Written by Rob Andersin
2016 taught me a lot about indie comics. I like many writers got screwed working with Artists and other ancillary players as well saw people get screwed. Recently while watching TV I saw a commercial for Angie’s list. It dawned on me how great that would be. To be able to see how other rated working with a person.
I do get that instantly there is a fear of getting screwed. That why a simple fix would show the tale, simply put both Creators remarks next to each other side by side (writer/artist). If a Artists says the writer was horrible to work with and the Writer posts the artist was always late you can see there was a bigger issue. But if remarks are good but there are smaller issues well that’s a good time for learning and can help creator address issue up from and work it to so the project doesn’t stall. For example if you know an artist has a tendency to be late but the art is worth it make easy to obtain deadlines.
The one thing in life we hate is to be told we are doing things wrong but ultimately we need too hear it to improve. And in Indie Comic EGOS reign supreme and that needs to change. All sides needs to learn from their experiences and needs feed back on how it is to work with other people.
So as Writer I would fill out say 10 question based on working with an artist. the question being about making Deadlines, Quality of work, ability to follow descriptions, communications, Reliability rating and professionalism to name a few. I would grade them on my experience 1-10. I would than give the report card to the Artist and allow them to see how I felt the project went. That report card after a discussion between me and artist would be posted online with all my comments and matched with the artist assessments of working with me as the creator and writer. Question like was my script easy to read, was I approachable and Reasonable, did I respond in a timely manner, where payment done as promised and was I willing to slightly adjust script at times to befit the art?
Ultimately this is not a way to punish but to help people grow. I know working with people I don’t want to offend an artist and felt it was better to keep my opinions to my self and simply would not return to working with the person. And that’s sad because They could not learn from their mistakes. But to date not one artist has asked me how was it working with me while I always asked Questions if they needed anything or is their something I could do better. I know money is a big issue ad in fact also came up with an idea how to fix that found here .