Connecting comic book writers and artists public group facebook. From the beginnings of american comics in the mid1930s right up until the early 1980s, comics artists and writers were what we call today workforhirethey were paid a perpage rate by publishers, nothing else, and had no ownership stake in or claim to their creations. What would be a reasonable amount to pay an artist for a. In this youre paid a flat rate per job category penciler, inker, artist, colorist, letter, and writer per page of the book.
A comic book in fr condition may have nonstory elements such as coupons, ad pages, or marvel value stamps cut or torn out of the book. Aaron albert, a collector of and an expert on comic books, has studied, taught, and written about the comic book genre for more than 20 years. Marvel would then maintain roughly that page rate for the rest of the 1940s and all of the 1950s, 2325 pages worth of comic book stories, with 2 pages of text pieces. Your book is a 300page black ink paperback sold on the us marketplace your royalty per sale to a customer from is.
You can think of the grade of a comic book like a grade on a report card. Jul, 2018 page rates 2017 posted on july, 2018 july 16, 2018 by stephanie cooke the survey aims to build a resource about standard rates in the comic book industry for comic creators. Variables in page rate include the popularity of the character and the book, as well as the reputation of the graphic novelist. Mar 17, 2009 whats a good per page rate for a comic book ameture penciler. Comic book graphic novel artist ongoing work per page rate, full details and negotiations for successful applicantsbidders. What is your primary source of income within the comic book industry. This method of figuring out your base really depends on tracking and making good use of your time.
How much does a comic book artist make per project. Connecting comic book writers and artists public group. Then cost of a typical marvel comic book by year adjusted for 2017 dollars finally, cost per sotry page of a typical marvel comic book by year. Types of damage that place a comic in fr range include. Media mail rates are limited to the items listed below. Everything is different for everyone of course, but these rates are pretty standard for the big three. Posted on july, 2018 july 16, 2018 by stephanie cooke.
The cover of a comic is what typically takes the most abuse. In these rare cases, a check mark will be placed on the label by the numerical grade. Straight from the graphic artist guild handbook for pricing and ethic guidelines 2001. A spine split of up to 23 the length of the book, a missing back cover provided the front cover is still attached, severe water damage or residue damage. Obviously unless youve got some serious credibility as a comic letterer, its not going to probably be a huge charge. While your perpage word count may change depending on choices made during your interior layout, this initial calculation is a good place to start. The results of this survey are kept 100 % anonymous and will be used to maintain our web site as a resource for all. The largest online source for comic book pricing in the world. I am also working on a comic, but more in the japanese manga style. Comiclink is the online vintage comic book and comic art auction destination featuring comic book auctions spotlighting the most desirable cgc graded examples of key comics, as well as comic art auctions featuring the biggest names in comic book illustration from the. In 2008, the bureau of labor statistics claimed fulltime comic. Asa guidelines to comics page rates and conditions australian. If you happen to be a writer looking to hire an artist, or perhaps you are an artist whos been approached by someone looking to hire, its good to know what the sort of baseline is when you are deciding on how much to charge, or conversely, how much you can expect to pay.
Comic book grading learn the scale and how to apply it. Keep in mind that this is the cost of producing professional artwork only, and does not include the cost of webmastering, publication, solicitation, distribution, advertisement, etc. Book printing costs for printondemand mill city press. What is difference between book rate and media mail. Everything you need to know about submitting comic books. An accident of comic book history, the page rate formula was established in the very beginning, ironically and unwittingly, by the newspaper syndicates. Its time once again for our annual page rates survey.
Comic book scripts technical tricks and troubleshooting. Freelancers are ranked from cert1 up to cert5 with the top 0. From the beginnings of american comics in the mid1930s right up until the early 1980s, comics artists and writers were what we call today workforhirethey were paid a per page rate by publishers, nothing else, and had no ownership stake in or claim to their creations. The survey aims to build a resource about standard rates in the comic book industry for comic creators. In rare cases, a comic book will look much better than the given grade. Mainstream comic book companies such as marvel, dc and darkhorse pay per project at an agreed upon page rate. The charts detail the amount of story pages in a typical marvel comic book by year. Media mail shipping is a costeffective way to send educational materials. Dont put too many panels on a page or too few, either scripts are traditionally broken down by the page and by the panel e. Jun 07, 2011 comic book colorists pay varies by experience. Generally, one comic page has between five and nine panels per page although onepanel splashes can be used to great effect. Please consider your bidding amount at this is for ongoing long term work.
