The payment issue has kept me from posting earlier. I needed to have enough money to give the artists something up front. The current crop of stories were paid for a LONG time ago. So those artists get a cut of any merchandise sales based on their art..T-shirts, whatever. Also, some of the stories are being reprinted in Mystery Manor magazine, and the cash is split evenly among the creators. The artists also keep the right to do whatever they want with the art themselves.

I also put out a weekly humor webcomic, Lab Bratz. I pay Max Velati for every episode he draws, up front. In addition we share revenue. So when a company wanted to license Lab Bratz for their newsletter, they paid for that and we shared the money.

Now, I can't afford a big-name artist with a big price tag. But I don't want crap, either.

New, non-professional artists have to pay their dues. Most new artists have an exaggerated sense of their abilities and they need more practice before they are ready for the big time. The more exposure they get early on, the more likely the big boyz will take notice and hire them for big bucks later on.

Most postings for artists by writers or 'publishers' are for back-end deals only. Some of those work out, most do not. Did the artists lose anything? They might feel that they did, but...they put in their time, got the work out there (hopefully), and now have more polished pieces for their portfolios.

That said, I prefer to pay people something up front for their time and effort, even if they aren't established pros. I don't ask anyone to work pro bono, even if the moola is coming out of MY pocket to keep them happy.

Ed