Idk why, but that stab motion in the beginning gave me SUCH ANXIETY lol

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

aww oh no x'D

@BoppinBunnyBops

3 жыл бұрын

@@CosmicSpectrumArt lmao I was like, "please don't stab that"

Sucks that you went through this. One of my friends just told me that she was offered an opportunity to work on a 200+ page story, and the pay is terrible. I'm going to send her a link to this video. Maybe your story can prevent her from walking into a trap. Thanks so much for finally sharing this, and I hope all your projects in the future are more emotionally rewarding. I love your artwork and videos!!

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Oh god, i hope your friend really thinks it through. Tell her to do some math and calculate an exaggerated amount of time it will take, and then 40% padding to that. then divide it by the pay and see how much it pays per hour, or per week. If it's anything less than a GOOD living wage, she should dump that shitttt hahaha

Oh no! I specifically bought Grimoire Noir because you made the art. I hope you get a decent cut of the profits from book sales.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

it's been like 2 years and I haven't seen any royalties lmao xD but thank you for buying it!!!

@Sun-sy7ec

3 жыл бұрын

I just bought it and already read it twice XD

@justicelashare

3 жыл бұрын

@@CosmicSpectrumArt wait really?! i feel like everyone bought it just for your art! wow...

Geez, from what you said, it sounds like working with those people was not only toxic but a freaking nightmare. I feel like you definitely should have been able to ask/demand for a raise if you were having trouble getting by. But, at least it’s over and done with now. Hopefully, you don’t hear from them again (especially if it comes to working on another project). Also, for them to spell your name wrong even after you corrected it is downright idiotic on their part. I’m glad you were able to get it all off your chest though. Hopefully you feel better now and can move past this dreadful experience

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!! Tbh since there were so many people involved on the publishing side, it's hard to even pinpoint where things went wrong =_= I think it was necessary in a lot of ways, if only to get permanently turned away from the fake prestige of being 'officially published' , which unfortunately a lot of people believe in. I honestly feel like this video and the one I'm planning to make about what i took away from it all, will be the last 2 nails in this coffin haha

I'm so sorry to hear about this! I picked up your book completely on a whim because I was completely captivated by the art on the cover and as soon as I finished, I told my partner about it and she too got it as well. We both love it but had no idea it gave you this much trouble! This book did introduce me to your art though, so I'm happy about that. You're a huge inspiration. PS: I think I know what plothole you're talking about. I noticed it on the first read through and wasn't too sure what to think about it.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

hahahaha yes! So I wasn't crazy O_O Thanks for letting me know haha. I really fell in love with the world and I just adore small town mysteries with supernatural elements, but there were some issues with that script unfortunately 8( I honestly wish it could have gotten a better editor early on. But anyway, i'm glad to hear you found my art through the graphic novel! That makes me SO glad, I honestly haven't felt much of anything in terms of post-publication positivity, mostly because the publisher only organized 1 tiny signing session, but not at any comic conventions. Thank you so much for the kind words!!

I’m sorry the work situation on the book was so awful. :( I actually bought “Grimoire Noir” after discovering you on KZread and holy hell your art is absolutely S T E L L A R. The story itself was also enjoyable, it sucks that most of the team didn’t care about it and that you got paid so little for making it.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for buying it!!

Life sometimes is so shitty and unfair. It’s geniuinely stupid. But girl I adore your art so thank you for keeping on drawing, you’re one of my biggest art inspiration. Hope you get more profits from the book and more blessings in your life. I’ll continue to support you!!

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you :)))

Yup, 1 day at a time!!! I feel like that switching from working days to nights... definitely still in a slump but slowly making my way back out 😣

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

You will get through it, whatever it is!!

The Holy Trinity of Goth Queens

Its not just in comics, but in art business in general, Ive learned to never move ahead until office feedback and payment. For some reason, they think our time isn't worth much

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

I think it's much worse in comics than most other industries (with the exception of maybe animation). I've also been keenly aware of the 'no contract/pay, no work' rule, but hilariously enough with this job in particular it was worse for me to wait for these things to come through in the long run, especially after the contract. I even regret waiting for the contract before starting tbh... even though it was the right thing to do. I just feel like if I started earlier, I would have finished earlier, and would have been able to move on with my life months ahead of time.. theoretically. I honestly found that plenty of studios are VERY reasonable, have great communication and have respect for my time. I've had a few shitty clients prior to the project from hell, but afterwards I always made sure to put in precautions that prevent clients from stagnating with endless adjustments, and if they must, I am more than well compensated for it. I do strongly believe that I was treated like shit by the publisher because I simply let them do it. If i knew better back then, i would have negotiated a much higher rate and stayed in frequent communication, and if they said no i would have simply walked with no hard feelings.

