The Benefits of Forming an LLC for Your Independent Comic

By Gamal Hennessy

There are many aspects of being a comics creator that have very little to do with making comics. Taking care of your taxes might be the least pleasant aspect of your business, but there are ways to make the process a little less painful and a little more profitable. Your comic and your business can benefit from creating a corporate structure. The type of company that I normally recommend to my clients is a limited liability company or LLC. As tax time approaches, I’d like to offer a few reasons why an LLC might be right for you.

What is a limited liability company?

Before we get into specifics about LLCs, it makes sense to start at the beginning. A company is a legal entity that can be created by filing certain documents with the state government. There are several types of corporate forms (I’ll talk about the others a little later) but an LLC is a type of company that is attractive to many small businesses including comics.    

What’s so great about having an LLC?

There are four main benefits to creating a company to publish your book, including:

1. Limited legal exposure: The first benefit of an LLC can be found in the name of the company. If you runs into legal or financial trouble without any corporate form, then whoever is trying to get money from you can go after your house, your car, your bank account and other assets you own to collect what you owe them. If you create an LLC and do all your business through that company, then your liability is limited to the amount of money or assets owned by the company. From a legal standpoint, you are a separate person. This is a gross oversimplification of liability law, but think of an LLC as a shield that can protect you from legal bullets and bombs if you use it the right way.
2. Deductible Business Expenses: Making comics costs money. Printing, conventions, lawyers all have to be paid for your business to run. One of the benefits of creating an LLC is the ability to deduct the payments you make on behalf of the business (losses) from your taxable income. This creates the situation where some or all of the costs of running your business can be offset. The result can be more money for you to invest in your business. Of course not every expense is deductible and abusing deductions can lead to an audit, but the benefits of the system outweigh the concerns for most creators who start an LLC
3. Setup and Maintenance Is Less Complicated: Unlike other business entities, filing an LLC is relatively painless. Once your lawyer creates the operating agreement, files the proper documents with the secretary of state and you publicise the LLC according to state rules, you can get an EIN number from the IRS and you’re good to go. Creating an LLC can take less than a week in most circumstances.
4. Can Be a Single Person Company: Unlike other business entities, an LLC can be just one person. You can have multiple members of your LLC and you can add or remove members according to the terms of your operating agreement, but if you’re an independent artist who wants to own and control every aspect of your business, you can forge ahead on your own.

    Keep in mind, creating an LLC can have a major impact on your personal and business income. Everyone’s financial situation is different and unusual or complex issues should be discussed with an accountant. Once you decide creating an LLC is right for you, I offer free consultations to help you discuss your options. It’s too late for an LLC to help you with your 2016 taxes, but forming a limited liability company now can make next year’s tax season a little better for you.

Have fun.

Gamal

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

The Five Major (and one minor) Business Trend in Comics

By Gamal Hennessy

Last year saw significant changes in the comics market. While the general public focused on transmedia events like Batman v. Superman, Civil War and X-men Apocalypse, the underlying business has shifted financially and creatively.Milton Griepp of ICV2 listed these five events as the most important for comics in the last year:

1. North American Sales Surpassed One Billion Dollars

2. DC Takes the Top Market Share with the Launch of Rebirth

3. Hastings Declares Bankruptcy

4. March Wins a National Book Award

5. Lion Forge Pushes Its Way Into the Middle Tier

In addition to all these moves, I’ve noticed a growing trend in my small corner of the comics industry. More and more artists are taking the proactive step to lock in collaboration agreements for their independent comics. As more creative teams are turning to crowdfunding and publishing books on their own, they are also making sure to define all the rights and responsibilities in writing before the book is released (See: All for One and One for All: Collaboration Agreements in Comics). This is the best way to go, since an undefined deal is a recipe for disaster and it’s much harder to hammer out a deal after a book is released and tensions are high.

What comic industry trends have you seen in 2016? What are you expecting in 2017? Share your thoughts in the comments and let us know before you go back to your masterpiece.

Have fun.

Gamal

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

How Much Do You Get Paid Per Page?

By Gamal Hennessy, Esq.

