When it makes your posts difficult to read, and there's a quote function at the bottom of every post, yes it does.

Hey, and the only parameters I envisioned were where everyone sends me money via Paypal.

There are several horror anthology books on the market right now, or recently in the past — most notably Tales from the Crypt (Papercutz) and Creepy (Dark Horse). I'm pretty sure writing to their editors could assist you better in establishing contractual standards. You post on a message board, in a thread that had already gone hostile in regards to a scam-artist publisher, and you take what you get.

Ha, I like the moshpit analogy. Hopefully, along with the combat boots to the face and elbows in your ribs, you're able to come away with some useful feedback.

By far and large, the majority of contract complaints we hear about from comics pros come from publishers not living up to their end of the bargain. Be up front, realistic, and clear with the terms of the working agreements and you'll avoid Rich Johnston questioning your business practices.

The value judgments and cheap shots of uninformed comics fanboys over whether you should be in business in the first place are best just ignored.

Kerry -- I think the biggest objection people had to Bluewater's contract is that it didn't specify what sum the royalties would come from. The contract only promised freelancers a percentage of ill-defined "profits," which could presumably be reckoned AFTER the publishers lined their own pockets.

So, if a book brought in $5000 from sales through distributors, and $2000 of that went to the printer, a freelancer would ideally get his percentage from the remaining $3000. But the unscrupulous publisher could subtract $3,000 for "publishing costs" (e.g., downpayments on the publisher's new car), leaving the freelancer with nothing.

To avoid that problem, a fair publisher should stipulate that the freelancer's royalty comes from an amount that can be clearly determined and documented. For example: "Artist is due ___% of all proceeds after the printing cost is covered."

IIRC, small publishers in the '90s were offering 40%-60% of proceeds minus the cost of printing. The publisher would then cover his own overhead (marketing, salaries, etc) out of the remaining percentage.

The unpaid artists, unpaid printers, lawyers and summons officer? They're best ignored, too.

I don't think it's that fuzzy. Davis stated that a book's "profitability" was "defined by a specific number of sales." If I'm reading that right, it's pretty cut and dried. When sales reach a certain point, creators get part of the profits. If they don't, Bluewater, as well as the creators, take the loss. If that's what the freelancers agree to then there's little room to complain. I think it would be more appropriate to pay at least a small page rate even if the profitability mark is higher and the publisher's risk is a little greater.

And, yes this is a labor of love on my part. And yes, I'd love to have some work by Pat if he's available. When Pat lived in Dallas he and I worked for sister ad agencies in the same building so would see each other frequently. And we knew each other before that from comics conventions.

I may have misremembered the complaints. Perhaps they complained that he was fudging the numbers to indicate a loss when a profit was made. Said one article: "Some people see a greater conspiracy, of sales figures for these titles being misreported, with allegations that Davis misrepresented sales." And: "...I understand that certain creators are arranging lawsuits for payment, specifically in the light of Bluewater’s recent biographical success."

In any case, the point would be to ensure that creators receive a clear percentage at a clear juncture in the sales process, and that there's documentation that creators can look at (such as printing bills) to ensure the numbers aren't being cooked.



No argument here.

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Just a tiny bit of snark from Allen and he JUMPS?

Very thin skin.

I hadn't even gotten around to asking what he thought his defining work "in the medium" was.

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If you're not used to Allen's abrasiveness, it can be pretty startling. Kerry came here looking for some honest advice. I don't think he expected the standard "comicon hello" from Allen. In fact, very few pros (Erik Larsen, Jesse Hamm and Pat Broderick are exceptions) have patience for this nonsense.

Kerry is absolutely correct about the Bluewater contract. It states a % of profits paid after printing cost. It would be in everyone’s best interest to drop the “fudging” approach. What seems to be going on are some creators whose books sold below that clearly stated line feel that because of the success of the political Biographies that they should therefore be paid something from the success of those books to cover their investment of time and effort. An approach that will not hold up in a courtroom. Hell, I’m still having my constant run with DC going on and the contract is clear. If anyone’s noticed the latest Bat Man Super Man direct to video release that I have, again, another event with the use of my designs for both Captain Atom and Major Force to contend with. As I had stated earlier at the beginning of this thread, read the contract carefully. Understand what both parties are agreeing to. Darren has been straight up front with me and met the agreement to the letter of the contract. He hasn’t deserved all of the bashing that has been directed his way. As for Kerry’s question my earlier comment is still the best scenario I came up with when I laid out all of the options and players in front of me. That one showed survivor ability based on separate distribution venues outside of the direct distribution outlets coupled with affordable cost. Once that’s established an expansion into the direct Market and through them the bookstore chains didn’t become a do or die situation controlled by a distributor whose largest clients have a clear vested interest in squashing the independents.
And Kerry, you can always contact me through my comicartfans.com gallery if you want
Pat Broderick