Here is a quick post to set a couple of things straight regarding the Warlord of Io mini-series and Diamond Comics decision not to list it in Previews.

First thing is a small issue of semantics. Lot of people are using the word "rejected" when describing what happened with the comic. While this is an easy assumption to make, it is not 100% accurate. It would be more accurate to say that they declined to list the product as formatted. The Warlord of Io one-shot which came out earlier this month sold pretty poorly and did not make the benchmarks laid out by Diamond. Their assumption (probably not inaccurate) was that if a $3.95, 48-page comic could not sell well enough to make the benchmark of $2500, then a $3.50 comic with similar content would not make it either and that subsequent issues would all be below the minimum.

I can't and don't take issue with the reasoning, I can argue that the benchmarks being too high, but, seriously, the one-shot only sold 900 copies in the direct market, so who really made money from that?

Diamond did say that they might be open to a larger, more expensive comic (say something at 48-60 pages in the 6-7 dollar price range) but that seemed to be a wasted effort given that a product that size would only serve to cannibalize the sales of an eventual trade paperback, which Diamond would certainly list when or if it ever saw the light of day.

The other small bit of confusion is about whether this comic has already appeared in Previews. It has not. The decision to not list the book means that consumers and retailers will not have the opportunity to say they do not want this comic.

While James and I are both disappointed with the turn of events, I for one was not surprised. I had hoped that perhaps 23 years in business and the previous success of Rex Libris might buy us a little grace on this project, but I am not stunned, as the marketplace has been telling me for years that the only thing they want from us are comics by Jhonen Vasquez. The funny thing about that is that the first issue of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac would not have made the current Diamond purchase order benchmark, so the subsequent issues would never have seen the light of day. The same can be said for Milk and Cheese, whose first issue barely sold 2,000 copies. We have always depended on being able to build circulation and readership on our books; the current climate seems to indicate that that is not going to work anymore.

Only James can tell you whether he plans on completing Warlord of Io. My guess is he will at some point, but that he will focus his current energies on something else and will continue to work on the Warlord project in his spare time. We will continue to offer Warlord as a download and we will be printing a small quantity of the declined book for sale on our website and at conventions.
 
Lastly I want to say that, again, this is to me is not solely a Diamond issue and that attempts to vilify them are off base. I have enjoyed a long and productive relationship with that company and I would expect to work with them as my distributor to the book market in the event that we publish a Warlord graphic novel and I do not wish them ill. I have said before that the issues and problems facing comics as an industry today had their seeds planted a long time ago and are just now coming to the surface. I have to take my share of the blame for some bad decision making in the past five or six years as well which no doubt have contributed to the fact that it is harder for us to bring work by someone like James Turner to market.
 
So, thanks all for the support on this, while it might be too late for Warlord hopefully some of our supporters can use this as an opportunity to at least take a peek at our upcoming comic book projects Captain Blood and Zeke Deadwood and, if they feel inclined, let their local retailer know in no uncertain terms that they would like to buy these comic when they come out.

- DV

I have a lot to do this week, but I'm going to go ahead and skim some time from the top to note the response to Diamond Comics' decision not to carry Warlord of Io, the new mini-series by Rex Libris creator James Turner. The most considered one comes from Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter, who uses Warlord of Io's fate as a case study in analysis of the changing direction of the comic book industry:  "A shift from a model where an artist like Turner fails in the marketplace to a model where an artist like Turner is denied the opportunity to try, I think that's worth noting."

In doing a little research of the sales in our Boutiki store (where we stock all of our in-print books, as well as comics and graphic novels by other publishers), I made a discovery about just how much James "fails" in our little marketplace. I'll get into it in my Publishers Weekly column this week. Admittedly, the Boutiki isn't an accurate microcosm of the comics direct market as a whole, but that's kind of the point. As Spurgeon notes: "James Turner should be on-line and in comics shops, and the reason he's not going to be is because that's been decided for him. This decision was not solely made by market forces: he's able to make the comics and has someone willing to publish them. It was made in one leg of the capitalist stool by an interpretation of what those market forces should mean, not the forces themselves."

Warlord of Io, meanwhile, is going digital --  issue one is available to download now at our website -- and will be published as a graphic novel. To get an idea of what it's all about, check out Michael May's review at Robot 6* of The Warlord of Io and Other Stories, a kind of "issue #0" that was printed and distributed by Diamond. May calls James Turner "Rip-Your-Brain-Out-Of-Your-Head-Because-You-Won’t-Need-It-Anymore-After-This Awesome" and gives Warlord of Io and Other Stories five out of five tiki pirates.

- JdG

*disclaimer, as always: I do freelance work for Robot 6.

I often wonder how interested in the behind-the-scenes machinations people who read our comics are. Not behind-the-scenes as in how artists write and draw or what office life is like at SLG Headquarters, but really behind the scenes, the place where we furrow our brows and worry and wonder what's coming next in this industry of ours.

I talked to someone interested into reading prose books and who was thinking of taking up writing a while ago, and whereas his interest was in craft, mine now lies more in the realm of business. "How do you keep writing until you have a whole story?" he asked, which is a legitimate question, but I was like, "Oh, I just keep writing and revising until I have one, and oh my god did you know that book sales were down 13% in November?! Advances are being cut! Staff is being cut! A woman who was an editor for one company for twenty-five years was laid off! That is like my worst nightmare! How can I find a publisher for my novel in an economy like this? What is going to mean for other new writers? What is it going to mean for literature? OHMYGOD, MY DREAMS, THEY ARE DYING."

