Any tips on writing proposals or the pitch processes? I am currently researching what to do when selling a story. I've already Jim Zub's and Mark Waid's tutorials. Also some sample tutorials. Are there any other sites that I should read through and what are some the things that you have learned from going through the processes?
@settlechaos - I like to think (in the written part of the pitch) that I don't ask questions.
example: "Can Mark survive to the end of the year before it's too late?"
1: Of course Mark is gonna survive. Asking that is a waste of time -- even if Mark dies.
2: The publisher is not a customer. There's no need to hide the story from editors. So if Mark is gonna turn into a punk ass racist villain in order to survive, then that should be in the pitch. No surprises.
3: Use genre to explain the story in simple terms. I'm not saying the story has to stick to standard genre, but in order to get the publisher in the ballpark (and into the door) then breaking it down helps.
example: "Marky Mark's Massacre. A gritty crime drama that digs into the underbelly of the mini-golf industry."
I usually structure a one or two line elevator pitch, followed by a one or two paragraph plot summary. And while I know this is a challenge for some people, I sort of feel that if you can't do this than you don't really know what's important about your story.
Hey guys, had a question about being asked to be a featured speaker at an event. A fan of mine who's heard me speak during the conventions is trying to put together a "how to make money being creative" summit at Sears Holding Company in Hoffman Estates. Apparently it's a big deal, with the mayor of the town giving it a lot of press. They are investigating having me come in as the featured speaker, with some additional speakers (focusing on other art forms, like video and music).
There aren't a ton of details on the event yet, since they're still putting it together, but I was curious how much I should consider charging for this. It sounds like it may be a half day event, and they're not sure how much of it I would spend speaking, so I was trying to come up with an hourly rate or something.
The way I might approach it would be: how much time will it take away from writing, how many pages would you write (on average) in that amount of time and how much would you charge per page, if someone is asking you to write for them. And if that seems like a low-ball, double it.
So, I charge $250 per page (pencils and inks) and it takes me (ideally) 1 day to turn that around. So half day doing a speaking event: $125, which makes up for my time away from the drawing table.
Just spitballing here, since I've never been invited to be a featured speaker at anything (although, I've charged about the same to spend a day running workshops, for example, teaching kids to draw comics...)
@ShawnRichison If I'm doing the bulk of the speaking, though, I would typically charge more for it. Because it's not just the time at the event to take into consideration, but the time spent prepping for it as well.
@RussellLissau Yup, that's about what I was thinking of charging. Just wasn't sure if it was low.
Well, that figure is low for a celebrity buy about right for someone of my profile in comics or journalism. To be frank, it's probably high for you. But, it never hurts to ask. If you want to book the whole or half a day, consider saying, "my rate is 300 but for four hours I'd reduce it to $1000."
Not sure if this is really a new topic (or old - I did look honest) so I'll start it here and see if anyone has any thoughts.
Idea development - how do you do it?
I ask because I was seeing if I had 20 cool ideas like Eric posted in his blog* and then looking to try and develop them further. So I wrote them all into a new note book, each on an individual page, and just scribbled down whatever came to mind with each idea. A few I got several pages out of but for the most part they stayed at the original few lines. Obviously this may suggest there isn't any juice in them BUT how can I tell? Hence the question and curiosity about if there are any right questions for developing ideas? Or does anyone use a specific plan or format for testing ideas?
*I only managed 14 for the record but they were all new or snippets that had been combined.
I'm curious how far the writers on here get into a project before approaching an artist and vice versa how early in the process do artists like to be involved?
@Owen_Jones I think that all depends on how much collaboration is going on between the artist and writer. Whenever I've been approached by a writer, they've always had a fully formed story (although not always a script). But there will always be those collaborations where someone approaches you with just a concept and they want you to help design the characters and the story
Depends if the artist approaches me or not. If so, I'll ask what they ant to draw and them pitch them ideas.
If I am on the make and the artist is a stranger I'll usually have at least 12 ages, probably a full issue written up front, and be able to tell them roughly where the story goes and how it ends.
If I know the artist I'm more likely to spend time brainstorming with them before I go to script.
As an artist, I've worked with fully written scripts and also helped develop ideas, or at least critique scripts as they are written. I also write bits myself on occasion. Depends on the project and the relationship with the writer.
I'd like to make an attempt at getting some WFH with the ultimate goal of breaking into Marvel or DC. I know that breaking into the big two will take some credits elsewhere in something vaguely mainstream-ish or genre - two things that my most recent work is not.
The Lemon Drop Kid (written by Derek McCulloch, coming from Image sometime-I-haven't-got-a-clue)
Wahoo Morris (almost finished by about 6 pages and random bg's and finishing details, but I'm burnt out and need something new to cleanse the pallet)
And it's been over 8 years since I've looked for comics work and I have no clue what the field is like these days. I do know it's harder than ever to make a living, but I need to make the attempt anyway before I get too old.
