TWCL

[Zaron]

Webcomics.com covered this. Click here to read it. This contest is really a nightmare. Keep the hell away from it.
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[Zoe Robinson]

Good grief, if this were a contest running in the UK, several of these terms would be illegal under the Unfair Terms In Contracts Act. Keep away from this contest, it's clearly for suckers.
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[nothinghappenedtoday]

Are the terms of the contest pretty much the same for regular syndication? anyone here with syndication experience know?
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nothinghappenedtoday.com

[jpcline]

nothinghappenedtoday wrote:

Are the terms of the contest pretty much the same for regular syndication? anyone here with syndication experience know?

Lee Nordling (author of Your Career in the Comics and former syndicate editor) mused his opinion on it here:

http://toontalk.ning.com/forum/topics/universal-launches-talent?page=1&commentId=1701538%3AComment%3A10359&x=1#1701538Comment10359
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http://calmblueoceans.com/

[Novil]

I think I will write an angry letter to Amazon. They should be ashamed to take part in such a scam.
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[cdrcjsn]

It's not really a scam.

You get:
1) normal syndicate contract that is negotiable
2) first print rights to a book consisting of your first 200 strips. You get paid a $5000 advance.
3) hosting on gocomics and distribution through mobile devices
4) $300 a month stipend for producing 20 strips a month.

If you were trying to go through a normal syndication route without this contest, you'd have:
1) normal syndicate contract that is negotiable

Compared to independent webcomics:
1) no pay for developing your strip
2) no guaranteed profit on your first book
3) no royalties paid on distribution online

There's really very little stopping you from setting up your own website, subscribe to yourself from gocomics so it appears on that site, and do all the normal things that an independent webcomicker does like build a community, sell shirts, have ads, etc.

What's the scam?
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www.familiar-ground.com

Vote for Familiar Ground!

[darrylayo]

Real artists don't do contests.
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Little Garden Comics

[funnyninjas]

cdrcjsn wrote:

There's really very little stopping you from setting up your own website, subscribe to yourself from gocomics so it appears on that site, and do all the normal things that an independent webcomicker does like build a community, sell shirts, have ads, etc.

So you can publish the same characters, before/after the contest, as long as the strip ideas aren't the same as the ones you enter?

If that's true, then it's just 20 extra comics to draw by September 12th .

[Iron Spike]

You don't need this contest. Sheep don't volunteer to be fleeced, and neither should cartoonists.

The internet has eliminated the need for middlemen between artists and fans. Comic strip syndicates are trading on the smoke-and-mirrors of "legitimacy" and "validation" to attract new talent with Comic Strip Superstar, the idea that real cartoonists need real suits to bestow upon them the mantle of professionalism. An idea a lot of people still cling to.

Comics isn't American Idol. This contest isn't going to pluck you from obscurity and make you the next Watterson, even if they had decent newspaper readership numbers to do it with and a thriving newspaper industry to do it in.
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Hey. Read my comic. kthnx.

[cdrcjsn]

A surprising number of comickers WANT someone to stand between them and fans and handle the business aspects.

But you're right, people don't actually need syndicates to make a living. But I think it's a mistake to dismiss everything that syndicates offer just because it's a syndicate.

This isn't Zuda. You're not signing away all the rights to your creation here.

Heck, even the book deal they're offering is only first print rights, so depending on the exact wording of the contract you can probably print the same material later by yourself if you want and do the same thing independent webcomickers are doing (i.e. selling at your site and at cons).
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www.familiar-ground.com

Vote for Familiar Ground!

[Zoe Robinson]

The sheer number of non-negotiable aspects of the comic, which you must agree to in order to be considered for the final round; the portions of the contract that extend until the end of time (do you see an end date on their 'first dibs' on contracts, etc? If not, there isn't one) and the scale of the non-disclosure agreement make this less attractive and more restrictive than the average syndication deal.

Syndication is fine, this is not. It's not worth it.
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[Iron Spike]

cdrcjsn wrote:

A surprising number of comickers WANT someone to stand between them and fans and handle the business aspects.

Yeah, you're not wrong. But that's just fear.

Every cartoonist I know who's self-sufficient and exists entirely on the proceeds of their work does so without a third party's representation. And I know cartoonists with contracts, publishers and representation who need to hold down day jobs.

Small-time cartoonists can't afford to give away the slice of the cake syndicates and publishers take for themselves. Going with representation makes the Sisyphean slope to success steeper, not easier.

cdrcjsn wrote:

But you're right, people don't actually need syndicates to make a living. But I think it's a mistake to dismiss everything that syndicates offer just because it's a syndicate.

No organization that's floundering for a way to stay relevant as badly as a comic strip syndicate has anything to offer me that I wouldn't be better off doing for myself.

This isn't Project Greenlight, where you submit a script and the next thing you know a movie studio is buying you an Irish pub and producing your expensive, million-dollar film. This is a syndicate looking to "reward" you with a $5,000 ADVANCE against future sales (and make no mistake, advances can be called back) and pay you $300.00 for twenty strips a month, limitless re-dos implied and assumed. That's horse shit pay, and it's all non-negotiable. And they seriously expect you to buy in. Is that really what you think your stuff's worth?

cdrcjsn wrote:

This isn't Zuda. You're not signing away all the rights to your creation here. Heck, even the book deal they're offering is only first print rights, so depending on the exact wording of the contract you can probably print the same material later by yourself if you want and do the same thing independent webcomickers are doing (i.e. selling at your site and at cons).

Yeah, first print rights. With a royalty rate they decide on, that's non-negotiable, and with $5,000 of it advanced to you already as a "grand prize." You don't know your percentage, and you don't know when you'll see your next check.

This is not a good deal. The number of variables and amount of wiggle room it affords the syndicate makes it unacceptable.
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Hey. Read my comic. kthnx.

[Zoe Robinson]

Iron Spike wrote:

Every cartoonist I know who's self-sufficient and exists entirely on the proceeds of their work does so without a third party's representation.

Except for the guys at Penny Arcade, who really did have an offer they couldn't refuse. When a guy comes to you and says "If I don't earn my paycheck back in extra revenue for you in the first year, I'll leave", who here wouldn't accept?

This 'deal' the syndicate is offering is nothing like what Penny Arcade have, however. This is only a good deal if you're the dying syndicate wanting to eek out a few more years on the back of your work.
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[Iron Spike]

Zoë Robinson wrote:

Except for the guys at Penny Arcade, who really did have an offer they couldn't refuse. When a guy comes to you and says "If I don't earn my paycheck back in extra revenue for you in the first year, I'll leave", who here wouldn't accept?

Khoo is a madman. We all wish we had one of our own, except I'm pretty sure he seeks out and devours whole any who may grow to challenge him.

And I'd argue that's more of a partnership than representation. Khoo approached PA and hammered out a deal that was mutually beneficial. He didn't approach from a position of power and act as if he was doing PA a favor.
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Hey. Read my comic. kthnx.

[Zoe Robinson]

Iron Spike wrote:

He didn't approach from a position of power and act as if he was doing PA a favor.

True. When an approach like that happens, it's an excellent indicator that you're not going to get a good deal.
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