My point is that if you value the product, you might want to understand the state of the industry. So if you value independent comics and graphic novels, you might want to know that things are not going well in the comics industry right now. There's only so long those of us working in the industry can put up a chipper front before the smiles become shaky and unnatural. Things are bad, folks, just like they're bad all over the country in all industries, and we're battening down to weather through it.

If you want to know more, I suggest you read this article by my boss, SLG's President Dan Vado at The Comics Reporter. It's about the new ordering benchmarks implemented by Diamond Comics, the biggest (err, only) distributor of comics to comic book stores. The benchmark has been raised from $1500 to $2500, which means we have to sell more comics if Diamond is going to list and fulfill orders for them. It puts all smaller publishers in a difficult position, and probably means the end of independent serialized comics. Unfortunately, the book market isn't doing very well either, with Borders seemingly constantly on the brink of bankruptcy and bookstore sales indeed down 13% in November (compared to 10% for all retail).

So I want you to know that each and every person who reads our comics and graphic novels really does make a difference to us, and I'm glad you're out there.

"Oh, hey, Strawman! What've you been up to?"

"Well, Jennifer, funny you should ask -- I've just been put into use to make independent comics publishers and creators look like sniveling idiots by someone at a site called iFanboy."

"Really? That's the guy who named Punk Rock and Trailer Parks the book of the month a while back. Does he think that because he's giving attention to indie comics he can dismiss our concerns? Well, that's not cool!"

"No, it sure isn't. And not only does he marginalize and trivialize your concerns, he doesn't know that big box bookstores like Borders give books prominent placement because their publishers pay for it."

"Hey, but I --"

"I know! You totally wrote about that in one of your Publishers Weekly columns!"

"That's true, Strawman."

"And everyone should be reading your columns because you are so insightful and smart, not to mention.... hey! Why am I being so service-y?"

"Silly Strawman! You're a straw man. I can make you say whatever I want!"

On the left there is some very lovely art promoting Marvel's new series The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by Eric Shanower with art by Skott Young. Sure is pretty, right?

But Dorothy -- you look so lonely and forlorn, dear! You know, I know another girl who needs cheering up. I'll introduce you, and I'm sure you'll be great friends because you seem to have a few things in common.


Oh, no, don't worry Mary Ann. You're not that nondescript. In fact, I find you very distinctive. Mary Ann, just think of yourself as an inspiration.

(Thanks, Ben!)

It being the 21st century and all, we have decided to expand our submissions policy to include digital submissions! Now, not only can you forgo the self-addressed stamped envelope as long as you include an email address, but you can send us your submission through email.

Don't go crazy yet, though. All of our other submission guidelines still apply, and there are some specifically for digital submissions:


This is going to be on a trial basis for now. If I find that I'm overwhelmed by submissions and can't reply to them in a timely way, we might have to go back to accepting only mailed submissions. (We will, however, continue to send replies to submissions by email.) So please follow these instructions to keep the option available to everyone.

I was motivated to try this out not only to save paper, but to get a wider variety of submissions. (I'm hoping it will cut down on the frustration of crazy packaging, huge print outs, and envelopes full of stickers, as well.) I expect it will also increase the number of submissions.

With that in mind, I'd like to remind everyone that I am still very much against comics in which women are only there to be victimized plot devices. The premature demise of Minx has not convinced me that girls and women do not read comics; I am more certain now that we need comics that appeal to girls and women, and that it will be up to independent publishers to provide these, since a major publisher like DC will not give a line of books for girls time to succeed. We will not be able to, as comics creator Rivkah suggested is ideal, pay $55,000 dollar advances (I just about choked when I read that figure -- that is more than most indie editors makes in salary, I'm sure, and it is common wisdom that large advances are responsible for a lot of problems in the traditional publishing industry), but we will do our best to get graphic novels into the hands of those who want to read them, as well as those who didn't know they wanted to read them.

It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm still here at home, puttering around and feeling useless. I wanted to go back to the office today, but my mom and husband were like, "No, you shouldn't! You need to take it easy for a few more days!" Pssshh. I don't know why I listen to them, all concerned about my well-being. I'm actually fine, aside from having to take a break every hour so to lounge restlessly and unwillingly on the couch, and am determined to roll back into SLG headquarters on Monday. Who knew that being indolent goes against my very nature?

So I'm going to be useful and answer some advice questions. Sorry to the folks who sent these months ago and had to wait so long for answers, but I hope this might still be useful. All right, first one:

My mother is an aspiring author and as such I have learnt many things about dos and don'ts of submitting manuscripts to publishers. However, I'm not sure how helpful any of that stuff is in terms of submitting comics.

For example, I was told that publishers do not like you sending your book in an already bound, printed up format which you could do through a website like lulu.com. Would this be the same for comics? I know that many cartoonists try self-publishing at some point, so is submitting your comics in a printed format, already bound up format still a big no?

I personally don't like bound books in submissions for a variety of reasons:

1. The people who get their books bound seem to correspond at a high rate to people who think that because they've included an entire book, they do not need to include a synposis. The just expect you to read the whole book, and I hate to say this, but editors do not want to read whole books in slushpiles.

2. Graphic novels are not like prose novels. I don't know about most publishers, but I prefer if a book isn't finished before it's submitted. Editors may want you to make tweaks and changes to your story, and if it's already finished, well, you're just going to have to not only re-write but re-draw parts of it. Check other publishers' guidelines for specifics, but all we want is some sequential pages and a good synopsis that includes the whole story. We don't need the whole book yet.

3. It is an unncessary expense, and for some reason I don't like seeing artists unnecessarily spend money. Every time I see a submission arrive by Fed Ex, every time I see super-fancy presentations and bound books, I think, "Lucky that you have money to waste if you want to get into the comics business."