Outside of DC, Marvel, and Darkhorse, are there any publishers (digital or print) that currently pay page rates that are worth going after?
At the moment the main criteria for WFH is the publisher pays and pays on time. I'm willing to work for lowish rates for the right project. The lower the rate the shorter the project has to be and vis versa.
What are you guys finding your Patreons gravitating towards, content and rewards wise? I just launched a Patreon page, and we have a few supporters, but looking to grab more and keep them invested.
Patreon is a complete mystery to me. I was pretty good with updating for awhile, but have been lax more recently. Maybe I'll be able to improve that this year.
Does anyone have any insights about the five pitch pages not being from the beginning of the story? Like...from the middle or from issue 2 or something like that? Is that any kind of a problem for publishers?
Actually, I've read in a number of submission guidelines that suggest publishers want 5 pages that are most indicative of what the book is about... Although arguably most publishers would probably accept as much finished comic material as you have. A notable exception is Shadowline, who seems to specifically want only 5 pages.
Of course, this is just from reading subs guidelines, rather than direct experience of having projects greenlit. Perhaps @Jimmie_Robinson would have better insight?
Alright a few questions for those of you who have been published:
1) Does your publisher provide you with regular circulation numbers, or do you typically get those yourself (and if so, where's your preferred information source)?
2) Foreign distribution: does your publisher typically handle this for you, or do you tend to investigate yourself?
3) How do you typically broker conversations about series sequels prior to trade sales data coming in?
1) A good publisher will give you numbers half-yearly or quarterly. It should be in you contract. There are no accurate and reliable information sources that I am aware of.
2) Again, depends on contract. If you're a big fish you might well have different publishers handling your work in different territories. Smaller publishers often want worldwide rights but are generally only able to service one territory properly. For comics, I would suggest that foreign rights typically means non-English language rights, especially if you have a traditional comics publisher who is focused on the DM. (Book trade publishers are more likely to things differently and perhaps neglect the DM.)
3) No idea for comics. I know for book deals, depending on genre, series and sequels are attractive to publishers and agents. I have noticed that some of them are now trying out the binge model--buy a trilogy from an author and release them all at once. Don't know how that is working out, saleswise, but it does put a lot of stress on the author unless the advance is significant.
Anyone use or have thoughts on reddit as a promotional platform?
I was thinking about this the other day for my webcomic, and then thought - hey, you could probably do this for print books, too!
Also, Brad Gigar (webcomics.com) posted an article about link bundles for webcomic promotion and he started to see bumps in traffic and comments. So I was curious how you guys promote your comics - and do you use sites like reddit to do so?
@TrevorAMueller I haven't used Reddit for promotion. I know a lot of subreddits are really violently against self-promotion/"ads". But some subreddits are specifically based around posting new comics and such for people to check out. So it's definitely a case-by-case basis kind of thing!
Most of my promotional activities have focused on "gatekeepers" like news sites and reviewers. For "Witch Doctor," I sent out a heap of personal emails (well, they were form emails, but they were designed to read like personal emails!) to news sites (comic sites, geek culture sites, and horror sites), with a link to read the comic and a request that they do an article/interview if they like it. Same with reviewers: I'd find people who reviewed books that had a similar genre or tone to "Witch Doctor", and would email them personally to say that I'd seen their reviews, and to ask if they'd be interested in reviewing "WD"? (I'd include links to PDFs for them to check out.)
I got a really solid response to both measures! This is how we got coverage of the book from Boing Boing, io9, IGN, Fangoria, Ain't It Cool News, CBR and Bloody Disgusting. I plan on doing it for all my future books.
A mate of mine with a new webcomic has reported mixed results form Reddit. Sometimes he gets trolls downvoting his posts, but sometimes (when the material is particularly good and the trolls are away) he gets a ton of traffic from there.
I don't have any idea whether or not this would translate into DM or even digital sales.
So I'm working to get pitches done for some editors, but running into a few hurdles I'm wondering if you guys have solutions or have encountered before:
1) Artist slow to meet deadlines.
I usually let the artist set their own deadline, since pitches are no to low paying. However, I've had several artists string me along and either never finish, or not deliver in a timely manner (like, can't finish a page per month slow). My assumption is they are not into the project, and I may have to dump them - but curious if anyone has dealt with similar.
2) Artist pitch page rates.
So I'm willing to pay for pitch pages, but my understanding is that this rate is typically radically reduced from a normal page rate. This is because 1) the pitches can't really be used to make money, and 2) deadlines are a bit more flexible than other paying work, which tends to take priority.