When you first start out in comics, there’s a lot of details about the business you need to understand. Everything from how to find work, to what to look for in a contract, to making sure you get paid are all things you have to take care of in addition to making great art. Not only do you have to digest a lot of information, but aspects of the comics industry change from publisher to publisher and from month to month. One of the most important and the most fluid aspects of freelance comics work is how much each publisher pays per page. I’d like to make the process of determining your page rate a little easier by talking about what a page rate is, what the common rates are and how you can keep track of changing rates in the future.

What is a Page Rate?

Different professions get paid according to different measurements. Lawyers get paid by the hour. Sales people get paid based on commissions. Freelance comic book artists (and some creator driven artists) get paid a page rate. The basic idea is for every page you’re hired to work on, you get a set fee. So if you get $100 per page and the book is 32 pages, then you get $3,200.

A page rate is a base number. It doesn’t take into account incentives like royalty pools, recoupment, back end participation or anything else that could muddy the waters. It’s a straight forward transaction; one page for one price. As long as you know what the price is, everything else is based on that.

What Were the Current Page Rates for 2016?

The confusing question is ‘what is the right page rate for you?’ Your page rate can and will vary based on your experience, skill level, established fan base, prior projects and the publisher you’re working with. While several factors are subjective and based on you as an individual, there are some baselines you should keep in mind. Thomas Crowell, author of the excellent book Pocket Lawyer for Comics Creators recently offered this snapshot of the industry at the 2016 New York Comic Con:

• Writers:                              $25-$220 per page
• Cover Artist:                      $200-$750 per cover
• Pencils:                             $100-$250 per page
• Inks:                                  $75-$200 per page
• Coloring:                            $35-$150 per page
• Flatting:                             $8-$20 per page
• Lettering:                           $10-$50 per page

This list is not a guarantee. You might be offered less than the numbers above. You can always ask for more. This should just serve as a guideline to what you can expect when you deal with a publisher. Other factors will play a role, but this gives you somewhere to start from.

How Can I Keep Track of Page Rates?

As a freelance artist, you’ll get a sense of where the market is in terms of page rates as you spend time in the industry working on different projects. Publishers can alter their rates at will, so it pays to keep in touch with other artists in the field, pay attention to message boards and discussions and talk to your editors and publishers on a regular basis to find out their individual positions. There are also ongoing resources you can use and participate in to make page rates more transparent. The list above was derived from a site called Fair Page Rates that isn't perfect by any means, but it attempts to track rates for various US publishers in a system that is inherently subjective.

Once you understand what a page rate is, how you can figure out your page rate and who pays what, you have a lot of information to help you chart your freelance comics career. If you know how many pages you can do a month, you can calculate your maximum potential income. If you know how much you need per year to work on comics full time, you can figure out what page rate you need and how many books you need to work on to make freelancing a viable job. Then you can spend some time actually practicing your craft and making great comics.

Have fun.

Gamal

Related Articles:

Your Career in Comics: Freelance Artist

Your Career in Comics: Creator Driven Artist

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Your Career in Comics: The Creator Driven Path

By Gamal Hennessy 

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new book I'm working on called Your Career in Comics (YCC) that will attempt to take a comprehensive look at the business and legal aspects of being in the comics industry. (See Your Career in Comics: An Introduction). So far, I’ve introduced the Creator Owned (See The Creator Owned Path) and Work for Hire (See The Work for Hire Path) aspects of the industry. This week I'd like to look at the third of the four major paths in modern comics: The Creator Driven Path.

• Description: A creator driven work allows the artist to own a property and license a portion of the publishing rights to a publisher who will then produce, market and sell the book to the public. A creator driven (CD) deal can benefit both you and your publishing partner. There are several variations to the CD model, but most of them combine aspects of the independent publishing and work for hire models. The combination of traits varies wildly from publisher to publisher, depending on the relationship they have with their creators. Most CO deals come from small to midsized publishers, but there have been examples of CD publishing at all levels of comics over the years.

• Benefits: The main benefits of doing creator driven deals are an ownership stake, the payment of many up front costs by a third party and wider distribution. In a perfect world, a CD deal is a joint venture. You provide the creative ideas and artistic skill in your original story. They provide the business support and economies of scale to to turn your vision into a product. In return, both parties share in the revenue generated by the collaboration.

