If you are familiar with Comic Genesis you know that they have two sections a premier section Keen Spot and a general section Comic Genesis. A year ago the Comic Genesis servers were crashing while the Keen Spot server had just been upgraded for the second time. When I complain a Keen Spoter said “If you don’t like it you can leave”. So I left.
You probably remember my rather public blow up over Zuda when I they brought in professional for the first round of the contest and ignored my emails.
You can probably recall when I when nuts over Scot Kurtz going into his normal demagoguery and claiming that full page episodic comics are inferior to gag a day strips.
In short I have a real problem with class systems when it comes to comics particularly my comic. I think all comic are equal on the web and when people behave to the contrary I act like a mad screaming lunatic. Well welcome to the next installment of Drowemos freaks out when someone sets up a class system.
You may or may not be familiar with Wowio. It is a company that pay content produces for exclusive rights to digital downloads of their works. Not a bad deal all and all. Back in October I got a contract and an invitation to join Wowio. They offered 50 cents per download. Not bad if you consider that most advertisers only offer you 1 cent per click.
At the time I was negotiating with Studio Boom to have the archive redone. I figured once that happened I would definitely sign up. And I place the contract aside.
Well we then hit some problems. The fates seemed to turn against Studio Boom and I was having some drama in my life. The archives did not get done and there was a point where it looked like the comic would not survive at all. During that period on December 27th I got a not “reminding me” that the deadline was in 4 days. After a quick “what the heck are you talking about” note (taking one day) I found out that Wowio was changing their rates and I had 3 days to sign the contract and lock in the current 50 cent rate.
Well I was going on vacation that day. Studio Boom was unreachable. And my lawyer friend was out of the country. In short there was no way I could responsibly sign the contract under those circumstances. And the whole thing seemed fishy anyways.
So a month later I was contacted by Wowio again with the new rate of 25 cents per page. “Ok” I said “And when do I get moved up to the 50 cent per page rate”. “Never” was the response. People who signed before 2008 will always get the 50 cent rate for anything they want to publish and people who sign up after will be stuck at 25 cents per page forever no matter what they do.
…
Let the freak out begin.
It’s not the money. I really don’t care about the money. It is what the money symbolizes. A favored status for early adapters. A permanent favored status. A class system that is rigid and inflexible. I would take a 15 cent rate if I could move up to the higher rate after a period or download level. If there was any way to break through the glass ceiling. But instead I am told to know my place "boy" and not aspire to things I can not have.
I would not care if there was some non-monetary advantage afforded instead of the 50 cent rate. Some sort of status available to the people taking the lower rate. A favored location on the website. A more flexible contract. A basket of cheeses. Something. But the contract is word for word the same except all the 50 have been changed to 25.
Some of the Woiwo elites (early adapters) have told me not to make waves. That 25 cents is better than nothing. And that makes sense that they say that, since downloads of my comic would go to support their comic (the extra commission from the half rate goes somewhere after all). And that’s sort of funny because in the “shut up and stop whining” replies I got from the elites I did not see the word “please” or “thank you”. I did not receive the donation wallpaper or other reward. I saw no acknowledgment that they needed me. That I was providing a service. In a sense that I was superior to them since my comic would be the economic engine of Wowio where they would be draining the coffers with their comic.
Signing the Wowio contract would gain some money but it would be at the price of my honor. I would have to admit that my comic was half as good as the comics of the Wowio elites. I would have to agree to a subordinate status. And I can not do that.
The thing is I know I am in the wrong here, that I am being stubborn and unreasonable. That I am cutting off my nose to spite my face. But you know what. It’s my bloody nose and my bloody face and some times they need to be taught a lesson. But honestly I really feel bad about this. I wish I could swallow my pride and be less of a jerk. It would benefit everyone involved. But it has been my pride that kept this comic alive when it should have died so many times in the past. It is the pride and love that will keep it going. The pride and the love are essential to Exiern. The money is not.
So I am passing up on the money. You will never see Exiern or anything I do on Wowio. And no talk of monetary reward will sway me. I am Achilles sulking in his tent doing harm to all around him over a wounded pride. Wowio is still an ok deal. Provided you are ok with taking an inferior status to the existing comics on Wowio. Provided you are ok admitting your work is half as good as the others.
(Note: There are certain people who have a vested stake in Exiern, people who have been essential to its success, who can change my mind with a simple “just do it”. You guys know who you are and while I love this comic but I love you more.)
Friday, March 14, 2008
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21 comments:
It is my understanding that if you had gone with Wowio any international readers would not have been able to use the service. Perhaps it is for the best that it went this way.
