The future of comics and graphic novels... and my utopian hopes.
I was checking one of my favorite sites, Mangablog, and from there I was led to a link of a recent blog post by Becky Cloonan about floppies vs. graphic novels and how the whole Original Graphic Novel thing can't keep on the way it is. Too demanding, not enough pay, and individual volumes tend to disapear on the shelves with the rest of the masses
( Read more... )
Nice long post. Glad you got that off your chest.
A couple comments that may clarify a few things.
1. Anthologies are notoriously difficult to sell in the US that's given but it could work on a more independent level, like Rush. As you know I've been working with Shogun Magazine (http://www.shoguncity.com)in France for a while now. This is the first ever big-time Global Manga Anthologie in the Western World. So that success or failure could certainly be a indication where things are going. They're doing also pretty much what you suggested. Their contracts are four episodes only, which is the format of one graphics novel. If for any reason the readers reject the title, the company has no further obligation to the property. And if it's a success the creative team might be able to negotiate better terms faster. Also the paperbacks are published rather quickly after the prepublication. Within a couple months. Now, they've changed direction already a couple times since the whole project has a strong experimental character and they're about to split it up into three separate magazines focusing on Shonen, Seinen and Shoujo and lowering the price and page numbers. We'll see what the future brings...
2. Payments: Most advances are calculated based on 50% of the royalty figure (could be anywhere from 8% to 12% of the retail price times the first print run of the book). If you do the math on the average Tpop OEL, then the advances are quite generous and almost always more than 50%.
But looking at it from the creators point of view, it is of course not enough. This makes it a very difficult situation to deal with because the publisher is essentially like an investor, putting money into your (or if the copyright is shared,the combined) property. The publisher acts then like most lending institutions with unsecured loans. Their terms could be very unfavorable to the creators. I think every creator needs to know, what they can deal with on those issues. The reality is that practically no OEL makes back its advance on a domestic release alone, so additional moneys will only come from foreign licensing (most likely) and secondary exploitation like movies and merchandising (less likely). Unfortunately, it could take years until the projects is sold in enough countries and payments trickle down to the system, so one has to be in it for the long haul.
Reply
Reply
As for payment, I do realize that it is a huge investment for TPOP to sign up an artist (especially a previously "unknown" artist) and that when you break down the numbers the way you have, the advance is generous in many ways-- especially considering that, yes, most OELs have not exactly been flying of the shelves. I guess my main issue is the fact that because each volume is such a time-heavy commitment, that it sort of becomes each artist's primary job, if you will. And when you look at the advance as a year's salary, it doesn't hold up quite as well. I think it's a tricky thing because it's all freelance, too. I mean, when you hear the word "freelance" you generally think of short, multiple projects, not necessarily a year-long endeavor. I personally feel that if companies can't give these artists larger paychecks, then at least sign them up as employees so they can receive benefits and the like. Of course, that's a whole other matter.
I also feel that instead of spending x amount of money on 50 OELs that aren't likely to sell a ton of copies, focus on 25 and put more money into those so the artists can hire assistants and get the work done more quickly. I've always been a supporter of quality over quantity, and right now it feels like everything is slanting more towards quantity...
Reply
Your absolutely right on all points. The advance is not enough to live off of and Tpop would have been much better off with less projects (same can be said about Shogun which is going to have out more books than Tpop).
However, I want to mention one thing. Tpop's idea was always for the creators to do TWO BOOKS per year and not one. It sort of morphed into one book a year because that's what creators felt more comfortable doing. I know for a fact that the Tpop office is not happy with the release schedule. So, if you create two books, then the advance would be let's say 30k, which is already a lot better.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment