A Fistful of Dollars...

By Tony Lee

One thing I've had asked to me almost more than 'how do you get your ideas' (the answer to which is of course that when you get your first published gig you get given a password to an internet site run by Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis where, once a day ten random ideas are given and the first ten people who pick one get to use them – although sometimes two people might take the same idea at the same time, hence the fact that sometimes similar projects come out simultaneously) is 'how much do you get paid'. And for someone wanting a career in comics, it's probably the most important question that you can ask. Because at the end of the day, anyone who tells you that they do this 'for the love of comics'? Most likely have a day job.

I'm going to be quite blunt this week, and I might even burn a couple of bridges, but I think that some of you out there need to know that comics aren't the milk and cookies world of international fame and fortune that you think they are. For the most part, you can keep your dignity and pride, write what you want when you want and avoid the soul destroying work of 'The Man' – but alternatively you can write work for hire to earn money to buy food.

For the last couple of years, I've been fortuitous enough to make comics my living. But when I say living, I'm currently on a yearly 'salary' that I made ten years ago in the nine to five world. I have people I went to school with who easily earn double. The average secretary makes more than me. Half the shop assistants who sell my comics probably make more than me. But, I live in a shared house and my bills for the main have been low. So I've not been hungry to make more. I've simply worked through the jobs that I've had. Last year I was pretty much sponsored by Walker Books, The DFC and 2000 A.D.. IDW was there too, but the dollar / pound ratio wasn't that great to be honest. Half of my Doctor Who: The Forgotten money bought me a flat screen TV and fixed my car.

But this year, the credit crunch has hit publishing. Diamond has raised its costs, and publishers left, right and centre are imploding. Even Top Cow had to let go one of their shiniest employees. And the publishing companies are becoming cautious, in some cases even over cautious.

Tony shows 2000 A.D. editor Tharg his 'pitch'...

2000 A.D., with whom I've written three, four stories with in 2008 are holding off now until at least Spring. The DFC still hasn't renewed contract negotiations for new stories. And Walker Books have delayed my adaptation of the fourth Raven's Gate book, Necropolis – an adaptation I should have been starting now – until a yet unnamed date. Although this is due in part to yet another art delay on book one, which has delayed the launch of it (originally due this time in 2008) to late 2009.

So as you can see, things are tough. But the point of freelancing is that you should never get too comfortable. This time last year I was solvent enough to last until May. Again, this year I'm in a similar situation, and I already know of two gigs which, if they both come off will effectively fund my year and give me a similar salary to what I made in total last year out of all of my gigs. But the fact of the matter is – I shouldn't rely on them actually happening. I know one is, but the other? We'll see. And so I can't just sit there on my laurels. I need to make sure that work is coming in. Because no incoming work equals no incoming money.

I often get jokingly referred to as a writing whore – that I'll write anything for money, a fact often backed up with snippets of MILF Magnet, a work for hire gig for Moonstone which I'm actually quite fond of. And to be honest, I'll happily say it too. I am a writing whore – and anyone who is starting in the industry who won't take on paying gigs? Would rather ignore the mainstream, effectively starve then eat? Is a liar. Or a fool. Or both.

Work for hire is a freelancers bread and butter. But, when there are no immediate jobs to be done, what do you do? That's the point where you start networking again, contacting publishers, editors, reminding them that you're alive.

I hate this part. I really detest this part, actually. When I was Group Editor of Markosia, I had people doing this to me, and for the most I ignored them. Not because I'm an evil bastard, but because there were just so many, with the flimsiest of excuses. Things like 'Hey, I saw a picture of you on Facebook and it reminded me to check in. Oh, any news on [THEIR PROJECT}?' And I'd get this every week, every day. And so, when faced with doing this the other way round, I cringe.

I have this arrogant internet persona, and when I'm out there marketing myself it seems to work for the main as a mask, but as I've stated before I'm just a guy who wants to make a living writing stories for people. And as such I need to have the opportunities. And so I have to email editors and hassle them for the opportunities. Does it work? Does it hell. But, I'm not important enough, famous enough even good enough to have big time editors email me out of the blue and offer me work apart from the occasional random happenstance, where occasionally an editor will have a sudden fill in needed and, if your name is in their minds, they'll drop you a line. But honestly? Nine times out of ten? They'll most likely go to a) a friend / someone they've previously worked with or b) a 'name'.

