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Originally Posted by THORSHAMMER
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Let me help out the folks who don't want to wait to get to the article.
Here it is...along with my rebuttal...
Wow, it's déjà vu all over again again. Remember the dot-com craze? All these websites going from fanatical garage operations to multi-million dollar extravaganzas due to the influx of venture capital. Only problem was: venture capitalists are rarely interested in the long run. Their objective is to feed what they figure is going to be the future so they can get their money back, substantially increased, as quickly as possible. So whateve the original intent of a company, whenever venture capitalists get involved the primary objective becomes to pay back the VCs. Few dot-coms understood that, they only really understood the cash influx and the sudden giddy rush of public offerings - which generally resulted in VCs getting their payoff and bailing out, leaving the stocks and the companies (and those who bought to stock) to crash. Hench the dot-crash, when it became clear to everyone that many dot-coms really didn't have any plans to generate continued revenue.
Not that comics are likely to attract venture capitalists anytime soon, at least not since the Valiant/Acclaim debacle which went more or less the same way. (When Valiant was sold to Acclaim for tens of millions of dollars - well in excess of its worth - the VCs got paid off, and the company collapsed not long afterward, since the comic market was, by the time of the purchase, in collapse and Acclaim didn't know anything about the comics market to start with.) But one thing recent history has taught us is that if any comics company breathes the word "investors," run for the hills. It's not even that recent a phenomenon. All during their long, slow slide, First Comics kept excitedly talking about "new investors," and it never changed anything. It tends to be the assumption of most comics companies that money will cure their problems, but if they get the money they don't change any of the behavior that led to the problems.
To start, Markosia does not have a venture capatalist. We have a new partner. He is a comic fan and a businessman. He has no wish to be named, which is his right. TRhis is not something where Markosia is hoping it will happen. This has happened. When Speakeasy made its claims, the deal had not yet been done. However, ours is. It is done and the money is in and the new partner now owns a posrtion of Markosia. This is just the beginning of why Grant's article is so off base. He had no idea of what he was writing about. Quite frankly, it is irresponsible of him to write this article. I have been hiding from nobody as the Director of Ops for Markosia. I answered Blair Marnell's questions at ATR and I did an interview at Grant's own site where I was very candid. This is a baseless accusation to say that we have a venture capatilist or even to infer that we do. We have a man who believes on the idea and he is backing it with his money. He is also setting policy now.
If your comics company can't become a self-sustaining entity within three years of start-up, odds are it never will be.
Agreed. I guess the fact that we are only half a year old means we have 2 1/2 years to prove ourselves then. If that is the case, maybe people like Grant should hold judgement until then.
Even if someone at that point comes to you with the biggest profit-potential property of the century, odds are pretty good you'll never be able to capitalize on it because you'll have shot your credibility with retailers and consumers by then, so no one will ever see it. Most companies have a very narrow window in which to demonstrate their value, and once it closes, it closes, barring a small miracle.
Again, we are not even a year old and have not yet even had the chance to get a bad reputation...or a good one...
Maybe if we were allowed to put some comics out before getting labeled, it might help. I appreciate everyone saying this is Speakeasy all over again, but we haven't had that many comics out yet and we seem to be getting judged before we even get a chance to do anything. We have not yet had the chance to "demonstrate our value". Is it getting to the point now where companies are lumped in with other failed companies before they even fail? We haven't even failed yet and we are getting this? I don't get it.
Most companies also only seek investors when their original cash, and their cash flow, dries up. Which is one of the reasons "new investors" is a huge, flashing danger sign.
Who gets to set the color alerts for comics? Is Markosia at an orange alert or something? I mean, who knows what that means? I think that "new investors" is anything but a flashing danger sign. This means that a very accomlished English business man sees enough merit in our business plan to put up some money. Why is this bad? If anything, as I have stated before, we have secured the future of the company. I am baffled when I try to figure out how this is a bad thing.
You may recall how Speakeasy made much hay about "new investors" (reportedly, a Hollywood producer looking to create his own little Dark Horse Comics to be a license generator) before it closed its doors. The investor simply never came across with any money.
