It’s always nice to see good things happen to good people, and today’s announcement that the long-running Goats webcomic will be published by Random House imprint Villard in a multi-book deal is a prime example of that sort of scenario. I was fortunate to have a chance to speak with Goats creator Jon Rosenberg about the announcement.

As always, I’ve posted an excerpt here, with a link to the full interview at the end of the post.

When I spoke with Goats creator Jon Rosenberg a month ago, he hinted at big things in store for his long-running webcomic that may or may not involve lasers, contracts and lawn care professionals.

Well, the news broke today, and despite a conspicuous absence of lasers and lawn care, there is indeed a contract at the heart of Rosenberg's big announcement. Rosenberg tells ComicMix that Random House imprint Villard will be publishing collections of the color strips of the series (everything from late-2003 until the current storyline) in a set of 150-page volumes. He expects to have the first volume ready for San Diego's Comic-Con International next year, with two more volumes following in six-month intervals.

From the official press release:

Villard Books will publish the recently completed Goats story arc, The Infinite Pendergast Cycle, as a trilogy —in the style of the great sci-fi sagas Goats so affectionately parodies. Each trade paperback volume will be full color and published at six-month intervals. The first volume, Goats: Infinite Typewriters, set for July 2009, will include newly revised and created material intended to introduce new readers to the colossal and complex Goats universe—and set up the audience for the rest of the epic. Book 1 will cover material published on the Goats website from December 2003 to January 2006. The second book, Goats: The Corndog Imperative, scheduled for a November 2009 release, covers January 06 to March 2007. And the third book, Goats: Showcase Showdown, due out in April 2010, covers March 07 to April 08.

I spoke with Rosenberg about the publishing deal and what it means for one of the 'Net's longest-running webcomics.

COMICMIX: So how did this deal come about, Jon? Who approached who?

JON ROSENBERG: My agent, Judy Hansen, made everything happen. I called her up one day and she said, "Hold on, I'm going to call up Random House and get you a book deal." And I waited on hold for a bit and when she got back on, it was all taken care of.

I'm beginning to suspect that Judy has some supernatural abilities, it has been an amazing education watching her bend reality to her will as she works.

CMix: What can you tell us about the specifics of the deal? Do you receive anything on a per-book basis, or was this a flat-rate arrangement?

JR: This is a standard book-type deal as far as I understand, with a royalty rate and an advance paid on those royalties and that sort of thing. It's a nice deal, I'm not going to retire early on it or anything but I'm quite happy with the terms.

CMix: Are you planning to do anything in particular to format the strips for print publication, or will they translate to print easily in their current form?

JR: There may be a bit of formatting here and there to accommodate odd-shaped strips but everything has been designed in mind with making the transition as painless as possible. The books are 8" square, which means each page can hold up to three rows of comic panels. And even though I publish on the web at 72dpi, I still have 600dpi source files of all the comics in print-ready formats.

CMix: Who's going to write the forewords to the books?

JR: Good question! I'm not sure yet, I always feel like I'm imposing when I ask for someone to write something about my work. Maybe I'll send out my requests for back-cover blurbs and see who's the most enthusiastic respondent.

Head over to ComicMix for the full interview with Jon Rosenberg on the Goats publishing deal.