The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing: Seven Benefits and 12 Downsides

Ahead of a crowdfunding campaign set to launch today, attorney, author, and business consultant Gamal Hennessy is releasing The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing, a new book that's aimed at helping aspiring creators find their way in the complicated world of comics publishing. The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing is the follow-up to The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing, a project that exceeded its crowdfunding goal by 600% in 2020. It also contains insights and research generated from the professional online comic book community, Comics Connection, as well as a foreword by Andy Schmidt, a writer, editor, and publisher with twenty-five years of experience in comics. . The book is edited by Joseph Illidge, a veteran writer and editor for DC, Heavy Metal, Valiant, and Lion Forge.

Hennessy has shared a pair of short excerpts from the book -- seven benefits and 12 downsides to working as a freelancer, rather than self-publishing. You can see them below.

"The vast majority of modern comic book characters and stories are created, designed, or produced by freelance creators," Hennessy said. "But how do these professionals enter this strange world? How do they acquire the skills needed to create comic art? How do they find work? And how do they get paid? Anyone interested in becoming a freelance comic creator or hiring them for a comic book project should understand the answers to these questions and explore the commercial realities of the art form to maximize their chances of success, and The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing is designed to help you achieve those goals."  

Here's the first part...

What Are The Seven Benefits Of Working In Comics As A Freelancer?

This is a modified excerpt from a book I'm working on called The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing. It attempts to define the advantages of creating comics that you don't ultimately own. While this can't be taken as legal advice, it can help you understand why you might decide to create comics for someone else.

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At first glance, working as a freelancer in the comic book industry seems like an inherently bad deal and while there is plenty of hostility against work-for-hire agreements that I'll go into in my next post, there are several benefits to the freelance creator in the context of comic books.

1)    Access: Many people who want to make comics grew up reading comics. They love the stories. They care about the characters, and they aspire to help write the next chapter in this postmodern mythology. Because their favorite characters are owned by other companies, the only way to create those stories is as a freelance creator.

2)    Autonomy: Employees of a publisher may be accountable to several layers of superiors in the hierarchy of the company and can easily be dragged into interoffice politics. Freelancers are only accountable to their clients and their personal obligations.

3)    Certainty: Many comics do not generate a profit, so comic creators relying on comic book sales to make a living might not be able to sustain themselves. Also, even if comic sales across the board were healthy enough for artists to survive, the profits for comics don't materialize for months, sometimes years after the work is done and the book is published depending on the distribution model. Under a standard work-for-hire agreement, the artist is paid upfront, regardless of the sales or profits of the published book.

4)    Flexibility: It is difficult for some people to be creative during regular business hours. It is often preferable to be able to create your schedule. Being a freelance creator gives you the ability to move where you want, for as long as you want, adjust your schedule to fit the rest of your life, and avoid the whims of corporate headcount. In the uncertain world we live in, being able to have more control over your business is a powerful asset.

5)    Productivity: Compensation for freelancers is based on their output, not the hours they work, so the more efficient you can be the greater your earning potential.

6)    Simplicity: Because you are not embedded in the corporate hierarchy, you can often get your job done without all the extra meetings, complex systems, and formalities inherent in large organizations.

7)    Tax Benefits: When you're self-employed, you can deduct any necessary expenses related to your business from your taxable income, as long as they are reasonable in amount and ordinarily incurred by businesses of your type. This may include, for example, office expenses (including those for home offices), travel and meal expenses, equipment costs, and insurance payments.

...and part two:

What Are The Twelve Downsides To Working Freelance In Comics?

This is a modified excerpt from a book I'm working on called The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing. It attempts to define the disadvantages of creating comics that you don't ultimately own. While this can't be taken as legal advice, it can help you understand what you need to consider before you create comics for someone else.

There is a significant amount of general hostility against work-for-hire agreements, but that animosity often lacks specifics or singles out a particular egregious case of abuse. As a general matter, when you work as an independent contractor in comics, there are quite a few things you will lack compared to an employee, creator-owned artist, or independent creator:

1.     Benefits: Freelance creators do not get vacation days, sick days, insurance, stock options, or other employment perks.

2.     Certainty: Freelance creators have no guarantee that their clients will pay. In most cases, the government will not intervene on your behalf.

3.     Debt protection: Freelance creators are liable for the debts of their business. Without the proper business structure, a business failure could lead to a personal financial loss.

4.     Financial favoritism: Freelance creators can often face discrimination from financial institutions and lenders because they do not have what they consider a stable income.

5.     Free time: According to recent surveys, independent contractors in America work more hours than employees in government, nonprofit, and private businesses.

6.     Labor protection: Labor laws, including worker's compensation laws, do not protect freelance creators in the same ways that employees are protected.

7.     Materials: Freelance creators need to acquire everything they need to run their business, including workspace, materials, internet access, and most importantly, caffeine.

8.     Ownership: Freelance creators normally have no ownership of the characters or stories they create. In many cases, if their story goes on to inspire a billion-dollar film, they will get no additional payment. They might not even get invited to the movie premiere. There are some forms of ownership based on limited transfers of rights, but this is a long-term strategy that can lead to more money but not actual ownership.

9.     Permanence: The relationship between a freelance creator and a client is temporary by definition and can end at any time. This means that you need to be comfortable with a certain amount of financial insecurity, or see comic freelancing as a side hustle and not a full-time job.

10.   Stability: Even freelancers with existing client relationships do not know how much work they will get in any given month. The workload can switch from feast to famine without warning.

11.   Support: There is no existing business structure for a freelance creator to fall back on, so unless they bring in outside vendors, they have to be their own accounting, legal, human resources, marketing, sales, customer service, and project management departments in addition to creating comics.

12.   Tax protection: Depending on the situation, freelance creators may pay more Medicare and Social Security taxes than employees. For example, in 2018, employees pay a 7.65% tax on their salaries and employers pay a matching amount. In contrast, self-employed people must pay the entire tax themselves. This is in addition to federal and state income taxes.

Have fun with your comic.

Gamal

"There are fundamental differences between working freelance in comic books and being a comic book publisher," added Hennessey. "They have different legal relationships to the story, different financial goals, and different definitions of success. While my first book establishes the foundations of launching a comic book company, this new book takes an in-depth look at establishing yourself as a professional freelance comic book creator."

"If you want to hire and work with freelance creators, this book will help you understand the motivations and stress that are inherent in being a modern-day artistic nomad," said editor Joseph Illidge. "Hopefully, this book can help improve the working conditions on both sides and improve the business of comics as a whole."