Uhm...that is exactly what I am saying. Our deal is done. The money is in and ALL creators have been contacted by phone personally. We have transitioned and we still have everybody. We lost one creator due to differnces that were in place far before this restructure situation. I am curious...has anyone seen any press releases saying that Phil Hester is leaving because he thinks it is a bad deal? Has Brian Auustyn or Norm Breyfogle left? Has anyone except the ne creator I eluded to? No. I guess that speaks volumes right? Maybe all of the so=called experts like Mr. Grant may not be so in the know as they think they are.
As soon as Speakeasy closed its doors, several publishers and retailers told me Markosia would be the next company to watch, and their meaning wasn't positive. A couple of weeks ago, I began hearing how Markosia's "new investors" were looking to renegotiate contracts to the extent it was driving creators away, something Chuck Satterlee, apparently now the company spokesman, didn't address in a huffy interview the weekend before last where he shouted down questions that Markosia was running light on cash with the assertion that he would never have taken a job there were that the case.
I am "apparently" the company spokesman? Where has he been? I didn;t address it in a huffy interview? Hmmmmmm....
Here is the article in it's entirety as it appeared in the column, ALL THE RAGE at www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com:
Off The Mark
A late rumor came in this week alleging that some creators are looking to leave Markosia, while also claiming that they are owed money and openly questioning the future of the company…
While looking into the rumor, I contacted Chuck Satterlee, Markosia’s Director of Operations, who sent the following response:
I will address your inquiry in three parts.
Are creators owed money that have not yet been paid?
Yep. Markosia will probably always owe money to people who create comics for us in one capacity or another. We have invoices sitting in the offices in the UK that have either just come due or are about to. Those creators will/have been paid. Any invoices that come due this week will be paid as well and so on and so forth. That is simply how business is done. If you were alluding to a possible mismanagement of funds and a deliberate lack of payment to any creator owed money on Markosia's behalf... you would be absolutely off base.
There is a rumor that some creators are leaving Markosia because they are unhappy or have not yet been paid for work completed.
This is the first I have heard of it. As I understand this rumor, you were contacted by a publisher who stated that they had been approached by a few creators who were unhappy. I can't answer that. I am surprised to hear of this, but it makes sense. Anytime there is change in a company, you're going to get unhappy people. I can certainly say that some creators have already been contacted and that some creators have yet to be contacted. Because I have not yet contacted everyone and they deserve to hear this from me personally and not through a website, I will refrain from the specifics of the changes. That is a press release for another time...like a week from now.
Basically, as Director of Operations and a creator who was pretty much responsible for recruiting most of the titles at Markosia, I am the guy in charge of relations with these creators. Markosia has just signed a deal to bring in a new silent partner. This new partner has arranged to invest a large, very large sum of money. That is done. This is not a wish list of what we hope is going to happen. This is real and has happened. This means that we have secured the future of Markosia for at least the next year or two. However, when new people come to charge in a company, there will always be changes. Anyone who has ever dealt with a merger or an acquisition has dealt with this. It is the nature of the beast. So, the new guy has taken a close look at everything and decided that there are some changes that have to take place in order for Markosia to have a solid financial future. So, essentially, we have gone from one of the more generous creator/owner deals in small press comics, to a deal a little less generous, yet still heads and tails more generous than some others out there.
I wish I could give you specifics, but again, that is for our press release next week, after we have contacted everyone at Markosia. Just in case anyone is wondering...yes there is still a mandatory ancillary rights deal...just as before. At the time of this letter, I know of only one creator leaving Markosia...and that is by our choice and due to irreconcilable differences. This creator was involved at Markosia before the current arrangements.
You also said that there is a rumor that we are going out of business.
You got me. I haven't heard this one yet. It would be quite a shock to my wife, who agreed to move our family from the Midwest out East so that I can begin working for Markosia in my new position. What I am saying here is that, if anything, we have secured our future. Markosia paid for me to come out East and they have paid me at every stage, just like they have paid everyone else. They treat creators with respect and they always tell the truth. These rumors came out of Markosia's desire to tell the creators the truth. If a creator is going off the deep end because they are unhappy, that is their right. We would never...ever keep a person at Markosia that doesn't want to be there. I can say without reservation that Markosia will be around for the foreseeable future.
