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Taking Back the Means of Production
Oct. 14th, 2020 08:07 amComrade Himbo: Send Us Your Comics
https://pome-mag.com/comrade-himbo-a-call-for-submissions/
This is a very clear set of submission guidelines that probably isn't an interesting read for anyone except me. I copied the entire thing into another document to use as a reference for potential future projects of my own, because it's quite good.
I'm especially interested in the compensation rates. What they're offering seems like it's on the low side to me, but it's important to keep in mind that this is a very small press run by volunteers that's basically going from Kickstarter to Kickstarter. It's also important to keep in mind that the shipping costs for ten books are not negligible, especially if they're being mailed overseas.
I ran across a Twitter thread the other day about how artists should expect to be paid well because art is a luxury. I agree in principle - of course I do! - but I think this is a bit trickier in practice. I'm going to say that, in the United States at least, the New York Times (and its subsidiary magazines) set the industry standards for illustration rates. If you're curious, this rate is about $1,200 per color illustration, with some artists being paid a bit less and some artists being paid quite a bit more. As you can imagine, however, not everyone can afford to pay artists on the same scale as the New York Times.
So you run into a Catch-22 situation. Artists should be paid at a fair rate, because of course they should; but, at the same time, it's clearly discriminatory to say that only people who have the money to pay artists at the industry standard set by giant corporations should be allowed to publish.
This Catch-22 has been keeping BIPOC and LGBTQ+ presses and creators out of mainstream publishing up until this very day. To summarize a complicated story, presses aren't allowed to exhibit at most publishing industry trade conventions unless they can prove that they meet certain standards regarding creator contracts. A small press that only publishes, say, crowd-funded anthologies of queer comics from emerging creators is not going to be able to offer the same contracts as, like, a member of the Hachette group - and so they can't exhibit. This is one of the reasons why, for example, even extraordinarily successful small-press publications are never going to be in most bookstores (or their websites).
Publishing is a tricky business, and I don't think it's a reach to say that most small presses don't go into it for the money. I guess what I'd like to argue for is a better sense of scale, as well as a more nuanced understanding of the necessary balance between compensating creators and not hemorrhaging money. Essentially, if you want to support minority and independent creators, you also have to support the independent presses and editors that publish, distribute, and promote their work.
https://pome-mag.com/comrade-himbo-a-call-for-submissions/
- This is a paid project. We will be paying $50 USD/page per creative team for each selected black and white comic, and $100 USD per each selected one-page color illustration.
- In addition to payment, we will provide 10 comp copies for comics submissions and 5 comp copies for illustration submissions for contributors to sell or distribute however they want.
- In addition to payment, we will provide 10 comp copies for comics submissions and 5 comp copies for illustration submissions for contributors to sell or distribute however they want.
This is a very clear set of submission guidelines that probably isn't an interesting read for anyone except me. I copied the entire thing into another document to use as a reference for potential future projects of my own, because it's quite good.
I'm especially interested in the compensation rates. What they're offering seems like it's on the low side to me, but it's important to keep in mind that this is a very small press run by volunteers that's basically going from Kickstarter to Kickstarter. It's also important to keep in mind that the shipping costs for ten books are not negligible, especially if they're being mailed overseas.
I ran across a Twitter thread the other day about how artists should expect to be paid well because art is a luxury. I agree in principle - of course I do! - but I think this is a bit trickier in practice. I'm going to say that, in the United States at least, the New York Times (and its subsidiary magazines) set the industry standards for illustration rates. If you're curious, this rate is about $1,200 per color illustration, with some artists being paid a bit less and some artists being paid quite a bit more. As you can imagine, however, not everyone can afford to pay artists on the same scale as the New York Times.
So you run into a Catch-22 situation. Artists should be paid at a fair rate, because of course they should; but, at the same time, it's clearly discriminatory to say that only people who have the money to pay artists at the industry standard set by giant corporations should be allowed to publish.
This Catch-22 has been keeping BIPOC and LGBTQ+ presses and creators out of mainstream publishing up until this very day. To summarize a complicated story, presses aren't allowed to exhibit at most publishing industry trade conventions unless they can prove that they meet certain standards regarding creator contracts. A small press that only publishes, say, crowd-funded anthologies of queer comics from emerging creators is not going to be able to offer the same contracts as, like, a member of the Hachette group - and so they can't exhibit. This is one of the reasons why, for example, even extraordinarily successful small-press publications are never going to be in most bookstores (or their websites).
Publishing is a tricky business, and I don't think it's a reach to say that most small presses don't go into it for the money. I guess what I'd like to argue for is a better sense of scale, as well as a more nuanced understanding of the necessary balance between compensating creators and not hemorrhaging money. Essentially, if you want to support minority and independent creators, you also have to support the independent presses and editors that publish, distribute, and promote their work.