No international emails, and Wowio won't let you have *anything* until they have your legal identity. As far as I can tell, they expect to make money in the long term by suing people who distribute something that was free of charge in the first place.
I've been reading Exiern for a few weeks, maybe less, now, but I hope you don't mind me responding. Personally, I agree with you that Wowio should offer some way of gaining more money or some other bonus to make it worthwhile. Wowio sounds like a really nice service, but I refuse to use it because it's too strict about letting me on. You're doing the right thing. Exiern is a great comic and shouldn't even have a hint that it is less than something else. I love reading about Tiffany and have frequently gone back through the archieves because there are so many things to enjoy. I plan to stay with Exiern till the end.
Well now. Isn't that interesting.
Do you know what bothers me about Wowio? I remember when it started up. A lot of my favourite comics signed onto Wowio, and started trying to pull people in. I mean, why not? It's a great way for them to make money- and what would it cost me? Five minutes or so.
Some of them started putting a lot of work into e-comics. One author re-made his books with the occasional click-able panel; which allowed you to see different things. The panel, animated; or in 3D. Fantastic stuff, right?
Well, it sure sounds it. Any idea how much I would love to see those edited e-books? Any idea how much it would mean to be able to financially help out my favourite authors and artists, even though I don't have much spare money?
It doesn't matter. Elitism stops me- and this time, it's American elitism.
I say this with no disrespect meant towards individuals. But American organisations- they often think of themselves as being above the rest of the world; as being superior. The rest of the world DOES NOT MATTER.
And I'm part of the rest of the world.
There's comics I'd like to read- only on Wowio. Things I'd like to see- only on Wowio.
And a way to help out those I'd love to help- only on Wowio.
And I am penalised, I am held back from doing that, because I am not an American citizen.
Call me bitter if you wish- but I hate Wowio and all it's elitism. So I shouldn't worry, Drowemos. You're not the only one to throw temper tantrums.
There is another thing, too. If Wowio is giving all this money away... How are they GETTING money? I would DEARLY like to know that.
While I can admire principle, let me tell you a story: From the middle of December, right before the winter break, until last week, I was working a contract with Hasbro, being paid a good amount of money, and was reasonably expecting things to continue for the full six months m contract assured me.
In the middle of working on a particular project, I was frustrated enough to annouce that changes I had made to a website were improvements basid upon usability and that I wasn't going to change things, and if they didn't like it, they could fire me. Well, the next week, I thought better of my rant, and changed things, so that text is in image highlights, and the whole thing's harder to read. (See the site)
A week after I changed things, my contract was abruptly terminated. Now I'm not bragging, but that money was double my last contract, and I was using the payments to do things like cover bills.
Moral of the story? Make business decisions based on business. Save philathropy for when you can afford it. Sorry, but you gotta be practical about some things.
As someone who is associated with a comic that uses Wowio, I have to say it has nothing to do with your comic being less worthy. Wowio had to offer larger incentives to get people to use their service in the beginning. At this point, with as many producers signed up as they have, if they continued to offer the larger incentive they wouldn't be able to stay in business. I do understand that it's frustrating, but look almost anywhere and you see some kind of limited time offer whether it's for a cell phone or internet service or anything.
For the commenter who is out of the US...it has nothing to do with elitism. The US isn't against the rest of the world in this particular instance. The problem is with international copyright laws. There is NO international standard and until that can either be changed or safeguarded, the only way for them to protect the producers of the work they distribute is to limit it to the US. The money they pay to the producers is acquired through companies that pay Wowio to advertise on the first page of every PDF file they sponsor. Please remember to do a little research before you crap all over a system about which you apparently know nothing. I know my country isn't perfect. There are a lot of things here that I would dearly love to see change, but this is a simple and understandable business precaution that a little education about can help with the frustrations. That also goes for them wanting your legal identity. They are trying to protect the authors of the works they distribute and they have to make the effort so they don't in turn get sued for allowing the work to be stolen on their watch, so to speak.
Drow, your decision is ultimately that...yours. However, I would hate to see you miss out on the opportunity to reach more readers and make a little money on the side in the process. I think "will it work" said it best in that it isn't always best to make business decisions based on emotional responses. I understand the need to rant about something that seems to implicitly unfair, but I hope maybe you can see how their policy might have been necessary. Unfortunately, early adopters of anything usually get the best deals. On another note, I hope the Ka-Blam! info helped you. :)
And before anyone assumes... NO I DO NOT WORK FOR WOWIO! I simply did my research when the comic I am helping started using it so I would be able to help answer our own readers questions.
