Beware of Radio Comix

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

Over a year ago, when I was still in sequential arts school, I submitted a very short comic to Furrlough. I never heard from them again, so I went on with my life and figured they'd chosen not to publish it. After all, with me living in Sweden, the gritty details would've been a huge hassle and they've probably got more than enough domestic material to go around.

Then today, a friend mentioned he'd Googled my name, and out of curiosity I did the same to see what he'd run across.

I found this. I am not amused.

I have not recieved any kind of word from Radio Comix that they'd be publishing my comic, which is what pisses me off. I'd heard some stuff about them getting really bad about paying people a while after I submitted my comic so that bit doesn't surprise me too much.
That they'd not even pretend to want to make right by me, however... That really brushes me the wrong way.

I'd have liked to at least get a complementary copy of the issue or something.



-Alexandra

Comments

FWIW

[mr-squiddle.livejournal.com]

http://community.livejournal.com/radiocomix/

[blondefoxy.livejournal.com]

wow. that sucks, have you brought this up to one of them?
Are they suppost to pay people for their submissions? If so, damn. I should be payed to.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

They are supposed to compensate you for submissions they publish yes.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Guh... wow. That's really bad!

(I'm sure the OP's familiar with the submission policy, but I'll post what I found online for others)
from http://radiocomix.com/submissionguidelines.html

1). Radio Comix only accepts proposals from complete creative teams. We do not assign writers to artists, or vice-versa. All stories accepted by Radio Comix are fully creator-owned. ...

7.) We will notify you and discuss compensation upon acceptance of your submission for publication. ...


It ought to have been THEIR responsibility to contact YOU and get an OK before putting anything in print, muchless selling it, but my advice at this point is to get in contact with them.
Thanks for the warning; I make comics, and this is some place I might have submitted to, sooner or later.

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would have liked at least a complimentary issue to - I have an illustration in Milk #54 (https://radiocomixstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_19&products_id=719&osCsid=f359e4f52ebb79313945fc5a28dbef72) that I never would have known about if I hadn't been checking. They never contacted me either - I submitted, and that was it. I'd like to work with them again (because hey, work in print FTW), but some more professionalism would be nice.

In fact, that reminds me, I think I'll fire them off an email. See what shakes loose.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

WTF? One could be a fluke, two's not. D: When their submission policy says:

We will notify you and discuss compensation upon acceptance of your submission for publication. Please do not contact us regarding your submission, as we receive an extremely large volume of submissions. You will get an answer, just be prepared for a very long wait.

That is really, really, really crappy of them.

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

I know, eh? I've emailed both Elin Winkler and the storefront, hopefully I'll get some answer. But so far the only person who ever said they'd send me anything for submitting was Shon Howell (KingCheetah) since he asked me to do so (I guess they asked him to recruit to fill pages, I dunno), and I never received anything from him either - even though he apparently mailed stuff out to me twice.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

XP
I don't think they're obligated to compensate for submitting, but for publishing your work they certainly ought to. Even if they wrote in the rules "you're compensation will be the fact that your work is in print" (which they don't, they have "we will discuss compensation"), they *still* ought to check with the creator that yes, this is their work, yes, it's okay to print.

Mind posting this in comic_creators? I'd do it but it'd probably be better first person.

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

Heh, well yeah, true. I more meant to point it out as the only compensation I was offered at ALL came from a third party (and even that fell through the cracks! ^^; ). XD But for printing, hell yeah. I can't believe they didn't even get as far as discussing anything.

Sure, I'm gonna give it about a week to see if I hear anything back about my inquiries, and if I don't hear anything I guess I should just toss it up as a warning? I'm not used to broadcasting on such things, lol :)

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I consider this preying on hopeful artists. Muckraking isn't much fun, but it's the main defense us indy types have: community and masses! XD Laywers are generally too expensive and time consuming and who wants to deal with that anyway?!

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

You're right; when all else fails, at least spread awareness. I don't mind having been screwed if it can be used to protect others.