4. Because they're expensive to produce, I feel bad about putting them in the recycling if the project is rejected. Sometimes I'll send them back to the artist even if they didn't include enough postage to return it, but if a lot of people sent bound books without return postage, the expense would become too great for me to keep doing that.


OK, another one. This one falls kind of into the realm of Miss Manners or Dear Abby. Am I qualified to answer? You can decide!

How does someone find out why a publisher seems to have a strange attitude towards oneself, especially when one has known the person for some twenty years? Directly asking him what is the problem seems awkward, but the mystery is baffling?

Conventions are not places to make pitches, but what can one do if editors seem to run away at the very sight of you, even if you're clean and don't stink?

I wouldn't mind getting turned down if my work is crap, my opinions silly, and my knowledge ill-informed (especially if I can be shown that that is actually the case), but to not even get an audience doesn't seem fair.

Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong or what is condemning me?

First off, for your, "asking directly is awkward" situation, may I direct you to an article from O magazine, How to Speak Up and Get What You Want. Yes, I'm looking to Oprah's magazine for this one. You will never find out anything or get desired results by sitting around and wondering what's going on. I can't tell what's going on because I'm not the editor in question (the "twenty years" comment gives that away -- unless you are one of my elementary school friends). The only way I would know the editor's reason is if I were that editor, and the only way you're going to find out what that editor knows is by asking him or her, not by speculation or some other indirect means.

I will make up some possible reasons though. When I did a panel at Comic-Con with Randal Jarrell, Oni's Managine Editor, about mistakes people make in breaking into comics, we talked about the mistake of thinking that personality does not matter. (There's a great write-up of the panel by Dan Head at Paperback Reader, by the way -- I meant to link to it earlier.) You want rejection to be based on your work, but editors do sometimes choose whom they want to work with based on other criteria. Editors are in contact with artists pretty frequently, and as Randal said, "We don't make enough money to have to deal with jerks." Not that you're a jerk. Maybe, as your question seems to indicate, you're socially awkward, and socially awkward people make others uncomfortable. Or maybe the editor just doesn't like you; personalities can conflict, and that doesn't work out well when you're editing someone's work. Or maybe the editor does like you -- as a person -- but doesn't like your work and doesn't want to have to dash your ambitions.

Is avoiding someone the best way to get any of this across? Of course not. But I don't even know if these scenarios are true. As I said, when you don't know what's going on and you really want to, there are situations in which the only way to find out is to ask. It is kind of awkward, but at least you won't be wasting energy worrying. Maybe you should just let this go if you don't want to ask. Discounting the possibility that this is one of those situations when someone thinks an editor is "snubbing" them when in fact no such thing is happening, obviously this editor isn't interested in working with you, whatever his or her reasons.

OK, I think this is pretty funny. A couple of weeks back, I posted an excerpt from a review of Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures, but, as I'm wont to do these days since LJ isn't getting along with Firefox 3 when it comes to links, I forgot to post a link to it. (OK, I'm just wont to do that anyway.) When I was searching for new reviews of this graphic novel, I discovered that the writer of this review noticed the lack of link, and also my terrible crimes of paraphrasing and not writing his pseudonym correctly. What is the appropriate response to remedy such an oversight, do you think? Perhaps a message or comment saying, "Hey, you forgot the link and my name is spelled thusly"? Not if you're the reviewer whose review was quoted, Mister V from Atlantis Comics in Lakewood, Colorado, which he represents in an Internet-capacity. If you're him, this is the appropriate response:

While it's always flattering to have my insights and opinions utilized to push a noteworthy book, I'm finding they quoted me with a lack of respect for both myself and my generous sponsor, Atlantis Comics. Firstly, they chose not to plug Atlantis Comics (without whom none of this would be possible) by linking this site to their own, which shows an astounding absence of professional courtesy. On top of that, instead of saying something generous like 'Atlantis Comics in Lakewood, Colorado,' they chose to say, '... Atlantis Comics, (not to be confused with Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz, California).' Well fucking thanks a lot, guys. Way to plug a store that has fucking nothing to do with the review or the reviewer. This brings me to my final exception, the more personal one, in which the author of the blog claims I said a particular cat pun page was 'terrible.' To quote myself, I believe what I said was the puns were "fucking awful." While I understand the desire to leave profanity out of things, I'm insulted to be paraphrased. There is a difference between 'awful' and 'terrible.' Don't make me get the damn dictionary out. Finally, it's "Mister V," people. "Mister." Spell it out. "Mr. V" is a DJ. "Mister V" is a cranky comic book creator and reviewer. Believe it or not, there's a difference.

[... ] With all respect and much love to Kerry Callen and his endlessly enjoyable book, let that be a warning to the rest of you. Give credit where credit's due, show some professional courtesy, and quote me accurately or not at all, or I'll trash talk the shit out of you.

I'm sorry I'm quoting so extensively; I usually try not to do that in the interest of etiquette, but I don't want to repeat my insult of summarization.

He includes in every blog post the statement "You've been warned." Oh, I've been warned, Mister V, indeed. I've corrected the original post, so hopefully my dreadful insult won't mean I have to fight a duel with a man so honorable that he passive-aggressively* and pseudonymously directs inflammatory language toward someone because of that person's honest mistake. If I were as inclined to get as bent out of shape about this, I would say, "How fucking dare you call me a 'guy.' I'm a woman, a fact that is easily discoverable. There's a difference between a 'guy' and a 'woman.' Don't make me get the damn Grey's Anatomy out." Actually, I would never separate a preposition from its verb like that. And I'd use "take" instead of "get" -- it just seems more proper to take out something rather than get out something. It's probably a regional thing. I'd say "Don't make me take out the damn Grey's Anatomy." But, whatever.

