Tharg is not the only fruit - other comics publishers to hassle

[Emperor]

Following on from a comment from His Lordship it seems like a good idea to have a thread looking at other publishers you can pitch work to, because if any consensus has formed from discussing pitching Future Shocks to Tharg, it is that you should keep writing and keep getting work out there.

We also have discussions on Zuda (which seems like a good way of getting a lot of visibility for your work) and the problems, pitfalls and opportunities available from other competitions.

So we can now throw the floor open to looking at other publishers, people's experience with them and other ideas and thoughts. But first a couple of general links:

Zarjazzer threw in a great link:
http://calebmonroe.com/?page_id=6

Here is one I had bookmarked for a while:
The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

[Richmond Clements]

Good stuff, Emps!

I'll add to the list:
Renegade Arts Entertainment: http://www.renegadeartsentertainment.com/
Truth be told, I don't know where they are with submissions at the moment- but they accepted mine, so they couldn't be that bad!

Also, http://www.insomniapublications.com/. Bluemeanie is writing a book for them at the mo, I believe, and Prof Bear is drawing one for them too.

[Jim_Campbell]

Also, http://www.insomniapublications.com/. Bluemeanie is writing a book for them at the mo, I believe, and Prof Bear is drawing one for them too.

Watch out for that, though -- I believe they've some pissed up old Goth doing a bunch of their lettering.

Cheers!

Jim

[Richmond Clements]

Also, http://www.insomniapublications.com/. Bluemeanie is writing a book for them at the mo, I believe, and Prof Bear is drawing one for them too.

Watch out for that, though -- I believe they've some pissed up old Goth doing a bunch of their lettering.

Cheers!

Jim

So have Renegade...

[Emperor]

Of the British independent publishers there is also Com.x which is also getting back up to speed after being quiet for a few years. However, they are taking things slow and steady at the moment releasing the collections of previous comics (like Cla$$war and Razorjack) and only taking on a few new projects (like Path and the upcoming 45). From what I read they might be open to a pitch but it seems like they are not looking for series (which caught them out with Cla$$war) and, while they don't seem to be looking to put out a lot of titles if you had a graphic novel/novella that could set the world (or at least their pants) on fire then you could drop them a line (or have a chat at a comics convention) - they seem very nice and enthusiastic.

[Jim_Campbell]

So have Renegade...

Shit! They're everywhere!*

Cheers

Jim

*Except the JBF, obviously ...

[Eric Plumrose]

*Except the JBF, obviously ...

Just as well it wasn't that pissed-up letterer Goth that compared Jay-B to -- hic! -- Cunt the Grate, or his stay there might've been even shorter than DXB's . . .

Lemme guess, you letter better when you've had a drink, eh? 

[Zarjazzer]

Good links there from Emperor and His Lordship Rac. I hadn't seen any John Higgins stuff for ages (from Com.X) and Insomnia had a brilliant variety of styles.

alsohttp://www.smallzone.co.uk/

And there's indyplanet but the link there seems to be down so you can check them out later. Indy 's only for those that already have a finished comic but might be another potential revenue/exposure(oo-er missus!) stream.

Beware scam artists like;http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=552414#Post552414. He is a professional scammer.Avoid like the plague.

if you are submitting READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES of whoever you're submitting to. I hate to get on my high horse but if you want to see how not to give a good impression go to Image comics and look at their main submission  forum currently 100 pages long. Filled with people who can't be bothered to read the guidelines and expect Erik Larsen or Jim Valentino or Jim Lee to personally arrange, write, draw and then get Frank Miller (cos he's better) to re-draw their Star wars meet s x-men rip off comic for them. All for free.Alright perhaps it's not that bad but it's close.

[Emperor]

Good advice there!!

One I was wondering about (because kevlev mentioned showing some work to them) is Panini. I know they took over Marvel UK when Marvel hit their problems in 1997 and I know they produce quite a few reprint comics over here but I'm don't know an awful lot about their original comics beyond Al Ewing doing some work for them (in Marvel Heroes).

They do have a submissions page and it looks like you can email them samples (which is handy) but the advice to writers is confusing - isn't their original work also based on US comics?:

Please also send sample scripts which are relevant to our portfolio. Collectors' Editions and Ultimate Marvel titles use material reprinted from US comics, so please make sure you don't send material intended for those titles.

http://www.paninicomics.co.uk/StaticPage.jsp?Id=Submissions.htm

They also seem to be more child-friendly (Marvel Heroes suggests 7-10 year-olds) so it might be best to save that 6 page epic flaying of Wolverine's balllbag for your pitch to Marvel Comics (and may God have mercy on your soul).

[Richmond Clements]

Yeah, I have submitted to Panini on a number of times, both by mail and email, and have never received a reply.

[Emperor]

Yeah, I have submitted to Panini on a number of times, both by mail and email, and have never received a reply.

What kind of story length, characters. etc. did you use? No need for details but I'm just being nosey (oh and I do have a couple of ideas for short stories using Marvel characters I've just never thought about doing anything about it).

Have you ever cornered them at a conference? I imagine they must got an awful lot of ropey scripts emailed to them so I was wondering if a personal approach might help you stand out from the pile.

[Richmond Clements]

They were (I think, it was a while ago) maybe 10-15 pages long -, whatever the length of the strips they print are... and they were Spider-man scripts.

[Emperor]

Thanks for that.

Anyway lets have a look at the British small press as that is a good place to polish your skills. It is tricky as a lot of publishers are just set up to publish their own stuff.

A good place to start are anthologies.

So we have the FutureQuake stable of titles and I'm unsure we need to go into that in too much detail (although Rich or Dave can feel free to add more) as you surely know what they do, if not shame on you

There is also the Accent UK anthologies - this might be a tricky one as they work a long way ahead and have a lot of regular contributors so the 2010 one is filling up and I'm sure I've seen the run-down for the 2011 one (Victoriana) and that is filing up. I dropped them a line a bit ago but never heard back but I doubt they are in any great rush
http://www.accentukcomics.com/

Forbidden Planet's blog has a good list of British small press publishers:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/

I'm not sure  who there is looking for submissions.

There is also Orang Utan Comics who are looking for submission (although writers are invite only) but I hear good thins about their FTL anthology:
http://www.orangutancomics.co.uk/submissions.html

Hmmmm that all seems a little feeble. I was hoping for a more impressive list than that - it doe make the FutureQuake stable of titles look very impressive (but we all knew that already).

Anyway there are also some online titles you might be interested in:

Incoming, whose next theme is very interesting (worlds within worlds) but I doubt I'll get the time to get anything done for them this time round.
http://incoming.ning.com/

Temple APA is "quarterly digital showcase of British Comic Writers and Artists both amateur & professional" and have a real mix of strips, pin-ups and no theme so you should be able to come up with something for them:
http://templeapa.ning.com/

[Jim_Campbell]

Is Jay Eales and Selina Locke's Factor Fiction not still publishing Violent!* and The Girly Comic? I think they've reigned in their schedule a bit, but I exchanged e-mails with Jay relatively recently and certainly had the impression that both titles were still going.

Cheers!

Jim

*Ten years, and still using my logo. :-)

[Zarjazzer]

here's some news from the comic creators guild,(who I thought had given up shows what I know). A small press web comix meet in March 2010 might be a place to make contacts or expose (er) yourself, I meant your work.

http://www.comicscreatorsguild.org.uk/ go to links and look for small "Uk web comix thing" 2010.