Royalty Roundtable

Erik Larsen is a man of strong opinions. Personally, seeing as I make some (not much) money on royalties myself from the day job, I disagree with Larsen. Then, it probably comes down to whether or not you think letterers, inkers and colourists are a part of the creative team.

Now, for myself, I think they are. They are involved in the creative process-i.e., the creation of a book-and are therefore part of the creative team. It takes a blend of skills-whether provided by a team or supplied by one very talented individual-to make a comic. Writing and art on their own do not a funny book make.

Sure, splitting the royalty pie into that many pieces means the pieces will be smaller, and, you could argue that the artists and writers pull in more of an audience and thus deserve a larger share, but don't they make more off the front end anyway? How much does a writer make compared to a letterer? (Seriously, I'm interested. If you know, please share...)

There are ways to do it, obviously. You could always divide the royalties in an unequal manner (bigger cut for the bigger names), or simply pay a higher flat rate to those members of the production staff who aren't household names in order to compensate for smaller or no royalties. Probably sounds simpler than it is.

It's something to think about anyway. What's your opinion?