Amazing! It's really nice-hearing you talk. Hope you never stop pursuing art!

I'm heartbroken to hear how you've been treated during that time. I found you through the novel and I'm so much in love with your art since then. I hope to buy a book one day you did completely on your own terms and that you can love and enjoy as a whole project

I absolutely love your art style! You totally bring these characters to life! Also, I relate so much to the issue of learning things from bad experiences. It took a lot of time for me to accept that things that are gained from bad experiences do not justify those experiences. I get so peeved when people in my life try to point out the “good” that came out of traumatic events because like, yes, I did learn a lot. And I’m grateful for what I learned and the fact that I was able to gain something from it at all. But if I could trade what I learned for having not been traumatized in the first place, I would. Lessons learned don’t negate the ongoing mental and physical costs of trauma. A person doesn’t need to experience trauma to gain wisdom or to be a good person. I’m sorry that you had to go through so much garbage. I’m glad you were able to learn from it, but clearly you deserve better.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

I do know what you mean... I try not to look at it that way, and you know.. despite the trauma, I still wouldn't trade back. I think the things i got out were so profoundly helpful to making my life better going forward, and maybe i couldn't have just learned them without having to go through some horrible shit. But I also get peeved af when people always try to point out the good haha, in order to get through a traumatic experience and process it you need to be able to just talk about it and understand it for what it is, without having to just laser-focus on the 'good'. The good only comes out if you do the work, but it's still terrible for people to experience trauma. Life can get rough haha, but we got thisss ;)

I’m so glad you got this off your chest! And yeah I felt that “one day at a time”. 😅

I currently starting to work on a graphic novel with a couple other artist and the author of the book we are adapting and it's awesome. Like, seriously there are no strings attached, because his book isn't published and we are just doing this because it might be fun. But I totally get u. I can't STAND a lack of communication with anything! And with a big project like that, oh my gosh girl, I'm shocked that you didn't quit half way through!

Your art is so beautiful!!!🥺💕💕✨

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

thank you!!

I just got the book a couple of months ago. I didn’t realize how bad the experience of making it was! Sounds like a true artist horror story! I do really love the product though it’s my favorite graphic novel, I just wish you had gotten the payment for the project that you deserved!

Hello Yana ! Just listened to your story on this video and I relate soooo much ! I had a horrible experience drawing a manga back in 2019 for a company who promised me to back me up, support me etc. I had never drawn any comics or manga, I had a long experience in drawing and working in animation, and I was looking for something challenging for me. I worked my ass off, I had 4 hours of transportation to go to work but I didn't care because I loved what I was doing. I was learning new things, I was getting outside of my confort zone. A former manga artist had already almost finished book 1 but he had quitted without finishing the book and they were looking for another artist to take it from where he left off. Moreover, they even didn't warn the publisher that they had lost their former artist more than a year before... That should have lightened a little warning sign... So I drew the first issue of this french manga, working from what the other artist had done before (because we didn't have the time for me to redraw it from scratch if they wanted to release it on due date) Everybody was pretty happy with it, this company, the publisher, the readers,... but this company decided to fire me like two weeks after the manga was released (I even did 2 signing sessions in Belgium and in Paris) and one week before the Angouleme Convention (you know, the big world Comic books convention...) where I was supposed to be introduced as the artist of this manga. They told me that I was not "manga" enough (while they liked that I brought something more western to the original manga style before), that I was late on the planning of book 2 (well... it had just started that we were already 3 weeks late on that same planning... how ?) And cherry on the shortcake, they went to Angoulême with the manga, they even were sold out and... they asked another artist (a guy who was supposed to replace me on book 2) to sign at my place... It just broke me instantly. Those promises not fulfilled, this lack of respect and humanity. I was so angry, and I am still today. I'm still rebuilding my self esteam, my confidence... even 1 year after. That's true that it teaches you what you don't want to handle, the hard way ! At least, that's what I learned from that experience ! Bottom line, book 2 never came out with the Covid, and the 2nd artist, who I worked with (he was working on the backgrounds), well, he quitted too months later because the project was badly handled... By the way, I just checked the Glenat publication, and it seems like your name is well spelled ;) (I'm french .D) (Sorry for the long post ^^; )