JdG

*Just so you don't think I am displaying this same trait, I emailed the reviewer before I posted this.

I have a couple of comics features out there, and if you are so inclined to read them, here they are:

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" is a comic about the idiosyncrasies of working in comics, written by me and drawn by Brian Belew. The third installment, "Hero Worship," is about a memorable afternoon when I had lunch with Neil Gaiman and found myself tongue-tied.

"Life in Comics" is a column focuses on the business of working in comics -- a look into what goes on behind the panels. This month's column, "Creator Ownership and Small Publishers," takes a look a creator rights, and how small publishers that offer creator ownership must put their faith in artists.

Please remember that in my freelance commentary represents my views and not my employer's! I am an individual! I assert my self-identity! But I'm not above using this blog to link to my stuff. I'm not sure how that sorts out, but I have a new issue of Rex Libris to read, so I'll let the ethical issues fight it out in the background.

I'm going to get back to posting SLG news eventually, but there's another issue that's come up that I want to open to discussion. I've seen a number of creative people concerned about the Orphan Works Act, a piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Republican) in 2006. The concern was triggered by an article by Mark Simon at Animation World Magazine, wherein Simon asserts that the passage of the bill would "legalize theft."

Basically, the bill will provide a provisions within copyright law that allows the reproduction of "orphan works"  -- that is, works for whom no copyright holder can be found. Many think there is some kind of loophole in the proposed legislation that would make it far too easy for works to be labeled orphan works and be used without the copyright holder's permission. They also are concerned that they will be required to register their copyrights in order to be protected by the law. This does not seem to be the case; however, it has always been true that you must have a registered copyright in order to receive statutory damages. This bill will not change that.

I actually found out about this first from Meredith Patterson, whom I've known for years. Her blog post about orphan works alarm made the rounds pretty widely after BoingBoing linked to it. Like Meredith, I find Simon's rhetoric over-the-top and unconvincing, but I also don't want my distaste for his style make me overlook an issue that could be of real concern to creative people.

So I did a little research. I urge others to read the principle document in question, H.R. 5439. Currently, the bill is still before the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and the House Committee on the Judiciary. It has not been brought to the floor of the House for debate or vote. Just last month, the Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, made a statement to this subcommitte and committee laying out the Office of Copyright's position on the particulars of the bill. I urge you to read this as well if you have been alarmed about this bill.

Peters notes that the Copyright Office rejects any proposal that would create "a government-managed compulsory license, and [institute] a ceiling on available damages." She stresses that the rights of creators of works that have been incorrectly used as orphan works remain in place: "If an owner were to emerge, his legal ownership of the copyright in his work is unchanged. Full remedies, including full statutory damages, would be available against new users..."

I think her statement shows that the Office of Copyright shares some of the concerns of creative people and is seeking to educate the House committees about those concerns before the bill is brought to vote. In fact, it might never be brought to vote in its current incarnation. The workings of Congress are long and tortuous (and perhaps torturous). If you want to write to your Congressman to see if he or she can urge the members of the committee to consider your concerns, I'm sure it couldn't hurt. But it's my opinion that worrying over this as if it's imminently dangerous to your rights is premature. You're much more likely to think about and communicate your concerns clearly if you remain calm.

Of course, I'm no legal expert, so I'd like to hear what others think about this -- citing credible sources, however, not just repeating alarmist fears.

One of the stories coming out of New York Comic-Con that caught my attention is Vertigo's announcement that they are seeking to acquire original graphic novels. They've announced Jeff Lemire and Peter Bagge as coming on board, both of whom do comics work outside of the speculative fiction genres Vertigo has traditionally published. Karen Berger, Vertigo Senior Vice President, comments in the PW article I'm linking to here, "We're really moving out of the traditional genres Vertigo is known for publishing and into the reality based fiction that you might expect from other book publishers."

I'm not sure if anyone has addressed this news in these terms (there's just too much NYCC commentary going around for me to read it all*): In essence, what Vertigo is doing is putting DC into competition with independent comics publishers -- much as mainstream publishers have done in recent years with the establishment of graphic novel imprints, such as Random House's Pantheon (they publish former indie-comics mainstays Daniel Clowes and Charles Burns). Jeff Lemire was, as far as I can tell, first published by Top Shelf after first self-publishing.

This seems to be a different model from how Minx went about getting talent -- there was not the open call for submissions with that imprint. Instead, Minx editor Shelly Bond took a look at the comics we, Oni and Top Shelf were publishing and did a little browsing, choosing artists to approach. (OK, I can't actually say that's what she did, and it's so, like, two-years-ago's controversy. And anyway, I can't be completely down on this. It's her job, just as it's mine to read mini-comics and keep an eye out for artists I think are cool, and, hell, it puffs up our editorial pride.)

So I'm wondering what I should anticipate. Sometimes, when we publish new comics, I know that Minx will be on the creator in a flash once the project's announced, but I don't know if it will work the same way with Vertigo's editors. I wonder if there will be a temporarily lull in submissions, followed by a torrent of Vertigo-rejected projects.

Time will tell.
--

*Check out this "regular book" blog's comments on pictures from NYCC: "the Boba Fett was a fan (who was wandering around with a near-identical twin, in a more battered olive-tinged armor)."

Comic Book Guy, please enlighten this blogger: "Uh, the guy in the picture is Jango Fett, and the near-identical twin is, duh, his clone, who, as it turns out, is the one who is actually Boba Fett. Get it right! Worst. Convention. Coverage. Ever."

Not that I'm huge on Star Wars or anything (actually, I'm pretty damned sick of it), but I found that mistake kind of cute.

Hey, SLG readers, Eisner Award nominations were announced today, and guess what?

