The problem with Backend Deals...
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:15 pm
One thing as an aspiring writer and aspiring artist to be aware of, is the backend profits "deal".
It's a common practice among a lot of these publishers - even if it's only because they themselves are trying to survive - to doctor the books and make it seem like they don't have any profits to pay you.
They LOVE back-end deals because they have nothing to lose and they gain a free product out of it. They don't have to pay for the art, the writing, any of it. Meanwhile, you have an artist who presumably spent at a minimum 10 hours of time on each page (unless your name is John Byrne or Erik Larsen). For these publishers it's a win win situation.
But the thing is - YOU have all the power. Ultimately, you can choose to NOT GIVE IT TO THEM. You can even self publish - which in my opinion is far better than giving the book to some unknown publishing company that may rip you off. I've had plenty of offers to do books for back-end profits. Most of the people "hiring me" (using the term loosely) wouldn't do contracts, wouldn't tell me who the distribution was, and were generally very tight lipped about the deals entirely.
What did I do?
I said "no."
Ask yourself if it's worth it.
Ask yourself if they seem trustworthy.
Get contracts.
Make sure they include sales statements and all the sales and distribution reports about your book.
Just about the only publisher I would go with that does back-end deals is Image Comics. Anyone else, until I did research on them, would be suspect.
All I'm saying is be wary when you step into this particular pool. You may spend a lot of time and effort only to have all your work stolen from you by unscrupulous despots.
It's a common practice among a lot of these publishers - even if it's only because they themselves are trying to survive - to doctor the books and make it seem like they don't have any profits to pay you.
They LOVE back-end deals because they have nothing to lose and they gain a free product out of it. They don't have to pay for the art, the writing, any of it. Meanwhile, you have an artist who presumably spent at a minimum 10 hours of time on each page (unless your name is John Byrne or Erik Larsen). For these publishers it's a win win situation.
But the thing is - YOU have all the power. Ultimately, you can choose to NOT GIVE IT TO THEM. You can even self publish - which in my opinion is far better than giving the book to some unknown publishing company that may rip you off. I've had plenty of offers to do books for back-end profits. Most of the people "hiring me" (using the term loosely) wouldn't do contracts, wouldn't tell me who the distribution was, and were generally very tight lipped about the deals entirely.
What did I do?
I said "no."
Ask yourself if it's worth it.
Ask yourself if they seem trustworthy.
Get contracts.
Make sure they include sales statements and all the sales and distribution reports about your book.
Just about the only publisher I would go with that does back-end deals is Image Comics. Anyone else, until I did research on them, would be suspect.
All I'm saying is be wary when you step into this particular pool. You may spend a lot of time and effort only to have all your work stolen from you by unscrupulous despots.