In closing, Blair...I think the more interesting rumors regarding Markosia should be the rumor that Markosia is on the verge of signing a deal with a major video game company. I would be more interested in the rumor that Markosia is signing and has signed some very interesting deals to adapt some best selling books into comic form. I would be more interested in hearing how Diamond has chosen to give four spotlights to Markosia product in Previews right now. I would also be interested in knowing that one book from Markosia has received a certified cool in Diamond this month. I would be asking to see preview art for Phil Hester's upcoming projects...or Brian Augustyn's new book. I would be excited to talk about the recent extreme success of titles like Starship Troopers. I would be asking to see art from awesome artists like Ryan Stegman and Norm Breyfogle. I would be wondering what The Hunger guys are up to as they solicit a 200 + page trade paperback encompassing eight full issues of their fantastic book.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to address these baseless and ridiculous rumors.
Best Regards,
Chuck Satterlee
This Has A “Money Matters” Factor of One Out of Ten
So, I guess I did mention that there were going to be changes. Did Mr. Grant even read this article?
But his interview this week with Comic Book Resources verifies pretty much everything I'd heard. Satterlee cites a new "silent" partner, who came in after publisher Harry Markos "floated" money from his own accounts to keep the business afloat (cue CrossGen flashbacks). Chuck obviously has a different definition of "silent" from the rest of us, since he then goes on to say the investor's first act was to restructure all the contracts. Which makes sense from a moneyman's point of view, but it's far from silent.
IN the interest of being completely fair, I looked up the definition of silent partner. As defined at http://www.investorwords.com/4577/silent_partner.html
The definition states that:
A silent partner is a business partner who provides capital but does not actively participate in the management of operations.
He got me. He is right here. I guess the new investor would be termed as a private man who does have a hand in actively participating. I stand corrected. Mr. Grant actually got something right in this article.
Interestingly, the one part of the contract that stays rock solid is ancillary rights going to Markosia as part of the package, which suggests that Markosia, like many publishing startups of the last few years, is really predicating its longterm expectations on media deals. As I've outlined here before, good luck with that one, guys.
As I have stated before, I am not hiding from anybody. I am here to answer questions if I am asked. I received no such inquiry from Mr. Grant. Had he even bothered to ask me, he would have found that we do not require the ancilary rights to go to Markosia as part of the package. We simply share in those rights. To ask for all of the rights to a property is insane and we would not do so. We simply share the ancillary rights 50/50 with our creators.We are partners. I am also a creator at Markosia and I share those rights with the company. Now let's take a look at this ancilary rights thing...
Markosia charges absolutely no money at all to any creator...ever. Markosia will never ask the creator to pay for their book. This is unlike deals at other companies where there are fees for publishing and for marketing and some even pad the print costs. I know. I have been there and experienced it. Now, I am not here to say that comapnies like that are wrong. They simply have a different plan than we do. But, where I get confused, is trying to understand why Markosia is wrong for asking for a percentage of those rights. If the book loses, since Markosia does not charge, the company alsi loses along with the creator. Wy then should the company not gain when a book suceeds? Can anyone tell me that the publisher should just be a carpet to be walked on? Markosia has a full time employee who personally visits stores and creates relationships. They have struck book distribution deals and have gotten the library market to start opening up to them. Why should they not share? If it is soooo bad, why then did all of the creators who were contacted...stay at Markosia when they were offered the right to leave? Again, we only lost one creator and it had more to do with personal conflict between ownership and that creator than anything else. Please, exlpain to me why the publisher, in a deal where the publisher is just as at risk as the creator, should not share in the spoils of the war, of there are some to be had.
However Markosia looked to creators before - and quite a few were telling me half a year ago when Speakeasy collapsed that Markosia was the new promised land - it has to look questionable now.
Speakeasy collapsed in late February. Is that half a year? I was one of theose creators as was George T. Singley and Steven's friend, Norm Breyfogle, who drew the Badger and draws my book Of BItter Souls. We remain just as sure today as we did three months ago....which for the record is 1/4 and not 1/2 of a year.
What the deal, as Satterlee lays out, comes down to: no money for the creators - it basically all comes off the backend and Satterlee doesn't mention whether any of their books are generating a backend
Ok, I guess I'll be able to address if my books are getting a back-end when they actually come out. My first book is not scheduled to come out until the end of next month. I repeat...we have not even had the chance to establish any rep...good or bad.
And as I explained...and Mr. Grant failed to see, is that there are two options...
Option one is a tiered pay plan payable upon receiving the numbers from Diamond. This means that there is the option for money up front...starting at 200 copie sold and going up to the original page rate at 5500 copies sold. Then, there is a tiered back-end payment.
