Re: Don't quit your day job
Dec. 1st, 2021 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingTo be really super honest about money, the most I've ever gotten for my writing is from the Memorabilia BotW fandom zine, which paid all contributors an even €200 after the shipping for leftover sales finished up. At the then-current exchange rate, this was about $220.
(If you're curious, I put that money directly back into the fandom by immediately using it to commission fandom artists for fandom projects. Such is the circle of life.)
To put this into perspective, both The Atlantic and Kotaku pay about $150 for a freelance contribution of similar length.
To put this into even broader perspective, most "for profit" zines and anthologies only compensate contributors with complimentary copies. To give an example, I have access to a detailed finance document for the Carpe Noctem: Vampires Through the Ages zine, which has currently raised more than $11,000 on Kickstarter. It's a decently successful campaign that's already passed four stretch goals; but, once you take platform fees, production, and shipping costs into account, it's barely enough to send out contributor copies (as each unlocked stretch goal makes shipping and production more expensive). If - and only if - there isn't a problem with production or shipping, then the contingency funds will be divided among the contributors, who will get about $100-$150 each maybe a year from now.
There's been a lot of recent social media conversation about how fandom zines are bad because (a) zines are supposed to be indie and subversive and (b) zines don't adequately compensate artists. As someone who wrote an actual literal academic monograph about zines, I think the first point is not only incorrect but almost aggressively ignorant. As for the second point, I really don't know what to say, besides that nobody's making money either way.
(If you're curious, I put that money directly back into the fandom by immediately using it to commission fandom artists for fandom projects. Such is the circle of life.)
To put this into perspective, both The Atlantic and Kotaku pay about $150 for a freelance contribution of similar length.
To put this into even broader perspective, most "for profit" zines and anthologies only compensate contributors with complimentary copies. To give an example, I have access to a detailed finance document for the Carpe Noctem: Vampires Through the Ages zine, which has currently raised more than $11,000 on Kickstarter. It's a decently successful campaign that's already passed four stretch goals; but, once you take platform fees, production, and shipping costs into account, it's barely enough to send out contributor copies (as each unlocked stretch goal makes shipping and production more expensive). If - and only if - there isn't a problem with production or shipping, then the contingency funds will be divided among the contributors, who will get about $100-$150 each maybe a year from now.
There's been a lot of recent social media conversation about how fandom zines are bad because (a) zines are supposed to be indie and subversive and (b) zines don't adequately compensate artists. As someone who wrote an actual literal academic monograph about zines, I think the first point is not only incorrect but almost aggressively ignorant. As for the second point, I really don't know what to say, besides that nobody's making money either way.
