Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[COMMANDO FORCES]

I weep for SBT and his Steps of HELL mistake

[mogzilla]

hey at least he got some bush at the end of it

[Noisybast]

Wow. I take my eye off the board for a few hours..

I'm hoping to avoid any messy disciplinary / tribunal type shenanigans in the short term and concentrate my energies on looking for a job at least twenty miles closer to home. I guess I'll just have to suck it in and start leaving home at 6:30 in the meantime.

I have, however, contacted the union for some advice - just in case. As I have tried to explain to my manager: it doesn't really matter how early I leave - it's a forty mile drive with at least two major choke points. *Anything* could happen to slow me down and then I'm screwed.

So, on Monday morning I'll have at least half an hour to kill before my shift starts. Since I won't be sleeping, I might as well bone up on Trust policies...

[staticgirl]

Remember you are entitled to have a rep accompany you in disciplinary meetings and that the whole process is expected by Employment Tribunals to follow the Acas Code of Practice for Discipline & Grievance unless it's an exceptional circumstance (although that's covered by the code too, really.) Capability procedures also fall within this Code.

You could always take out an official grievance if you feel this manager is being unfair although I appreciate your preferred option is to find a job that is more suitable for you and I personally think that's the best option to resolve the problem at source, really. Cutting out commuting time where possible is always a good thing.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Harrumph.

A friend of mine has started a kickstarter for his next graphic novel. I'm sort of getting over it now - people getting funding for their stuff, but this guy has got a publisher already. What he wants the TEN THOUSAND POUND target for is to "live on". He wants people to pay him to go full time.

He wants HIS FRIENDS to pay him to work. It's not for printing, it's not for resources his PUBLISHERS are fielding that presumably.

I just... it I just CAN'T. I... WHAT!??! I'm friendly with him but after this... like, I don't know. I just don't know. The CHEEK of it.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

I guess if he gets the money, and that's a big if, he's convinced enough people that he's creating an original story with a unique[ish] selling point and that he is the artist/writer capable of delivering this product on time.

Don't be too shocked at the Mercenary attitude CFM  it's just business.

[TordelBack]

He wants people to pay him to go full time.

Obviously don't know the details, but aren't the 'people' in question actually his customers, rather than just his friends?  Presumably they get a copy of the book they're funding, plus seductive extra goodies if they pledge, and equally presumably he'll have to pay the publisher/printer for their cut of the copies he gives out to backers?  Rather than seeking charity, doesn't it just mean he's selling to them direct, but in advance?  I'm probably missing something here.

There's a very interesting discussion thread over on the Minis site FrothersUK (http://www.frothersunite.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=40380) which puts forward some pretty good arguments against KS, but I have to admit I'm still largely in favour - as long as the projects deliver, it still seems like a clever way to a ensure that stuff you're interested in gets made and gets into your sweaty little hands, frequently at a discount or with juicy extras.  Obviously I'm coming at it as a consumer rather than producer, but that's where I see the benefits.

Obviously if your model is just to blackmail your friends into becoming backers that's a pretty shite way  to go about things, but I'd be surprised if you could reach too many significant targets that way. 

[I, Cosh]

There's a saying in the west of Scotland: shy boys get nae sweeties. It's mostly used by cunts to describe their sexually aggressive mating behaviour but it does have a broader metaphorical application.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Not only his friends, but his customers. The guy already has a publisher. He wants people, regardless of their affiliation to pay his living costs while he comes out with the graphic novel. As a consumer, of course there's no difference, you donate however much - get your copy in and the knowledge you're helping someone out. Whatever.

As a creator though, whether this is just bitterness or jealousy - the guy already HAS a publishing deal. Your donation isn't going to the printing, it'll go to like - well whatever you spend your wages on.

My point with this is not really what kind of deal a customer gets - but how it looks to other creators in the same boat. Cheeky. It looks f'cking cheeky. I'm not saying he's not worthy, he's not talented or admirably tenacious, but it IS cheeky.

I only wrote it in this section because it's frustrating - do I heartily slap him on the back and say "I'M NOT DONATING BECAUSE I THINK IT'S A COMPARATIVELY FATUOUS KICKSTARTER APPEAL AND YOU'RE OUTRAGEOUSLY RUDE TO ASK BUT I ADMIRE YOUR BALLS" and carry on as before? I want to, but I also have the overwhelming urge to hate him for it. Hate him and pity myself for not having the guts to put creative determination before fear of judgement.

Harrumph. As I said at the start.

[TordelBack]

...but how it looks to other creators in the same boat.
...
I only wrote it in this section because it's frustrating...