Someone once said to me (and it's something I've used myself since) that I'm at a position in my professional life where I can pretty much walk up to any publisher of comics and say hi and they'll not only know who I am, even may know my work, but they'll also probably chat to me about work – but more than not I'll still not get any work from them. And it's true. I have meetings with over seven editors at DC and Marvel on the Wednesday before the NYC Comic Con. If I'm really lucky, I'll get a gig from maybe one of them. So why do I do it? Because a) I need to be seen and b) the editors I'm meeting with? Are editors I actually like.

No, seriously. I shit you not. I don't scatter bomb editors – I'll speak to ones I get on with. I've been having meetings yearly with DC since 2003 when Mike Carlin spent an hour telling me not to work in comics, and not once have I had a shot. Am I annoyed? Hell no. I get to have meetings with DC. Do you know how cool it is for a long term comic fanboy to actually see the painted DC wall of heroes first hand? I've been speaking to people like Bob Schreck, Jann Jones, Mike Marts, etc., since 2003. I'll go to see them just to chat. I won't even be pitching. Hell, in 2004 I saw Mike (then in Marvel) while on an eight hour JFK layover from Peru – I took him a present. That was the whole point of my visit. I actually like these guys, and I know that I'm one name of many that goes through their inbox every month.

Tony and Mike Carlin in his office, April 2003...

In a weird moment of synchronicity, while writing this? I just discovered that Bob Schreck (who I first met the same day as Carlin and who took the above photo of the two of us) has been let go by DC Comics. With Rob Levin being let go from Top Cow last week, it seems that even senior level editors are finding it as difficult as we freelancers are.

But I digress from my point about constantly hassling editors. And don't get me wrong, constant attention can work. I got a Spider Man gig in April by cold-call emailing the editors. I got Doctor Who by pretty much stalking Chris Ryall. But do I like doing that? No. I like being friends with editors. (Although I do like stalking Ryall.) My IDW editors are Ryall and Denton Tipton, two guys that to be honest? I'd much rather go for a beer with than hassle. I've spent years trying to get into Top Cow and came out of it with a strong friendship with Rob Levin and no work. I reckon I got the better deal, to be honest.

But I digress again. I hate sending these monthly 'hey, remember me? ' emails almost as much as the recipients hate getting them. And I actually try to ensure that there's a level of humour in the ones that I do send. For example, during the 2006 Christmas break, the editors I most often hassled (and by that I mean the editors I most wanted to work with) got this as an email...

'T'was The Night Before Christmas' - or 'Dear God He's Back again.'

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the land - all the editors bustled, with red pens at hand,

With scant moments left before the season resumed, they knew that their deadlines were certainly doomed.

With so many things for the editors to do, the last thing they needed was to be overdue,

So they avoided the message boards, internet sites - and sat in the corner, with the Christmas tree lights.

But whilst they busied, they found a distraction - an internet beeping that gave a reaction,

Of paranoid fear as they looked from the tree - It was the Chrismassy email from that damned Tony Lee.

"Sweet Jesus, he's found us!" The editors cried - "Please somebody tell him we've quit, left or died!"

"We've been taken by Martians, we've eloped with a Yak, we've all been the victims of Zombie attack!"

But still the screen flashed, with the email accepted - just waiting to open, not 'spam intercepted.'

Some editors ran off in attempts to gain distance, the others just screamed and attacked their assistants.

But no matter what actions they tried in despair - the fact of the matter was - the email? Still there.

"Perhaps we're too harsh." The editors spoke weakly - "after all, it's been months since he stopped pitching weekly."

But they knew in their hearts that at the base of the mail - there would be a new pitch, made in tedious detail.

But t'was the night before Christmas, as we already recall - so they opened that mail, and they read through it all.

And were surprised to discover a wealth of good wishes, with Christmassy greetings and thoughts most auspicious,

But the last line of the poem filled the editors with fear - "Have a Happy Christmas Everyone," it read -

"I'll be back again next year. "

I like to think that at the worst, I make my editors smile more than cringe when they see my name. But to be honest, I'll never know.

The worst point in a freelancer's life is that day or two after you send one of these emails. Because you're in the 'loop' at that point, and even though you know that the email was received, there's been no reply. Yet.

Now every freelancer I know has a different opinion on exactly how long you should wait before follow-up emailing. Is it a day? A week? A month? I have one answer, and it covers all options:

It depends on how desperate for work you are.

