Any national comic that sells less than 5,000 copies is likely to be underpaid, given the number of hours each page takes.
| word from publisher is the opinion column Pedro F Medina †@Studio_Kato), editor-in-chief, responsible for licensing and social networks fandogami and the journalist with the face of an undisguised entertainer at the events of comics and manga |
Let’s talk about money. It seems outrageous to bring up this topic, but the truth is that the writers and writers of this country often get a dime when we consider the number of hours they have spent on the case. And I say that pisses you off, because you might think breaking the piggy bank shakes the foundations on which every other link in the chain stands: publishers, distributors, bookstores, Elliot Ness’ untouchables. But oh, none of them even notice a slight oscillation of 0.0 on the Richter scale, equivalent to following the beat of the music with one foot: We’re all on our way here with the comics (but not the current accounts of their creators) turning the wheel and keeping the boxes filled. The division of the cake remains the same. Voices asking for justification fade over time (sounds like a long-term thing, but I’m talking about two days, the time it takes for a tweet to disappear into the waves), silenced by the incessant squeaking… books… ¿ books squeak? It’s muffled by the sound a book makes when it’s sent back to the distributor when there’s no one to hear it.
At the same time, many general and specialist bookstores elsewhere in the city are closing their doors for the last time. Some are known for their in-person or online activity programs, now or during the pandemic. There seemed to be no indication that shutdown was imminent. Something is closing bookstores and they say that at least one out of every five books sold is manga. We should see some manga. We couldn’t publish anything else and we’re committed to publishing THIS exclusive manga. How strange, isn’t it? How good should the industry be? The Tebeosfera Report on the Pandemic Years says THOUSAND MORE FUN ARTICLES were published from 2020 to 2021 (though in reality the increase was a meager 992 references, but they didn’t care). It seems that publishing comics is one thing and selling them is another.† And more importantly, where are they sold? Perhaps the major publishers can clarify whether we are talking about close trade, Amazon or Alcampo. They may be able to provide incomplete data as 1% of companies control almost the entire market.
If that’s the case, and we get quick numbers, any writer faced with the editorial selection process knows that for a non-paying job and with an idea in hand, what they most want is to get 10% of the cover price. . get rid of copyright. There are exceptions, I’m talking about the average here. Now let’s focus on the percentage without considering the thickness of the advances: these royalties would mean that the creator has a seed and a half of everything for a strip taken at point of sale for €15. euro Worse still, one and a half euros, after which VAT and personal income tax must be deducted. Let’s say a thousand copies of that book were sold for fifteen euros: well, the author gets 1500 euros and thank you. Maybe I won’t even say thank you. If taxes are discounted, he will not be able to make a profit of 1,100 euros. To sell a thousand books. meh.
Given so much bombshell news about how well the industry is doing, any novice can conclude: “With everything currently sold in comics, writers will make good money”. Unfortunately, selling a thousand copies of a national work is a success for many small and medium-sized publishers in a system where the wheel does not stop and gets out of control. Therefore, for most SMEs, once this figure is reached, it is ideal to pat on the back and forget about it. In most cases reprints are out of the question (unless you’re out of print in a month and you’re lucky) because there’s still some innovation and we don’t have much time on paper. The writer or writer is left with a mileurista salary after months of work. Sad. Too sad to give you a real figure and look at the effort we put in at Fandogamie to communicate with the public, carry national material, value here, reserve groups that lasted more than a month, you name it whatever you like: The reality is that less than half of the nationally written books we publish have crossed the THOUSAND BARRIERS.
I also mention that there is a comic book that occasionally launches itself into stardom and sells the biggest one. The time, form, and situation match, and for whatever reason the book works so well you won’t believe it. I’ve mentioned this on other occasions: This is the golden egg comic that all publishers sigh. It could come from anywhere, but if we take into account that the percentage of Hispanic studies published in 2021 has dropped by about two percent compared to those published in 2020, we can conclude that the publishers do not believe this gold star is this blue-skinned one. The comic will come from its own production but from a foreign license. Because they know very little about what is sold here.
So grab your backpack, let’s go to the new beautiful girl of ninth art manga. But it’s even worse for those who draw mangañol, because in most cases they’re limited to a format that leaves no other starting price range than 8-12 Euros for books over 150 pages. It’s a crazy piece, subject to the excesses of the manga’s historical value, which has been nearly frozen for a decade. JA Serrano calculated a few weeks ago, via a tweet For a suggested retail price of $9 (and with a standard royalty of 10%), an author would need to sell 3,468 copies to raise $20 per page. He would have to touch over seven thousand to charge 40 euros per page.
In summary, any national comic that sells less than 5,000 copies is very likely to be underpaid, given the number of working hours required per page and the percentages writers typically achieve. And this is sold by very few comics. Related award-winning publications selling less than 700 copies are here. It seems that one thing is to publish comics, the other is to rate them and give them a price, and another thing entirely is to sell them.† And when I lie, I get struck by lightning. It’s a pervasive evil in this industry that could take advantage of an incentive like in the audiovisual industry to raise royalties. Since it seems impossible to get the Untouchables off their ass (they say they take everything off the shelves to make less money and only sell manga and superheroes), a little financial pressure on national productions could hit the balance. little for the survival of our writers. In the meantime, I will continue to pay them 20% out of pocket. call me crazy
