Posts Tagged ‘Very Bad Publishers’

30 items.

Lying about the numbers: Does your comic have “Millions of Fans”?

by Colleen Doran on July 29th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, A Distant Soil Blog Posts, Blog, A Distant Soil FAQ, Blog

Let’s talk about hype.

The A Distant Soil comic went online late January 2009. The current traffic is over ten times higher than our traffic in January of last year. We have approximately 9 times more repeat viewers per day.

That is fact, not hype.

Income has increased, largely due to incentives and donations, which I appreciate very much. It’s early days to see a significant increase in sales. I get royalties on the book. Considering I haven’t had a new book out in awhile, that’s a good sign. I realize my expectation of a sales jump on a webcomic anywhere in the first year was unrealistic. The only webcomics I know of which have done well with sales of physical books have been online for three years or more.

There’s an increase in foreign traffic, but it’s doubtful we’re selling a lot of books in Slovenia. That does not diminish my deep appreciation of Slovenia.

I’ve enjoyed learning how to read stat information, especially how to read independent site meters. Many of them are wildly inaccurate, but my linked stat counter sometimes agrees with the info at 7Zoom.com. It’s in the ballpark of a bad day of page views for me.

I’ve compared my traffic to that of other sites, and some people are Liar! liar! Pants on Fire! If their traffic is that low, one wonders where their “millions of fans” are.

They never had ‘em in the first place. Duh.

Anyone can see your book sales, with a little digging. If you run around telling whoppers about how your small press book “sold better than the X-Men”, some gullible blogger may believe you, but the rest of us will wonder where the hell you got those numbers. Especially when we can see that your last graphic novel sold 2,000 copies.

If I had millions of fans one day, and my last book sales dropped to 2,000 copies, I would not be making a public issue of it. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Webcomicker Talking Smack ‘Bout Distant Soil, YO!

by Colleen Doran on May 11th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, A Distant Soil Blog Posts, Blog, A Distant Soil FAQ, Blog, Colleen's Work, Culture, Comics, FAQ

OK.

Jamie Coville informs me some webcomicker at the Toronto Festival told a room full of people that I had restarted A Distant Soil five times and apparently this is due to some massive insecurity on my part.

For the record:

ADS First Publisher:

The original publishing contract clearly stated that I was to own my own work, but with every couple of issues, the indicia went through a morph, and in the end, the publisher claimed copyright as well as trademark. For themselves. When the lawyer hit the fan, the original publisher also claimed I was just hired to do the art and A Distant Soil was created by the publisher.

Naturally, I was not pleased with this development, and so left the publisher, spent years wrangling for the rights, and got them.

Since the original art was shot (mostly) from pencils, and since I wanted a clean break with the old company, I decided to redo the book from scratch. This would also preclude further claims by this old company to authorship.

ADS Second Publisher:

This is the only time I rewrote and redrew my book from scratch.

I would have been happy and content with this situation, but THIS HAPPENED.

I repeat: this is the only time I redid my book. From the beginning. From scratch. Period.

Three years after I signed on, the publisher closed its trade line, and sold all our contracts. Illegally. Lawsuit ensued. Authors got their rights and a financial settlement.

However, the graphic novel editions were in color and there was no way to recover those color negatives. (EDIT) Original plan was to publish black and white comics and to have these dudes publish color GN reprints. Instead we got a perfect storm of bummer.

What to do? Do I walk away, or do I try to give it another go – which could not possibly have anything to do with two publishers who violated the contracts of a dozen authors! When you take your book to another publisher, you’re showing signs of emotional insecurity, OMG, the horror?

This has nothing to do with wanting to finish your project, economic concerns, or legal rights issues!

I decided to give self publishing a go. I touched up the art to make it more attractive in black and white, added some pages to flesh out a couple of scenes and make chapter breaks, and soldiered on.

That was in 1991.

I went to Image Comics in 1996, and did not restart my book. I picked up the series at Image with issue #15.

I have published a trade paperback edition (which is not restarting the book,) and online (which is not restarting the book. A new edition is not a restart. It’s a reprint.)

There have been more editions of Sandman than there have been of A Distant Soil. More editions of Bone. More editions of Finder.

TWO comic book editions. TWO graphic novel editions. Since 1980. This is excessive?

I am very sorry some people feel vast amounts of inconvenience that I have not finished my book.

I’d love to just sit around and draw whatever I want, but I can’t do that. I have to make a living.

The income on the last issue of A Distant Soil was about $200. Which means I worked on it for two months for $200.