The creator also receives a percentage off the top for trade paperback sales, before even print costs are deducted.
We also have advertising revenue sharing. This means that creators receive a percentage of ad sales when ads are placed into their books. What Mr. Grant didn't know...and had he asked, he would have...is that we just signed a major record label and a toy copany to start placing ads in our books. This is a structured deal and as soon as there is money received for ads, the creator gets a payment.
The second option is nothing up front and a larger ack end and trade payout.
If there is money to be earned...that money will be shared as we are of the belief that Markosia is a partner in these titles. Markosia and the creator will make more money on the book market than in comics anyway.
This isn;t just talk. We have signed with a book distributor in NYC that does million in biz with companies like B&N and Borders among others. They are now selling our trades and they believe that they will do very well. This means much more money for the creator once a book gets to the trade. It then becomes a priority for markosia to get a series to that point...when it becomes more and more profitable. So, do the books generate a big back-end on the floppies? Um...I am guessing they will not. Good thing we have the trade paperback deal in place for creators.
Again, had Mr. Grant even taken one minute just to ask me...he would have known.
- and the company takes any rights that even stand a chance of generating money.
Depending on how you look at this...Mr. Grant is either lying or just wrong. Either way, he should never have published a lie...and if it is not a lie (and I do not believe that Mr. Grant is a liar, btw) then it is a unsubstantiated rumor. Either way, it is unprofessional to publish the statement without confirmation.
The definition of yellow journalism is:
Yellow journalism is a term given to any widespread tendencies or practices within media organizations which are detrimental to, or substandard from the point of view of, journalistic integrity. "Yellow journalism" may for example refer to sensationalized news reporting that bears only a superficial resemblance to journalism. Journalistic professionalism, as now understood, is the supposed antidote. Instead of "yellow journalism," media bias is a commonly-used misnomer.
I think, and I will stand corrected if I am wrong...that in journalism...one must work very hard to confirm anything that is published. Maybe, because Mr. Grant's column is not really an article and more of an editorial...then he does not have to adhere to professional standards. If so, I am wrong. He can just go on publishing rumors, opinions and baseless editorials.
The fact remains that Markosia does NOT...I repeat does NOT ask for all the rights. They simply share in the rights at the consent of the creator.
Which has now become the de facto difference in comics between "work-for-hire" and "creator-owned." With work-for-hire a company must pay talent something in order to establish legal right to and control over the work.
We are also aware of these defintions, which is why our licensed properties...and those are growing by the way...are given page rates.
"Creator-owned" contracts, on the other hand, can say anything and usually do, but it always seems to translate, in the long run, to "we control all the rights to your creation and you don't get any say in the matter."
I repeat...this is wrong. Where does he get this stuff? It is this type of article that hurts reps and creators as well. Mr. Grant "claims" to care for creators. I ask you then, why is he so hell=bent on hurting a company's reputaion before it even gets one? If he hurts that company, then he hurts every creator trying to make a go of it at that company. For that reason alone...wouldn't he want to be absolutely sure he was right before publishing something like this? Am I off base here?
Which means they still get everything, and the talent amounts to hopeful slave labor.
Slave labor? He gets harsher and harsher as the article goes along. I think I have shown that this is not slave labor...
It's no wonder most talent views Marvel, DC and Dark Horse, and a precious few others, as Meccas. At least there the companies have contractual obligations to guarantee the talent gets something from their labors, besides a published comic book almost no one will ever see. (Often, they don't even get that.)
Mr. Grant is right here. I would question the sanity of someone who wanted to stay at Markosia, even at our full page rate...when they have a DC or Marvel page rate. I wonder how DC and Marvel can pay those rates? Let's see...oh yeah...they sell a messload more books and have tons more ad revenue than EVERYBODY else. Oh, that is a surprise. Hell, I'd even go to Marvel or DC if I was offered the chance. Harry Markos wouldn't blame me either. But snce neither Mr. Grant or myself are getting that offer right now...I guess we'll have to continue to work in small press, as will everybody else in small press. As for seeing a comic...if it gets printed, which is our goal, the creator gets it.