We were totally and completely snubbed!

Not that it's much of a surprise, and the judges have to nominate what they feel is the best work produced in the last year, but it's still kind of a downer, in an amusing sort of way. I'm into ambivalent emotions -- they're complex and you can sit for a long time and try to sort them out -- figure out the what-exactly-am-I-feelings and whys and what-can-we-dos and all that. Now, normally, I like sitting around and trying to sort stuff out in my head. But I have work to do, and I'd like not to slip into a funk.

So, can you cheer us up? Tell us about stuff we published this year that you liked. Show us something silly that will make me and our creators smile through our wounded egos. I'm fully confident that you can do this. Because you're the people who matter most, right?


*I mean that in a sort-of-ironic way. I don't have a persecution complex. I hate those.

Because I know how fascinating my life is --

You might know that when Comic World News closed, my commentary column moved to Publishers Weekly Comics Week and is now called "Life in Comics." I was kind of sad to give up the title "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," but I thought I should go for something more straightforward. But nature must still find a way, you know, and I was soon given the opportunity to revive "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now."

It's now a monthly feature at Blog@Newsarama, a short comic, written by me and drawn by Brian Belew, about the weird stuff I encounter working in comics and what that says about the comics industry, with a short essay accompanying it. The first installment, "Origin Story," is up at Blog@Newsarama now. Future installments will be more pointed in their commentary on the industry, but I thought I'd introduce myself before I start pontificating.

Whoops, I almost forgot about this week's "Do You Think You Can Help Me?"! I was just finding putting together that trade paperback so fascinating, I guess. If you don't know what DYTYCHM? is, you'll soon realize that it is an advice column about working in independent comics. If you want to get involved, email your question to slgchief@gmail.com.

Multi-parter again!  Three times the information that you would get with just one question! Theoretically. As always, feel free to comment!

1) How much of my graphic novel should I realistically have completed before pitching it? This question is made even more complex by the fact that I would be looking to sell a series of graphic novels (I recognize this will be more difficult than trying to sell a single GN).

First, you should read the submission guidelines of the company you're sending the submission to and see if they have a desired number of pages. SLG's say at least five. If you have more, by all means send as many as you feel best represents your project. But don't draw the whole thing before pitching. You don't have to finish your graphic novel before pitching it, but you do need to know the whole story.

Brian Wood has some salient advice on the subject in a recent New York Post article: "If you're just trying to get an editor interested in you, you don't have to fully execute your 100-page graphic novel. You can just do the first chapter." (Heh. I bought the first issue of Channel Zero from Brian at the 1999 -- or was is it 1998? -- Comic-Con. I asked him if he liked William Gibson for some reason.)

This is where the graphic novel world differs from the regular novel world because you'd better not even think about sending a submission for a prose novel without finishing it first! I guess the reason is that . . . drawing is harder? It does take longer to draw a page than write one, so I can see the rationale. If the editor asks for changes, it would be really onerous if you have to redraw large portions of the book. Pitching a graphic novel is more like pitching a nonfiction book -- or a movie -- in this regard. Please note that it is not like pitching a movie in that we are impressed by people who act like buzzword-spouting slimeballs. (There is a terrible prejudice against the movie industry in comics, isn't there?! Terrible!)

And you're right -- selling a series of GNs is going to be much harder than selling a single graphic novel. What if the first one flops? Is a publisher going to want to make a commitment that could end up costing them thousands of dollars? I know this wasn't your question, but I think new artists are much better off starting with a graphic novel that stands on its own. Or at least if it's part of a planned series of GNs, make sure the first volume ends in a place that can be an ending if it comes to that.

2) Can you send submission packages to multiple editors at different companies at the same time, or do you need to wait to hear from the first publishing house before submitting to the second? (I have a vague memory of hearing this is supposed to be the ethical thing to do when shopping around novels.)

This called simultaneous submission. It sounds dirty, but it's not. Sometimes publishers will tell you in their submission guidelines that simultaneous submissions aren't OK with them, but I think that policy sucks. Are you supposed to wait around for months for them to reply before moving on to the next publisher on your list? Screw that. It could take half a year just to hit two publishers! We allow simultaneous subs -- we just ask that you let us know in the cover letter. You just have to make sure to keep track of where you've submitted so that if you do get accepted by one publisher, you know which others you need to contact. Don't expect to start a bidding war, though. I don't think that happens.

With prose novels, sometimes agents or publishers will ask to for an "exclusive" look at the whole book before they decide if they'll publish it. That means you can't send the whole book to anyone else for a stipulated period of time. That's fairly standard in the prose publishing world, but I don't know of it happening in comics. When you see James Lucas Jones and I knife-fighting at Comic-Con, then you'll understand how we settle things in independent comics.

3) How important do you think it is to have an agent?
In independent comics? When you're just trying to get your comic accepted for publication, not at all. You might want to get an agent to manage your contracts and pursue new opportunities once you're established, though. But seeing as most people make so little in independent comics when they're starting out, giving up 15-20% to an agent seems rough, and what agent wants even 20% of very little, anyway?

That went fast, so I'll tell you an agent story: I received a submission from an artist represented by a New York Literary Agent (the fanciest kind, so it's in caps, natch) last year. First, I want to make it clear that part of an agent's job is to make contacts at publishers. Maybe an editor isn't interested in one project the agent sends, but if the agent builds a relationship with that editor, s/he might find out what that editor might like better. So I got a submission from this agent. It had a cover letter that told me how much the artist's work was like Jhonen's and Roman's and Serena's blah blah blah. Then there were five illustrations and 91 pages of script with no synopsis. (Just so you know, I am not going to read 91 pages of script in an initial submission.) Also not included in the submission: a self-addressed stamped envelope. This is an essential ingredient in a submission, as it means you are not being so rude as to ask for a reply and expect the publisher to pay for postage -- especially if you want the whole submission package back, which is important in this story. (Did you know that in early 19th century England, the recipient of a communication did pay the postage? Weird!)

