Looking for a comic artist for drawing (initially unpaid)

[TheLemmaLlama]

I've always hated how discussions on workers' rights always seem to revolve around what people 'deserve', 'fairness', 'disrespect/devaluation', 'robbery' and all that moralistic stuff. There are differences between different industries, you're going to have to end up comparing them, and bringing in all this moralistic language inevitably makes any discussing about differences/imbalances sound like 'X is better than Y'. And we wonder why no-one can reach an agreement

Just talk about it terms of cold, hard logistics; 'is it worth it for the worker, yes/no'?

For instance an artist, after making an estimate of how much money the comic is likely to make, decides it's only worth their while if they get 70% of the revenue. This isn't a matter of 'artists are better than writers'; they're happy for the writer to have 70% of the revenue as well if it weren't logically impossible because by definition, you're not going to be earning 140% of the revenue for your work. There's only 100% to go around.

It's not a matter of "I'm doing more work than the writer, so I should earn more"; otherwise they'll be fine with them getting 7%, the author getting 3%, and donating the rest to charity or smth. It's a matter of "it's only worth it for me if I get 70%, and unfortunately because of the way reality works which I can't control, this leaves the writer with only 30%".

And maybe it just so happens that more writers are willing to do it for 50% while fewer artists are willing to do it for 50%. I'd love it if it were viewed as a statement on what's a good deal'tradeoff for them, and not "what they think they're worth".

[Katzalcoatl]

I might go 50/50 if you have things to offer-- a large following, ***amazing** script, and you take on other roles like promotion and marketing. I'd still be putting in more work, but there is a high chance of the comic being successful so I'm paid for my labor.

Not to mention that anyone with a large following would never offer a 50/50 cut. They would much rather just pay the normal rate of the artist.

If I'm a newbie artist, then I might be fine with taking this deal, but most people aren't looking for newbies are they?

Sadly most artist who take that deal are new artists. They are more interested in earning experience. I see lots of high schoolers and college students do this. Nothing wrong with it tbh since it is a fair way to learn. On contrast this type of deal is also only offered by new writers who don't have money to hire an artist but hey you have to start somewhere.

All in all, I see it fine for anyone who is just wanting to have fun with friends. But once you make a living out of this then a 50/50 deal is not really a realistic option for neither the writer nor the artist. Like you said unless you have a large following you can't really live of being an indie comic creator through add revenue alone.

Now here is some advice for all aspiring writers out there. If you want an artist to take your project seriously offer them a proper wage instead of a promise of a possible 50/50 profit. Why? Simple, when people don't see the promised profit they will lose interest in your project and inevitably leave the team. The person who comes up with the ideas is usually more invested in the project. If that person is not the artist it is highly likely they leave once they get busy with a job or another project leaving the writer withput a proper artist.

Looking for a new artist will likely cause an art change. Art changes are not often well recieved. If you want to be a profesional writer and you properly believe in the potential of your project then do follow my advice and treat it like a small business. Like in any business you need to invest time and capital in it otherwise it won't be successful there are few exceptions to the rule but those are uncommon.

@PrinceLatte please note we are only trying to give you advice based on our personal experience. Back when I was young I also used to believe a 50/50 relatipnship was fair be it in comics or other businesses. Now I have lots of experience and I have learned that is not the case. You have to look at lots of factors. Are you doing it as a hobby or do you trully want to make your business grow in a professional sense? If you are only doing this as a hobby then ignore our words. On the other hand, when you look at it from a professional and business standpoint you will see it is far better to pay a wage than to give a promise of a plausible income that may be huge or may mean nothing.

Those were rethorical questions to ask yourself btw. There is no need to answer especially since you have grown tired of the subject but do take it into consideration when you move forward.