Pengie-
The thing is there is plenty of other ways Wowio could placate me that does not involve money. They have done none of them. I have tried to talk to people at Wowio about this and have been stonewalled. Honestly if they just responded to my inquires. Even with a "no" this situation would be over. Considering how wacky my situation was I would have like to simply been able to state my case.
The only time I heard anything from Wowio is when I tried to circumvent the contract and sign up as a sub contractor of early adapter. Then all of a sudden they cared. "You can't do that it's not fair" they said. I would have laugh if I was not so filled with rage.
If it is financially important that I take the lower rate to the continuation of Wowio they sure don't act like it. You say they need people to take the lower rate to be financially viable. If so make it worth our while. And don't treat us with disrepect. There are thing that they could do to make up for the lower rate.
-More flexiblity in the contract.
-A prominent featured position on the website.
-Bonuses for high downloads. -Involvement in the decision making process.
-Or even a promise of a higher rate in the future.
Just off the top of my head. Give me some time and I could come up with 20 more.
Honestly I wish there was more I could do than rant. I wish there was some way to do some economic harm to Wowio. I think that is the only way to get their attention. But there really isn't as far as I know. Yes I know this is "they way things are done" but that does not mean I have to stand for it. But Wowio holds all the cards. An Exien Boycott would be laughable. And I doubt I could get many other comic creators to join me on the principal of the thing. So I am left with screaming and prayers to Zeus that the horse training Tojans will burn the Wowio in their hollow black boats.
You yourself have said it's not fair. Why do we accept this then? "Thats the way things are done" and "Those are just the rules" are not good reasons.
It's a free market. If you do not like their deal you do not have to take it and can go to a competitor or become one yourself. In the mean time, you should change your name to Drow-emo
Matthew-
That's what I did. I did not like the deal so I did not take it.
I would become a competitor if I had the coding skill. Hmm... That is an idea though. I wonder if I could find a coder that worked cheap.
And the name is Drow-Emos because one emo can not contain my whining. You need a choir of Emos to fully express the volume of sanctimonious "poor me".
I fully admit I am in the wrong here. That it makes good business sense just to sign up. But I feel disrespected and until that is address I can not make the "smart" business move.
I certainly agree that there are things that could be done to make a lower rate more palatable to the newer contract signers, but understand that by asking for special treatment just because you aren't getting paid more to sign up is simply reverse engineering the problem. Then they have all of the early adopters screaming that it's not fair for you to get preferential treatment just because they are paying you less. That becomes a no win situation for everyone. I will definitely agree, however, that there is no excuse for them treating you less than respectfully and professionally. None what so ever. As far as I know, we haven't had any communication troubles with them but that could just be a matter of time. *shrug*
Honestly, we accept it because it's their right to run their business any way they see fit. All we can do is choose not to participate. That is our right. We may feel something isn't right in how they run their business, but what gives us the right to tell them what to do? How would you feel if you had a big business and people who don't have all the information you are privy to started telling you you're wrong and need to change how you run it? I think most of us would tell them to mind their own damn business and if they didn't like our company to go elsewhere. Now, I'm not saying that you or anyone else doesn't have the right to your opinion, just that we don't have to right to dictate their business to them.
I realize that I will be in the minority here and I don't really expect anyone to agree with me, but I felt what I had to say should be heard. If it is such a problem for you to be treated differently because you were late to the party, then the only thing to do is what you have done and elect to not participate. I don't think it's fair to wish economical harm to someone just because they won't treat you special. Do you get upset at a restaurant if they won't serve you lunch specials at the dinner hour? Of course not! Why? Because if you wanted the lunch special it was your responsibility to be there at the appropriate time. I realize that there were some special circumstances involved with you not being able to sign the contract after the 4 day notification, but you did have months prior to that to have completely read the contract. It is unfortunate that you did not do so, as it might have saved you grief in trying to figure out how to sign at the higher rate in time.
You stated in your post that if they had just responded, even with a no, the situation would be over. In your original post you stated that you asked about moving up in payscale and they said it wouldn't happen. You got your no and still aren't satisfied. This does not seem to be about favored status for early adopters, then. It makes it seem that it really is about the money. They are running a business and it is their right to do so on their terms, period. I haven't seen anything from Wowio that directly said "know your inferior place". They simply stated their new contract for 2008, which is applicable to everyone regardless of skill, talent or popularity. Unfortunately for you, being the first on the train does assure you a better seat. How would you feel if you were an early adopter, getting a better payscale, and some newbie comes along and gets special treatment for no reason other than being new to the service?
