“You’re worth $2.99.”
I used that line several years ago in an article about the difficulties of getting your comics published by big companies. A lot of people don’t like to hear that, because they could spend thousands of dollars and lots of time crafting a story, paying artists, putting together a pitch, visiting these big conventions, and networking at bars afterwards for a shot at two-minutes in front of someone who may possibly be able to influence someone else with a warrant to spend the tens of thousands of dollars that would be necessary to fund your idea. To you, all of that time and energy is worth a lot, but to most publishers you have a price-tag on your forehead that reads $2.99, the price of a comic book back when I wrote that article. Without your $2.99, publishers can’t afford to pay the tens of thousands of dollars they already committed to the people whose content their publishing, and without the content they’re publishing, they can’t continue to provide the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to the individuals who are expecting large numbers written in black ink with each quarterly report.
The main takeaway from the article was to increase your worth before approaching publishers. Put the time in, build an audience, show them that you could buy a comic for $2.99, sure, but 10,000 people may want to buy your comic for $2.99 and you’re a worthwhile investment.
I was thinking about that today, with all of the SOPA and PIPA stuff going on. As a consumer of comics, you’re at least worth $2.99…or $3.99 or $4.99 these days. That’s at least a dollar amount, something tangible that would make it worth at least humoring you, taking your proposal, and throwing it in the recycling bin as soon as you get the chance. But, as a consumer of internet content, right now…you’re practically worthless.
Isn’t that a terrifying thought? If success on the internet is measured by volume of users, and if the metrics for volumes of users is measured in the millions, and if a large fraction of those millions don’t care one way or the other if you’re allowed to post an animated GIF to your Tumblr…you, as the well-educated complement to the indifferent super-majority (that’s growing everyday), are literally worthless.
And that’s not to say SOPA and PIPA aren’t bills worth fighting against, because they are, but that is to say that fighting against them also means proposing realistic alternatives. Because content is worth money and you are worthless, so we’re dealing with inevitability here.
People who are smarter than I am should carry this discussion forward and become part of the process. Lines in the sand eventually fade, and the worthless few will always be trampled by large corporations. So, yes, fight SOPA and PIPA now - but understand that “Thy Will Be Done,” eventually, whether we like it or not.