I can certainly see how that'd be the case!  Not questioning your reaction at all, just curious as to the specifics of the irritation, and put like that it's certainly completely understandable.  Harrumph indeed!

From my own entirely non-creative perspective I can't help but see a funded KS as functionally no different to getting a business loan (the bulk of which frequently cover salaries and other overheads while projects are completed), with the important exception that there's some hope of actually getting one, and you are pitching your idea to what is hopefully a more informed audience than your average loans officer. 

One of the more interesting arguments on the Frothers thread (aside from the general crapness of some bewilderingly successful projects) was about the central notion of 'cutting out the middle man', and what that actually meant when the middlemen in question were model/gaming shops and comics shops, and in the case of these big Minis KS projects, what it means for the industry as a whole when customers are spending $100-300 in one go, and getting a zillion minis.  How likely is that backer to spend any more dosh on minis anywhere else in the near future?

[SmallBlueThing]

What strikes me as wrong, cfm, is that you quite obviously have enough talent to make it but seem to lack the confidence. Youre a good colourist and you have an art style unlike anyone else ive seen. Im sure you could make the one your main source of comics-related income, while building up your portfolio of the other.

I dont know who your friend is, but i see absolutely nothing wrong with what he's doing, and would suggest you stop nambying about it, have a bit of confidence in your own abilities and get on with it.

SBT

[Trout]

Nah, I agree with him. Kickstarter seems at its most honest when it's directly linked to a purchase. Asking for money for "development" is when I get uncomfortable, and this goes that bit further. IMO unless you're an established comics pro you should be presenting something tangible before you ask for investment.

But I agree with this sentiment: draw stuff, CFM. Your art is great.

- Trout

[HdE]

CrazyFox, best advice I can offer is:

Don't worry about it. I can understand why it sits ill with you, but at the end of the day, agonising over it isn't going to help you much.

Something I've tried to do since I started touting for and getting paying gigs is to keep to a mindset of 'worry about what I do, be uninterested in what others do'. That's a challenge for me, because if I'm honest, it's not my natural temperament.

In my current situation, I'd like to be doing a HELL of a lot more in comics than I already am. There's literally a dozen things that conspire to take my time away from that.

But I seem to be perpetually yanking my day job out of trouble. I'm also caring for a seriously ill relative who needs to have oxygen and medication administered sometimes well into the early hours of the morning. So I wake up each morning feeling absolutely slaughtered. I've also had some potentially serious health problems of my own (now thankfully looking as if they're addressed) not to mention financial worries.

It's hard enough for me to find time and the inclination to be creative and get anything done with all this on my mind at any one time. If I focused too much on some of the stuff I see going on around me in comics circles that does my crust in, I'd not only be getting next to nothing done - I'd go crazy. As it is, I've just come through one monumental pile of nonsense that could have been easily avoided - and take it from me, it's just not worth the anxiety.

The best thing to do is just knuckle down, be productive, and have fun with it. This is how I've handled things. Last weekend I sat down to draw a one-pager, witht he intent that it would be the most ambitious thing I've ever drawn. I've been so busy with it that I've just not had TIME to dwell on anything that's getting me down - even though I'm certainly still living with those things. The result? I have work that I'm proud of, that I'm having fun creating - and I'm much, much happier for having ploughed my energies into it.

Not meaning this as a 'pull yer knickers up' sort of post, CrazyFox. I'm just saying, you can get frustrated at this stuff really easily, but it doesn't really do anything to further your own aspirations.

Keep busy, keep productive, and forget everything else. It's the only way forward, really.

[The Legendary Shark]

See, this exactly how the banks work.

When you get a loan, they're not lending you actual money, they're lending you credit. A promise to pay.

Specifically, your promise to pay. So they're actually lending you your own credit, which is cheeky. Cheekier still, they charge you interest for using your own credit. At least your friend isn't doing that, Foxy.

And yeah - your art is coming along a treat. Focus on that, not stuff you have no power over. And if you don't want to contribute then don't, there's no need to fall out with your mate over it. Besides, money and mates rarely mix well.

[I, Cosh]

When you get a loan, they're not lending you actual money, they're lending you credit. A promise to pay.

Specifically, your promise to pay. So they're actually lending you your own credit, which is cheeky. Cheekier still, they charge you interest for using your own credit. At least your friend isn't doing that, Foxy.

Okay, you're going to have to explain that first part to me again more slowly. I'm fairly certain they lend you actual money because no amount of semantics changes the fact that you can take it all home with you and put it in a shoebox behind the air vent.