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Showing posts from July, 2017

Pitch Update...

I pitched halfwing to Image Comics a little over a month ago ( details ). As the submission page calls out, if they haven't responded in one month, you should consider your proposal declined (which means halfwing was declined). As you might guess, I was pretty bummed. I even pondered hanging it up... but... I reviewed  my Toggl reports , and I realized I have spent close to a 1,000 hours writing/producing halfwing . I don't want to just throw that time without something to show for it. Also, I really believe I have something with halfwing. The story is coming along and the art is great. ... so... during the second week when I was the most down in the dumps (and I was sure if I hadn't heard by then, I wouldn't hear... which I didn't)... I started thinking about what's next. By the way, if this has happened to you, let in all those sad feelings for a couple minutes (or days :D ) and then move on to what's next for your story. Overall, don't ge

Contracts with comic artist (from a writer's perspective)

If you are a writer planning to hire an artist to draw your comic, it's important to get a proper contract in place, so you retain all the rights to your story. Where should I start? You will need a Work for Hire contract ( also known as a work made for hire or WFH ). This type of contract allows you to retain all rights to the created work and do with those works as you please (pitch, webcomic, etc.). You are paying a worker (artist) to do some work (draw your story). Because you are taking all the risk (financial), you should retain all rights to it.  After you find/hire an artist , getting a contract in place is the next logical step. I spent a lot of time searching for a Work for Hire template contract I could use. There were a lot of good articles out there on how to put one together, but not many provided a dummy contract I could use. Some websites actually did, but I read through the contracts and I don't think they were completely correct. It's better t

Starting a company for comic writers... LLC or Sole Proprietorship?

After figuring out I wanted to write comics (graphic novels, manga, etc.) and writing several scripts, I knew I had to hire and pay an artist a proper wage before I had my comic . ... So... I knew I needed to start a company... maybe? Why? Well, for one thing, you can write off loses on taxes which can help the first couple years. Also, if you ever start making a profit, you can deduct expenses before you pay taxes as well... and... well, I had heard I should start a business for this stuff, right? I just had to figure out the structure for the business. I am in the USA , so I had a couple options: Sole Proprietorship Business Partnership Limited Liability Company (LLC) Corporation By the way, the U.S. Small Business Administration has a great site to guide you through this. I don't have any partners in my business and I don't plan on being a Corporation at this point (too big), so I threw out Partnership and Corporation. That left me with Sole Propri