I have no doubt this will be as fair and beneficial to the creator as American Idol is to their performers.

I can't recommend strongly enough that any creator with a great comic book idea stay as far away from this as possible.

Self-publishing your comic book is an engaging, challenging and educational process. It's fairly low risk and not as expensive as you might think.

If your idea is good enough to be chosen for this show, it's good enough to submit to Dark Horse, Image, Top Shelf, Slave Labor Graphics, or Oni.

I just see this idea and my first instinct is to run away as fast as possible.Â

Let me give you another example.

Robert Kirkman suggested to me that I contact John Glynn over at United Media about getting PvP syndicated into newspapers.

I talked to John and let him know that what I was looking for was newspaper distribution only. I already had my book deal and merchandise deals squared away. I was open to any new merchandising or licencing opportunities that they could offer and of course we could negotiate a proper split of profits on that. But as far as PvP was concerned. I already had an established property and all I was looking for was newspaper distribution.

I also told them that PvP strips could be edited to be family friendly and that I would not see that as some slight against my art or my vision. I could certainly work with them to make the content acceptable to the discerning newspaper editor.

Six weeks later, United Media passed on PvP. John mentioned in his email that United Media considered itself in partnership with it's creators and they were not a distribution service. So that a strip without ancellary rights really held no interest for them.

Now I could probably talk to John again and work out a deal. I've had some syndicated cartoonists tell me that I could negotiate a deal that would satisfy both parties.

So I have options. By not trying to negotiate further, I can safely keep what I have. But by NOT trying, I could be missing out on some real opportunities. Certainly self-syndicating did NOT work out for me.

Now, compare that sitation to a kid who doesn't have an established property and just desperately wants to get his foot in the door. I've heard of people who were afraid to hire a lawyer or object to any points of a sydication contract for fear the opportunity will be pulled from them.

A lot of these production companies and syndicates deal with what I call "deer in headlights" creators. Kids who just want someone to come whisk them away from their day jobs and make them cartoonists. When they talk to someone who's got some confidence in their work and know the score, their attitude changes drastically. "Oh, you actually know what you're talking about." Okay. Well, then...

So I think that all Joey and I are trying to do is remind you that with ANY opportunity such as this, don't be afraid to slow down, ask questions, hire a lawyer, get advice and examine your options. Don't sign into anything blindly. Have some confidence in yourself and don't be afraid to say no to something that makes you uncomfortable. And seek advice from others in the industry who might be able to help you make informed decisions. I've cold called a couple professionals when faced with a decision and found them to be more than eager and willing to impart what advice they had.

There is no one coming into town who's going magically transform you into a famous cartoonist and share all the wealth with you. That's not going to happen, no matter how a press release is phrased.

Just, stay smart about things is all.Â

I find it telling that you have to supply personal info about yourself before you can even get the basic contest agreement. I was unable to find anything that indicates what kind of contract the "winner" will be required to sign for the publication of their work or what happens to the rights to it.

I began (but did not finish) the submission process in order to get the initial agreement. Anyone who wants to see that agreement, without giving them personal information, just let me know.

-Lisa Jonté
___________________________
Artist, Writer, Flibbertigibbet, Editor
http://www.Girlamatic.com

Fetus-X is the greatest comic in the world.

This is cool... All of us people who are usually at each others throats getting on the same page: Don't trust Hollywood.Â

Speaking of Hollywood, and since Chris is here.

What progress has been made on the YDK movie. I haven't heard any Keenspot news for almost a year now.

What's the haps?Â

You know, I've been really sad and depressed about the state of the "webcomics community" lately -- not the individual communities surrounding individual comics or publishers, which are always happy and happening, but the larger cross-section community type sites, represented by Comixpedia -- so sad and depressed that I had promised myself I was going to leave these kinds of sites alone, and just focus on me and mine. It seemed like there was no point in trying to communicate across the vast gaps that separate our points of view.

This thread shows the real value of these kinds of a larger community sites, though. Sure, we all have our differences and our fights and our vendettas -- like one big dysfunctional extended family (even when we hate each other, we, at the very least, know each other, mostly understand each other, and most of us really don't want to see anybody else in the community get seriously screwed). There are some times when it's very important that we can all find each other, and talk to each other about things that affect us as a community, and find common ground. Maybe those times are pretty rare. But when they come around, they're vital.

Like you said on PvP about this thread, Scott, it's been a very refreshing change of pace -- and right on time, for me, anyway. There was this science fiction story I read as a kid -- it was old when I read it, something from the 50's, I think -- about a guy who discovers a time machine, and uses it to go back into history and make all of humanity into pacifists somehow. Then he gets back to the present just in time to see the hostile aliens land and take over the world from the helpless, happy humans. War was serving the purpose of keeping the human race in fit fighting form for that day. Maybe all our fighting (not just mine and yours -- but everybody's, all the time) over the years has served the same purpose.

 Hey uh, Joey...William....DJ....guys?

Since this has been so nice, would you guys like to call a cease fire?

Seriously, because right now I feel like I can't even enjoy talking shop on some of these boards, comments and discussion groups for fear there's gonna be some bullshit rumble.

And it's really like, gotten me down. Like actually in my real life gotten me a little down.

What about a cease fire?Â