• Challenges: The two main challenges of CD deals are loss of ownership control and loss of revenue. Many CO deals are collaborations in name only. In the most extreme cases, creators transfer all control and ownership to a publisher for little or no payment of any kind. Even in the more moderate CD arrangement, it can be difficult to figure out when and if your book will ever make a profit.

• Legal Considerations: CD deals require multiple contracts to protect every party involved, including

• Collaboration (if you’re sharing the rights) and/or work for hire agreements for everyone working on the book

• Copyright (and possibly trademark) registrations for the book

• A Creator Driven Publishing Agreement between the creator and the publisher

• Tax documentation to cover any profits or losses from the book 

Next time, I'll talk a little bit about the final and in some cases the highest role for comics creators, the transmedia artist.

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up for The Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Your Career in Comics: The Work for Hire Path

by Gamal Hennessy

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new book I'm working on called Your Career in Comics (YCC) that will attempt to take a comprehensive look at the business and legal aspects of being in the comics industry. (See Your Career in Comics: An Introduction). Last week, I talked a little bit about the Creator Owned Path in Comics (See The Creator Owned Path). This week I'd like to look at the second of the four major paths in modern comics: The Work for Hire or Freelance Path.

• General Concept: A freelance or work for hire artist produces stories and art for a property they do not own.  As a work for hire, you create intellectual property for your clients. Publishers and creators of all sizes hire freelance artists to work on some or all of the creative aspects of their property. Some freelancers work for one publisher at a time, while others might juggle several projects for several different publishers at once.

• Benefits: The main benefits of being a freelance artist are cash payments, exposure and reduced responsibility outside of your art. Instead of having to worry about how to pay for the production of the book, the freelance artist gets paid as a part of the production process. Instead of having to create a character or world from scratch, the freelance artist might be able to work with their favorite characters to read or the most famous characters of all time. Instead of worrying about marketing, printing, sales, returns and a thousand other little details of publishing, the freelance artist makes his art, collects his fee and moves on to the next project.

• Challenges: The main challenges of being an independent are lack of stability, time, and control. A freelance artist might go through dry periods without a lot of well paying work. There might be other times where there are several major deadlines piling up, each with their own financial and professional penalties. Publishers run on deadlines. Books are solicited months in advance. The freelance artist is a fundamental part of the publishing process, but their work has to be delivered on or before a certain date of the process falls apart. And the lack of control can be a real challenge to creativity. Instead of making all the decisions on your own or with a partner, now you have to deal with an editor, maybe an editor in chief or multiple other levels of approval depending on how the corporate nature of your client.

• Legal Considerations: The lack of ownership in a work for hire situation reduces the amount of legal agreements you’ll need. At minimum there will be an exclusive or nonexclusive work for hire agreement between you and the client and tax documents to help deal with the IRS. Some companies have a version of the character creation agreement, but that’s not universal at this point.

Next time, I'll talk a little bit about the creator driven path and how they can thrive in the world of comics.

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up for The Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Your Career in Comics: The Creator Owned Path

by Gamal Hennessy

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new book I'm working on called Your Career in Comics (YCC) that will attempt to take a comprehensive look at the business and legal aspects of being in the comics industry. (See Your Career in Comics: An Introduction). I'd like to share aspects of the book while it's being written to get reactions and feedback from the community. This week I'd like to look at the first of the four major paths in modern comics: The Creator Owned Path.

It makes sense to start with Creator Owned comics (sometimes called Independent or DIY comics) because this is the point where an inspired comic book reader puts down their favorite story and picks up a blank piece of paper to begin their journey. At the most basic level, a creator owned publisher owns the property she produces, markets, and sells to the public.

General Concept: As a creator owned publisher, you have a stake in the intellectual property connected to a book. In a minority of cases, you might license the rights to someone else’s work (which often brings the concept of creator driven deals into play that I’ll talk about later) but most of the time, and creator owned publisher is trying to get their own characters and stories out into the world by taking control of the entire process.

