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revisionstudios
Jun '16

Hi everyone! I've been reading a lot of the discussion threads lately on collaboration and was inspired by a particular post to write this. It started as just a reply, but it got to the point where I think it deserves its own thread.

I don't remember where I saw it, but someone implied that a writer paying an artist doesn't make them a team? Or that it's somehow different when payment is involved? (as in, you're strictly paying for a service and it's cut and dry you're still the owner/creator/big dog on the block)

I just want to say that's simply not true. Even if it's 100% your idea, the moment you bring other people into its creation, it's a team effort and should be treated with respect, NO MATTER how close you are with the person you hired.

So, in that same vein, I'd like to give some advice to people looking to collaborate: involve your team in the process. You're bringing them on because you like their work, right? Let them use their expertise. If you're bringing on a comic artist, let them figure out the paneling, and keep your script living. Allow change. Sometimes your artist may come up with a different way to present the information that you hadn't thought of before. Working with a writer? They probably know how to build off your idea better than you, how to structure a scene, or how to reorder it to make sense. Listen to them! That's not to say you have to take every suggestion, of course, but suffocating a team member will only hold back your work.

No matter who has the original idea (artist, writer, director), they shouldn't be the end-all-be-all. No one has pure gold ideas every time they think, and it's often the combination of ideas that make something great.

I'm the artist of my comic and my creator-partner is the writer. Or, that's what we say in the credits to simplify it. The reality is, she came up with most of the plot but we write a lot of it together, and she does all the toning for the comic. But we wouldn't be anywhere without our editor, who expanded our world and did the legwork in research to create the psuedo-science that our concepts are now grounded in. The environment wouldn't look nearly as good without my background artist, who has a better handling of scifi than I do and designed the look of our setting with just a little direction from us. We wouldn't be able to complete the pages in a timely manner if my art assistant didn't take some of my burden and clean up the lines and shade the pages for me.

We pay anyone we bring on that isn't a part of the original creator team (we can't afford to pay ourselves, ahahaha...), but they're not any less a part of us. I firmly believe that the ONLY reason our comic is good at all is thanks to the contributions of every single person we've worked with.

Your collaborators don't have to be equal in authority (and shouldn't), but it should be equal in respect. Don't let it become an ego trip, either, where you're patting yourself on a back for having a great idea. Do what's best for the product, not yourself.

I could probably ramble on about this all day, but I want to hear other people's thoughts too! Is there any nugget of advice you have for new collaborators? Or are YOU a new collaborator and have a question? I'd be happy to answer.

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    Jun '16

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pinned Jun 19, '16

20 days later
tsukin
Jul '16

Hmmm, I sort of have a question. So like, I'm writing a book and currently it's just you know you can read it for free and there's no money involved, but I've been toying with the idea of making it slightly more mixed media by making a few of the segments into like comic strips. That in and of itself isn't the issue.

I'm sort of thinking a hypothetical super far down the line type of scenario but I have had people comment saying they'd be willing to buy the book in some form in the future (not that I"m like asking that but its made me think about how to go about the mixed-media portion), but how would you handle that situation?

Like I obviously dont want to NOT pay the artist if I do end up making a physical copy/actually doing th mixed media thing cause even if all the words are mine the images aren't and that's not right, but at the same time I wouldn't want to give them a huge chunk if it's literally just one section since in the end everything else is 100% mine.

1 month later
revisionstudios
Aug '16

(Sorry for the SUPER late reply on this, I don't often check the forums)

I think you have some misconception of how publishing works. Paying the artist for their work doesn't mean you're giving up a percentage of your profits (if that's what you mean by a "huge chunk", anyway). The only way they get a recurring payment from the book you sell is if you work out an agreement where they get royalties, which, judging by the amount of content they would own in the book, wouldn't be a large percentage anyway.

Most artists will simply expect an up front rate per page/strip. It's a one time payment for you. But I want to let you know that because you are going to be selling a book with their work in it, it will be considered a commercial piece. Artists will typically charge a lot more for commercial art because they DON'T typically get royalties or extra payment after the fact, no matter how good it sells. (Also, even if you were only going to display the art digitally alongside the story and keep it free to read, you would still need to pay them regardless.)

Especially if you self publish, you're going to find that you'll need to make a large initial investment in order to see any pay out. You can't make a profit without a product. My partner and I made a personal investment of over $1000 the first year for printing, paying our background artists, and getting convention supplies. It adds up quick! That doesn't mean it can't be done for less of a budget, but expect it to be in the hundreds.

1 month later
tsukin
Sep '16

(my turn to be super late in replying) No problem mate! lol. I kinda forgot about this altogether tbh, but thanks! The feedback means a lot!

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unpinned Dec 15, '18