I'll often send off a 'hello' email, maybe tell an editor something that's happened that I think they'd like to know (that in my mind will also make them think 'oh, that Tony's progressing nicely – perhaps we should start working on something together'), something like 'hey, I just got awarded one of Aint It Cool's favourite reviews of 2008' or 'hey, I just got nominated for my third Eagle award in three years', something that makes me look good, and gives a valid reason for the email – and then often, I'll forget to email again or even check for follow ups until the next time I contact them. I usually remember things like Thanksgiving and Independence Day and I'm always polite, apologise for hassling and get out as quickly as I arrived.

And I don't expect them to reply. I might occasionally check an email was received if another recipient mentions they didn't get it, but apart from that? I leave it the hell alone. They see my email. If they want to email back? That's their prerogative. I do not expect them to. And any freelancer who claims to be professional should be the same.

But. Say I've suddenly had a gig fall through – and I know an editor was interested in a pitch I did but never came back to me. Then, I might contact them again, follow up, just to let them know I'm hungry for the gig. After all, I've got the time, the ability and the need, and this might help them decide. Although again, this barely occurs. I barely ever call by phone. I find that quite invasive to their time. But it all depends on how much I need the work in a short time frame.

Reading this back, I sound like a get-nowhere hack. And to be honest with some publishers, I can be taken like that. But that said, I do get my work. I can survive at this job, so obviously my style of contacting works somehow. Luckily, I've not been in the kind of situation I mention in the above paragraph for a while, and looking back in my email inbox, over seventy percent of my emails with editors are more conversational, discussions about other things, usually conventions and alcoholic beverages. Because as I said, many editors I deal with are friends.

Am I good networker? I don't know. I see peers in the industry leaping ahead of where I am in leaps and bounds. Are they more talented than me? Most likely. Better networkers? I don't know. I don't see what emails they send. But am I really that concerned about the pecking order of comics?

Of course I am. You'd need to be a bloody moron to think otherwise. Jealousy is constant in a freelancers world because your friend Bob who scored that six parter while you managed a ten pager? He got paid TWELVE TIME MORE THAN YOU for his gig. Why didn't you get that gig? Perhaps the editor didn't think of you at the time that the gig appeared. Perhaps you haven't been as insistent as you should be. And of course you'll think of another excuse to send a reminding email to that editor, and the bloody cycle starts all over again.

I bloody hate pitching. But don't get me wrong, I love writing pitches, I did one that was over six thousand words this week (and I'll talk about that in a couple of weeks) – it's the actual contacting an editor out of the blue to hassle them to give them work. It's like walking into McDonalds and saying to the manager 'give me a job. I'm better than him' and pointing at someone at a till.

But then - I might be simply incredibly British about it.

So editors reading this (and I know some of you do), once more I apologise for my endless emails. But more importantly, I apologise for the fact that they're not going to stop. But take it as a compliment. If you see that I've emailed you, that's because I've singled you, yes you out to be my editor down the line. I like you. Lots and lots with a cherry on top.

Now give me a bloody gig because I've got hookers, fast cars and gambling debts to pay off.

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As that was quite a long rant this week, we'll keep the rest of it short. In fact, down to one story. This Wednesday gone, the final issue of Doctor Who: The Forgotten came out and although it had in general an incredibly popular review, one thing that confused people was the fact that page one had no dialogue.

Doctor Who: The Forgotten – the missing text...

The fact of the matter is, that page one did have dialogue, and was printed blank due to some kind of printer mixup. And, if you go to the IDW Forums – in particular this thread - you'll find the dialogue that's missing. And today's Lying In The Gutters should be putting up a scan of the page with dialogue.

But, it made me think. We have a confusing little image there with the possibilities of oodles of fun – so I'm announcing a Caption Competition for the Page. Just download the scan of the undialogued page that can be found at on photobucket and write a funny conversation, the conversation that you see the characters having on it, using the paint program of your choice, and then email the image to doctorwhocaption@gmail.com. We'll hold this competition until the end of February, so you have over a month to get them in. And to spread the message around.

The winning entry will receive a signed set of issues #1 to #6 sent directly from me, with the missing dialogue of #6 hand-written onto page one by me - as well as a copy of the actual script to issue #6. It will be the only prize of its kind.

Of course, when the trade comes out, this will be fixed anyway...

Anyway. Until next week – I have some editors to hassle.

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Discuss this column at the Only A Forum forum.
© 2008, Tony Lee

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