The Star from the Dawn of Time that Split Heaven and Earth
yes, I've been watching too much Fate/stay night as of late; my bad.)
As many of you know, I have some issues with TOKYOPOP and the way they conduct business, both with artists and fandom. Well, I'm a big enough person to admit when I'm wrong. The explanation is long and dreary and for the sake of it, I'll just fictionalize my encounter a little so I don't bore you to death during the finer details.
I had a chance to have a drink and a chat with a little birdie in a nice bistro in Arlington the other day. Amongst the things we talked (aside from shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings) was the way that TOKYOPOP handled things. As per the norm, I told him of my distate for the Microsoft of the manga industry, as well as the arguments that some others have had towards it, especially the contract tiff and the fact that they want the grand chunk of your property when you submit to them.
Ah, but the little birdie said, that's not entirely true. From people he'd talked to, the so-termed $50K cap is nothing more than an untruth, though where it comes from is unknown. From people he knew, it was not as bad as it seemed - especially on the titles that I had mentioned in my earlier post. Furthermore, the mass marketing of amerimanga, even though it's been around for 20 years, is still in its relative infancy, and given the mentioned advances and the relative sales in comparison, it's still a loss industry and is probably covered by the success of TP's Japanese sales.
Well, that was probably true enough, I do admit that I got a lot of my information from Lea Hernandez and other champions of fairness for comic artists, though any zealot will occasionally subvert his cause by going overboard - a tragic maxim that still rings true regardless of the situation. But, even still, I argued, Lea & co. did have a point about the ownership issues. After all, no one wants to see their stuff made into Happy Meals without their permission if they do not want it...or in the specific case of TP, to make mangapods of published works, without the creators' involvement or input, and in some cases, consent.
Well, the little birdie did admit that TP, like its competitors, is a company. It's composed of the little people (your editors), who work with the artists and understand their pain. However, like anything else, a company has "suits", the people far enough from it, whose only objective is to make money (some companies are cursed with "pure suits", people who have never been at the lower levels and would never understand the real issues down there). So when the suits don't talk to the lower levels, you get fiascoes like the mangapods. They haven't been the first company to make a mistake, they won't be the last - and it may not even be the last mistake TP makes, so long as the eternal tug-of-war between editors, suits/pure suits, and "mustangs" (higher execs who have been at the lower levels and do understand the lower level issues, but still have to have the company make money, so they're caught in the middle) exists, not just at TP, but in business in general.
Another thing he noted is that I had, in my arguements, a critical flaw: it is not the royalties that creators live off of, but rather the advances (this, I will admit is my achilles heel; I'm not a business major). For a myriad number of reasons, the authors probably do not sell in the levels enough to be able to live off royalties (especially since the salary cap issue is bogus), and in truth, there are beginning authors who will never earn the company back the advance they paid out (he noted that this is true even outside of the manga industry). While the royalties of TP are somewhat as advertised (they're not the hottest in the industry), if a creator wants to live off the stuff, it's a matter of being more prolific. Three books a year might be better where one a year is not going to get one to quit the day job. There's also the fact that having an agent will always earn someone a better contract; they're the professional negotiatiors that are paid to do just that.
Furthermore, while the Happy Meal bit is a bit ridiculous, he pointed out that manga (as Ayne herself had admitted some time back) is not "painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel", but rather a commercial endeavor where we're trying to create the manga-fied version of the Great American (Japanese?) Story. In other words, the characters are going to ultimately be exploited in one manner or another, and it's ultimately up to the creator owner to ensure that's done in the right manner. Do I want my stuff to not appear in a Happy Meal? Fine - make sure it's all spelled out in the contract. Do I want to sell T-shirt, plushies, etc, without having to compete with the publisher? Fine - make sure it's in the contract. Whether drama CDs, pencilboards or even manga content on cellphones - something that's happening in Japan and will undoubtedly be tried by someone here - if a creator is against it or wants a say in it, it needs to be in the contract.
So, I commented, if I'm that concerned about it (which I am), then TP is probably not the best place for me. He did admit that; TP's policies aren't for everyone, and perhaps another publisher will be beneficial, or maybe in a day to come, TP may have a policy change that I am happy with. After all, the fact is that amerimanga, as distinct from indie, alternative or mainstream comics, is still in its infancy, and Hana Road isn't yet ready to be shopped to publishers. There's still a ways to go, for creators, companies, and the industry as a whole, and where the future takes us all is still uncharted.
So I thank my friend the little birdie for being so eloquent and truthful in telling me things from a view I hadn't considered. I have far less concerns about TOKYOPOP than I did before as well as an apology to the company itself for misunderstandings, and perhaps the business stance that I have with them may change. That has yet to be seen, though I suspect in the next year or so, it will ultimately unfold.
