Comments on: SCOOTLES scuttled? Creator beware!

By: Alterna Comics raising funds to avoid bankruptcy | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:01:23 +0000

[...] Plastic Farm, and they were also the home for Mr. Scootles after the creator of that comic had a bad experience with a previous publisher. Their highest profile book was probably Jesus Hates Zombies, which moved [...]

By: guide

guide — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:28:15 +0000

Spent some great time in your site, really enjoyed it

By: Gary Brignac

Gary Brignac — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:17:37 +0000

I am a new creator and am currently looking for an artist to crank up a new concept in comics that will grow into a movie. I need that beginner artist that wants in on the ground floor of a project that they can be proud to draw. WE WILL create our own site and develop the comic and sell subscriptions without others getting the profits.

By: Alana Abbott

Alana Abbott — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:30:12 +0000

While I agree that at a small publisher a book may not get the same marketing and distribution it would get through a large publisher, I think that the POD industry is still in its development stages. Many people in their comments seem to be equating POD with vanity presses, which isn’t necessarily true. There are many small publishers (like Wesley’s) who are able to get into the business and take risks on new authors only through the POD venue. Unless you have a lot of start capital, a lot of established contacts in the industry, and previous arrangements with distributors (some of which you can’t even start making until you have X number of titles published), paying for a minimum print run at a traditional press is a huge risk. Paying for a small first run through a POD service is more cost effective on less guaranteed sales.

What I hope this technology will allow publishers to do is take bigger risks on edgier or more inventive work. Not guaranteed to sell 5,000 in the first year? Print a limited 500 copy release and see how it does at conventions and other hand-sell locations. Whether or not that will actually happen, we’ll just have to wait and see.

POD technology is also getting much better in terms of quality, to the point where it’s difficult to tell in many cases whether there was a traditional print run or whether it was a POD run. (No denying some groups still suffer from bad quality, but I tend to equate those with the vanity houses, who are not making money through book sales.)

I don’t think POD is necessarily the way to go–but I do think that it’s becoming a more viable option as smaller groups (who may, in fact, do more for their authors than a large house) embrace the technology.

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:19:00 +0000

“Does your publisher have kajillionaire Sir Richard Branson bankrolling it? Great! Then maybe you will sell 5000 copies in the direct sales market. Think about THAT metric.”

And some folks with far less funding have sold more. It’s not a direct relationship between the scale of the backers bankroll and sales in the market… nor is finding a well-funded publisher a guarantee that they won’t leave you hanging.

This isn’t to say that creators shouldn’t be cautious about new publishers, mind you. Recently there’s been some very clear examples of publishers whose stated intents did not match their follow-through.

By: Mike Gagnon

Mike Gagnon — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:51:16 +0000

Despite the dogpile and slander, sadly the claims that have been made by Mr. Noel are false. I sincerely hope that any readers can get an educted opinion from both sides before they make a judgement. Anyone who has questions regarding this situation may feel free to e-mail me directly at mgagnon@bmts.com

I will also be responding publicly with a press release and documented proof that Mr. Noel’s claims are false within the next 24 hours.

By: John Platt

John Platt — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:59:22 +0000

Aside from all of this POD discussion, it is worth pointing out that Mr Scootles is a very good comic. I only have the first issue, but I really enjoyed it, and look forward to picking up the rest.

By: Gary Reed

Gary Reed — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:23:15 +0000

POD has its uses and can be a valuable tool but obviously, at this time, it is not efficient for mass distribution. But if you want to sell copies of your work whether at cons, direct mail, or via online services such as Amazon, then it can be a workable method because you don’t have the upfront costs of printing and then storage. Right now, if you’re doing new material, it does seem essentially like vanity publishing but it all depends on what “service” the POD is providing. To get your book in front of other people (ie-editors, “Hollywood”, family)…or to just have copies for yourself…or to collect old material…then it has its uses. I plan to collect older material as POD and I know that it doesn’t have mass distribution appeal but have a lot of people who would like collections of older stuff in one single package. I think too many people think of POD as an alternative to traditional and at this time, it should be viewed more as a supplement. It’s not a replacement but an ancillary tool.

As far as most of these small publishers, I do think most just get swallowed up by the process. Intentions were sincere but they just caught up in many unanticipated problems. I’d say the vast majority had no goal of ripping people off. Of course, for the creator, the end result may end up the same but it seems when a publisher screws up, the label of sleaze is applied when the more correct term should be incompentence. Same result perhaps, but just took a different path to get there.

