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Again, a couple of things.
Cameron, I defenitely respect what you're saying, and I'm actually working on a completely original OGN right now, that I'll likely end up self-publishing, as well as helping put together a small press anthology for self-publishing, but I still think that using an existing publisher is the way to go. Take a look at The Invisibles itself. You say that, because Vertigo held some rights to Invis, they had to clear all the art for Anarchy with Vertigo. Obviously, this is a disadvantage of the agreement, but Grant had tried to self-publish the series, it's very likely that there would not be the fan base neccessary to publish a guidebook of that nature.
It's very likely that he would have been bankrupted during the early period of the book, when sales were relatively low, and before the TPB money came in. Also, the TPB infastructure wouldn't have existed, so it would be a lot tougher to spread the book to people. Also, lining up artists would have been more difficult. Obviously there are disadvantages, but, particularly for an unproven talent, going through a big company is a way to get a reputation. It's a lot easier for someone to pick up your book if they can just grab it right off the shelf, instead of having to special order it.
All that said, if you consider control of the book more important than exposure to people, or having it in color, then self-publishing is definitely the way to go, but I'd rather have people readily able to pick up the book and read it, so I think an established publisher would just be better for that.
Just from my personal experience, when I go into Borders, or my LCS, almost every trade is from one of the big two. Obviously, there's more to writing than having people read it, but I'd like people to be able to read what I write if I got in the position where I had a chance to work for Vertigo. But for now, it's self-publishing for me. |
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