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AmandaJ-art
May '22

If it's a collab between two people that know and trust each other then I think it's a pretty cool idea. Like look at One punch man. It's amazing because of them.

Now, unpaid work from a random internet stranger I do not like. So many random writers think people will just draw for free. It also seems very predatory. They could even not credit you in the end.

As someone that knows how much time goes into my comic - I would never want to do unpaid work for a random story. I've seen some even that want the webtoon styles. Teams work on those! No single person has time for that much unpaid work.

Legendofgenii
May '22

I do the occasional collab and fan art, but I wouldn't have the time to work on a larger project without being paid for it. :sweat_smile:

RedLenai
May '22
1

Well...

If the collaboration is either

  • Something done between friends where both put the effort to create something and they are passionate about it
  • Or when two strangers who have equally responsabilities and both have a mutual interest and build together around an idea

Then I don't think there is a problem, since is not like one person is using another or demanding around 80% to the other person... or well, just plain "This is my idea, I want things to go this way, I want it to be this lenght, I want it like this like that bla bla bla" and not give any room to the other person, that's not something I would call a collaboration.

But when things like this happens, independently if the person is an artist or a writer.
JUST.PAY.THEM
Because you're not building something together, you're just needing a skill that you can't do on your own, it's a person doing something for you, providing a service to you, not doing something with you.

  • You want your story, your idea drawn/written -> Pay
  • You want said thing in a very specific style/quality -> Pay
  • You want said thing done in a specific time/with specific deadlines -> Pay
  • You want something long term? -> Pay
  • You want someone who is a professional -> Guess what? Pay

I'd like to quote @Kuma here:

If you're cooking at home and you realize you don't have salt, you don't go to the grocery store and ask politely be given salt for free in exchange of a piece of your finished dish. Not only they need to sell their product, they don't even know if you're a good cook.

I don't mind when somebody offers, like an artist looking for a writer with a story, or a writer looking for an artist with a concept to expand. But if you have a passion project and you need outside help, don't ask strangers on the internet about it.

Lensing
May '22

I´m working on some collabs right now where nobody pays nobody and all participants agreed on sharing the money
which will eventually come in. I did this a lot in the past and will keep on doing this in the future.
All bands work like this, there is usually not one guy who pays everyone else and takes all the risk and I´m doing
the same with comics, I look for team members and start projects.

One example of many:
a writer and me are working on a comic for a contest, when we win the comic will be printed and we share the
money equally. He does the script and story board, I do pencils, inks, coloring.
That´s the kind of person I would ask again when I have another project and you never know what´s coming
out of a thing like that

wispysing
May '22

When you propose to an artist to work with you, you are hiring them for their service. Look at them as a professional, that's how I view it.

There are many artists out there who are very young, and they'll gladly accept unpaid work mostly for exposure. But there's no guarantee, no real assurement or compensation for their hard work. I fell for this too, when I was younger.

Comic-making is a tough process. Most take years and years to hone their skills to make them, and skill is not cheap–much less free.

Personally, I wouldn't mind doing a piece or two for a friend. A whole comic though...definitely won't fit in my schedule. :joy:

ahogemon
May '22

If the story is very-very good even I really enjoy reading them, I don't mind for unpaid collab, I will gladly illustrate them. But of course unpaid doesn't mean 100% free, we need to plan for publishing to earn incomes.

EncryptedWriting
May '22

I think if both parties agree to it, then why not?

I think if a writer is posting a unpaid collab, they really need to have a well thought post that explains everything. I think short projects may not be too many of an issue, but if they're asking for a webtoon original, then that becomes an issue. I think if you present yourself, as a writer, properly, then there is no harm in asking. But just be wary of the amount of time it takes an artist to actually create stuff. And, for the love of God, please don't put them on a schedule. That's my biggest pet peeve with unpaid collabs is having a schedule. This person is doing the work on their free will, do not have deadlines.

On an artist looking for a collab, it's more lenient. They are looking to do something fun, in their free time. They can pick and choose and look for a story to genuinely bring to life.

Then there is a third type of unpaid collaboration where the writer offers their services for proofreading and editing. I find this one to be very beneficial for both parties as having an editor and proofreader who has that creative spark to help reformat ideas is a great thing.

Ultimately, if you give a good, strong idea of what you're doing and don't say "HI, I'm a great writer. I have an idea for u. Please email me." And don't elaborate forward, yeah that's going to be an issue.

Mallory
May '22

As an artist and a writer I have no issues with the concept of unpaid collabs, as long as both parties know exactly what they're getting into/what they're asking for AND both are getting the outcomes they desire.

The issue is most writers who come looking for unpaid collabs are usually just looking for an art monkey to make all their wildest dreams come true, without any consideration for the feelings or wants of the artist... and are subsequently surprised pikachu when it turns out nobody actually wants to work on their crappy GoT/Dragonball Z/isekai knockoff epic with enough edgy content to make even a 15-year-old boy roll his eyes. They usually vastly overestimate both their own quality of writing AND how much of a crap other people give about their stories because they've never written in any professional/business-oriented capacity and have never gotten a single shred of editorial (or often, even peer) feedback. And because of that they often are extremely smug, acting like they're some kind of a god's gift to artists... without understanding that most of the artists that they want to work with are actually probably better writers than they are AND that art is just... 4-20x more time-consuming than the writing.

I laugh every time I see someone showing up here going "ya we're gonna make a free webtoon, release one 60-panel chapter a week, and split the money 50/50." Dog, you're asking for FULL TIME WORK from an artist for FREE. The fact that you don't understand this means you are nowhere near ready for a comic collaboration.

That's where a lot of the frustration and the offense comes when it comes to unpaid collabs.

thecrystalrook
May '22
1

As long as you're just doing it for fun.

But, if that project is making money, make sure you get your cut. Also, everything that @Mallory above me said. Your time and labor have value, don't undersell yourself and don't let anyone convince you your artwork ISN'T labor.

PrinceLatte
May '22
AmandaJ-art

I don't think you should call most of them writers. They claim to be but just thought of an idea and think they can do it.

nkapit
May '22

it would be fine in a post-scarcity society where survival were not tied to capital and people could do things simply because they want to, and that’s what we should strive for, but that’s far from where we are

1 month later

closed Jun 20, '22

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