By: mike

mike — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:43:17 +0000

Another funny thing is this assumption that when a self-publisher distributes his or her work through “an established distributor” (as if there were more than one, really), that he or she is going to get paid. Distributors have their own “rookery”, for those of you armchair pundits that have never actually tried it. Good luck getting a penny out of “them” for any of your books they sell.
Additionally, with … oh let’s stop beating around the bush … with Diamond’s recent benchmarks, you may not be able to get distribution into the direct market. As the Comics Journal coverage pointed out, Diamond may stick with you if you’re blowing hundreds or thousands of dollars on Previews ads even if your book isn’t making the benchmark, but that’s not feasable for many new creators.
Personally, I have my books printed by Brenner in Texas, and I think they do a good job. But it should be recognized that the next Bagge, Hernandez, Rude, MacNeil, etc. etc. is more likely to come from a web or POD or both background than anywhere else.
Doing something POD doesn’t mean you intend to do this forever, but some publishers can’t see the value in a project unless it’s packaged and dropped in front of them in a bound format. It may be a great thing to have on your convention table. You can’t measure the value of POD by whether or not you’re turning a profit in an industry where the biggest publishers loose money regularly on many monthly titles and only survive at times as an R&D write-off for their parent companies.

By: Random Comic News… « In One Ear…

Random Comic News… « In One Ear… — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 17:48:11 +0000

[...] One Ear… Just another WordPress.com weblog « The name is… Random Comic News… January 7th, 2007 Over at the Beat, Heidi and company are doling out the (very good) advice onsigning publishing deals for both up and coming artists and established creators as well. Buyer beware, so to speak. Creators chime in. It’s an important read. Colleen Doran adds some thoughts of her own to provide more helpful advice on the topic. [...]

By: Jeremy Tankard

Jeremy Tankard — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:30:52 +0000

Once again we see that artists (and authors) don’t always make good business people. Publishing is a BUSINESS that is all about making MONEY. Writing and illustration are also BUSINESSES that are about making MONEY (unless you’re just doing it as a hobby). As an author and illustrator myself, with only limited business experience, I’ve always found it useful to seek professional advice when entering into ANY business arrangement (ie; when money is being transacted for my creative services). Call a lawyer. Call an agent. Call other creative professionals (most of them are surprisingly accessible if you have legit questions).

As to the issue of large publishers only looking at work by “already published” authors – I don’t believe that for a second. They are ALWAYS looking for the next big thing. It’s in their best interests to keep looking. They say that because they’re inundated with manuscripts that suck. And as Butcher has already said, make sure you don’t suck. If your work is good, really , really GOOD (ie; amazing) those big publishers WILL call you and make an offer. And when they call? Don’t just say “yes” right away. Call a lawyer. Call and agent. Call another creative professional and ask questions.

And small publishers can be great to work with too. But, like the big ones, some have better business practices than others. Do your research. Call professionals. Ask questions. And then enter into a business relationship with both eyes open.

By: DJ Coffman

DJ Coffman — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:00:58 +0000

I published my own book through Comixpress…. I’d buy up smaller runs to stock at my house, then sell them for the price I sell them at… instead of only making a buck going through DIamond on old projects I had done (and having to recoup costs) , I’d clear TWO bucks a book profit and have not really all that much overhead.—Now, doing a POD and printing to order to go through Diamond would be DUMB, because, well, you’d lose money…. but if you’re selling to your own audience you’ve built through your webcomics or whatever, it’s the most awesome thing since sliced bread.

Of course at some point you will likely get burnt out filling mail orders. But enjoy the fun of it while it lasts!

By: Comics Worth Reading

Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:16:09 +0000

[...] The thing that struck me oddest, though, was when Elayne Riggs showed up at Heidi’s post on the story to rail against aspiring creators who want to be professionals: I wonder how much of this POD rookery (at least for inexperienced writers and artists) is part and parcel of the “entitlement” mentality, where people think just because you believe you have the ability to write and draw you therefore have some inherent Right To Be Published (and to Make Money from it). Back in the days of fanzines, before printing became as accessible and relatively inexpensive as it is now, the line between fanzine-level and professional-level crafting seemed a lot clearer. Most fanzine creators (especially artists) would never begin to presume their stuff was good enough to be sold profesionally. (I’ve started to see this happen with blogs as well, where many bloggers are confusing a hobby with a would-be profession. Just because you can type and now self-publish your words using blogging tools, it doesn’t make you a professional-level writer deserving of recompense.) [...]

By: Digitador :: All About Publishing :: January :: 2007

Digitador :: All About Publishing :: January :: 2007 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:20:36 +0000

[...] Chris Butcher “tells it all” after the Strange Case of Mr. Scuttles. # Cats:HQ-Comics | [...]

By: dave roman

dave roman — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:55:42 +0000

Books I’ve printed as POD have looked as good as books I’ve printed through Quebecor or Brenner. So the quality is really catching up.
As Chris Butcher said, it is perfect for self publishers who are tired of having to fold and staple books printed at Kinkos. The work is done for you and the results can be really damn impressive if you know what you are doing.
And the beauty is many POD places like Comixpress will let you do one book at a time to make sure you get exactly what you want. It’s changed my life forever.