Thinking about it, it's time for a general strike against comics companies that demand all media rights to properties without paying any money for them - preferably separate from any publishing deal, but inclusive in publishing money if there's money for publication and separate from any publishing deal if there isn't. If they don't want to put up money for the work, media rights shouldn't even be part of the discussion.
I agree! Mr. Grant is right...and since Markosia is sharing in the risk with printing and marketing and not charging the creator...I guess Markosia is putting money into it...and since they are not asking for ALL the rights, it is truly a partnership. I agree though, if a company is actually doing what Mr. Grant has written about here, there should be a strike against them.
There are small companies, like Avatar, and even large companies like Image, that get along perfectly well - thrive, in fact - without demanding media rights to what they publish.
Yes, that is true. But IMage also charges creators to publish there and therefore has very little risk at all since they take their money off the top. Good point, Mr. Grant. And if we charged creators to publish...and asked for those rights, I guess that would be a problem.
If a company insists on media rights without guaranteeing some sort of pay for either the publishable work or the rights, it translates into two things.
Do I really have to address this again...?
1) They don't have faith in their ability to make money from publishing comics. And there's no reason talent should put faith in them either.
We do have very little faith in a comic book producing a good amount of profit from the comic book direct market. This is true. And quite frankly, any small press looking to make a killing in single issues and trades in solely the direct comic book market is kidding themselves. We look outside that market. There is money to be made with the right book distribution deals and we believe we have made the right deals. Time will tell. The only companies that know for sure they will make money in the small press market are companies that charge their creators. I was at Speakeasy. I had one of the best elling titles at Speakeasy. I never saw a dime...
At least at Markosia, I have the guarantreed payment on the trade off the top. and if I market my book and the other books at Markosia enough,,,maybe even a little off the floppies.
2) They're pinning their hopes on selling movie options and getting films or TV shows made, which means they don't realize just how deflated Hollywood option money is these days, and they don't grasp what a crapshoot Hollywood really is, on so many levels. (There's a reason Marvel stopped going through other producers and formed their own production company.)
Ok, now I am really confused. If there are so little chances for ancilary rights to pay off...why does he even care? I will say that one of our writers is the actual Director of Development for the Weinstein Company and MTV Films is considering a number of our projects...but will they come to fruition...who knows? I sure hope so.
I repeat though...if the chances are so bad...what is the point of making such a big deal of it. So, in review, Markosia shares in the loss of a book, and in return for that risk, Markosia asks to share in the off chance that something actually happens in the way of a movie deal...which Mr. Grant is so sure will never happen...
I am trying to find out where we are so evil as a company.
Barring a small miracle, most of these companies will be doomed to publishing desperate startup talent, which is pretty much a roadmap to low sales and a rapid loss of retailer interest.
I agree that I am desperate start-up talent. I think that Phil Hester, Norm Breyfogle, Brian Augustyn, Chris Dibari, Ethen Beavers, Freddie E. Williams II, Brett Wedelle, EJ Su, INaki MIranda and the other working professionals tha are at Markosia or have been at Markosia might take offense at that term.
And the talent will take these deals just to get something published so they have something to show that will drag them up the ladder, except it also usually means they most likely have been published long before they're capable of creating work that will actually impress anyone, which is as likely to hurt as help them.
I stand behind every book we do. I guess the proof will be in the output...
Output by the way, that would be nice to see before we are condemned.
This is a business crawling with well-known pitfalls. Isn't it time people started looking out for them?
I agree again. One of those pitfalls might be classified as long jaded writers looking to take pot shots at up and coming publishers. Thank you, Mr.Grant...I'll keep my eye out for them.
In closing, I had answered questions with Jonah Weiland at the very same website not two days before...not two days! Here is the text from that article that I offered to Jonah (who, by the way, is a class act...just like our friend here at Newsarama...Matt Brady):
The graveyard of dead publishers is not a happy place to visit. The wild ride the industry has been on the last two years has seen a number of new publishers come up, seeking to carve out their own little portion of the comics industry. At the same time, a number of those same publishers have closed up shop or reorganized after promised money feel through or when expected sales didn't materialize.
In recent weeks, rumors have been swirling around another comics publisher, this time Markosia Comics. Those rumors have included the company is going out of business, isn't paying its creators or that a number of titles are fleeing the publisher. While there are some major changes taking place at the company, Markosia's Director of Operations Chuck Satterlee said that rumors are false and he wanted to set the record straight.
