As you may have deduced from the lack of postings here, Mark is busy. Not Mushroom Soup busy but close. Normal posting will resume shortly.
If I had more time today, I'd write an even longer rant than the one on which I am about to embark. It's about "contests" that try to con aspiring (or just hungry) artists and writers into working on spec. You know the type: They act like the prize is some wonderful opportunity to have your work published or produced. It's your golden opportunity to submit your writing and/or drawing on the most onerous terms possible.
Sometimes, they want you to use their characters…and of course, that means they'll claim ownership of your submission and prevent you from selling it anywhere else. Sometimes, they want you to invent your own characters…and of course, if they even pay you a nickel, they'll claim all rights in perpetuity to those characters. Basically, it's a one-way deal: If they accept it, they'll pay you whatever they feel like paying you. That's not always obvious if you read the terms because, for example, one current "contest" promises to pay you 40%. Well, 40% of what? A percentage deal is meaningless unless there's a fairly explicit contract that specifies whether it's a percentage of the gross or of the net and how they'll calculate those numbers.
Amazingly, people enter these "contests." And even more amazing is that in some cases, they cough up a fee to enter them. That's like paying someone to rob you.
I cannot overstate how slimy I think these rackets are…and how bad they are for the careers of anyone stupid enough to participate. You may think you have so much talent that it will surely be recognized and you'll reap whatever rewards are there for the reaping. You may even think that it won't matter to you if the rewards are small because any success is better than what you have at the moment. The problem with that way of thinking is that, first of all, you're probably climbing into bed with sleazy entrepreneurs who don't like to actually pay for what you do. That never ends well for creative talent. Secondly, you're entering at the lowest-possible level. If you want people to treat you like a professional whose work is worthy of professional rates, you have to act like one.
There's a thriving industry out there that preys on the dreams of folks who want to be writers, artists or even actors. You wouldn't believe some of the come-ons I see around Hollywood that say, more or less, "Give us money and we'll get you the lead in Scorsese's next picture." That's not how it ever works. Writers who can't get anyone to publish their work are often tempted by vanity presses that promise the following: You pay them to print your book and they'll do promotion and marketing of it (translation: you'll do promotion and marketing of it) and its natural wonderment will propel you onto the best-seller lists and a house next door to Stephen King's. Never works that way, either.
Lately, in comics and animation, it seems to go like this: Someone says, "Hey, we need to hire artists for all these projects we hope to sell." Someone else at the company (or maybe the same someone) says, "Why pay? Do you know how many kids there are out there desperate to get into this line of work? Let's just do a contest and get them all to do work and submit to us. We may even be able to get those saps to pay for the privilege."
Generally speaking, they're not asking you to audition for a project that's definitely going forward. Often, you're auditioning for something they may do if they find the financing that they obviously don't have yet or they'd just go out and hire artists the usual way. You're not only gambling they'll like your work but that their business plans will succeed. Then if they do succeed and if your free work has helped make that happen, how likely do you think it is that they're going to pay you well? If you demand what you deserve, they'll probably just start another "contest" and look for someone else who's hungry enough to work for free.
Please…I know the economy's bad. I know doors are getting slammed in your face and there's a temptation to try anything that might change the arc of your career. Not everything changes things for the better and if you treat your work like it is without value, that's how others will treat it. And perhaps they should.