The agent called about a month after he sent in the submission to ask if we were interested in it. He called the artist "that [University name] guy." I had to remind him of his own client's name. Anyway, I said, no, we were not, briefly said why, and then the conversation went on like this:

"Well, could you send that back to me then?"
"Oh... I'm sorry. There was no indication that you wanted it back and no return envelope, so --"
"Oh, so you just threw it away? That's great."
"Well, if you wanted it back, there should have been some indication--"

But then I realized he'd hung up on me. Since we don't generally get submissions from agents, I thought maybe I had committed some faux pas, like there was a secret agreement among agents and publishers that a publisher will pay the postage to send 100 pages of an unsolicited submission back to the agent. I consulted friends in the prose world and they said, no, there was no faux pas on your part, Jennifer. The verdict: This agent acted like an asshole and did not do a job of representing his client in this case.

I don't know how you can check up on editors to make sure they're not assholes. You can check sites like Preditors and Editors, which lists unethical agents, but this particular agent was not on that list and actually has sold some books. I guess he just wasn't interested in not being an asshole to small potatoes such as myself.

The Octopus has been used as a symbol of business monopolies since early muck-raking times. Perhaps the most famous use of the octopus is the depiction of Southern Pacific Railroad as "The Curse of California," first published in San Francisco's The Wasp in 1882. In this cartoon, the octopus's tentacles squeeze avatars representing all areas of commerce in the state.

So was Steve Geppi, owner of Diamond Comics, which all but has a monopoly on comics distribution, being ironic when he commented on buying a movie theater (he also is part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles!) with, "Comic books are just proliferating at the movies, and I think it's a natural progression for me to have my tentacles into whatever embodies my business"? If so, that's bold, folks. Or is the irony in that he used the allusion while being unaware of its symbolic connotation?

The world may never know.

"Geppi to reopen cineplex at Westview," Baltimore Sun
Link via Journalista!

Just how many tentacles does this octopus have, anyway? Nine? Ten?

Welcome once more to my comics advice column, "Do You Think You Can Help Me?" I have a few questions in my queue, and I'll try to double up in future installments so those of you so good to send me email won't have to wait too long for answers. Do you have a question? Send it to slgchief @ gmail.com and be sure to tell me it's for the advice column so I know it's all right to post it on the blog. Now on to the question -- actually questions. It's a multi-parter.

As always, feel free to add your perspective in the comments!

I've had the question on my mind for a while. Out of the comics that you look over, what is it about the rejected comics that caused them not to be published? Is there a trend or a mistake to where you say to yourself "I cannot believe they just did that"? Is there a way that a author presents a project that turns you off?

The first thing that really makes me frown and prejudices me against the whole submission is seeing these words in the salutation of the cover letter: "Dear Sir." It's reasonable perhaps for someone submitting a proposal to think that perhaps the editor-in-chief of the company is not the first reader (these days I am, though), so I'm not bugged with "Dear Editor" or "Dear Sir or Madam" or stuff like that. But "Dear Sir"? It's just ridiculous.

Another thing that turns me off to a project is over-emphasis on marketing and money-making potential in the cover letter.  (I really hate seeing the phrase "18- to 25-year-old males, in particular.) Yes, I admit that when I read submissions, I think about whether a project is something we can sell. However, I want to know that the work is an important expression of personal creativity to the artist. I can't get excited about promoting a book that even the creator just thinks of as a way to make money or get a movie deal (you all already know I hate that).

Something I think people need to watch out for is getting too caught up in their creation and writing weird movie-tag-style descriptions that make no sense to anyone but them, like, "It'll tear you apart from the eye of the needle to the moons of Jupiter." I made that up, but I see stuff that is just as baffling. Remember my "Think about why you want to make comics but not too much" line? Its companion is "Take your shit seriously but not too seriously." You might end up sounding like you have your head right up your comic's bum.

You've already spoke about "loser" comics and bad paneling, but could character designs change your mind? Let's say that the summary sounds awesome, but the way they present the characters is way off, what is it about the character that's not welcoming?

I'm trying to call a specific time where I've read a summary and thought, "Wow, that really sounds cool!" and then saw the character designs and went, "No, PASS!" but I don't think it has. That's not usually the mismatch I get. If I don't like the characters, it's either because I'm not digging the story as a whole or because they're characters that just exist as tools of the plot.

I guess what I am asking is what gets in and what gets kicked out when it comes to walking up to the plate and showing work to professionals. The common thing is grammar, following instructions, and even common sense, but what about smaller things that the author might not catch? I'm sitting here drawing, and I realize that comic book industries reject quite a few comics. I don't want the same mistake someone before me when I want to get something published.

All of the above, I guess. I think the best thing is to be enthusiastic about your work, to have a good work ethic and develop your creativity, but I think editors have a sense for people who have subsumed their selves into their work and only can see things in relation to that work, if that makes any sense. Honestly, I want to get the impression that your comic is important to you but it's not your whole world. That kind of intensity makes me tired and wary. Don't overthink stuff. Just be professional and friendly in your cover letter and try to do your best work in your comic.

You see a lot of comics, so what really shines, and makes you say "wow"?

Well, good art is a plus. I turn to the art the first thing when I open a submission, and if it doesn't impress, it's going to take an awfully good story to make me get past that. I like seeing art and stories that of course aren't separate from other comics that are being published -- we're all products of our culture, after all -- but have a real individual "voice."