To begin with, a little history. Markosia opened it's doors to comics publishing in 2005. Owner Harry Markos had already been in the book publishing business, having published the fantasy children's book "The Lexian Chronicles" by Harry Gallan. Markos entered the comics business with his partner through an association with Richard Emms. Emms had just shut down his own APC Comics after three years in business, so Markos decided to hire Emms on as EiC of the new Markosia Comics.
Markosia began by publishing some of APC's titles like "Abiding Perdition" by Nick Schley and "Midnight Kiss" by Ryan Stegman and Tony Lee, as well as the comics adaptation of "The Lexian Chronicles."
"The initial plan for Markosia was to do a number of book adaptations," explained Satterlee. "Their first book adaptation (outside of 'Lexian') was to be 'G.P. Taylor's Shadowmancer.' 'Shadowmancer' had seen book sales in the millions worldwide and Markos worked a good deal for the property to come to Markosia. This led to an expansion of the original plan to just do book adaptations. Soon, Markosia had secured the rights to publish 'Starship Troopers' comics."
It was around this time that the problems at Speakeasy began to become apparent. A number of titles abandoned the sinking ship. It was at this time that Satterlee and Markos first began talking and when Satterlee joined the company full time. With his new job, he brought his own titles previously published at Speakeasy over to Markosia, as well as a number of other titles from Speakesy including "The Hunger" and "Mutation." Satterlee moved out East where he could begin to work on increasing Marksoia's business.
"We were able to make all of these plans because we had a European investment group who had agreed to invest a large sum of money in the company," explained Satterlee. "The first payment came with no issues. The second payment did not come. The third payment date came and went.
"We had made agreements for creators to come to Markosia and we had made some generous arrangements for pay, all because we were flush with cash and had a good financial future -- or so we thought."
Fast forward a couple of months and Satterlee finds out that Harry Markos has been floating things from his own pocket book, but it wasn't long before Markos was able to secure a new investor -- a silent partner in the company who'll be in charge of finance. With new money and a new silent partner came some changes the Markosia's publishing agreements.
"[The silent partner] has taken a long, hard look at the books and has decided that, while creators are currently given a page rate in advance of publication, we can no longer offer that and the contracts that are current will have to be re-negotiated," said Satterlee. "This applies to creator owned books and not to licensed properties. The new deal will give the creator options. Regardless of the option, there is still a mandatory ancillary rights deal in place."
Satterlee laid out the new options for creators working with Markosia.
"Option 1: There will be a sliding scale for page rates as they pertain to sales. The lower a book sells, the lower the page rate. The higher a book sells, the higher the page rate. Obviously, this means that invoices must be given to Markosia when the numbers come in from Diamond or our other distributors.
"There is still a profit sharing plan for advertising and there are still back-end splits with this deal and our agreed upon compensation for trades still stands.
"Option 2: Back-end pay only. This will create a 50/50 split of profits after printing. There is no fee. If the book doesn't do well in the long run, Markosia shares in the loss as opposed to charging the creator for everything before a split is made.
"The back-end on trade paperbacks is higher than the option 1 level.
"That is basically the deal. We have gone from one of the more generous creator-owned deals in small press comics to one of the more generous creator owned deals in small press comics," said Satterlee. "We have been letting all of the creators know what is going on. To date, we only have one creator who has gone off the deep end.
"It is through this new deal, and our handsome financial situation, that we feel we will be securing the future for Markosia. Any and all invoices currently in house will be paid or have already been paid."
The books affected by these changes are unknown at the moment, with Satterlee saying that it's really up to the creators themselves to decide whether to stay or not. "We have no control over the books that leave, if any do. We also understand that some creators may feel that they have been slighted.
They made a deal with us and we are changing it. It is only natural and we would be some real cold guys if we didn't understand it. However, we are hoping that creators will understand that the deal was made in good faith when Markosia's circumstances were different. Now, there are new circumstances. We have an investor in direct control of the finances and when you think about it, that is a good thing. We are, by far, a more fiscally responsible company now than we were before. Do we plan on canceling any of the titles to which we have committed? No. Will we be forced to cancel titles that sell extremely poorly? Yes. We hope that no titles will be affected, but we are also realists. If my books, for instance, tank, then my books will get canceled. At this time, I know of only one title that will be leaving Markosia and that is over an unrelated set of irreconcilable differences.