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! God, it sounds awful x_x You put it so well, the lack of respect and humanity. Exactly! I'm not surprised to hear a lot of people quit.. sounds like a complete nightmare. I really hope you're in a better place now! And ahahaha that's good lmao, I am really excited about the Glenat publication x'D

спасибо большое за твою историю! понимаю, насколько это было дико вот так работать... но книга получилась замечательная! Как только я узнала, что ее выпустили на русском, я тут немедленно оформила заказ (а вообще мы взяли сразу несколько). Твой стиль сделал книгу просто шикарной! Я надеюсь, что в будущем у тебя будут только самые приятные в исполнении проекты, и адекватная команда, если с таковой придется работать.)

i already know the story even before you said it. Im glad it turned out well, but it sounded so emotionally destructive. I also hope your health properly recovers too, because I remember you mentioning that it felt like trauma a while back. I hope it doesnt give you any lasting bad side effects like anything chronic especially. I wish you the best, and I kinda wish in a proper world that those in charge of you in the project that didnt do their part, i hope those bad people get whats coming to them. and I do hope you cover this topic again sometime down the line, those people shouldnt get away with being irresponsible while in charge of something. they should have provided feedback, thats a big thing when it comes to art project.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Haha, yeah I did actually have an explosion of mental/physical health issues right around that time, but thankfully have recovered from everything now (including depression and anxiety). Honestly I think the business model itself is total trash, especially considering that these days you can self-publish and crowd fund things pretty easily. I think there was a lot of bad luck involved with company overhauls and staff-changes, and seemed like the people who greenlit the project that moved on mentally and couldn't be bothered to check in WAY earlier than they were supposed to. But oh well! Thanks for the kind words :)

Ah man it sucks you had to go through that. I've had issues i group projects too and it can really stress you out completely. Those circumstances sound completely ridiculous. I like these type of videos btw! It's pretty relaxing to see you draw and listen to a story at the same time. I wouldn't mind if you did more of those c:

The depth and colour I adoreeeeee

It’s really sad that they didn’t gave you the proper compensation for this project and credited you for the work that you contributed to this project.I just bought it knowing that you drew the illlustrations on this book. Given the circumstances that you were in, I’m really proud of you for staying strong and blooming more after this bad experience. Cheering for you!! I love your work, weather it be traditional or digital. Your works are have edge and elegance at the same time 🌟

I did some work for a play and they sent me a form to fill out so that they could credit my work. I filled it out but they never credited me in the program :| So I understand your frustration about you name being misspelled.

Another great video, and it’s always a pleasure to see you drawing and listening to you. I’m so sorry that this project was this awful and that you had to manage to do it almost alone with no support from the editor. It’s unacceptable that you don’t have any annual record and royalties each year from it. What a dreadful behaviour from this editor! I’ve just checked who the French editor is and it’s Glénat, one of the biggest and famous editor in France. A very well known one. And they do great compliments of your work in their presentation of this graphic novel 😊 The issue is on the 17th of February. I really hope that you’ll have royalties from them ! And sorry for my not so good English 😅

Your exasperation is low key, a mood. Especially the name thing- it was ironically comical and feels too close to home;; The good thing is that I have a copy of your book and it is drop dead gorgeous! Like you mentioned in a previous video, it was super dark and details were lost even though each page is CHALK FULL OF amazing strokes, shades, expressions, ect. Makes me nervous to know how many details might have gotten lost in the print! Regardless, im glad you were able to power through and have practice and the knowledge of when you write your comic! Cheers to a productive new year!

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers!! thank you for buying a copy ;)) I definitely feel like I can do anything now lmaoo

Incredible insightful talk, I have heard about the publishing industry being slow but listening to your experience gave me shiver

I like how you reply to most people, and not just leave em there.

I know I am a bit late to the party, but I just want to say: though you didn’t want to focus on the positives on this video, I am sure this experience really did help you grow in so many ways. But most of all, I think you learned how to push through and come out the other end with your self-respect intact. You should be very proud of yourself and what you achieved!