Visit payscale to research comic book artist salaries by city, experience, skill, employer and more. There isnt a page rate for them, so theyre for promotional purposes only. Cert is peopleperhours proprietary ranking algorithm which factors in all the things our buyers care about a freelancer, in one synthetic score. Most of the popular titles that artists, like david. I still utilize this approach because i believe in it. The definitive list of comic publisher submission guidelines. Comic book series proposals for our comic book line comic book series proposals must have at least eight pages of final art included with the pitch material so they can see what the finished comic book pages will look like. In addition to finding collaborators, this is a great place for feedback and advice. The best possible existing condition of that comic book. If your book has photographs, illustrations, or graphs, youll want to increase your page count accordingly. If your time is highly variable, you might need to use another method.
The bid that you make should reflect a single page rate. A high grade, like an a or mint, is good, while a low grade. Apr 02, 2019 there isnt a page rate for them, so theyre for promotional purposes only. Aug 09, 20 though he wont reveal what he makes, his page ratethe amount an artist charges per page drawnis among the highest in the business. This is a lot cheaper than media mail and provided exclusively for libraries. As a reality check on those 1978 recommended rates by the never actually formed. When comic book artists draw a scene on a panel, how big is the actual panel theyre drawing on before its.
For instance, if you want to have the final book trimmed at 5. The data below was gathered anonymously from a sample size of 100 comics professionals. This survey is for comic book professionals to fill out in order to gain an anonymous idea of what page rates were in the industry for 2018. The economic reality of indie comics page rates the beat. Please fill out the following form to report an issue missing from the database. Cost of publishing a book book selfpublishing services. Sound recordings and video recordings, such as cds and dvds. These typically run between 160210 pages per volume, unlike a lot of western comics that run under 100 pages.
We will continue collecting surveys about 2016 rates until may 2017, and these results will be updated quarterly. How much should you charge as a freelance translator. The best way to understand why a specific comic book received a check mark designation is to refer to the graders notes. Some mainstream comics companies pay a royalty over a designated sales threshold. So, any input as to the average comic book length or, at least a good length for an issue. As with grading all collectibles, there is a degree of subjectivity as there are many factors to consider and all of them must be weighed to determine an overall grade. Most collectors will accept any page quality except for books with slightly brittle or brittle pages in a collectible comic. What is the average salary for a comic book artist. Eventually the text pieces ceased existing, so it was 25 pages of comic stories. Page rates are from the graphic artists guild handbook. What is the typical rate of comic artists who charge by the page. What are the going page rates for writers and artists in the. Comic book grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a book, which directly influences its value.
Now for the long answer the best way to move forward is to be as informed as possible. Dec 14, 2011 this is a useful article for both artists, and people looking to commissionbuy art, specifically in the realm of comics. Additionally, we hope that this data will encourage professionals not to accept work that pays below a living wage. Maybe starting out and working with an unproven writer for a short story or something for fun and learn, but not at any of the publishers. When initially looking at a comic book the first thing one will notice is the cover of the book. Please only report missing issues after attempting a thorough search, and do not submit false information. Graphic novels sometimes also follow this model, or they are contracted based on a flat fee for the whole project. Lets me preface this by saying that asking how much art should cost is a bit like asking how much food should cost. Comic link the online vintage comic book and comic art. Play scripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and.
Eventually the text pieces ceased existing, so it was 25 pages of comic. The book cartoonist was paid a page rate that seemed to have little relationship to the number of comic books sold with his work on their pages. The results of this survey are kept 100% anonymous and will be used to. The term grade is used to describe what condition a comic book is in. What are the going page rates for writers and artists in. If you have the potential of earning royalties above your per page rate, your page rate may be lower than those who do not have rights to royalties. The book rate was mainly for books when it was first created, but if your intention is to send books to or from a library, then you should use the cheaper alternative known as library rate. I think most veteran comic book writers could finish a script in under, say, 100 hoursfast enough that quite a few authors write for 23 comic book series each month. I think that a 32page comic is much less work than a 80,00090,000 word novel manuscript which usually takes a year or more. The data represents a resource in the process of being built given the small and nonrepresentative sample, we are not drawing conclusions or interpreting the data at this point. I get asked a lot whats a decent page rate for comic book work. How dc contracts work thrillbent comics for the rest of us.
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