Which means that the money I had to live on for two entire months and to finance any book overhead took about $8,000 out of my savings.

Let me repeat that.

Last issue cost me $8,000. The issue before that cost about $7,000.

I don’t have spare time to work on comics. This is what I do for a living. If a book is not bringing in profit, that money has to come from somewhere else.

While I receive royalty checks on ADS graphic novels, this modest income I chose to use to bring the book online for everyone to read in hopes of creating another income stream to finance further work. It took almost two year’s of ADS GN royalties to pay for a web tech to design and build my sites, deal with the hack back in January, cover online access and registrations, advertising, etc. It took one royalty check to pay for my booth at San Diego. I get two checks a year.

And I am sure this webcomicker person didn’t mean any harm, so I am happy to have the opportunity to clear this up.

I wonder if they will put a tip in my donation box. They haven’t so far.

Seriously, if I had enough money to do nothing but sit down and draw A Distant Soil, I would very happily do nothing else. Not to say my other work isn’t fulfilling and wonderful, but it’s dead annoying to have other people act like they have somehow been harmed by my failure to perform on cue for free. To add injury to injury, a failure to perform while incurring HUGE FREAKING DEBT.

I’m sorry if this is cranky.

Well, not really.

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Steve Bissette and the Front Line of the Comics Wars

by Colleen Doran on March 18th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, A Distant Soil Blog Posts, Blog, Colleen's Work, Culture, Comics, Culture, Comics, Comics History, Creator Resources, Culture, Creator Resources, Free Speech, Creator Resources, Legal, Creator Resources, Publishing

You will not want to miss PART 5 and PART 6 of Steve Bissette’s fascinating series on the comic book industry wars of the 1980′s. I get an extra special mention in PART 6.

I wrote in my last post that most of the major problems I had with censorship and harassment were due to no more than a handful of people who spent years trying to get my books banned, and writing finger-wagging letters about my personal behavior.

Because a couple of these people were peripherally involved in the industry, they had the ear of retailers and distributors – and even a few pros – for awhile, before their rampant nuttery drove even the most credulous support away. Not before they had cost me thousands in legal fees, countless hours of time, and gotten my work expunged from some comic shops.

One seriously disturbed individual who has a small list of publishing credits, spent well over a decade on a personal campaign to get me to “clean up” my “act” (his words). These are excerpts of some of his letters to me. He sent far more disturbing letters over time, and expanded his crusade to sending letters to other pros, comic shops, distributors, a number of comics industry magazines, my editors, my lawyers, and my family in an effort to correct my behavior.

One publisher, Starblaze, with whom I was involved in an acrimonious class action suit, had an entire file of letters from this lunatic. Their lawyer was dopey enough to bring a one- inch thick chronicle of the weird to the deposition. They were going to use this campaign of creep in the case as evidence of my bad character.

To their credit, they dropped the idea before things got very far.

And after all that, he then spent years sending me his resume demanding that I hire him. When I did not, he attempted to have me prosecuted via the EEOC citing, religious, age, and sex discrimination as grounds.

In the end, he was involuntarily committed to an institution, but eventually released. His efforts to have my books banned dried up when I went to Image Comics in 1996, but he continued to harass me for years after.

This is a small excerpt from the letters he sent beginning sometime in the early 1980′s.

The really scary thing about this guy was just how long he got away with it. Many people considered him credible. All because he claimed his campaign was to protect children’s delicate little psyches.

Wasted hours, and money, and pictures I’ll never create, all because I drew two guys holding hands in a comic book, and a minor flash of skin between consenting adult cartoon characters. Some drooling stalker used this front of SAVE THE CHILDREN concern to force my attention.

For the record, Corrine is not based on me.

The more I ignored him, the wilder his efforts to have my books thrown out of comic shops. And people listened to this guy for years.

It also goes without saying he bought everything I did.

I’ve never met the guy.

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MY GOD! It’s full of WANK!

by Colleen Doran on December 1st, 2009
Posted In: Blog, Creator Resources, Culture, Fandom, Humor, Creator Resources, Publishing, Culture, Theater

Muchly amusing arts and letters wank.

A playwright has accused critics of showing up for a performance in a state of drunkenness, which is, apparently, not the best condition in which to review a play (insert derisive snort here). Critics accuse playwright of being a sore sport. Upscale wank follows. A sample:

It began with a Walker review in which he said his night was ruined by “Giant Haystacks sitting directly behind me: his huge, hot tummy protruded ever more insistently against my head and shoulders as the evening progressed. I am not sure if he was leaning forward or he was simply so colossal that his tummy could impact upon me even with his back to his seat. I didn’t dare look. I started to fret that this was the way I was going to go: fighting for my breath in blubber.”