"I know other ex-creators with whom contracts have been fulfilled that are shopping the continuation of a series or something to that effect. That is their right and to my knowledge, they are not upset. I know that I have spoken with other folks about doing other projects at other publishers. My pal, Phil Hester, always taught me to keep relations open with as many publishers as possible. If I talk with other publishers, we certainly would not stop anyone else from talking. It is bad business to keep one's creation all in one basket.
"In the end, these changes were not the type of changes that made all of the creators jump up and down. It mainly affected the monthly books and mini-series. Graphic novels and trade paperbacks were not affected really. The monthly guys (like myself) and mini-series guys were not running home and yelling the good news from the mountaintops. Believe me, I wish I could tell the creators, including me, that we were going to continue to receive page rates up front, but that isn't the case. There are still two very good options and we have, for the most part, received professional reactions to these changes. I guess we'll have to wait for the smoke to clear to see if everyone is still here. I hope they will be."
With the new publishing options now in place, Satterlee said that Markosia is still dedicated to their creator-owned books, but also noted that the company will focus on doing a mix of licensed properties as well as creator owned books. With licensed properties like "Starship Troopers" and "Shadowmancer" generally outselling their own creator-owned projects, they will be a key part of Markosia's publishing plans and they are looking to acquire other licenses. "That doesn't mean that we aren't committed to the creators we currently work with," said Satterlee. "We will always want to do creator owned projects, and we will, but you can not argue with the numbers. We believe in projects like 'Done to Deat' by Andrew Foley & Fiona Staples. We believe in Phil Hester's new series, 'Golly' and Brian Augustyn's 'The Witness.' Norm Breyfogle is on 'Of Bitter Souls' and we continue to believe in George T. Singley's projects like 'Silent Ghost' with Brett Wedelle and 'Mutation' with Ethen Beavers. We just also have to be true to our company from a financial perspective and, in order to continue to bring quality creator owned properties to market, we will need to focus on some quality licensed titles as well."
But what of the original investment firm whose checks stopped coming? What's being done there? "As I understand things, repeated attempts had been made to contact the first investment firm. Quite a while passed until contact was re-established. I am not at liberty to discuss the deal made, but suffice it to say that the matter is being handled in a professional and proper manner at this time."
As to the future of Markosia, Satterlee said it looks good, but knows there will those who see all of these changes as a bad sign. "If I was reading this and looking at it from the outside, I'd say that we are rattling our death rattle. I am not going to be able to convince those who think that otherwise, am I? So, why try? I can only say that we are on the verge of a major video game/comic deal. We have some great titles coming up. We have the financial leadership and capital to take us into the future and the re-negotiated deals will insure fiscal responsibility. Our book market deals and our good relations with Diamond are a plus. We have the likes of Phil Hester, Brian Augustyn, Norm Breyfogle among others. We have some fantastic creator owned properties and we are rising in the numbers every month.
"Will there be growing pains? Yep. Will we make all creators happy all the time? Nope. Is it our goal to grow at a controlled and reasonable pace and grow with the creators who believed in us at the start? Yep.
"Hopefully, we'll look back at this in a year, and then two, and then six or so, and laugh. But this is a tough industry. This is a tough business. We are doing everything we can do to insure that. Our new partner has never failed in business. We're counting on it.
As it stands today, we are in good shape. If we always work and never get complacent, maybe we can make a go of it. I am betting on our success. I moved my family out to the East coast for this and it would be a shame to have moved for nothing. I believe in our new partner and I believe in Harry Markos and I believe in our talented creators and I believe in our marketing strategy.
"Get back to me next year and let's see if we have made it. I think we will."
I thank you if you took the time to read this entire post. It is tough enough for a publisher in this business. It is just hard to take when people are coming from all sides with untruths.
I hope that you feel I have been fair in my rebuttals. I probably had a twinge of sarcasm at times, but when Mr. Grant was right...I did not hesitate to say so.
I also responded to Mr. Grant in a e-mail.
In that e-mail, I copied EVERY Markosia creator because I have nothing to hide from my friends. I brought most of the creators to Markosia because they are my friends. I adhere to the same rules and policies. It is unfirtunate that the circumstances changed, but they did and we did the best that could be done as a company.
NOw, if we can just get people to read those books that we haven't really even had a chance to get out yet, that will be really something! |