I remember when Landry Walker was in the office, and he decided to open a submission envelope at random, declaring that we would publish whatever was inside. (I think that's how it went -- Landry, correct me if I'm wrong.) Inside the envelope he chose was Nil: A Land Beyond Belief by James Turner. And, boy, did it make us say, "Wow." It looked great, and not like anything I'd seen before in comics. And there wasn't the all-too-common crushing blow of seeing great art telling a lackluster story. It helped that the satire meshed so well with my sensibilities, seeing as I'm the kind of person who has dreams about bowling with Jacques Derrida. If Dan had been against publishing, I probably would have begged him to reconsider. Fortunately, I didn't have to do that.

Sometimes I will see a work, and, honestly, that editorial ego will set in, and I'll think, I want to be part of getting this person's work in print. 

Welcome to the first Do You Think You Can Help Me? -- an advice column in the fine tradition of all things I title with Smiths' lyrics. You ask me questions about getting into this crazy comics world, and I (or someone) will answer them! As best I can. With no guarantees that my advice is any good. You just have to trust. I've worked in independent comics for seven years, which actually makes me a relative newbie -- this industry somehow manages to attract talented people who remain dedicated, despite indie comics' dearth of rewards in the form of ticker-tape parades, John Galliano gowns, and offices that cars do not crash into. I like to look at the industry with a critical eye and observe all its flaws and foibles so that later I can write a tell-all memoir. No, kidding! Who would read that, anyway? No, I will use this critical eye to offer advice to you, aspiring comics creators! And to help gain your trust, I've provided an illustrative photo of me holding my Friends of Lulu Woman of Distinction Award on my head.

Do You Think You Can Help Me? (heretofore known as DYTYCHM? -- seriously, what was I thinking?) is different from those lame old-school advice columns in newspapers because it's open to comment! If someone has something to add or thinks I'm full of crud, they can comment, thus muddling you with too many opinions and leaving you paralyzed with indecision! DYTYCHM will be weekly, posted every Friday. If I get a lot of questions, I might answer more than one in a column. Email your questions to slgchief @ gmail.com.

For our first question, I totally cheated and got someone else to answer it. But only because I thought he could answer it better than I could! I have your best interests at heart, and I promise to always try to pass off my work to someone else if I think it will benefit you. So, give a warm welcome to Fehed Said, writer of the graphic novel The Clarence Principle, illustrated by Shari Chankhamma. Fehed is from London, Shari from Thailand. You will see how that relates to the question in a moment.

On to the question...

I'm a writer. Well, in spirit at least. I haven't written anything that's been published, so I don't know if I have the legal right to assign myself that title. My question is in regard to a story that I have been writing/thinking about for some time now. I haven't collaborated with any artists, and drawing it myself would be a very bad idea, so I only have a script done. If I want to get my story out into the world, how would I go about doing that? Do I need an artist, or would it be possible to present my ideas to someone who can facilitate that for me?

I'm still looking for an artist on my own, but I haven't found anyone. I'm not looking for any sort of easy way out, but do I necessarily need to have an artist attached when I'm presenting my work to a company? Also, how would I get myself in the position where I could present my work?

Most Publishers seem to prefer writers to already be attached to an artist. That's not to say that submitting your script won't get you hired as a writer by them, but it's best to always read their Submission Guidelines. If they do accept scripts on their own, then give it a shot. But believe me when I say that you have a far better chance of getting that foot in the door if you're already working with an artist. You have to remember that comics are a visual medium and Editors prefer to see your story in sequential art form, rather than a script.

As a writer/artist team, it also shows professionalism if you follow their submission guidelines properly and have the patience to wait for their reply. Do not bombard them with emails or letters to see if they've had a chance to read your submission yet. Best thing to do, is to post out your submission and forget about it. Maybe spend the time working on your comic. After all, if you believe in it enough, why shouldn't you just keep going? It just means you have more source material to send out later should you need to.

If you're looking to find an artist, you have it much easier now than say, 10 years ago. The Internet is a fantastic tool for that thing we call communication. The world is full of artists and you can have your pick of any. I myself had collaborated with an artist all the way in Thailand and I reside in the UK. Anything is possible.

The best place to start is Google.com. Do a search for artist/comic forums, especially the kind that offer critique or advice to artists and writers. Find independent circles of self-published comic creators. Look around and see what's out there. Try to find people who's art style appeals to you. Then it's just a simple case of emailing people and see who responds. At first though, send out a polite email expressing your interest in their art and asking if
they'd be interested in a collaboration. If they reply, then forward them a synopsis of the story idea and see how it all goes from there.

I'm afraid that it's not uncommon for artists to show enthusiasm at the start of a project and then back out later, or even just up and vanish on you. Life gets in the way and unless the artist you're working with is just as strongly passionate about your story idea as you are, this stuff happens. Don't let it get you down though. You just have to keep trying.

I find that it helps if you start off doing short 25 page one-shot story ideas with an artist and self-publish. Using this method, you can join comic groups or circles and form friendships with other writers and artists. It helps if they live in the same country as it means you can often meet them face to face and attend conventions together as a group. Building a strong relationship with other creative people opens a lot of doors and can get you much needed support and morale. It also means that if you were to find someone to collaborate with within the group, there's a good chance they won't flake on you.

If you happen to be employed and earning a reasonable wage, you could try the same approach I did. Pay the artist. It won't be much, don't go raiding your savings or anything, but at least some form of monetary compensation makes it worth the artist's time to stick it out. After all, they are doing the bulk of the work and quite a lot of it is mundane 8 to 12 hours a day worth of labor. The promise of publication is an empty one, as it could take years for anything to happen. Your original idea may just not be cut out to be published and you might even have better ideas later on that you might want to work on. At least this way, the artist doesn't feel cheated in anyway and it creates a mutual respect.

