Greetings loyal friends and members of ICCW Network,
What does being a member of ICCW Network Publishing Co-Op mean for you? It means that you will have every chance to be paid for your work, whether you are a writer, penciler, inker, colorist or letterer. Everyone who is a member is afforded the same opportunities as every other member; everyone has the opportunity to get their work published; everyone has the right to hire talent at regulated rates, giving them the chance to afford to produce a comic, and gives everyone the chance to work.
So how is all this going to work?
What do these things mean to ICCW Network Co-Op members?
So let’s begin with the marketing, printing and distribution. All membership fees will go to those three things. If you contract with ICCW Comics to publish, we will market your book, print your book and distribute through Diamond Previews (this is contingent upon Diamond accepting the book for solicitation). These things will no longer be yours to worry about. Taking care of these three things will free up your expenses and time to concentrate on production of your book.
Now we will get into that. We are sure you’re wondering about getting paid for your work. Here is how it is going to work for Co-Op members. Everyone who joins will be placed in a talent pool. Other creators will be able to search the talent pool and find who and what they need for production of their book. But paying your dues is just the beginning. All talent is set to a flat page rate that is not negotiable.
Now for those who are vets of comic production and probably almost all talent do not see these numbers as impressive at all. But the heart of ICCW Network is still the same…supporting independent creators and helping them get what they need in order to get published work out there. In addition to this, there is no limit on how many jobs you can take. Take as many as you can handle. Now as a submitter of a project, the one paying for the production of the book, you are thinking still that this is a lot of money to pay for production. It can be. But keep in mind what you do not have to worry about, such as marketing, printing and distribution. In addition to that, we as the Co-Op take care of drafting contracts with talent, editing, providing a project manager to watch over all projects and make sure everyone stays on task. All you do is turn in your script and sit back and wait for your book to be done.
The following is a FAQ that will repeat some of the above information and provide additional information so please keep reading.
What is a co-op?
Stands for cooperative and is a community of like-minded people working together with the same purpose and goal.
What is the ICCW Network Co-Op?
A network of creators working together to produce comics.
What does the ICCW Network Co-Op provide?
- Marketing, printing and distribution of creator owned publications.
- Creative mentoring in order to improve your craft.
- A talent pool for you to choose and hire your creative team.
- Creative team contract drafting.
- Project Management to guide your project to completion.
- Editing.
- Co-Branding of your project between your studio and ICCW Comics.
- An 80/20 split in profit where your studio receives 80% and ICCW Network receives 20%
How do I join ICCW Network Co-Op?
Everyone will be notified when the new iccwnetwork.com is active. All you need to do is go to the site and register. Everyone will be offered a 30 trial membership and then will be charged $5 a month. You can also join for $25 for 6 months or one year for $50. Everyone who joins agrees to the rules and stipulations regarding the co-op.
What are the rules and stipulations?
- All talent agrees to a flat per page rate and a share of the profit for working on ICCW Comics projects.
- Writer: $45 per script + 10% of profit
- Pencils: $15 per page + 10% of profit
- Inks: $12 per page + 10% of profit
- Letters: $10 per page + 10% of profit
- Colors: $15 per page + 10% of profit
- All flat rates are non-negotiable.
- All projects will be contracted for a finite number of issues.
- The initiator or owner of the project is responsible for paying for the creative team.
- There is no “on spec” work. All talent must be paid prior to printing and distribution.
- Projects must be at least 75% complete and on schedule before marketing the project.
- All projects will be contracted for a specific number of issues based on the length of the story.
- Scripts must be complete prior to establishing creative teams.
- Each member of the creative team will have a contract.
Why have I set up ICCW Network this way?
Well there are a few reasons. First point is this; with a limited budget some people never see their project come to life. We set caps on page rates to give everyone a chance to get their project done. Now is this fair to the talent putting in hours of hard work to complete the project? The answer is yes and no. No, because it is a lot of work for minimal pay. Yes, because it gives everyone the same chance of getting published because they are not competing with others at different page rates. Your skill alone should speak for itself, not the amount they are charging for work.
My second point is just because someone charges $50 per page does not mean their quality or timeliness is worth that. So these limits will set the bar for what is expected. If you are not getting work perhaps you will need to schedule time with a co-op mentor.
My final point…most everyone is trying to accomplish the same thing. All we want to do is create a level playing field for everyone. And since co-op members no longer have to worry about the cost of marketing, printing and distribution as part of their budget they can invest more money in production.
Who owns the rights to my book?
All projects are creator owned and upon completion of the contracted work you are welcome to take your project elsewhere, including self-publishing.
Can I ask my creative team to wait to be paid after the book starts to sell?
No. Sales are not guaranteed so if the book does not sell as expected, your creative team can go unpaid.
What happens if I start a project with a creative team in place but cannot afford to pay them?
Your project will be cancelled and any art produced will have to be paid for. You will be ineligible to submit a new, or continue the cancelled project until financial obligations are take care of. The project will also be listed on the site as “cancelled due to finance”.
What if one of my talent breaks their contract?
Anyone breaking a contract faces being dismissed from the co-op after investigation into why the contract was broken. The talent who breaks the contract is responsible for paying the owner of the property any money paid to them for the project.
Will ICCW Network provide legal counsel if I need to go after someone for breaking the contract?
No. However we will provide you with any information needed in order for you to be compensated for the broken contract.
How will the Co-Op know what has been paid for?
It is the responsibility of the project owner to make sure their project manager receives that information.
How is the talent paid?
This detail is worked out between project owner, project manager and talent and is stated in the contract.
Do all members of my creative team have to be co-op members?
Yes. No exceptions to this rule.
What is the submissions process for ICCW Comics?
This information will be posted on the new site for everyone to see, member or not.
Once my co-op contracted project is complete can I self publish or take the project to another publisher?
Yes and at that time your creative team is no longer under obligation to work at co-op flate rates and can negociate for a higher page rate.
So there it is folks, the future of ICCW Network. We do want you all to know that this decision is made upon several factors, including where we have always wanted ICCW Network to go. But in order to be the hub of indie publishing and a one stop shop for all your indie publishing needs, we need to actually start publishing and producing comics. The wheels are already in motion for getting a few titles into Previews in the next few months, establishing a relationship with the company. We know that we are putting a lot of people in a position to not return to ICCW Network. Just remember that the Facebook page is always free and will be constantly updated with Co-Op projects. So be sure to join the Facebook page so you can see what we are up to and perhaps eventually join us in our plot to take over the indie world.
If I have not answered all your questions please email me (randy@iccwnetwork.com) so I can make sure that everything is perfectly clear. I want everyone to be fully informed of everything the Co-Op has to offer. All questions will be posted here for everyone.
Randy Taylor
ICCW Network, LLC