The man in question was Shuttleworth, who also edits Theatre Record and says he has “several times pointed out egregious howlers in Tim Walker’s reviews”.

The often childish – “boo hoo, fatty started it” – exchange between the two men was, ironically, much discussed at the long lunch on Monday.

A designer shows us all how to deal with a very bad client who does not want to pay for work. Multiple hat tips to the many folks who sent this in, including Brian Crowley and the talented actress Kacey Camp who had an awesome audition this week for a nerdtastic TV show. Fingers crossed for Kacey.

A sample of the post you must not miss.

Dear Simon,

Disregarding the fact that you have still not paid me for work I completed earlier this year despite several assertions that you would do so, I would be delighted to spend my free time creating logos and pie charts for you based on further vague promises of future possible payment. Please find attached pie chart as requested and let me know of any changes required.

Regards, David.

Haven’t we all had clients like this?

Fantastic uber-meta plagiarism wank as fan artist pinches another artist’s painting to make nice and sweaty pic of Kirk and Spock (Version 2.0). Why Spock is way-green, we do not know. But, he’s naked and hot, so why get picky? Oh yeah, he’s with Kirk. Like that does me a damn bit of good.

Caught pinching a painting she did not do or credit, artist pulls derivative slash painting and related posts. Then it turns out the pinched painting she pinched was pinched from a photo. Now that’s meta. Hat tip to Arlene who sees all wank and knows all wank.

All of this could have been avoided if the pinchers had simply credited the work they pinched. Then everyone would have said “Nice use of reference!” and we’d all move along.

Speaking of plagiarism, a NaNoWrimo writer whose work consisted entirely of plagiarized snippets was banned from the contest. Another one from Arlene.


And a fandom wank on the greying of fandom, which I missed when it came out, but think is must-read. I had meant to write a long, stinging commentary on why traditional science fiction fandom is greying and good riddance to same, but I can’t bring myself to do it without frothing at the mouth. Yes, I realize much about fandom is great. No, I do not think it’s productive to pretend that it is all great.

I recall a long letter in a 1989 Lan’s Lantern (a Hugo-Award winning fanzine to which I used to contribute) on the greying of fandom from a young man who was tired of he and his fellow young fans (male and female) being treated like fresh meat for dirty old fen. They were not welcome at conventions to game, watch movies, or enjoy themselves except as potential targets for a grope. I can relate. And how.

And while every convention is not a weekend at Tailhook, there’s more than one sad saga of Heidi Saha to be found out there. The crass exploitation of the 14-year old in this picture is celebrated by some, but just makes me frickin’ queasy. Her parents started her on this sordid road when she was 12. A quick Google search will bring up many posts by men lamenting the fact that the pretty little girl walked away from fandom when she was at her tastiest.

Saha_1

Yuck.

Boy oh, boy, I do not miss some aspects of fandom at all, and hope they die like the bacteria under my Clorox wipes.

From an interview with Angelique Trouvere:

It was around this point that a short, thirty-something woman with long brown hair strode in, looked at my costume, scowled, and proclaimed, “Oh, that’s so tacky!” and left in a huff. I was like: Who was that? What? No hello?

My friends explained to me, “That’s Heidi’s mother, Taimi Saha.”

Well, it seems that Mrs. Saha hated me from the moment she saw me because she thought that I was stealing her baby’s thunder. I didn’t mean to mess up her plans. I just wanted to enter the masquerade as my favorite character. But to Mrs. Saha, this was supposed to be “Heidi’s con & masquerade” and I was viewed as a potential threat.

Heidi could not have cared less but her mother did, a lot, so she tried to get me barred from entering the competition on the grounds that my costume was cut too low. This was news to me as I was unaware of any problems with it before—after all, it WAS a Vampirella Costume.

Anyway, it was Phil Seuling who came to me and told me that I would have to do something about that if I wanted to enter. He was very nice about it but he felt that he had to back Mrs. Saha on her concerns for decency.

So, let me get this straight, she’s parading her underage daughter around in sexy costumes and she’s concerned about decency? Sheesh!

…She wasn’t entering masquerades anymore, not since some very unsavory stuff went down at the July 1974 Seuling’s Comic Art Con. I believe that Heidi’s father, Art, decided to put a stop to the costuming activities which pleased Heidi to no end. I was very happy for her too.

