How to pick the right publisher

How To Pick The Right Publisher

In Industry Trends by Phillip Allen

How To Pick The Right Publisher


First things first, thanks for getting this far! This is Unknown Comics’ first ever three-part article series surrounding the rights of comic creators and publishers. This has been quite a ride. If you have yet to read the last two articles just follow these links: Comic Creator Rights, Publisher vs Creator Owned Publishers.

This article will cover the two possible extremes for both alternatives in publishing companies and their expectations with comic creator rights.

Now, with that little blurb out of the way. Lets get started with the article.

How Do I Pick The Right Publisher for Myself?


Well, this question deserves a proper answer. And the proper answer is not so clear and cut.

Picking what type of a publisher you want to get published through comes down to the level of control you want over your comic as a piece of creative property. The way you want your comic to be represented. The money you wish to make from it. But maybe, more important than anything else, you need to consider the rights you want to have as a comic creator.

As I discussed in my previous article, Publisher Owned Publishers (POP’s) and Creator Owned Publishers (COP’s) are two options available to those who want to be published by a publishing company. Each of them has different ranges of expectations from creators. The extreme of those expectations are going to be covered here.

POP’s


Rights

If you are a comic creator and want a POP to publish your comic you need to be prepared to surrender your rights as a creator.

POP’s own your comics. They decide how it is represented. They get to design and sell all the merchandise for your comic. They get to make television shows and movies to their heart’s content. And most importantly, they keep ALL the profits.

Work and Pay

If you go through the POP route then you are selling your creative property. You’ll get paid, and you might have a chance to continue to work with your creation. You’ll get paid well. If you are also the artist you are more likely to get paid in page rates.

There is also a chance that you will loose getting to work on your comic after signing with the publisher. This is because the publisher can decide that they could sell the comic better if a different team were to take over. Any further revenue that could have been earned from the comic gets cut off.

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COP’s


Rights

If you are a comic creator and decide to try looking into COP’s to publish your comic then you have a better chance of keeping your rights. In the case of COP’s, you are looking at sharing your rights.

As the comic creator, you would continue to have ownership of your comic. The relationship you have with your publisher only every has to last for as long as a contract signed does. After that, you can negotiate another contract or simply look for another publishing company.

If you decide that you want to have a television show or movie adaptation of your comic you can take the steps to finding the resources to make it happen. Or maybe ask your publisher to help. All the while you can have creative control on the entire thing. That way things remain consistent. Remember, fans like consistency.

Work and Pay

If you publish your comic through a COP then you get to pick the team you work with. Whether it’s solo or with an entire team. You’ll create your comic, your publisher will then publish it. Get it printed then distributed.

This publisher will normally have your permission to use your comic to advertise; using character images, plots, etc. But here is the catch, you still decide how it gets represented, so you’re expected to do the bulk of the marketing yourself. You’ll be spending a significant portion of your time on selling your own comic.

But in the end, you get to keep the profits. After covering costs, and giving the publisher the pre-negotiated cut you get to keep the rest of the pie. The better your comic sells, the more money you get to make.

How Do I Pick The Right Publisher for Myself?


If you are more like an inventor, someone that likes to come up with great ideas and sell them away, then POP’s are the way to go. If your comic is good enough you can find a publisher that will love it enough to take it off your hands. You may even get to work on it and get paid well for it.

You’re happy with the set salary. You know that you may be asked to leave at some point for someone else to take over. But you know you will have plenty more ideas where that one came from.

If you are more of a universe builder, you work hard to develop the characters and stories that you created and you want to see them grow and grow. You also wouldn’t mind putting in the extra bit of effort to make sure that it sells well and pays out better. Then COP’s are recommended for you.

One thing does need to be clear here. Neither is better than the other. POP’s and COP’s are the options available for the different types of creators out there. Just do your effort to make sure you know the type you want to work with. Then make your creations something worthwhile to them.

That’s how I would pick the right publisher.

Select your global block.


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About The Interviewee


Rahsaan Romain - Collaborator

Founder of Prismatic Press Publishing
Creator of Flowing Blade Bushido

Rahsaan Romain is the writer and creator of “Flowing Blade Bushido.” He has a degree in English with a minor in creative writing from St. John’s University. After publishing poetry as an undergrad, he began writing about the world of Flowing Blade Bushido as a final project his last year of college. For the last Eleven years he has taught English, Government and Economics at a Middle/ High school in the South Bronx. He is currently the CEO of Prismatic Press Publishing, a company that publishes comic books and graphic novels.

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About The Author

Phillip Allen

Writer, Editor, and Founder of Unknown Comics

Hello there! My name is Phillip Allen and I'm the writer, editor, and founder of Unknown Comics. I am an aspiring comic book creator. In an attempt to learn how to create my own comic I came to learn just how few reliable resources existed out there. From a few books and unhelpful websites I decided to focus my attention on researching and writing a resource for both myself and the rest of the comic creating industry. This website and and its content is the result of all of that hard work.