Goodness... thank you for sharing this story and I'm happy you've gotten over this. Your art is just so good and worth so much more.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you x'''D

omg looked up the mistake in spelling and just... 💀 didn't know that it was selling in Russia so now I might have to look it up because I just love your artwork so much 😢 I'm sorry that you had to go through this! but hearing all the shit that happened there made me laugh ngl thank you for telling us and for the amazing content as always!!!♡

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

ahahah a good story is all i could hope for from a dumpsterfire experience lmao, so I'm glad it made you laugh. And yeah lmao that spelling mistake lmao yeah...

This is amazing!!! So talented...

Graceful and gorgeous as always your art is ! And honestly your the only KZreadr that I listen to your talking till the end XD (really bad English lmao)

Omg your art is amazing jsjekekskks 💜

I love your art! You should do tutorials of the parts of the body, especially face and noses, you draw them beautiful!

You are absolutely amazing! Best regards from Poland

Omg I love this rant, sometimes its better to just rant about stupid/ annoying situations without a good ending!

I'm sorry to hear that it did not go too well for u! But ur art is so amazing :) I also wanted to ask what brush u are using! Since the line art looks soo cool!

Imagine being instantly subbed.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

x'D tyty

Ngl I was just thinking about your art!

Please will you make a video with the other three? I love these btw beautiful work!!!❤️❤️❤️

I looooove all of the three characters

Watching her draw Is therapeutic for me, I don't know why.

I rally like the way you "smudgeblend" your colors, do you have a video about that?

Could I ask what photoshop brushes you used in this?? I loove it's texture. :0

Jeesus man I feel bad for you. Like actually, these people are so unprofessional. I’m sorry you had the displeasure of working for them.

Nice work like always *.*

Trully masterpieces

Dang, I'm glad I live in Japan. I wasn't even publishing anything and the editor still gave me feedback every 2 weeks for something they didn't even get money for. (I got money from the contest, they got nothing) I also wonder a lot about comics in the West. I write the story and draw it so if there's any plot hole I fix it myself. But western comics have writers and artists separate. Like you said, communication is most likely key but there was nothing. Also do you get thumbnails or do you structure the page? In Japan writers write the name, thumbnails, and the artist draws everything. I keep seeing 'how to write a comic script' on google and it gives me the impression the writers don't write thumbnails and if that's true then...just...how does anybody write a coherent comic? Gosh, just everything about this story is flabbergasting.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know too much about how things work in Japan, but it sounds totally different >_> I've seen other comic scripts aside from the graphic novel one I had to work with, and nope they do not have layouts/thumbnails (comic writers don't draw anything, so 'name' isn't really a thing in the west). They do have some rough page or panel divisions, but it needs a lot of deciphering from the artist because from what I've seen the writers don't understand how to communicate action too well through images, and they either have too little or too much information all the time. I'm sure that there are good comic script writers out there lol, but I've seen a lot of awful scripts hahah (by professionals working for major comic publishers). And you are right, there are a lot of incoherent things to solve for sure >_> I think what suffers the most tbh is pacing, and I notice comics that are written and drawn by the same person tend to be better... Plus in my case, having gotten a contract that paid based on the length of the script that was divided into 240 pages or so, I ended up having extended the page count due to things that were just necessary for clarity, which was a sacrifice of time lol. If I had more freedom to improve the pacing, it would have increased the page count by at least like another 20 overall.. but yeah, in a situation where any extra work you put into improving something will be at your own detriment, there's zero motivation. It's so stupid. I wish I got paid per page T_T

@karakurie

3 жыл бұрын

@@CosmicSpectrumArt No wonder the comic market in the West is so small. I also heard that advertising for comics is pretty awful too. I haven't been published yet so I dunno exactly how you get paid, but I know it's by manuscript page, not by drafted pages (I guess that's it's own problem because if the page sucks you have to rewrite it and lose time and money). It's just weird how much weighted on the writer it is even though the artist makes the final product. When I look up Grimoire Noir I get the author's name and have to expand to see the illustrator. When I look up Death Note it says created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. As if they both carried a similar amount of weight. Even Bakuman shows how important that the writer and artist work as a team but the artist carries more responsibility. (goodreads says Grimoire Noir by Vera Greentea and Bakuman by Takeshi Obata (illustrator))

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

@@karakurie Hahaha yeahhh, the writer's name will always come up first. Which is pretty unfair I think, because in this situation it's like she wrote the script and I did costume design/location design/directing/drawing/acting/ lmao ... you know what i mean. But anyway, I don't feel sour about that because I ultimately just want to work on my own thing anyway. I hope you get paid fairly!! It really does suck that changes aren't taken into account when it comes to pay. I think it's like that in all comics more or less, which is awful... but I do think exciting times are ahead thanks to crowdfunding, patreon and social media! Plus It's really not THAT difficult to contact a book factory and design the jacket etc as well. 1 person can now to literally everything if they wanted to - heaven for a control freak such as myself haha. It's crazy to think that not so long ago none of those options were even available. ..