And more here:

I think what upsets me about the whole Heidi thing was that she was going through terrible emotional turmoil at that time but felt helpless to do anything about it. Her mother once forced her to dance in front of a gathering of comic professionals at a private party like some trained animal. Friends who witnessed that said that her discomfort was obvious to everyone except Taimi who was too busy playing the cassette recorder she brought with her and shushing the audience.

Heidi had alot of potential but her parents desire for her stardom really messed with her head–and let’s just say that we’re lucky that she didn’t die on us.

Jesus Christ.

c

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Late Payments Cost Creators

by Colleen Doran on November 17th, 2009
Posted In: Blog, Creator Resources, Creator Resources, Money Management, Creator Resources, Publishing

Creators pay big time when they screw up.

When creators deliver late, it can cost them their contracts. Everyone in the production chain on a book pays when creators screw the deadline pooch. As the schedule gets shoved back, people wait longer for jobs and payment, and schedules on other projects have to be rearranged – on creator and publisher end – to make up for delays. Deadlines push up against other deadlines, one project dominoes against the next. Contracts sometimes include financial penalties for late delivery.

However, in all the years I have been in publishing, I have only had one publisher pay interest on their late payments. The small amount due meant that I got about 50 cents in fees, but I was surprised to get the fee at all. I’ve been paid months or years late – or not at all – for jobs, and this year was the first time I have ever had a publisher pay their contractually obligated late payment interest fee.

While reviewing a royalty statement recently, I found one of my clients had made an error in calculation. They had been shorting me on all my payments for nearly a year. However, I did not review my previous statements carefully, so didn’t catch it sooner. The cumulative effect over one year’s worth of royalty payments shows the publisher owes me another $2,000. I was nervous about contacting the accountant to point this out, certain I must be mistaken myself. But within a half hour, his assistant called to politely admit that, yes, I had been shorted and the amount would be calculated back into my payments in the next accounting period.

Which means that even though I’ve been getting shorted on each statement over the last year, I will have to wait until the end of the next accounting quarter to get my extra $2,000. And, of course, I would love to have that money before Christmas, but probably won’t. I’d love to pay off the $600 I owe on my car repairs now, and the interest on the money I owe on VISA accumulates.

I won’t be getting a penny in late payment fees on those royalties. The company is not obligated to do so in this case, and the mistake was an honest one. But if you or I paid someone late for whatever reason, we pay through the nose in interest. When clients pay us late, we lose big time.

Almost every small press I ever worked for paid late, very very late, or not at all.

They seem to think not paying freelancers is an inconvenience, not a hardship. But the value of the money a client fails to pay his creditors shrinks with every minute that client doesn’t meet his obligations to them.

Every minute your money is not being used to pay off debt or is not being invested it is worth less than its face value.

Consider that some of these publisher debts go back years.

The average freelancer is probably carrying debt and paying interest on that debt. And the client makes no provision to pay late charges on any of the debt he says he may or may not pay sometime in the dim and distant future.

An unpaid debt of $1,000 is not an unpaid debt of $1,000. If the freelancer is carrying debt on credit cards with an average interest rate of 15%, that unpaid debt of $1,000 over the course of two years just cost an additional $347.35.

Consequently, for every $1,000 the client has not paid, the freelancers have lost that $347.35 in interest, and the face value of the $1,000 has dropped to $652.65. In only two years, the $1,000 has lost more than a third of its value.

Late paying clients aren’t an inconvenience, they literally drain the life right out of the freelancers they do not pay. A creator spends the hours of their life working to earn money just like anyone else does. Every minute you live costs money. Every minute you labor for which you are not paid has to be earned out somewhere else. The freelancer has to do double time to make up for deadbeats.

The time these freelancers could have spent working at McDonald’s would have been more profitable for them than working for most small press publishers. One month working for McDonald’s would have brought in over $600 and would have come with benefits.

Being published isn’t good enough. There are simply too many bottom feeders out there who take art and money, and who never come out with the finished work. And even when they do, the books usually bomb in the marketplace to the benefit of no one. It is not worth it to work for bad publishers to get a “big break”.

And to be perfectly frank, getting a clause in your contract which provides late payment penalties is easy. Collecting on those penalties from a publisher who pays you late is virtually impossible.

c

This post was originally written in response to the indifference Tight Lip Publishing exhibited toward freelancers to whom the company owes vast sums of money. To date, out of the tens of thousands of dollars owed, only one freelancer has been paid a portion of their fees. They received $100.

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