Rocket Bomber - article - business - publishing - Illustrated Empire: Contractual Obligations

I’m not sure how to title this one.

I think I may default to “Illustrated Empire” – though that isn’t a search-engine-optimised term, or even one that describes the subject: it’s what I would call my [theoretical] book publishing company, but doesn’t actually describe the content of what I hope will be a new series of posts.

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Say circumstances handed me a chunk of cash and the mandate, “Start a new comics publisher. Licensed manga, manhwa, Euro-comics, English originals, et al. and thank you. Here’s a wad of cash; tell me how you’ll use it.”

So.

Kodansha launched their US comics imprint with a scant 2 Million Dollars [see also] — granted, Kodansha doesn’t have to negotiate licenses [as a major publisher in Japan, they already own them] and also, Kodansha doesn’t have to establish a Tokyo office, fly executives and editors across the Pacific, spend money smoozing the gatekeepers and content-rights holders, convincing the most conservative businesspeople [& as in many industries, mostly conservative business men] on the planet to take a chance on a no-name small firm with no publishing history, few alliances, sketchy prospects, and this guy

as founder, chairman, CEO, Geek-at-large, Beer Disposal Unit, and Otaku-in-Chief. [none of those are selling points]

All that said, Stu managed it. And if someone handed me $16 Million Dollars [I’ll need more than the token $2Mil. Kodansha fronted] then I’d make one hell of a run at it.

I have a name: Illustrated Empire. I have ideas for three imprints under the Illustrated Empire banner [Avalon, Albion, and Amaterasu] and know enough about the US bookstore business to avoid obvious mistakes (I’m sure I’ll find all the non-obvious ones soon enough) and you know: folks lend Trump billions despite his track record, so maybe I have a chance at this too.

[I buy a $1 lottery ticket every week, just in case.]

So, how would I run the Illustrated Empire? What makes this comics company different?

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Allow me to start with a digression: I spent seven [plus] years at university, and while some stereotypes are correct [rampant alcoholism, parties every weekend, and hanging out in bars for the other 5 nights each week] I might be an exception in that I was spending my days in class, and once I gave up on earning any one specific degree, I was emancipated – & ending up taking a little bit of everything.

Among the [many] courses of study pursued at Georgia Tech, I took classes on contract law and urban development. I spent a semester with construction contracting. I own a hard hat; I’ve followed projects from brush clearing to first pour to topping out.

My experience on construction sites is beside the point — but contract law, that was fun (in its own way), and there are some excellent concepts that should be transferred to publishing.

1. The Surety Bond

Those of you who invest, or merely follow investments, think you know what a bond is. And you’re likely right, for whatever context you’re familiar with: Treasury Bills, corporate bonds, bail bonds…

The bail bondsman is the closest analogue here: A Surety Bond is a form of insurance. Let’s walk through an example: Say you want a 20 story building. You own the land, you’ve hired the architect, you’ve a sheaf of plans and tenants lined up and a schedule you have to keep to. So when you go to hire a contractor, even if you find a reputable firm with impeccable history and more than sufficient assets — it’s not his ass on the line if the building fails to go up. You’re the one left holding your balls the basket if this all falls through.

So no matter how much money you have or how much money the contractor has: you ask for a Surety to be sure the project is seen through to completion. Like any contract, the terms can vary to cover whatever the needs of the owner are, or whatever risks might be anticipated

two very typical versions are

2. The Performance Bond

an assurance that certain minimum standards are met — or that the contract specifications (no matter how unreasonable) are met — and

3. The Completion Bond

…if I’ve plans for a 20 story building, and tenants already lined up for a 20 story building, even if the contractor I’ve hired to build this thing goes out of business after only 12 stories are built — I still need that 20 story building. A Completion Bond will pay for someone to finish the job even if the original contractor can’t.

Firms that specialize in this field are often referred to as “Assurance” companies, though this is just a very specialized insurance field. In fact, you might have already seen this, if you are a homeowner dealing with plumbers, electricians, or other contractors: if a firm advertises themselves as “bonded”, “bonded and licensed”, or “bonded and insured” then they likely have a small but quite tidy sum invested in Surety Bonds, and you’re fairly safe dealing with them for your normal-home-repair-type-crap.

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So, what does this have to do with publishing, generally, and licensing manga, particularly?

Nothing.

so sad, in fact: a basic concept like finishing up on a contractual obligation means nothing to most licensees.

But let’s say I’m on good terms with an assurance provider and I can offer blanket performance-and-completion bonds for English rights to any title I license from a foreign publisher: what would this mean?

- Professional translation and adaptation, or else the bond pays out for a new translation under the ‘minimum standards’ clause of the contract and

- Completion of the series even if I go out of business. Exactly like a bond would pay out to finish building the last stories of a 20 story building, fans [and the original rights holder] would have a completion guarantee that a series would be seen through to an end in translation. Maybe only, say, 1000 copies of each volume printed (or some such; terms as specified in the contract) but through to the end and to a specified minimum standard.

Wouldn’t this make licensing more expensive? Yes, and no. There are some fees involved in sourcing and adminstrating assurance bonds, but provided one meets all the terms & conditions of the contract, you get the principal back: which you can then recycle into the performance-and-completion bonds for the next title.

Would this make a difference?

For Japanese rights-holders who also happen to be the original publishers? Maybe not. I might suppose that they’d be more interested in dollars up-front, no matter how you package the deal – they would be not so much interested in series completion or other assurances, even when backed up by bonds.

For Japanese rights-holders who also happen to be the creators? Oh Hell Yes. Here I am, fronting a couple million in insurance just on the off chance that *if* I go out of business or you personally think my adaptation is crap and insist on a new version: completion to specs is spelled out in the contract.

Minimum standards, and guaranteed publication of all volumes [as specified, a shorter print run but one that is *guaranteed*] — your entire work will see print in English.

Tell me that isn’t a selling point.

For Fans?

Are you kidding me!?

Any company that guaranteed that all volumes of series will be translated and printed – no matter what the eventual sales might be?

You just bought yourself the undying devotion of a dedicated fanbase – and no matter what the actual sales are on this one series: you win. So, maybe you only print 1000 or 500 or 200 copies each of the last few volumes: it is enough that you tried, and saw it through to the end, and some quantity of the final books are out there for sale. Maybe they have to pay more (or buy them second hand) because the books are in short supply: but the books were printed: This is a readership that will follow you, even if it means going outside their usual comfort zones or into properties they’ve never heard of.

It’s a very simple thing: finish what you start.

And if it doesn’t make economic sense: well, that’s what the surety bonds were for. It’s a type of insurance. You pay a little bit more on the front end, but both your clients (the licensor and the fan) get the product you promised, the small financial loss is insured – and the gains are immeasurable.