[doronjosama.livejournal.com]

I know willworks, our production guy (and the other person here at Radio) emailed you about the submission being accepted, since I was looking over his shoulder when he did it. It is unfortunate that you didn't receive it.

We are still trying to get important mail information out of King-Cheetah regarding many of his people he has sent to us- in many cases, we have outdated or simply missing snail mail information regarding them. Back when I worked with him at Antarctic Press, he was sketchy with such details, and things have tragically not changed.

We did just get back from a convention trip, and were working double shifts at our day jobs for a few weeks before we left for said trip, so we are a bit behind on email at the moment.

Rest assured, I am going to answer your email and concerns as soon as possible.

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

Ah! Thank you very much, I very much appreciate your letting me know. I should've known better than to jump to any conclusions, I apologize for that. I'll wait to hear from you then - again, thank you. :)

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I have work in that long-running taur fanzine, can't remember the name ATM, and while he asked me to pay for the shipping (as they have a LOT of contributors for each issue and it IS a fanzine), he made sure I could get a complimentary issue did I want one. He also was awesome about emailing all potential contributors asking if he could use their work, which is why I provided him with high-res files, something I normally don't do.

If a fanzine done in someone's spare time is more professional than a publishing company, something is seriously wrong.


-Alexandra

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no kidding - that's pretty damn telling. Here's hoping we all manage to get this sorted!

[kaputotter.livejournal.com]

Shocked and appalled.

Totally unprofessional. And that is the worst insult that I can personally think of.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

Even if it was in my spam filter (which I wouldn't still have by now, as the spam folder gets emptied every few months), me having recieved the email wouldn't have granted them permission to use it, you know?

I submitted the thing on a CD and as printed copies by snail mail, if memory serves, and I think (though that's where my memory fails me) they got my email, my snail mail AND my bloody cell phone number along with the submission.


-Alexandra

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

Ditto. First I heard my comic got published was someone we knew congratulating tailypo (whose character was in it). I was all, WTF??

Now, what if I sent it to multiple publishers to increase its chances of getting picked by somebody, and one of the ones I really wanted to accept it called me back but then they change their mind because they saw it running in Genus and I had totally forgotten I had sent it to Genus and I had signed some sort of exclusive contract for that story and I get in a crapload of trouble.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

OMGWTF!

Now -this- is worth taking legal action for, people making money off your comic without even sending you an e-mail? What a bunch of assholes!
You should check if there's free legal assistance or advice available in your area, maybe your old teachers know something about that?

Definitely make a post in their journal detailing exactly what they did and that you demand compensation for your work. Check with another artist how much they got and demand pay equal or higher, since they already printed it they can't negotiate on price anymore.


Sjeesh, I'd been planning on submitting a short adult comic to them for Genus as well, but now I'll just take it to their competitor. Fuck 'em >_o

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

I'll be in touch with my old teachers, if I can get a hold of them in the middle of summer, and for once my brother being a bratty law student may actually come in useful. Part of me wants to just send them an invoice with the pay the national illustrators' association thing here reccommends... Which I can almost guarantee is a long sight more than what they're paying even the (few?) artists that do get paid.

From the responses to this post, it's starting to look like only people with multi-part stories or people they otherwise want to use more than once are getting paid at all anymore. Which is a shame, they had a good thing going.


-Alexandra

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Please keep us updated?

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

Will do!

I fired off an email to one of my teachers this morning and I may drop by to talk to them once the semester starts (if memory serves, they should get started a while before my semester starts), depending on time etc etc.

Still working in my head on what I want to say to RC when I do contact them.


-Alexandra

[randomredux.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, who are their competitors (forgive my lack of knowledge, my only previous publishing experience was self- :P)? I've got some somewhat adult projects in the works that I was gonna talk to RC about, but I'm not in the mood to get shafted again.

(btw, love your icon XD hahaha)

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Thanks, pegla made it.
Coincidentally he also has my comics so I can't double-check for you, but I believe "Wild" also publishes adult furry comics (or that's the title of the comic).