I'm glad you're out of this horrible situation! And you're definitely not dramatic, feeling emotions is natural and holy crap, this situation would make a saint pissed off. Your story makes me think how large this publishing company actually was. I have seen a pretty similar situation from the other side (different field though), when a small company with very small offices in different countries and a big employee turnover decided to relocate again. Like, the boss went through a tough patch in personal life and couldn't give a fuck about the business, the employees did whatever when they felt like it, the communication between the officers was abysmal and until clients personally demanded WTF nothing was done. It takes years to fix such a mess and small projects just fall through the cracks. I wonder if that's what happened to you.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

I think that could be what happened O: I know the head publisher is huge, but the subsidiary company functions under a different name and they only publish graphic novels, and they are pretty small. I know they were moving for sure, and I also know that the head editor had his own projects happening and so it's safe to assume he was checked out lol, and well.. the rest of the stuff had a bit of a turnover and I think there were very few of them. I'm just glad I had a very positive experience with the french publisher Glenat, they really went above and beyond expectations and the french edition looks SO MUCH BETTER than the original lol. It's colour-corrected properly and looks much better, and is in a bigger format too haha... thank god. Thank you for your comment! :))

@anastasiamaliuha5481

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, sounds like that. When you talked about those laps in communication I immediately thought that someone quit and the new person had no idea they were even in charge of the project. Then again, I know nothing about how publishing houses work. The good thing is that you have higher standards now and the intimate knowledge of the red flags to look for. But the price of it was too high, your mental health is more important. I'm glad you had a better experience later on, you're so talented, you deserve to be recognized!

What is that blue shade tool she uses before adding color? I've seen a lot of other digital artists use this and idk what it is to even look it up. I feel like knowing what this is will help me greatly. I'm a decent more realistic artist with no training other then self taught. can someone help me? (also have to head off to work, so I will finish this video when I get home.)

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

It's actually nothing important x'D I usually just pick a contrasting colour that is easily visible and won't blend with the lines or the bg, to fill in the silhouette. Then I just turn off that layer and use it only to get the silhouette selection, in order to colour the other elements quickly within the lines. Hope that explains it!

@HeyYoshi

3 жыл бұрын

@@CosmicSpectrumArt would I just look up how to select silhouette? which tool? That actually makes a lot of sense. I thought that was what was going on but wasn't sure. XD I was like, what am I missing here. I know I have A LOT to learn. Thank you for taking the time to respond. It really wasn't expected.

Your art is amazing!

I love love love your art so much miss pandora 🥰🥰🥰

can u tell me the name of your brush? im so happy when u answer my question. I love your arts so much, thank you

hi yes i love your art

i adore your style!

What tools does she use, like tablet and programs, please somebody tell me

I worked as Mangaka-assistant for a German Mangaka for 5 years and in those 5 years 3.5 of it I assisted her with a TokyoPop Manga (here in germany) the yearly pay was less than if you worked as some cashier (per book) the worktime per day was like idk 18hrs and they basically used the same TIME "we" spent on producing the art- for "editing" revisions and typesetting that they insisted on doing themselves. Which my "boss" would have probably done in like 2 weeks or less. This literally killed her. Its probably everywhere in the world but THAT was horrible. Like seriously I feel that selfpublishing stuff is in the end more successful and enjoyable than going over a "real" publisher. Even tho the book doesnt get really sold that much. Slavery. "Professionals" are useless and abusive

Can you make a tutorial on how you paint exactly like this ???? Or the most realistic that you can than I’ve seen you do ? 😅 pleaseee

Amazing art!!!

Awesome art. A cursing artist. That's all I want. Nice! *smashes subscribe*

Lydia ❤ I still prefer your traditional media artpieces, but you're as good in digital art as well! Always happy to see and listen to another video of you. About your problem with publishing your book... It's maybe because I'm french but it looks like a terrible work from your publisher or the teams asdociated. It's not normal, appart from the underpayed job who is common. Yeah for the french édition !!!!! Which editor is this?

