10./10: Meh
I'm getting a bit discouraged about doing lengthy essays in this blog. Lately it seems like half the time I try it, someone whose opinion I care about totally misses what I'm going for-- and I tend to see that as not a flaw in the readers, but a flaw in me.
In Monday's essay, I did not mean to say that the only choices for your career were "don't do business with anyone stronger than you" and "submit to Zuda." Certainly there are a lot of cartoonists who are doing business with plenty of stronger companies that are nevertheless giving Zuda a miss. My personal response to it is probably pretty clear, but there are a lot of quirky things about my own approach to my career that won't apply to a majority of creators.
I was trying to say that some of the arguments against Zuda seem to be arguments that would apply under any circumstances involving stronger companies. Buying those arguments greatly limits one's options. It means you can't deal with ComicMix, Modern Tales, United Features Syndicate or a dozen other companies that have the potential, at least, to move your career forward.
Further, let's presume, for the sake of argument, that Zuda is a bad deal... if so, then an argument that proceeds from "all contracts are evil" (or "large companies are evil") won't turn Zuda into a good deal. In fact, they give Zuda a disincentive to offer a good deal, because you've told them that you're a lost cause, so they won't even try to engage you.
(And I'm not just going after Gary Tyrrell here-- I think a lot of the response is implying the bias which he states outright. Gary's generally much, much better than that, which says to me he's getting caught up in a wave.)
That's what I meant.
Assuming I haven't screwed it up this time.
In Monday's essay, I did not mean to say that the only choices for your career were "don't do business with anyone stronger than you" and "submit to Zuda." Certainly there are a lot of cartoonists who are doing business with plenty of stronger companies that are nevertheless giving Zuda a miss. My personal response to it is probably pretty clear, but there are a lot of quirky things about my own approach to my career that won't apply to a majority of creators.
I was trying to say that some of the arguments against Zuda seem to be arguments that would apply under any circumstances involving stronger companies. Buying those arguments greatly limits one's options. It means you can't deal with ComicMix, Modern Tales, United Features Syndicate or a dozen other companies that have the potential, at least, to move your career forward.
Further, let's presume, for the sake of argument, that Zuda is a bad deal... if so, then an argument that proceeds from "all contracts are evil" (or "large companies are evil") won't turn Zuda into a good deal. In fact, they give Zuda a disincentive to offer a good deal, because you've told them that you're a lost cause, so they won't even try to engage you.
(And I'm not just going after Gary Tyrrell here-- I think a lot of the response is implying the bias which he states outright. Gary's generally much, much better than that, which says to me he's getting caught up in a wave.)
That's what I meant.
Assuming I haven't screwed it up this time.
Labels: Webcomics
Posted at
6:42 AM
6 Comments:
It is a stretch from what I said about contracts in general -- which are by their nature adversarial -- to "contracts are evil".
If I thought contracts were evil, I would never sign one. I have, and will, sign happily when the benefits I derive from them offsets the risks I must assume. But that doesn't change the fact that contracts are designed to provide a mechanism to enforce rights against another party.
I'm gonna respond to Gary in private, because as I say in the beginning of this post, my confidence in my ability to express my thoughts in a public essay for mass consumption is at a low right now.
Ok, ok, This is interesting and all, but, T, I am dying to know... What did you think of this?
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=132456
T.... dude... just say what your opinion actually is. Yeah, an opinion can get you in trouble sometimes, even and sometimes especially with your own friends. But when you censor yourself it's just going to fester inside you.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting patiently for the promised update on Gisèle's recent move to full-time cartooning, and whether this will mean we get P&A five days a week.
Please?
Webcomics is fucking high school. You'll offend anyone who's ass you're not actively trying to kiss so just stick using YOUR BLOG to voice YOUR OPINIONS and everyone else can take a blind stroll through traffic.
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