Benefits: The main benefits of going creator owned are ownership and control. When it’s your story and your company, you get to decide what the books will be about, how they get sold, and what to do with the money. The freedom to control every aspect of the property can give rise to the great expressions of artistic creativity and business flexibility.

Challenges: The main challenges of being going creator owned are costs and market share. It takes a considerable amount of money to release a single comic, graphic novel and ongoing series by yourself. There is an even larger investment of time, since the great power you have to control every aspect of your book comes with the great responsibility of making sure it all gets done. On top of that, finding readers for your book probably won’t be easy, considering the number of titles already in the market and the domination the Big Two. Finding enough readers to turn a profit is even more difficult. Many books don’t turn a profit or break even from their initial investment. It is not unusual for an independent book to run at a loss.

Legal Considerations: There are legal aspects to the story being created, the process of creating those stories, and the person or people creating those stories. On a fundamental level, having the right documents and registrations in place from the beginning gives you the right to sell what you own. If you skip this step, you might create the World’s Greatest Comic Franchise, but you might not make any money from it. At a bare minimum you’re going to need:

• Collaboration or work for hire agreements for everyone working on the book
• Copyright (and possibly trademark) registrations for the book
• Distribution agreements to get the book out into the world
• Tax documentation to cover any profits or losses from the book

In addition, you may also need corporate formation documents, license agreements and other types of contracts, but that is a story for another day.

Next time, I'll talk a little bit about freelance comic creators and how they can thrive in the world of comics.

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up for The Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Top 10 Professional Panels for New York Comic Con 2016

by Gamal Hennessy

As one of the major pop culture gatherings in America, New York Comic Con (NYCC) is a great place for fans to connect, companies to promote their franchises and media to be consumed.  But it is also a good place for creators of all levels to connect, learn and network.

There are going to be hundreds of panels at this year’s NYCC. I’ve tried to spotlight five per day that will offer you the advice, ideas and tips that can enhance your professional career.

Thursday, October 6th                                            

1)     Writers Unite: Writing and Pitching Comic Stories with Charles Soule: 11:00 am in Room 1A18

2)     From Panel to Publisher: An In-Depth Look at Transactional Law for Comic Book Creators with Thomas Crowell, Esq. 12:15 pm in Room 1A02

3)     Using Tumblr to Sell Your Idea Panel: 5:30 PM in Room 1A24

4)     From Press to Social Media: Marketing Your Comic Book with Michael Molcher and Alex Segura 6:30 pm in Room 1B03

Friday, October 7th  

5)     How to Succeed in Self-Publishing Panel 11:00 am in Room 1A02

6)     Keeping Control of Your Comic Panel 11:15 am in Room 1A05

7)     Creator Connection: Facilitated Professional Networking Panel 2:30 pm in Room 1A18

8)     Breaking Into Comics with Andy Schmidt 7:45 pm in room 1B03

Saturday, October 8th

9)     Breaking In: How They Did It and How You Can Do It: 1:45 pm in Room 1A05

Sunday, October 9th

10)  From the Printed Page to the Silver Screen: Licensing Comics for Film and Television with Thomas Crowell 12:15 pm in Room 1A05

While I won’t be on any panels this year, I do plan to be in Artist’s Alley after 4:00 pm on Thursday October, 6th. If you’d like to meet me for a free consultation or just to say hello, please contact me and we can set something up.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed at an event like NYCC. I hope this list helps you find the information you need to understand the legal and business aspects of comics and make the most of your creativity.

Have fun.
Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up for The Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSEING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Your Career in Comics: An Introduction

by Gamal Hennessy

The business of comics is chaotic, complex and on a certain level, crazy. Few other industries transform fantasies and nightmares into profitable communities. Almost every fan of comics has imagined themselves working in the industry. Some of us are insane enough to pursue our passion as a profession.

But having a career in comics isn’t like becoming a doctor or a lawyer. There is no license you can get or set path for you to take to superstardom. Everyone who works in comics has a unique story on how they got their position. Everyone in the industry used some combination of talent, perseverance, connections and luck. Everyone had to find their own way.

