Transparency | Set Margins'

SET MARGINS' TRANSPARENCY

Set Margins’ builds on 20-years professional experience. This ranges from working with established professionals and working in institutional settings, to dealing with precarious bases of progressive practitioners and art workers. Within Set Margins’, as in publishing at large, there will be books with more means and/or results, contributing to books with less means and/or results. The full list will inspire and strengthen the sum and therefore all parts.

Part of Set Margins’ community lives and works by the precarious mode and is inclined to DIY and keeping things close. Set Margins’ works with solidarity and productive honesty. This means Set Margins’ can both stand in solidarity with precarious production, can DIY in means of labor and finance, without giving-in too much. On the other end, Set Margins’ can things further via optional investment into production anticipating positive revenue.

When partners have more or full basis in production budgets, Set Margins’ will welcome support and acknowledgment of Set Margins’ as standard to sectors like commercial branding or MA education. Altogether, every project has its own budgetary and managerial conditions and needs to be respected accordingly. Equally and simultaneously each project must be considered along with entrepreneurial opportunities and alongside the content itself.

The ownership of the publication’s rests with the authors. All information on the website is shared Creative Commons 4.0, so you must accept that if you want to work with us. Your book can have copyright if you want.

Freek is the owner and does not sign a contract but offers transparency.Those commissioned by Set Margins’, sign a contract. People we publish and commissioners, have contracts as well. Unless we sign a contract, nothing is written. This is to stay good friends most.

If parties reach out to Set Margins’, they initially enter as commissioner.

In coproduction, we define and share responsibility.

Set Margins’ offers full transparency on its business plan and financial situation. You can find this a little further down.

Rates services Set Margins'

In cooperation, starting from within the dynamics of the project, we define tasks and responsibilities. Set Margins’ can provide a range of services in support of the result, working our way from the content to the framing of the object whilst keeping track of and anticipating to financial and creative opportunities.

Set Margins’ will receive compensation for services made prior to release and/or after release in balance with and acknowledging the efforts of others involved as well as realistic to the financial opportunities within production and through sales.

A working basis rate within the production phase is 40 € ex VAT, 65 € ex VAT for an ideal budget or greater opportunities and/or means. If multiple professionals are involved, payments and must be in balanced between all involved. In case a project must be released regardless of means and/or efforts need to be done for free, cheap or with much risk, that is opportune but requires a transparent basis to establish consent and acknowledge mutual respect. Set Margins' can provide this as experienced process manager.

Set Margins’ non-exhaustive, continuously developing, managerial pamphlet

Set Margins’ brings transparent, honest and constructive collaboration on the basis of engagement and trust.

Set Margins’ is clear about what can and cannot be done but allows for much that might be.
During the process, Set Margins’ remains open to new insights when needed or when opportunities arise. This may be particularly progressive when operating precariously or with closed budgets when this is necessary to working creatively and to delivering outstanding work.

Set Margins’ works along direct, short lines, delivering professional, integral consideration of the full spectrum in book making resolute and thorough, such as opportunities of content, form, costs of production and expected results and much more.

Set Margins’ is attentive to respectful honesty to motive and sensitivity and operates with effort for consent along the process, as to work on a basis of trust.

Set Margins’ invests care and (self) criticality towards presuppositions and blind spots of all involved.

Set Margins’ respects collaborators with financial and managerial honesty and transparency to budgets, effort, and ambitions.

Set Margins’ work is based on shared working budgets acknowledging what is recognized, what may be recognized and what is not, leading up to final contracts.

Set Margins’ may invest along calculated risk transparently, either in terms of work effort or in terms of financial investment.

Set Margins’ is not a funding body.

Formal foundation

Set Margins’ starts out as an ‘eenmanszaak’ as the legal person is called in Dutch: a one-man business. This is financially the preferred way to start with regards to tax responsibility and internal organisation. It is a one-man duty. That of Freek Lomme. This also includes a personal liability for Freek to Set Margins’ on financial and legal level. This makes sense for the start-up costs as well as free labor are on Freek, and free labor will remain up to Freek and people Set Margins’ will collaborate with.

Set Margins’ might grow and become another formal entity, a ‘BV’. This is a slightly bigger enterprise, wherein more people can work, but owned by Freek. This change will be realistic when Set Margins’ reaches a turnover wherein the bureau can grow out of increased revenue from services or sales.

Business plan

The development of Set Margins’ is to follow various phases:

1. Start-up phase

First there will be the financial investments by Freek, without returns. This implies the investment of much free labor by Freek.

There are the material costs of setting-up the website, warehouse, financial infrastructure, identity and more, which will presumably cost about up to € 15.000.
Second costs are those of first publications. Set Margins’ will do a reprint of ‘Can you feel it? Effectuating tactility and print’ as first publication. The print costs (about € 5.000 ex VAT) are paid by Freek, like the first print he made of the book, and all benefits of sales will go to Set Margins’, like the benefits of the previous prints did not go to Freek either.
This phase is expected to complete somewhere October-November 2022.

2. Pioneer phase

Once Set Margins’ is up and running, it will take some time to cross the cost-benefits ratio. Two types of benefits will bring stability to Set Margins. First money paid to Set Margins’ for services, such as editorial work, lectures, publishing advice, graphic design or otherwise and second money from sales of books.

At first the results will cover costs of the day-to-day workings, such as publicity/PR, packaging and posting, travel and residence, but equally investments into print costs. Meanwhile Freek will pay for his living expenses via freelance jobs. If there are possibilities for him to route money into investments for Set Margins’, he will do so and these contributions will become visible in the budgets made transparent along all other cash flows.
If titles are proposed without (enough) means, and opportunities are well calculated, Set Margins’ might decide to contribute to print of other titles, coming through private risk, invested by Freek, evidently thought through along a balancing of various criteria . As there will not be reserves for revenues at first, this will be covered by various loans through family, friends, and low percentage cultural loans. This is well calculated, informed by years of experience, and will be fruitful.
This phase is expected to complete somewhere early 2023, slowly moving into the next phase.

3. Secure phase

Once the benefits can cover the costs, Set Margins’ is stable. Freek aspires to earn about € 2500,- ex vat freelance wage as soon as possible, as this is the minimum he requires to pay for his living expenses. It would be nice to also gain €300 per month to pay for a Bread Fund. This fee is not connected to hours made and is likely not to be a ‘fair’ wage. Yet, Freek considers this to offer security.
Pressing costs of bureau (mostly labor) and working efficiently, allows for more cash and effort to be pushed to the objective of Set Margins’ and the establishing of Set Margins’ as an agency. Equally, this implies the operation will be one in an economy of trust. Set Margins’ will channel this through clear processes, organisation and contracts.
Set Margins’ expects to get here no later than mid 2023.

4. Acknowledged phase

Set Margins’ is fully established once its continuation is secure, financial reserves

allow for enough risk management and there are structurally enough returns to pay according to the Fair Practice code and hire Freek in a permanent contract. New staff would also be contracted, although this might also happen earlier.
Freek hopes to get here late 2023, early 2024.

Financial responsibility to all engaged with Set Margins’

Where money goes around, particularly in this precarious environment where nickels are worth dimes, Set Margins’ offers full transparency. Set Margins’ will not handle cash. All bank transactions will be shared, budgets and breakdowns will be shared. Quarterly figures and financial year reports will be shared. But most importantly: there will be small but insightful explanations. This allows for deeper engagement and understanding.

First overview of costs and benefits, that of the third quarter 2022, can be found HERE

Overview of the fourth quarter 2022, can be found here.