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

The french edition is published by Glenat :) I'm going to receive a copy sometime soon, and I will definitely post a photo! So excited to see it in larger print xD Tbh I think there may have been a lot of internal changes/upheaval in the publishing company, and maybe it was also complicated further due to it being a subsidiary of a larger publishing house. Regardless, there's no excuse lol, just bad luck for me + writer I guess >_>

So, I know this comment is super late (I just watched this for the first time) and felt like I had to share my experience of working in the publishing industry for three years. (Please note that my experience is specifically at a smaller publisher who is mostly in academic publishing and in no way involved in comics and the like. So take what you will from this. But, your experience resonates so strongly with my experience on the other side.) tldr: If it ever feels like the publisher doesn't care about your project, it's very likely they actually don't. I worked at this book publisher as an editorial assistant. My job was mostly supposed to be administrative stuff while assisting the editors with things like proofreading. But, that certainly didn't stop them from assigning myself and a coworker actual projects that they legit did not care as much about so the felt fine with offloading that onto the entry level ppl. The frustration surrounding the poor communication and the extremely slow responses from the other departments and authors was my lived experience for three years and was the norm. It is impossible for me to count the number of times I've sent cover designers corrections for authors' names and have them still not be corrected. The absolute worst one was a book with ten co-authors, all their names were Turkish as they were from Turkey, and from the beginning all the way up to the final editing stages the authors did not bring misspellings to our attention. Then, once they noticed, it took three weeks for all of them to get on the same page about it and provide me with all the correct Turkish spellings and accents, sending them in a slow trickle of emails. Had to triple check every spelling multiple times on the cover and everywhere in the book. Still haunts me to this day. Not to mention the fact that there are multiple different kinds of editors. I was part of production, which were the editors who do the work that you think of when someone says "editor", as in proofreading and copyediting. The other kind I worked with daily were acquisition editors, whose main job was finding and choosing books that they believe will sell well, and were the ones who were the managers of the projects. Essentially, authors saw the acquisition editors as their Editor, and we were the ones that they had to fight with on the actual edits and would often try to pull rank with their Editor to force our hand on something (didn't always work, and though this was unusual, it was definitely not uncommon). The average production time for books ranged anywhere from three months to two years. It still doesn't make sense to me why. 90% of the reason some things took A G E S to get finished was either due to acquisitions not communicating with us until the absolute last possible minute (or sometimes not at all) or the author just ghosting for weeks at a time. Communication was truly horrendous at this company. Every day was frustration with not having answers for authors because acquisitions isn't responding (some instances it was because the editor was on leave or vacation and didn't tell us or the author; "Sorry, your book is going to be held up because the editor took off and didn't tell anyone else involved in this project"), or the author's corrections are a month late and are not responding to emails, or that we are assigned a project anywhere from half a year to a full year after the original contract is signed with the author and given a tight production schedule because it's jammed in with all the other books the publisher wanted to push out. Much of this is the company's own fault as it heavily overworked everyone. I was often juggling a continual rotation of ~8 projects at once while also having to do my responsibilities as an assistant (the editors I assisted often had close to 20 projects at a time). There were types of projects that fell to myself and my coworker which we were told to not care about the quality AT ALL. The only point was to push it through a tight deadline to get it published. Obviously, this is specifically a symptom of the academic publishing industry because these books are stupid expensive (averaging between $60-$120) and are not expected to sell hardly at all (these were mostly all written by professors on extremely niche academic subjects that most people would never read), so their way of cutting the cost of publishing the book was to cut back on editorial production as much as possible. Regardless, I felt so dirty doing this for as long as I did because I knew the authors cared SO MUCH about their books (being an aspiring author myself). I eventually quit, for many reasons other than what I wrote here. I was left with a very pessimistic view of the publishing industry as a whole. The bottom line is what matters. Attention is only ever given to the sparse few books that the publisher believes will sell VERY well. And they will cut as many corners as possible. Every freelancer we hired to do work was criminally underpaid. No upward mobility. Coworkers of mine worked in the same position for years with no raise and no expectation of promotion. I don't know if this experience is industry standard or an outlier.

hey! glad u got this of your chest, at least I hope so))) also I wasn't even surprised that u are Russian, as a fellow СНГ'эшник I kinda felt it in a way while watching your videos, idk

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

ahahaha that's great to hear ;D Nice to know i retained a quality lol, whatever it might be

oh geez is it just me or was I literally stressing for you while listening-

Are u use Photoshop or what app? Pls reply I wanna know

@Jo-ny9ne

3 жыл бұрын

Read the fucking description, its not that hard...