I'm not trying to be deliberately arguementative here, but I was hoping to offer a different perspective. I don't know how dismissive they actually were of you, so I can't offer anything in response to your feeling disrespected. All I can say is I doubt it was on purpose, as that makes very poor business sense. I do, however, understand you not wanting to do business with a company that you feel has wronged you. Perhaps there will be some resolution for you soon. Until then, good luck and I will continue to check for new pages. :)
Pengie-
Just a couple of points
A) I think you are in the majority not minority here. Most people think I am being a bit silly
B) I have not talked to anyone with any power. No one as actually said "no" they have said "I'm sorry but I don't make the rules". Well some one makes the rules and I would like to talk to them. I mean Wowio is not a collection of mystical faeries. There are real people somewhere that can have a conversation.
C) I only wish them harm because they won't talk to me any other way. When I found a way to circumvent the rules suddenly they wanted to talk to me. Or more order an threaten me but hey it's communication. A baby that only get attention when it cries is more likely to cry. Anyway the whole line of thought is pointless. It is just an expression of my frustration.
D) I don't want special treatment for just me. I want it for all "newbies". Early adapter get the money fine. But since the "newbie" work is the one that will keep Wowio afloat it seem only fair that we get something to make up for the lower rate. That way the early adapter get something special as do the newbies. And if the early adapters thing the new contract is better they can always switch. The more early adapter that take the lower rate the better for Wowio. That just makes sense. It is the permanent and inflexible nature of the current system that bothers me.
E) People tell me how to run my business all the time. Like just recently people told me I should just bit my tongue and sign an online publishing contract with a company that treated me poorly. I didn't do what they ask but I did respond to them.
F)Your lunch special analogy is a bit off because here is the thing. It's 12 to midnight and you are still getting the lunch special. It's not that the special is gone. It's that it's gone for me but not for you and that there will never be a lunch special again. I can come in at lunch time tomorrow you'll get the special but no special for me.
Anyway we can agree to disagree. There is really nothing I can do but complain. Which I have done. You think Wowio is good which you would because they are treating you well. So we are on the two sides of this class divide. And that is that. I understand that there is no malice in it.
I doubt there will be a resolution because I am asking for something more than "I'm sorry but those are the rules". Every interaction I have had with Wowio indicates that they are very cooperate in attitude. Talking with people and being flexible is not their thing.
So as I said before I am walking away from the whole thing. They have indicated that they could care less, but it is what I have to do and hope for an alternative at some point.
Dude, I may have only been reading this for a few months, but to me, you're the god of scantily-clad, huge breasted women. Not to mention the cut up shirts. Dude, you rock out loud. Screw Wowio.
I'd rather pay a few bucks to get e-books from you direct than go through Wowio's system. Other webcomics get 50 cents per download for me to get a PDF with an ad. Whoopie. I'll sign up with Wowio and add that extra bonus to what I already donate to them. (Which isn't much, maybe $5 a year to my favorites? but something.)
Wowio is not the arbiter of good comics. Wowio is not the only publication system out there. I always found their financial structure to be a little weird anyway, and fully expect it to collapse under its own weight eventually.
Perhaps they needed to give their early adopters something extra-special, but how will they ever get new content providers without coming up with something nice? Screw 'em.
The funny part to me is that you feel you're being silly.
Let's review: You don't like the way they're treating you. You're not even in a deal yet.
You know, signing a contract with someone you feel is not treating you fairly would be beyond silly. It would be insane.
Congratulations; you found out you didn't like their way of doing business before it was too late. Stop being angry about it and celebrate. :)
I'd say that your target audience is so incredibly niche and obscure that WOWIO sees no truly sustainable revenue from your works. So they aren't exactly bending over backwards for you.
You might have better luck making a business of your work if your work wasn't what it is. As a transgendered person I find these comics incredibly offensive. It's artists like you and those of The Wotch and similar fetishist comics that help give real trans people a deviant reputation.
Corinn,
The only transgendered persons I've ever seen give other transgendered persons a bad name are those with no sense of humor who can not tell the difference between a humorous median with no ill intent and an actual anti-transgender biased median.
This comic, by the way, would fall into the 'humorous median with no ill-intent' category, since you seem to be unable to tell the difference.
Your a faget jew i hate u u suk nigger baalls u comic usx and u sucx
your a faget jew illterate moron go eat a nigger baals fuckin assfagot penis head fart cunt ass knocker
I'm posting into the past, but you may wish to look into DriveThruComics (http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/index.php). I don't know if they're great (I buy RPGs from DriveThruRPG), but they're an option to look into.
And incidentally, I have a reputation to keep, so don't point out that I'm speaking coherently (view my blogs online to see what I mean). It's just that I'm interested in comics publication too, and I like helping out (sort of wish fulfillment for me).
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