Maitz on Art Pact: “On Fantasy Publishing, and Negotiating Contracts”

Don Maitz, a renowned (and one of my favorite) fantasy and maritime artist, wrote an excellent article over at Art Pact.  This paragraph especially caught my eye:

So that being said, most producers of a product want to see a fair profit for everyone involved in their production line. Things get dicey when the financial bottom line takes precedent over content and when a legal department does it’s job too well. In Ian Ballantine’s day, as many artists such as I remember, the company, be it a publishing house or gaming company, was answerable to the president who made ultimate decisions on the products they chose and how they were to be conceived and marketed. These self owned enterprises were able to go out on a limb to try something on their own. Today, such companies are owned by corporations that also own many other companies in the Entertainment industry and the person that makes the bulk of the important decisions is now the accountant, as the quarterly bottom line that is fed to the corporate board and stockholders sets the guidelines. Profit over content is something that publishers are struggling with and I believe is the core issue of why this website was established.

— Don Maitz, “On Fantasy Publishing, and Negotiating Contracts“, Art Pact (May 2014)

Back Porchlight Squatter

Back porch light squatterA robin built a nest on top of our back porch light.  It’s been there a week or so, but for the last couple of days, she hasn’t left the nest when we slide open the patio door.  She stayed put while I took a couple of photos of her with my smartphone.

According to the Wikipedia article on the American Robin, it only takes a couple of weeks for the eggs to hatch.  If she leaves the nest, I’ll try to take a photo of them as well.