Will there be a person assigned to my project?
Yes, you’ll have one key contact on your project. Typically, that one person stays on for the duration of the entire project, so you’ll always have a direct link to your project.
How much interaction do I get with the editorial team through the process?
The team will likely be sending you regular updates on your project so you can see progress as it goes. We don’t send every single thing right when it comes in, we tend to send in batches, and we’ll let you know when we need your feedback. Bottom line, you’ll be hearing from us often and you should never have a problem connecting with your Comics Experience editor.
What if my editor and I disagree about notes for a freelancer?
This can happen. We’ve found that honesty is the best policy. We often will discuss notes and appropriateness of them over email, but in the rare case where it seems like a phone call is best, we can do that as well. We have yet to work on a project where we have not been able to come to an agreement on notes or found a creative solution to address a concern. That’s part of what project management is—trying to get everyone to feel good about their part in the project.
Do I retain all of my rights to my material and copyrights?
Yes. Our contracts are written in such a way that our freelancers and Comics Experience staff and business entity pass their copyright and all ancillary rights over to you, the client. When the project is completed and fully delivered, the rights are transferred to you as well. The project is yours, no strings attached.
Is my project eligible for Comics Experience’s Publishing Program?
Yes, it will be eligible to submit. And that’s something you can discuss with your editor along the way, and they can tell you more about that program and how to submit and any other details. It is worth noting that Creative Services is not a guarantee of publication through our program. We have publishing partners and while we stand behind our Creative Services projects, there may be other reasons outside of our control that make publishing any particular project difficult. That said, we’re optimistic that should you wish to publish through Comics Experience, that project will meet or exceed our quality standards.
Do I have to publish my project through Comics Experience?
Absolutely not. Most of our clients and members and alumni take their projects directly to publishers or self-publish. You are under no obligation to publish through Comics Experience.
How does Comics Experience determine if my script requires additional work?
Any comic book script that we give to a freelancer to illustrate, color, or letter from has to be done to a professional level. By that, we mean that panel descriptions are required to be written in a way that makes it clear what the artist needs to illustrate, that the colorist can find proper direction, and the letterer can easily letter from the script. Any script that we determine is not ready to be handed off to an artist, we will require revisions on or not accept the project.
If my script needs further work, it says that’s not covered by the Creative Services fee. So what happens?
You’ll have two options, the first is simply not to engage the project with Comics Experience. The second, is to work on an hourly basis with your editor to make the needed adjustments to the script. We don’t do this to make more money off of you, in fact we perform this service basically at cost just to help you get to the point where the script is good to go. Due to the wide range of amounts of time this process can take us, we do have to charge separately for that service and we do so the same way that we do Mentoring, but at a different rate. By the point we get here, we’ll already be talking to one another, and we can hopefully work it out with a minimum spend on your part and a minimum amount of time on our part. Our goal is to get your project up and moving as quickly as possible.
Will I be able to get working files of the art and lettering?
You will receive high res final files at the conclusion of the process. Along the way, for review purposes only, you may see earlier versions of artwork in low resolutions, but it is against industry norms to provide a client with high resolution Photoshop or Illustrator files because they can manipulate our creator’s artwork easily. That said, our final files are ready to print!
Will I be given the fonts used in lettering my project?
For legal reasons, we cannot deliver fonts and other proprietary information or assets.
Will I have direct contact with the freelancers?
Not during the project, no. It can hinder our editorial efforts to have the client interacting directly with the freelancers. If there’s ever a disagreement or even just a back channel that we don’t know about, then our authority with the freelancers is undercut and we can’t do the job properly that you’ve hired us to do. During the project, you are definitely in the loop, but no one wants two bosses.
Will I be able to contact the freelancers when the project is completed?
Yes, generally speaking, as long as the freelancers are comfortable with us handing out their contact information, then we will do so. We don’t want to hinder your ability to talk with someone, but we do want to make sure we’re able to do our jobs properly for the duration of the project.
Can I hire any of the creative team for my next project?
Yes. The freelancers are exactly that—freelancers. They can work with whomever they like and you can work with whomever you like.
Will Comics Experience just find creators and let me work with them directly?
No, Comics Experience will not find creators and make introductions, even for a fee. We do not want to be responsible for putting two parties together who ultimately have a falling out. We prize our freelancer partners and our clients both too highly for that.
What do I do with my print files when I have them?
That’s up to you! You can put your comic on the internet if you like, you can keep it for yourself, or you can print it! You can also submit it to the Comics Experience Publishing Program. If you decide to print it on your own, we recommend using ONS Printing, our sister company for off-set printing services.