I hope this advice was useful. It's just what I've come across over the last 7 years or so in working my way into the industry myself. It does get easier in time to find people to work with. It just takes a lot of grunt to work through the early, often difficult and cynical steps of the process. Think of it as a test. If you can put up with it all, then you're destined to achieve your goal. Always be respectful of others and maintain a professional attitude as often as possible.

A fair number of people said they wanted advice about working in the comics industry to appear on this blog in the poll I did a few weeks ago, and yet when I offered to answer questions emailed to me, NOT ONE PERSON SENT ONE. I suppose the problem is in the subtext: People who want to work in this industry don't know what to ask. They want advice, but they don't want to think too hard about what specifically they want advice about. Either that, or they overthink and ask micro-detail questions.

So I'll have to dictate what kind of advice I give (though I am still very happy to answer specific question -- address them to slgchief @ gmail.com and be sure to say it is for the blog advice column so that I know it's OK to post your question here).

I am starting with this bit of advice: Think about why you want to be in comics, but not too much.

I consider the following reasons bad reasons to want to make comics:

1. You want to make a lot of money.
2. You want to get a movie deal.
3. You think it will make you cool.
4. You read a lot of comics, so you want to make them, whether you can write and/or draw or not.
5. You think comics are a "hot trend" -- but you don't call them comics; you call them "publishing properties" and talk about "exceptional positioning" and "lucrative subsidiary rights" (see #2) and "profitable yields." Having this point of view might make you a good marketing person at a comics publisher, but in my opinion it just makes you sound like someone I wouldn't want to spend more than a minute around.

All right, obviously I'm worked up about reason number five, so let's examine my feelings of negativity and turn them into positive advice. I consider the following reasons good reasons to want to make comics:

1. You have a story you want to tell, and when you envision it, you see it as a comic. Don't try to turn a prose story into a comic just because comics are the "hot" thing now. A lot of stories are unsuited for the medium.
2. You love drawing comics and want to constantly hone your storytelling craft; you find working hard to improve your creative endeavors satisfying.
3. You find the act of creating reward in itself -- you just want to make comics and are well aware that it probably will not result in phenomenal monetary enumeration (as our marketing friend might put it) and abundant artistic accolades. Nevertheless, you want to devote your talents to contributing to this art form.

My point is that the traditional, capitalist indicators of "success" aren't lurking under a stack of Bristol board. I've been writing my column for Comic World News for nearly a year now, and I've found that examining a life working in comics often makes me despondent. But so does examining my life as writer. Because I've chosen to work as a writer and comics editor, I am a lot poorer and have a lot less clout in cocktail party conversations (yeah right, as if I go to cocktail parties) than if I had chosen other fields, like advertising or marketing, or even academia.  In order to keep going, I have to believe that there is a personal benefit in this life that I would not get if I worked in a more impersonal industry.

The comics industry is a creative one -- yes, we do have to market, we do have to sell, but we also have to believe to do it convincingly. I cannot believe in someone's work if they do not believe it in themselves, and not as a "product" that has "profit potential" but as a story they wanted to tell and have done their best to realize. Independent comics is personal for a lot of us working in the field; we are emotionally invested in it, otherwise there is no way we would stay. You have to show us that you have the same commitment.

-JdG
(The commentary in this post is my personal perspective and isn't to be taken as company writ or anything like that.)

I received in the mail this week a pretty negative review of one of our graphic novels in a print magazine. That, I take in stride. I think part of the problem was that question of audience--this magazine just wasn't the right place to send the book. However, what really struck me as wrong-headed was this comment: "the pictures are in black and white, which is a difficult selling point for graphic novels these days."

Is it really? The popularity of manga would seem to disprove that, but is it perhaps true that manga is an exception? That people will buy and read them despite their being in black and white? What are the real numbers on this? Diamond's Top 100 Graphic Novels lists don't give you the full story because they're sales to "specialty stores" -- that is, comic book stores -- and bookstores are an increasingly important market for graphic novels.

So, science failing me because of lack of data (who wants to look over some BookScan numbers for me?), I'm going to go with mob rule. Is this reviewer correct or full of shit? Help me decide!

Speaking of Ben Towle, he is one of the respondents to Heidi MacDonald's Annual News Survey at The Beat. Particularly of interest to me is Ben's thoughts about the changing prevailing format of comics, "in 2007 the overall move in comics away from episodic storytelling seems to have finally cemented itself as the prevailing narrative mode of the art form."

I'd hazard this is true, but only outside of superhero comics, which remain the prevailing genre of the medium in this country. As superhero books remain serialized, they conform to a different storytelling mode that relies on re-establishments of conflict, 20-page story development arcs, and cliffhangers. Just yesterday, Dan was talking about what Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief and Marvel Comics from 1978 to 1987, used to tell his writers and artists: Remember that every issue of a comic could be someone's first exposure to this title, these characters, or even comics in general. This isn't really a good or bad thing, for it suits some purposes and not others (some say this kind of approach has gone out with the Big Two's increasing reliance on "event comics" with storylines that are largely incomprehensible to all but the initiated) but it is certainly limiting in the kinds of stories that can be told.

The format of the graphic novel gives the author quite a bit more freedom: a story may be told episodically, if that's what best suits it, or may be told as a free-flowing, uninterrupted narrative. In both instances, the format brings a greater emphasis of story as a whole rather than in a bite-sized chunk at a time. What does this mean? Hopefully, a potential for greater concentration on craft and -- dare I say -- artistic and literary qualities rather than exclusively on entertainment.