As many of you know, I have some issues with TOKYOPOP and the way they conduct business, both with artists and fandom. Well, I'm a big enough person to admit when I'm wrong. The explanation is long and dreary and for the sake of it, I'll just fictionalize my encounter a little so I don't bore you to death during the finer details.
I had a chance to have a drink and a chat with a little birdie in a nice bistro in Arlington the other day. Amongst the things we talked (aside from shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings) was the way that TOKYOPOP handled things. As per the norm, I told him of my distate for the Microsoft of the manga industry, as well as the arguments that some others have had towards it, especially the contract tiff and the fact that they want the grand chunk of your property when you submit to them.
Ah, but the little birdie said, that's not entirely true. From people he'd talked to, the so-termed $50K cap is nothing more than an untruth, though where it comes from is unknown. From people he knew, it was not as bad as it seemed - especially on the titles that I had mentioned in my earlier post. Furthermore, the mass marketing of amerimanga, even though it's been around for 20 years, is still in its relative infancy, and given the mentioned advances and the relative sales in comparison, it's still a loss industry and is probably covered by the success of TP's Japanese sales.
Well, that was probably true enough, I do admit that I got a lot of my information from Lea Hernandez and other champions of fairness for comic artists, though any zealot will occasionally subvert his cause by going overboard - a tragic maxim that still rings true regardless of the situation. But, even still, I argued, Lea & co. did have a point about the ownership issues. After all, no one wants to see their stuff made into Happy Meals without their permission if they do not want it...or in the specific case of TP, to make mangapods of published works, without the creators' involvement or input, and in some cases, consent.
Well, the little birdie did admit that TP, like its competitors, is a company. It's composed of the little people (your editors), who work with the artists and understand their pain. However, like anything else, a company has "suits", the people far enough from it, whose only objective is to make money (some companies are cursed with "pure suits", people who have never been at the lower levels and would never understand the real issues down there). So when the suits don't talk to the lower levels, you get fiascoes like the mangapods. They haven't been the first company to make a mistake, they won't be the last - and it may not even be the last mistake TP makes, so long as the eternal tug-of-war between editors, suits/pure suits, and "mustangs" (higher execs who have been at the lower levels and do understand the lower level issues, but still have to have the company make money, so they're caught in the middle) exists, not just at TP, but in business in general.
Another thing he noted is that I had, in my arguements, a critical flaw: it is not the royalties that creators live off of, but rather the advances (this, I will admit is my achilles heel; I'm not a business major). For a myriad number of reasons, the authors probably do not sell in the levels enough to be able to live off royalties (especially since the salary cap issue is bogus), and in truth, there are beginning authors who will never earn the company back the advance they paid out (he noted that this is true even outside of the manga industry). While the royalties of TP are somewhat as advertised (they're not the hottest in the industry), if a creator wants to live off the stuff, it's a matter of being more prolific. Three books a year might be better where one a year is not going to get one to quit the day job. There's also the fact that having an agent will always earn someone a better contract; they're the professional negotiatiors that are paid to do just that.
Furthermore, while the Happy Meal bit is a bit ridiculous, he pointed out that manga (as Ayne herself had admitted some time back) is not "painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel", but rather a commercial endeavor where we're trying to create the manga-fied version of the Great American (Japanese?) Story. In other words, the characters are going to ultimately be exploited in one manner or another, and it's ultimately up to the creator owner to ensure that's done in the right manner. Do I want my stuff to not appear in a Happy Meal? Fine - make sure it's all spelled out in the contract. Do I want to sell T-shirt, plushies, etc, without having to compete with the publisher? Fine - make sure it's in the contract. Whether drama CDs, pencilboards or even manga content on cellphones - something that's happening in Japan and will undoubtedly be tried by someone here - if a creator is against it or wants a say in it, it needs to be in the contract.
So, I commented, if I'm that concerned about it (which I am), then TP is probably not the best place for me. He did admit that; TP's policies aren't for everyone, and perhaps another publisher will be beneficial, or maybe in a day to come, TP may have a policy change that I am happy with. After all, the fact is that amerimanga, as distinct from indie, alternative or mainstream comics, is still in its infancy, and Hana Road isn't yet ready to be shopped to publishers. There's still a ways to go, for creators, companies, and the industry as a whole, and where the future takes us all is still uncharted.
So I thank my friend the little birdie for being so eloquent and truthful in telling me things from a view I hadn't considered. I have far less concerns about TOKYOPOP than I did before as well as an apology to the company itself for misunderstandings, and perhaps the business stance that I have with them may change. That has yet to be seen, though I suspect in the next year or so, it will ultimately unfold.