Further Adventures In Framing
Professional framing is all about faking it. It takes a lot of skill to make your work look like something that came from an expensive frame shop, but who has time for that? With this blog post as your guide, you can take an ugly print and make it look like a million bucks!
We'll cover:
- A discussion of the elements of faux design;
- Basic tips on using paper, matting and acid free backing boards;
- Information on different frame types.
Section 4: Follow up with your agent. This section is not mandatory if you are planning to publish the article yourself. This part will usually be the same as the information in your query letter above. Set up a phone or Skype call with your agent and client. This is an important part of the process and is crucial to the proper closing of this transaction.
The handling of this process can vary greatly depending on how you intend to publish it. If you are publishing through traditional channels, you'll want to make sure your article is formatted correctly (especially if it's going to be printed). Check with your agent or art director as well, because they may have some specific recommendations for formatting and design. As one example: they may prefer that no photographs or graphics be used in the final article.
The Role of the Agent or Art Director: This is another individual that has a bearing on how your article is handled. The art director/agent will want to make sure the article is written in a way that makes sense for their printer, and that it doesn't contain any images or graphics. They may also want to make a few changes based on their own aesthetic tastes, or to highlight specific information from the article.
Professional Publishing: If you are planning to publish this article yourself in a print format, you should check your final product for errors. You should also make sure that it's formatted correctly for printing (the spacing between paragraphs might be too tight, for example). If you're having a hard time reading the article on your monitor, it may be necessary for you to make adjustments in order for it to print well.
Bookwork: This is one final step that is often omitted from the publishing process. Bookwork involves setting up your work in the proper format for a printed book, or an ebook conversion. For example, this might involve making sure that a table of contents is appearing correctly (should there be one), making sure that images are formatted correctly, and anything else that I've been talking about here (paragraph spacing, cover design, etc.). Bookwork will be covered in a future post.
Now that we've covered the transactional process, I'll outline what your contract should look like as you head towards publishing your article. These are simply guidelines - feel free to do with them what you will.
(1) Find out exactly how much it is going to cost for you to publish the article (the "fee"). This will allow you to make sure that the fee it is within reason, and also leaves some breathing room if something goes wrong. Your agent might have agreed to a certain amount of money for publishing this article, or even an established hourly rate (which is very common in comics).
(2) The client is almost always the holder of the copyright. Make sure you're comfortable with this, or if you want to retain the copyright, speak up and get it in writing. You should also confirm where they want to publish it (what magazine/newspaper), what date, and the credit line (who owns "first publication").
(3) Confirm who gets the rights to reproduce any images or graphics in your article (both printed and online). If these things belong exclusively to them, make sure that you don't include copyrighted material that belongs to someone else.
(4) Finally, make sure that everything is signed by both parties and stamped with their seal. (You don't need to get stamps. Take it to an office supply store and have them tell you what kind of "stamp" you'll need.)
Contact Information: Tim Snider, SniderCartoons(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm also @SnideRemarks on Twitter!
Copyright 2012 Tim Snider
October 24, 2012 at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, October 19, 2012
Comics Industry Suicide Watch - Creators Edition [EDITORIAL NOTE: I've decided that it's time to blow the whistle on what I perceive as a deeply disturbing trend. I'm calling it Comics Industry Suicide Watch - Creators Edition . I'll be monitoring suicide watch lists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), as well as my own Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) list.
I'll be making my weekly observations right here in this blog post, just like clockwork! I'm also starting a Twitter account to broadcast my findings. You can follow me @DoNotResuscitate]
One thing that is becoming increasingly clear to me is that our suicide epidemic isn't only affecting people on the publishing side of things. As many of you know, I work in the comic book industry. The last few days have demonstrated a genuine concern among the people running things over here, as well as my peers over at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC).
According to the NIOSH list, Carl Gafford was found dead today in his Atlanta home. (I just looked this up and saw that he passed away yesterday too. Cool.) He was described by his family as a hard worker who had been going through some tough times following his wife's death from breast cancer. You could certainly make that case when making the case against censorship of any kind.
Gafford was very involved in the comics industry, and he was also a member of the CBLDF's advisory board. I only started following along after his wife's death, so I don't know how active he'd been during that time. I do know that he drew for DC Comics.
The comics industry has suffered a number of suicides in the last couple of years. For some reason, it has become extremely difficult to make ends meet as an artist with a track record of getting work published in comics. Looking at the peer group of artists (who I will call the "creators") in my area and comparing it with the NIOSH list, I see many names of people on both lists.
Let's just run through a few examples:
Paul Pope supposedly took his own life back in April 2011. His publisher said that he had been struggling with depression. They also said that they were going to do all they could to find out what caused it, but there wasn't much clue as to why anyone would commit suicide out here. As far as I know, he had no history of depression or any other kind of psychological issues. He was a very successful creator and an accomplished artist who seemed to be doing well for himself professionally.
Conclusion: I think that it is safe to say that at least a portion of the cartoonists who are committing suicide out here are actually doing so because they are depressed.
(Also, I'd like to apologize to Paul Pope's family for this unsolicited post.)
A couple of months ago, several people from the comics industry contacted me and asked if I had any idea what would cause someone to do anything like kill themselves. My first thought was that there was no way anyone could know at this point.