Image Cancellations and Creator Profitability

For print sales, when do you feel the financial impact of a single issue? Is that something that hits after orders have closed, after release, or some other time?

JZ: With creator-owned it’s a serious uphill battle right from the start. You have to get professional material together for a pitch and then, if it’s picked up you have the solicit cycle, actual creative production, printing, distribution, pay arriving from the distributor, and then, finally, pay arriving to the creative team (if there’s any money to be had). All told you’re looking at anywhere from 6-9 months for that first paycheck. That’s half a year or more where everyone on the team has to keep the lights on and food in their belly while waiting to see the financial fruits of their labour. There’s no way that won’t have a heavy impact at every stage of production. I know every creator says it, but a regular shipping creator-owned book is an intense creative and financial commitment.

For print sales, when do you feel the financial impact of a single issue, say, the most recent #5? Is that something that hits after orders have closed, after release, or some other time?

BM: This is actually a more complicated question than one might think. The easy answer is Reed and I get “paid” from the single issues two months after the in-store date. Image collects the money from Diamond and forwards it to us (minus print expenses and their flat publisher’s fee). Rocket Girl #5 was in-stores 5/21, and we expect to be paid for that issue at the end of July. That July report from Image will pay us for all the number #5s sold to stores in the month of May. Any reorders after May get paid with a whole bunch of other stuff (reorders on other issues, digital, &c) twice per year (December and June).


Montclare's Rocket GirlHowever, the print run and Initial Orders are determined three weeks before the in-store date. And because I can calculate the costs that will be deducted along with the expected revenue, I have an accurate idea of how much that July check is going to be. Because I can plan accordingly–I can hold out until it comes in, or I can borrow against it, or pursue other financing–knowing what’s coming does have value on the financial planning side of things.

Working backwards a bit, for Rocket Girl #5 I knew on May 1st how much I’d be paid on July 31. May books are solicited in March Previews, and Image needs the cover Image and solicitation copy in February to prepare it for Previews.

This winding answer, I hope, sheds some light on the importance of cash flow. Amy and I are committed to an ongoing series. Books planned for release don’t see a return of single issue sales (which to be clear is the first source of revenue we collect) for 6 months. But once you get over the early hump of starting a new series, you can take advantage of cash flow. That July check, technically, is for February work already done. Buy practically speaking, it’s paying Reed and me for the work we’re doing now (which fans will see in September). Stack this all in a row like dominoes, month after month, and it’s a crude model of cash flow. And the continuing support of single issues shipping periodically and creating a pay stream is the backbone of supporting Rocket
Girl.