EMPOWERED sets used, Warren got nothing for them. If you bought them new, congratulations! You might have made it possible for Adam Warren to go out and buy himself a Happy Meal, if that. I'm sure that completely made up for Warren cutting production of the book by 50% for the past two years. It doesn't invalidate anything I've said on the subject of royalties, but I'll give you a pat on the head for trying.

3. Name me one person that makes a living writing who has said they're happy the book industry doesn't have a working serialization model.

Mike

I'm curious about which novelists have said they'd prefer the comic book industry's way of doing things, Mike.

I didn't say they'd prefer the comic book industry's way of doing things. That would be pretty stupid, considering that the book industry is superior to comics in most ways. I said they wished prose had a viable serialized format, by which I meant one they could make real money at.

Mike

WHY IS THIS POINT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU? You're so desperate to score a point, it's fucking sad. Some people are better at some things than others. Der. Hey, I wish someone would tell Ron Lim that he should quit drawing because he sucks at it. But your point remains moot.



Again, you have no data besides the initial Diamond orders. As Bissette pointed out, long-term royalties far outweigh initial payment.



You're the one making the claim, tough guy.

People wanting for steady, reliable income? Master of the Fucking Obvious, you are.

Understood, but who are they?

Direct market sales numbers for a trade on its release month is just a piece of data that won't tell you a hell of a lot. Naruto is a cash cow for Viz but you'll see it lists as under 5,000 copies in the DM.

Warren has stated that personal issues completely screwed up his production schedule on Empowered. He also stated that Empowered was supposed to be a part time side gig while he pursued writing jobs. The writing thing hadn't panned out and so Empowered became more of a full time thing. It doesn't make as much money as writing corporate comics (creator owned work rarely does) and it is more work but it has been sustainable. And given his creative methodology he couldn't publish it any other way than as OGNs. However he would be interested in a floppy formatted Empowered spin-off by guest creators.

Man, it's hot in this non-kitchen.

Re: Allen quoted my saying, "As Bissette pointed out, long-term royalties far outweigh initial payment."

For the lucky, lucky few, maybe. Consider:
1. How many monthly comics DC published in 1985, when Alan, John, Rick, and I were working on SWAMP THING as a monthly;
2. How many of those monthly comics saw even one reprint edition, anywhere in the world, in any language;
3. How many of those monthly comics saw more than one reprint edition, anywhere in the world, in any language;
4. How precious few of those monthly comics from 1985 are still in print, in any form, earning royalties.

Finally, of course, I was fortunate enough to be drawing Alan Moore's first "colonial" comic title.

That's a mighty rare combo; and I'm among the few creators who was doing comics in 1985 still earning off work I did in 1985.

Royalties, for me, have been a quarterly blessing—but I am in a distinct minority of a minority, Allen, and it's not due to MY work, but to Alan's continuing boxoffice popularity in the comics world.

PS: To Charles's question, which is NOT to the point you're querying Mike about:

The novelists who do work in comics, I am sure, get better deals/attention than the "regular" creators do. If it's Jodi Picoult or Joe Hill on the other end of the phone/email, I'm sure they get quicker and more attentive responses than, say, the current monthly writer for PODUNKMAN. And I bet Kevin Smith's calls/emails get an even faster response than the novelists do.

How current creators working in mainstream comics compete with the influx of celebrity guest writers, filmmakers, etc. is beyond me.