Just wondering what it would sound like if Ralphie from ‘A Christmas Story’ had said that…I guess someones lugnuts got flipped in the air….

I still think it is rude to ask people how much they make. I was always taught that you don’t ask people how much they make.

“a. I know the ad rates. No cartoon could possibly generate the unique visitor numbers to generate a full-time salary from those rates.”

PA pays 10 full time employees salaries + benefits like health care. I’m not going to tell you what they make but many of them support families and live in Seattle, not a cheap place to live. My personal salary is six figures if you really must know. I am officially telling you that you don’t know what the f— you’re talking about.

“b. I know how hard it is to sell T-shirts and how little profit they generate.”

It’s only hard if you’re making sh– people don’t want to buy.

“I really don’t want to start up the web vs. print thing. I just wish one webcartoonist would use specifics to talk about how it is possible to make a decent living selling ads to a comic site and associated merchandise in detail. It all sounds so Bernie Madoff to me–no one addresses how terrible the rates are.”

PA has three major revenue streams. Ads/merch/creative services.

ads- These are handled in house and highly targeted.
merch- We have an online store and visit a handful of cons a year. We sell shirts,posters and printed collections of the comic.

creative services- We create custom comics for publishers based on their games. These are often used as pre-order bonuses or placed online to generate interest before the game ships.

I’m not kidding when I say that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Just because you do not have a property that will succeed on the web or you do not understand the various ways of making money on the web does not mean that it is impossible.

That’s why there is the term “collective bargaining”.
Those working and published could do all of us a favor and be more transparent in what they get compensated for, broadly, on a per item basis. They don’t have to open their tax records or their total earnings; but they could provide a template for the rest of the industry to follow. Instead, most act like secluded monks cloistered in towers with their illustrated manuscripts.

The analogy with musicians is telling. Not getting paid for product ( by the ability to steal it for free ) now effects live performance. Soon, we will see nothing but karaoke cartoonists.

See? Now why is this such a difficult concept to grasp? Thanks, Jason.

First off, the RIAA sued for $208 per track. She refused. The first trial of her peers decided $9,000 per track. This new trial $80,000. This was decided by a jury not RIAA.

Secondly, yes, I think such a crazy news story does help deter downloading. It gets the story in the news and probably makes some people think twice about downloading when their neighbors are being caught and sued.

Thirdly, this isn’t about downloading one song or stealing one CD. This is file-sharing. She was sharing songs with others so others wouldn’t buy the CDs. So be sure to include that in your analogies.

Fourthly, just because the individual artists aren’t being paid well by the record labels doesn’t make stealing the answer. The problem lies when the artist negotiated the contract. That’s the artist’s fault not the record company.

Lastly, if you want to distribute your content for free, go ahead, no one’s stopping you. But don’t tell me that I should or just sit by and watch while others take my work from me.