Lit scout Nanette Shipley claims she has been ripped off by Madonna’s Maverick Studios over non-payment for headhunting services which brought both Stephanie Meyers’s Twilight franchise and Percy Jackson to the silver screen. Shipley was promised $175,000 for her work on the films, but has only received $20,000, according to the complaint. Shipley also asks the court for legal costs.
I have a literary agent, and the more I work with her, the more I treasure her. After 30 years in this business, I thought I’d seen it all. She has taught me that I don’t even come close to knowing it all.
An agent can be even more valuable than a lawyer. The agent knows the right things to ask for. A lawyer may not be able to tell you what you can get, they can only tell you what’s legal in the language of your contract.
Lots of people complain about the “middlemen” of publishing, and then they run right to places like iUniverse or Createspace to self publish their books. And they blithely sign contracts I wouldn’t sign with any publisher. They pay a lot of money for the privilege to get published. Badly.
…they want to make a buck from your ignorance.
First off, you guys gotta realize that once booksellers see your book coming from iUniverse, they know it is self published and are far less likely to stock it. Booksellers know Vanity Press when they see it. OK? Let’s just get that out of the way right now.
I’m still reeling from the stratospheric prices Createspace asks to print bookmarks, business cards, and postcards. As I typed this, I saw an ad pop up on my sidebar, and ran the numbers on the same services from PS Print.com. The quote came in at less than half the rates of Createspace.
Then I looked at the ridiculous prices they ask for the privilege of getting a book review: from $399-$595…for a book review. From Kirkus or Clarion.
Kirkus Reviews does not cover self published books. Kirkus Discovery does. This will set you back a minimum of $425.
This ought to tell you something.
Just a few weeks ago, a self published prose author railed at me over the evils of big business publishing – like I need a lecture by a total newbie about self publishing. Or publishing in general. Such is the nature of the internet.
Even though he makes no money, he’s really, truly published, for his books are on Amazon.com!
This is not really an accomplishment when you publish your books at Createspace, a company owned by Amazon. It does not appear he sells many copies, what with a ranking of lower than 4,000,000, which indicates something like one sale in six months. Amazon rankings are dicey, but a ranking of 4,000,000 is pretty bad for a recent release. For all I know, his work is great and he is happy with his sale.
But let’s not conflate getting on Amazon.com with some sort of objective measure of accomplishment. Even guides to pedophilia can get on Amazon.
Self publishing is great. I’ve done it. It’s dandy. But a lot of these services are so expensive, and such a big rip off that the author makes no more money self publishing through these things than they would going through the standard distribution system. If they make any money at all. It takes publishing business chops to figure out what you need and what you don’t, and what you’re being overcharged for.
Middlemen can be a bad thing, but when they are good, they are very, very good. They understand things you don’t understand, and they take on tasks that free you up to do what you do best.
A good agent or publisher is worth every penny. A bad agent or publisher will take you for every penny.
Here’s a post about how to find agents with a list of agents who handle graphic novels. I haven’t updated it in months, but many of the listings are still good.
Everyone who appears on the graphic novel agent list here has a good rep, but remember, you are entirely responsible for doing your own legwork. Listings on the Predators and Editors site can be a little out of date. Note that under the publishers listings, many well-known comics companies are not listed at all. However, the notorious Tightlip Entertainment gets the Not Recommended tag, as well it should.
