By the way, I wasn't referring to you with my "poke the eye of any particular company or publisher" comment.
I figured as much, but thought I'd clarify nonetheless. I'm not necessarily looking to burn any bridges here, because I honestly wasn't treated badly--in a malicious fashion. I was, however, oftentimes painfully aware of my low position on the totem pole, which is something I'm hoping to help others understand before signing the same kind of contract I signed.
I don't really harbor any ill will towards these people, but there were some instances of...negligence (for lack of a better word) which caught me by surprise.
I have been quite outspoken concerning the recent dealings of the publisher that you currently work for…. many people have, as well… which I believe (and I can’t prove this, of course) has had some affect on said publisher.
It's definitely had an effect on them. At the risk of being cryptic again, I got an email not too long ago suggesting that I was leaking information to a certain UK-based comics blogger. This British gentleman had received word that creators weren't getting paid and asked for an official statement, and they came to me, wanting to know why I'd contacted this blogger and told him these things.
Turns out the blogger in question was referring to an entirely different set of creators (who had comics on a website that this company recently bought) and one of those guys had contacted him, not me. Nonetheless, I was under some scrutiny for awhile. It was a little strange.
Many publishers and editors do not like it when creators talk to one another. This lack of communication enables these particular publishers and editors to get away with some of the crappy things that they get away with. However, once the genie is out of the bottle, once there’s a public outcry against poor business practices by these particular publishers and editors, they tend to change their ways.
That's the main reason I'm going to come out about these things soon--I'm hoping this method of conducting business becomes a thing of the past.
These companies are dying. There's no need for a comics publisher anymore, really. They're just middlemen who offered a service a modern creator can find online--self-publishing, self-promotion, blah blah blah. And I think people are starting to realize that. Those few who are still knocking on these doors are hoping to get lucky, make it big, get a movie made out of their comic...all that jazz. That's going to be my target audience. I need to show these kids that you'd have better luck buying a lottery ticket.
And, with all that blah blah blah out of the way, I have to admit: I'm still about a month away from sharing my experiences. I may have jumped the gun a bit by posting here so soon.
