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8.03.2005

The Small Presser, No. 8: "Will Work for Free"

It’s great to publish your own comic, but there are also advantages to collaborating on other books. Aside from meeting other talented folks, you get exposed to their work and they get exposed to your work, so you have a few new readers right off the bat.

Now, we all have limited time and we’d sure like to get paid for out efforts that go beyond our own personal projects. That’s great if you command such attention; If you don’t, don’t push for the cash. The exposure you’re likely to get is worth its weight, as you’re likely to reach an audience that might not otherwise come across your work. And you usually only have to contribute a few pages to that unpaid project instead of doing a whole book (plus you don’t have to pay the publishing and distribution costs).

I have my projects that I work on, but I also make sure I work pro bono on pieces for other publications as well. I’ve had my stories appear in Plastic Farm, Oh, Comics!, and SPX Anthology 2004, just to name a few. All of them have paid off, and I mean in terms money: Although I didn’t get paid for the projects per se, the exposure in the publications drew folks to my own comics, which I happily sold to them. Sure, I’m a small-press hack. But, ya know, pros do it, too. Peter Kuper, the artist on Mad’s “Spy vs. Spy” and a superb stencil illustrator whose pieces have appeared on the cover of Time and Newsweek to name a few high-profile magazine, does the same thing. He draws comics on occasion for a number of domestic and international publications for free, again primarily for the exposure, which can lead in paying gigs later.

So, before you turn down that invitation to contribute to a nonpaying anthology, remember that it’s a bit like passing up an opportunity at free advertising.

Dembicki at 7:02 AM  |  link to this     

3 Comments

This is one of my favorite topics because I have a great story for it.

Putting together issue 5 of Western Tales of Terror. Three current Eisner nominees (Steve Niles, Tony Moore and Kieron Dwyer) and several other past nominees or big names (Tom Mandrake, Scott Mills, Jason Rand, Juan Ferreyra).

I’m looking for an artist for a story. Find some guy I like, never been published, worked on a few pitches but he’s awesome, new on the scene. I send him a query, he says he’s interested and asks how much it pays.

“It doesn’t, it’s more of an exposure thing. It’s a really strong book to start out on.”

Turns it down, claims he’s done working for free. Now, I can understand that you might have gotten burned by some crack-pot writers you hooked up with, but this is five-pages of your life which at the very least is going to get the attention of some big talents and beyond that has good circulation for an indie.

Just made me kind of laugh a bit. I think one of the first things aspiring creators need to do is learn how to prioritize. Like you said, Matt, it’s essentially free advertising.

Jason at 8/03/2005 8:30 AM   

One of my fave stories in regards to this...

The Thursday after my antho Project: Superior dropped, I received an email from a HUGE book publisher asking if I had the contact info for an artist I had worked with in the past. This artist had ONLY appeared in Superior, so essentially, someone at this HUGE book publisher was checking out anthologies for possible freelancers.

Not sure if it all worked out, but I know that there are some educational books that should be published one of these days that could rival an SPX or AdHouse anthology!

pitzerboy at 8/03/2005 9:08 AM   

Thanks for the comments, Jason and Chris. They really flesh out my point!

Dembicki at 8/04/2005 4:28 AM   

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