@zefanyaraysanevadalaput7371

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jo-ny9ne hmm salty thanks btw

I might be super late to say this but you can be so damn proud of yourself❤

Was it grimoire noir? I just read it and kinda loved it lol T.T (Mostly cause the art tbf)

I would only get that book for your artwork. I mean. I already have your art book. But I've considered it really hard. And sometimes still consider it. I just am shit out of money.

aaaa Saturn is my favorite senshi!!!! well she’s tied with Pluto lmao but hhhhhhh!!!!!

This kind of situation isn't entirely uncommon in publishing. I wouldn't be surprised if the editor who originally acquired the book/script maybe switched to a new job (new publishing house, new position, etc.) and was no longer over the project. When that happens, a new editor (who didn't personally pick up the book/script) is put over the project, but their personal investment is likely to be much lower since it isn't a project they helped acquire themselves out of enthusiasm for the project. It's also possible the was a change in leadership or other roles within the publishing house to make it unclear who was over the project. These situations totally suck for authors-- and illustrators. That said, it could also just have been an inept publishing house, lol. It find it odd that the publisher sold the foreign rights though-- that would generally have gone through the author's agent (...unless they didn't have an agent... which is another situation entirely). Anyways, long rambling comment. Loved the video! Can't believe you had to go through that horrid ordeal though, wow.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

You are almost entirely right. I am pretty sure that the company was going through staff changes and some sort of internal overhaul, and a move, and some people left and were replaced, although the head editor who acquired the script was on the project through the entirety of it. I'm assuming the person just had one foot out the door the entire time. The marketing 'lead' or w/e got replaced just as the art was complete from what I can remember, there was an introduction email and then crickets. We even tried to give her ideas for how to promote on social media lol, but nobody did anything, just a tweet when it came out lmao... TOTAL fail, man. And ahaha yess there was an agent involved! Still is i guess? Needless to say the agent is a ghostly apparition that made a couple of key appearances to sound officious, and disappeared into the aether with the rest of them. I was convinced by others to sign her on, and am now really salty that she got 15% of my abysmal advance for doing NOTHING lol. I tried contacting her a bunch of times, but she's dodgy af, takes forever to respond/doesn't respond with any actual information, just shit like 'i am on it, will get back to you asap'... and accomplishes nothing. hahahah, Thank god we're only associated on this one project. Anyway, thanks for the insight!

Man talk yo shit hell yeah

Wow... this is not how it works. I am so sorry for you Q_Q"

These sounds like all the usual revisions a book goes thru tho.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

What specifically are you referring to with 'these all'? This is a graphic novel. When the script was handed to me it was edited a bunch of times already and 'finished', all that happened before I was brought onto the project. It's absolutely insane to send the illustrator and writer a PDF filled to the brim with notes on the script 6 months after the completion of a project (which was 250 pages, worked on fulltime over the course of like 2 years.) The only thing that did was severely dampen everyone's spirits and make the publishing house seem insanely inefficient. A reasonable revision would have been at the roughs stage when you can actually make changes.

Am noticing you don't zoom that much is that some kind of thing you do when it comes to details or maybe am just too perfectionist? Could be a cool tip for myself

@CosmicSpectrumArt

Жыл бұрын

it's because my drawing screen is very large. I would zoom a lot more if the screen was smaller :)

Are you Russian or Ukrainian? You have an accent - something European. Your art is amazing! You are such an inspiration! Thank you for making these videos!

I bought your book! Can't wait to get it :D

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

speech bubbles are a life and death situation...well some of my teachers did think that lol the whole things seems like it was messed up from the start

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

Lmao, it was stupidly complicated, because it involved another person who was brought in by the writer, who she asked me to vouch for in good faith which I stupidly did. (Note to self there was to NEVER vouch for anybody you don't actually know and have never worked with before, regardless of what someone else thinks). This person was awful to work with, extremely hard to get a hold of, took forever with every small task and would disappear, and this person's job was supposed to be lettering and speechbubbles for the comic - so on top of the stupid disagreement, we had the extra problem of this other person never delivering simple tests fast enough, which dragged out the issue for months upon months. Somebody else ended up lettering the comic in the end, it was a total neverending dumpsterfire that was put out with an explosion which caused a lengthy estrangement between myself and the writer lol.