I’m planning to write a book to help finding your way a little easier. Your Career in Comics: A Business, Creative and Legal Framework for Professional Sequential Artists (which I’m calling YCC for short) will go into granular detail on the four major creative positions in modern comics. My goal is to explore aspects of each position to help you navigate your way between and within each step. With luck, this framework, added to your talent, determination and fortune, will lead you to a fulfilling career in the complex world of comics.

This is not going to be a book about comic book case law, creating professional artwork, or a book about pitching to an editor. There are several excellent books on all those subjects and I plan to reference them . This book is meant to be more of a comprehensive guide. I’m in a unique position because of my experience as a lawyer, business manager, and author. I’m going to use all those different perspectives to help you see your comic career as a whole, instead of focusing on one aspect.

YCC is going to be a journey that I'll write about in this blog in the coming weeks and months, As you read these posts, please keep three things in mind:

First, the four major roles in comics are broad conceptual categories and not rigid definitions. You don’t necessarily have to complete one position to move to the next. You could try and explore all of them at once, or you can bounce from one to another as your interests and circumstances dictate.

Second, understand that while I describe these positions in a specific order, I’m not suggesting a successful comic career is defined by moving from one position to the next. You can have a creative, exciting and profitable comic career by picking one position and staying there for decades. Comics allow you to go wide or deep. Your only limit is your talent, perseverance, connections and luck. A little bit of crazy will probably be helpful too.

Finally, and most importantly, a career in comics is based on selling what you own. A lot of what you “sell” will be intangible; time, skill, audience, intellectual property rights, etc., but the basic premise is the same You Can’t Sell What You Don’t Own. If you remember nothing else I say, you’ll still get the main point if you apply this simple concept to your work.

I hope you enjoy and get involved in the development of this book, If I’ve make the complex world of comics a little easier to understand, then I’ve done my job.

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up forThe Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSEING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

Talking to Professionals on the Business of Comics

by Gamal Hennessy

The comic book industry is a confusing, chaotic and insane industry for everyone involved, especially the newcomer. Fledgling writers and artist often make mistakes on the business side of things that cost them tens of thousands of dollars, years of work or both.

The best way to avoid mistakes in the comics industry is to learn from professionals who already know what they're doing. Over the summer, Aaron Long of Comicosity asked dozens of established comics professionals what type of advice they would give to new creators. The insight they provided covered professionalism, marketing, accounting, time management and outlook, but one of the most consistent statements is the same thing I've preached on this site for years. 

COMIC CREATORS NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND NEGOTIATE THEIR CONTRACTS

When I worked at Marvel and Central Park Media, we often sent out contracts to talent saying "have your lawyer look over this before you sign it" knowing full well that person didn't have a a lawyer. I started C3 to change that and give writers and artists a chance to understand and benefit from the legal side of comics. The professionals already understand this. Read their comments and learn from their mistakes. 

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up forThe Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSEING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

What You Can Learn from Jack Kirby

The history of comics is littered with stories of artists and writers who created iconic characters, lost the rights to their creations and then had to accept charity in their later years to pay for health care costs. Everyone from Superman and Batman to Watchmen to Guardians, Ghost Rider and the Fantastic Four have been at the center of intellectual property disputes worth tens of millions of dollars.

Asher Elbein of The Atlantic Magazine wrote an insightful piece on this subject to coincide with Marvel’s celebration of Jack Kirby’s 99th birthday. The main thrust of the article is similar to three pieces of advice I often give my clients.

1. You can’t sell what you don’t own

2. You don’t know what you own until you see what’s in the contract

3. You won’t know what’s in the contract until you can understand the implications of each paragraph.

Comic creators owe it to themselves to get professional help in reading and negotiating their contracts. Every creator wants to see their characters on the big screen and made into toys. Very few of them want to set up gofundme pages to pay for their medical costs.

Read Marvel, Jack Kirby and the Comic Book Artist’s Plight http://theatln.tc/2c0BGe8

Have fun.

Gamal

Success in the comics industry requires an understanding of the business, creative, and legal aspects of the medium.

Sign up forThe Professional Comics Creator to get monthly e-mail news, tips and advice on how to get the most from your characters and stories

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSEING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.