I've heard ranges of $20-$30 per page for pencils and inks. However, I'm encountering artists who want either full page rate ($130+ per page), or more like that I had been paying my indie artists for finished work (so basically, full page rate). Now, I could always just use the pitch pages for a short story and self-publish, if the pitch doesn't get picked up....but obviously, that's less desirable. Thoughts?
Any insights you guys may have would be much appreciated.
Making the pitch self-standing is a good idea if you can manage it... the kind of thing that I'd probably do, since I hate to "waste" any work I do (or pay for).
Comments
I am currently researching what to do when selling a story. I've already Jim Zub's and Mark Waid's tutorials. Also some sample tutorials. Are there any other sites that I should read through and what are some the things that you have learned from going through the processes?
What It's About....
And then
WHAT ITS REALLY ABOUT....
There aren't a ton of details on the event yet, since they're still putting it together, but I was curious how much I should consider charging for this. It sounds like it may be a half day event, and they're not sure how much of it I would spend speaking, so I was trying to come up with an hourly rate or something.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
So, I charge $250 per page (pencils and inks) and it takes me (ideally) 1 day to turn that around. So half day doing a speaking event: $125, which makes up for my time away from the drawing table.
Just spitballing here, since I've never been invited to be a featured speaker at anything (although, I've charged about the same to spend a day running workshops, for example, teaching kids to draw comics...)
@RussellLissau Yup, that's about what I was thinking of charging. Just wasn't sure if it was low.
To be frank, it's probably high for you. But, it never hurts to ask. If you want to book the whole or half a day, consider saying, "my rate is 300 but for four hours I'd reduce it to $1000."
Not sure if this is really a new topic (or old - I did look honest) so I'll start it here and see if anyone has any thoughts.
Idea development - how do you do it?
I ask because I was seeing if I had 20 cool ideas like Eric posted in his blog* and then looking to try and develop them further. So I wrote them all into a new note book, each on an individual page, and just scribbled down whatever came to mind with each idea. A few I got several pages out of but for the most part they stayed at the original few lines. Obviously this may suggest there isn't any juice in them BUT how can I tell? Hence the question and curiosity about if there are any right questions for developing ideas? Or does anyone use a specific plan or format for testing ideas?
*I only managed 14 for the record but they were all new or snippets that had been combined.
Like...from the middle or from issue 2 or something like that? Is that any kind of a problem for publishers?
Of course, this is just from reading subs guidelines, rather than direct experience of having projects greenlit. Perhaps @Jimmie_Robinson would have better insight?
2) Again, depends on contract. If you're a big fish you might well have different publishers handling your work in different territories. Smaller publishers often want worldwide rights but are generally only able to service one territory properly. For comics, I would suggest that foreign rights typically means non-English language rights, especially if you have a traditional comics publisher who is focused on the DM. (Book trade publishers are more likely to things differently and perhaps neglect the DM.)
I was thinking about this the other day for my webcomic, and then thought - hey, you could probably do this for print books, too!
Also, Brad Gigar (webcomics.com) posted an article about link bundles for webcomic promotion and he started to see bumps in traffic and comments. So I was curious how you guys promote your comics - and do you use sites like reddit to do so?
Most of my promotional activities have focused on "gatekeepers" like news sites and reviewers. For "Witch Doctor," I sent out a heap of personal emails (well, they were form emails, but they were designed to read like personal emails!) to news sites (comic sites, geek culture sites, and horror sites), with a link to read the comic and a request that they do an article/interview if they like it. Same with reviewers: I'd find people who reviewed books that had a similar genre or tone to "Witch Doctor", and would email them personally to say that I'd seen their reviews, and to ask if they'd be interested in reviewing "WD"? (I'd include links to PDFs for them to check out.)
I got a really solid response to both measures! This is how we got coverage of the book from Boing Boing, io9, IGN, Fangoria, Ain't It Cool News, CBR and Bloody Disgusting. I plan on doing it for all my future books.
1) Artist slow to meet deadlines.
I usually let the artist set their own deadline, since pitches are no to low paying. However, I've had several artists string me along and either never finish, or not deliver in a timely manner (like, can't finish a page per month slow). My assumption is they are not into the project, and I may have to dump them - but curious if anyone has dealt with similar.
2) Artist pitch page rates.
So I'm willing to pay for pitch pages, but my understanding is that this rate is typically radically reduced from a normal page rate. This is because 1) the pitches can't really be used to make money, and 2) deadlines are a bit more flexible than other paying work, which tends to take priority.
I've heard ranges of $20-$30 per page for pencils and inks. However, I'm encountering artists who want either full page rate ($130+ per page), or more like that I had been paying my indie artists for finished work (so basically, full page rate). Now, I could always just use the pitch pages for a short story and self-publish, if the pitch doesn't get picked up....but obviously, that's less desirable. Thoughts?
Any insights you guys may have would be much appreciated.