6 months later they ask you to draw the sequel.

You have every single bit of right to be mad about the misspelling of your name!!!😤😤

Somehow In my experience I noticed that - If work is for something that goes to print - it doesn't pay well. ;(

Holy shit you can rant. You are incredibly talented, incredibly. I mean I absolutely love your work, technique, color choices, I mean every bit of it. You are amazing. That being the case, I literally had to mute the video. Tell this to your therapist. Please. I get that this job was a nightmare but it happens. I'm sorry you went through it but you are not alone. I thank God you aren't dealing with them anymore. It was not fair to you the artist. I usually work in segments, getting approvals all the way through. If they won't do it they can find someone else to do it. Someone of your talent should demand better treatment.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

Жыл бұрын

It may or may not be clear, but I am doing quite well these days haha; Thank you for the kind words. honestly I am glad this rant is out there. People need to know, man! My experience isn't even unique... and nobody wants to publicly talk about this shit because it 'looks bad' or 'sounds bad' or whatever, they don't want to burn bridges. Topically, I actually found out the other day (3 years since publication) that there are in fact royalty statements, for every year since publication. It's just that nobody bothered to mail them to me even when I requested them multiple times, and I was only able to get them after finding out the email of 1 specific person who works in accounting in the parent publishing company. These ancient publication channels are terribly inefficient and degrading, and I hope to god we keep moving the hell away from them as a society.

@gregglumus5303

Жыл бұрын

@@CosmicSpectrumArt I'm glad that something good came back to you. I've had my share of bad experiences and maybe you're right. Maybe other people need to know this kind of thing isn't limited to them. I experienced some backlash myself when I spoke up for myself but it is what it is. I'm glad to hear you're doing good though. Peace

:)

KZread: *No Views, 7 likes* ah yes

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

lmao youtube magic

Man it sounds like you got and are still getting used and abused by the commissioners of that project. I hope you didn't have a royalties arrangement with them, because they're obviously not being honest about the sales

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

oh yeah, I definitely had royalties. In fact that was pretty much what you're actually supposed to make money off of, what with the other 'payment' being an advance against royalties lol. Haven't seen anything, and I really wonder how in the hell a project can sell decently at launch, be picked up and translated by 2 foreign publishers, and STILL produce no royalties lmao.

@davidlewis4013

3 жыл бұрын

​@@CosmicSpectrumArt This is it... - I don't think they would even translate it unless they projected good returns from that new market. I think they are lying to you, especially since the number of sales they quoted you the second time was lower. WTF. If you have a contract you should perhaps seek solicitation through official means. Or threaten to do so. I'm working on a graphic novel now and am essentially being paid for what I produce, with no royalties. An hourly rate for the roughs and development work and then a set per page rate for the final inking, colour work and even speech bubbles. This is my first graphic novel and a first for the author too. For that reason I've got low expectations of high sales and wasn't prepare to do anything on spec.

@CosmicSpectrumArt

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidlewis4013 You're probably right, I should try contacting someone again. I've been just doing nothing about it, and tbh I didn't hold my breath for the royalties so it's not devastating not to have seen any at least >_> . Since every single time i contacted anybody (agent or publisher rep), I've gotten nothing but disappointment, i stopped trying about a year ago haha. The feeble explanation for the lower figures was 'returns'. I have no idea how that works in the slightest, but how in the hell can you let people buy a graphic novel and return it lmao?! i don't understand. Why would comic book shops be allowed to place orders and then return books if they don't sell. That seems totally nonsensical and bogus to me. Another thing that really messes with me is how LOW the price is on amazon! It's a good thing cause it's more affordable, but it's staying at a discount.. which MUST mean it's selling i think? who knowwws hahaha, but also the worst thing about this is that even though i get a 50% discount if i want to buy books to sell myself, the shipping costs make it so that it will cost me more to sell them myself than for someone to just buy it on amazon. Also i definitely would make no profit if i sold it at the Amazon price lol, just bs all round.

..........

This company sounds so frustrating :/