Money from indie TPBs - how much $ to creators? Excess $ for publishers?

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

I was wondering how much of a TPB's revenue goes to the creators? Is it the same kind of deal for singles (creator pays flat rate for publishing, rest of revenue goes to creator)? Does it make a difference if it's creator-owned or a company-owned IP (like Star Wars, Transformers, etc)? Is it like the Big 2 who just reap the entire reward of the sales (or so is my understanding, creators only get paid for singles' pages)? etc etc.

Thanks for any and all info.

[FanboyStranger]

Depends on the publisher. In general, creators on licensed comics get paid standard up-front page rates for their work, plus probably a certain royalty for sales of collected editions. Creator-owned comics vary wildly, but Image's deals have the creators splitting all profits on collected editions once printing and adminstrative costs have been covered. How those profits are divided are up to the creative team-- on Saga, for example, I believe the Vaughn/Staples spilt on individual issues is 30%-70% because Fiona spends more time working on the art, then they split 50-50% on collected editions. (Image does not pay page rates for creator-owned books, so everything is earned on the back end.)

There are royalty clauses for collected editions at the Big Two, too.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

There are royalty clauses for collected editions at the Big Two, too.

well, that's good to know. Figured they (the creators) should get some kind of benefit from a TPB. Thanks for the info.

Interesting about everything else. I suppose it probably is a case by case situation. I'd just curious to see what, for example, Brian Wood would make off a $10 Conan or Star Wars trade - licensed, published by Dark Horse - compared to a $10 trade of his Image series Mara (assuming both are $10 for example's sake).

[FanboyStranger]

well, that's good to know. Figured they (the creators) should get some kind of benefit from a TPB. Thanks for the info.

Interesting about everything else. I suppose it probably is a case by case situation. I'd just curious to see what, for example, Brian Wood would make off a $10 Conan or Star Wars trade - licensed, published by Dark Horse - compared to a $10 trade of his Image series Mara (assuming both are $10 for example's sake).

If the sales were the same, I'd imagine he'd make significantly more from the Mara trade. However, you have to remember that he got paid for Conan and Star Wars in advance, so there's less of a risk if the book doesn't sell.