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Posted by:

jmanley

Date:

March 23rd, 2009 5:23 PM

Header:

ComicSpace Needs T-Shirt Designers!

Bulletin:

Call For Submissions: T-Shirt Designs

A little while back, ComicSpace launched its t-shirt store in beta,
featuring the designs of several popular webcartoonists. Now we are
looking for more. Specifically, we want to find talented, enthusiastic
t-shirt designers — who maybe have a webcomic, but maybe don’t — who
want to work with us to sell their designs through our store.

We know that the store is a diamond in the rough. We have only begun
this process and are taking one step at a time. Other t-shirt stores
look cooler, and, frankly, are cooler. But here’s the thing. The
ComicSpace network of sites reaches more than one million people
worldwide in a given month. Our t-shirt program is a key part of our
business, and we know we are going to make this work, and work well,
for everybody involved. A partnership with us at this point in our
product development cycle will mean that you will get more favorable
terms than you’re likely to get from more established online stores.

As they used to say in the car rental ads: “We’re number two! We try harder!”

Deal details will come once we’re in talks with you, but here’s the
basics: we pay to have the shirts printed; we sell the shirts on our
store and other venues (at conventions, for example, or through banner
ads we run across our network); we manage the warehouse, and do all
shipping and fulfilling; we pay you a 30% share of the gross revenues
from sales on a quarterly basis. You collect money and maybe design
some more shirts.

To get started, email me, Joey Manley, joey@comicspace.com, with the
following information:

1. A low-rez image file showing the basic graphic for the design,
along with a textual description of the shirt itself (what color you
think the shirt itself should be, whether it’s a pocket tee or a
babydoll or a hoodie, or all three, etc). If you have any preference
about the brand of the shirt “blank” (Hanes Beefy Tee, Fruit of the
Loom, American Apparel), tell me that, too. If the design requires any
unusual technical process, let me know about that. Etc.

2. If you have a webcomic, or a blog, and are willing to promote the
design on your own site, I’d like a sense of how popular that site is.
Note: it is not required that you have a webcomic, or a blog, or that
you promote the design on your own site. It does help us get past the
“do we think we can sell this” question, though, so it’s a definite
plus if you’re already popular. That said, this is more about the
actual design of the shirt itself — we want shirts we can sell to
people who have never heard of you or your site, even if you are
popular — so don’t stress too much if you’re not. We will work with a
mix of popular and less-well-known cartoonists, ideally.

3. If I don’t know you already, make sure that you let me know that
you are over 18 and able to enter into a legally-binding contractual
agreement within the United States of America. If you’re not, we won’t
be able to work with you yet. Sorry. Blame our lawyers!

Here’s something to keep in mind. Since we’re paying to have the
shirts printed, and are responsible for the sales, we will only accept
a small number of designs — the ones that we think we can actually
sell to our existing ComicSpace audience. I’ll be the person doing the
initial triage on submissions, but the final decision will be in the
hands of the entire ComicSpace team. If we reject your design, it
simply means that we’re not sure that we could sell a few hundred
copies of it, in wearable form, to our audience. It doesn’t mean we
don’t love you and your work! You are not allowed to be a sourpuss!
Ha!

So yeah. What are you waiting for?

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