I liked their content better because especially the art quality in Genus was seriously slipping, especially with that guy who rips off the Tiny Toon style.

[doronjosama.livejournal.com]

Wild has actually stopped publishing. Edd Vick of Mu Press was very public about how they will not be printing any new comics, as their sales numbers dropped below the cut off number that Diamond Distribution (the only distributor for comics in North America) insists that all comics must meet in order to be carried. Rather than be dumped, he just threw in the towel.

[auradeva.livejournal.com]

I was trying to get some art published through them in 2003, but stopped after I heard from a group of artists that no one who submited art for their summer beach party issue was compensated.

I'm very surprised that they're still even publishing Furrlough.

[doronjosama.livejournal.com]

Hit the Beach sells about 400 copies at this point. In order to simply break even on the printing (which is $1400), it needs to sell 1400 copies. We get $1 per book from the distributor, as we are required by their unchangeable terms that we must sell them the comics at 65% off the cover price.

Hit the Beach does eventually pay once it makes back the money lost on printing. But it's only about $6 per page, and many feel it's not worth it.

[doronjosama.livejournal.com]

Alexandra, I have been trying to email you for months about this issue. I do not know why the emails are not getting through, and at this point, no matter what I say, it will be torn to pieces as excuses.

We have also sent out a package of contributor copies, which apparently never got there. (We do have some difficulties with overseas packages going astray at times.)

Furrlough has a standard page-based royalty which starts to generate once the book has made its printing costs. All of us here at Radio (all three of us) work day jobs to live, do freelance work for other comics companies to cover the printing bills and taxes (which have to be paid regardless), and not one of us makes any money off this company. We are not trying to rip anyone off, nor are we trying to scam anyone.

I can only apologize and attempt to make the situation better, if you will allow me to.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

I much rather work things out than be mad for the sake of it, of course. Anything else would be rather silly and petty of me. I can't say why emails wouldn't get through, especially since I no longer remember what address I provided, I only know that any address I had then should have been working excepting a period around New Year's when I was having some issues with my domain.

It does, however, look very bad, which I'm sure you will agree with, when I only discover that my material has been published through what essentially is a fluke. That is my main issue with all of this, that I did not know anything before my work was printed.


-Alexandra

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't you be sure you have an agreement with the artists [b]before[/b] you go to print? Not sorting it out prior to printing is sloppy at best, completely underhanded at worst.

Just a note for future interactions, if you're going to work with artists, you need these things sorted out prior to the comic being released, at the end of the day, you guys brought the whole matter on your own heads. Always been upfront and get things done before you run with them.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

and I fail at html :P

[thaily.livejournal.com]

That's what I was thinking, why wouldn't they wait for a reply from the artist before publishing?

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

It's much the same excuses dA pulled on someone when they used a print of his to advertise the concert shows without his permission and then complained when the guy went ape.

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

The very least I would have expected is, "We like what you sent us. Can we use it?" And I'd say, "Sure." and that would be that.

The latest was sort of an exception, Genus Male, when there was a call for stuff to put in it and so I produced something and sent it with the idea that my sending it was permission enough, since people were asked.

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

It is possible to make a bit of money regardless of whether you get paid by Radio or not. You can do whatever you like with your contributor copies. I sold mine at conventions. You get more copies with a discount at the Radio Comix store (contributors get like half-price or something) and then you can sell those too. I've been selling the original comic art at $10 a page and it sells very well. On my own I made way more than I would have through royalties.

I guess this system sorta works for me because I like the convenience of someone else doing the work to put my work into a neat little package for me so I don't have to go to Kinko's to do it myself. I also never assume I'm going to make a lot with comics, it's just for fun. I think doronjosama at least deserves my thanks for that.

I have been thinking about doing the spiral-bound locally-printed type, though, for some longer 50-page stories that I would like to do, but in that case I would have these big stacks of books that I would have to try to sell on my own, and I don't see myself as much of a business-type, I just want to draw.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

That would entail actually getting contributor copies, however.


-Alexandra