Cartoon Museum and the Society of Authors Comics Creators Network offers valuable insight into Contracts, Negotiation and Publishing Models

How can you get the best deal for your comic book or graphic novel? What types of publishing models exist for comics creators, and which one is right for you?

Brush Up! #3 – What’s the Deal? Contracts, Negotiation and Publishing Models
Image © Woodrow Phoenix

Learn more about what to expect in your contract, what types of publishing models exist and how to negotiate better to empower yourself as a creator.

Four panellists will come together to discuss all this and more, including Derek Brazell (Association of Illustrators), Emma Hayley (SelfMadeHero) and Elizabeth Haylett Clark (SoA advisor), chaired by comics creator and editor Olivia Hicks.

The session will be aimed at comics creators but open to all types of writers and illustrators.

This is the third of six sessions in the Brush Up! event series in association with The Cartoon Museum and the Society of Authors Comics Creators Network.

Olivia Hicks
Olivia Hicks

Olivia Hicks is a comics creator and editor, with a PhD in British and American girls’ comics. She is best known for her independent comics SararararaShark Wife, and Grand Slam Romance (co-created with Emma Oosterhous). She is represented by Britt Siess Creative Management, and lives in London.

Publications & Membership Manager at the Association of Illustrators, Derek Brazell advises members on contracts and licensing, works on the organisation’s campaigning for illustrators rights and produces Varoom illustration magazine. He has regularly spoken in the UK and at international book fairs on a variety of areas impacting illustrators.

His book on business for illustrators, Becoming A Successful Illustrator (2nd ed 2017), was co-authored with Jo Davies and their Understanding Illustration, also published by Bloomsbury came out in 2014. As an illustrator, Derek created a string of successful picture books for children, including his first picture book Cleversticks, published in 1992 and still in print, and Lima’s Red Hot Chilli for Mantra Lingua.

Emma Hayley launched SelfMadeHero in 2007, after spotting a gap in the market for high quality graphic novels. Her background in publishing, following a postgraduate diploma in journalism at City University, London, has seen her work as a journalist, a film PR and as an editorial director for several small publishers. Since launching her own company, her focus has shifted to the business and entrepreneurial face of book publishing, while she remains hands-on in commissioning new titles. She was named UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur of the Year, as part of the British Book Industry Awards 2008.

Elizabeth Haylett Clark is an experienced member of the SoA contracts team, which vets contracts for fairness and advises on copyright and other issues raised by members in all disciplines.

The Comics Creators Network was set up in 2020 to address challenges facing comics creators and advocate for better industry standards. It is run by a Steering Committee made up of six comics creators and specialists and three SoA administrators.

The Network is run entirely online and members can connect with each other using a private Discord channel. Network members will also receive unlimited professional advice from our team of experts and free contract vetting as part of SoA membership – as well as member discounts, access to a free tax helpline from HW fisher, offers on specialist insurance and more.

Book your place for Brush Up! Contracts, Negotiation and Publishing Models here on the Society of Authors web site – 8.00pm, Friday 21st April 2021

The event is free to attend but, if you can afford it, we recommend a minimum £5 donation to the Authors’ Contingency Fund to help us support authors facing financial hardship during the health crisis.

The Programme

  • 5 minutes: Welcome and general outline of funding models
  • 35 minutes: Q&A chaired by Olivia Hicks with Derek Brazell (Association of Illustrators), Emma Hayley (SelfMadeHero) and Elizabeth Haylett Clark (SoA), including questions sent in advance
  • 10 minutes: Live questions from the audience
  • 5 minutes: Summary and closing comments


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