Question about Pitching
Hullo hullo!
I had a quick question for those who have pitched broadly (which I think is many of you, from what I've seen!). A few places - like Image Central, for instance - ask for a cover letter and a one page story synopsis. Are these meant to be two separate things? I've written frightfully few cover letters (my background has been science/medicine), but from what I've gleaned they're sort of about introducing yourself, telling about your background and then saying a bit about why you'd be a good fit.
Does one introduce one's story here, or is that a separate page? If the synopsis is a separate page, does that mean the cover letter is strictly for introductions/thanks, or are we meant to slip in a kind of logline there?
Thanks to all who read and/or reply!
I had a quick question for those who have pitched broadly (which I think is many of you, from what I've seen!). A few places - like Image Central, for instance - ask for a cover letter and a one page story synopsis. Are these meant to be two separate things? I've written frightfully few cover letters (my background has been science/medicine), but from what I've gleaned they're sort of about introducing yourself, telling about your background and then saying a bit about why you'd be a good fit.
Does one introduce one's story here, or is that a separate page? If the synopsis is a separate page, does that mean the cover letter is strictly for introductions/thanks, or are we meant to slip in a kind of logline there?
Thanks to all who read and/or reply!
Comments
Sorry everyone. I suppose that answers that; the cover letter is the synopsis.
DO NOT DEVIATE FROM WHAT THE PUBLISHER WANTS. And every publisher may want it differently.
I certainly agree but sometimes there's a bit of ambiguity in the way the instructions are formatted, so I wanted to be sure. I've emailed, but they can take a while getting back at times (or sometimes just never reply back at all).
http://www.jimzub.com/here-comes-the-pitch-part-two/
For Image, the cover letter and pitch document are two separate items. Don't overthink them, just do your business and get on with it. Neither is as important as the actual finished pages.
Also, don't expect a reply from Image unless they're interested. I know what the site says, but getting an actual "No thanks" is almost unheard of under the current management. (That's not a knock; you've just got to prepare yourself for the silence.)
Thanks so much!
I am definitely very prepared not to hear anything back from a pitch to image. Completely reasonable, and expected, given the volume they're dealing with.
Hmmm. In the case of Justin's pitch it seemed like the cover letter and the pitch were one continuous thing, with his 'personal data' interspersed with the story stuff (broad overview, introductions, then more detailed story map).
In the case of Zub, it seems, as you say, they were separate things.
I suppose it's probably not terribly important, just prefer to give it to them in whatever format is most readable.
I've spoke face to face with publishers who have told me to pitch stuff to them. I do, and in return have gotten no response, even after polite follow ups. Pitching is VERY hard and getting a greenlight is the best possible moment you can have. So enjoy it when it happens.
But now, there's, well, the Internet. There's still benefits to working with publishers (WFH paydays, production work, editorial feedback, quicker access to a wider audience), but yeah, they're in no way necessary.
(Audience access is the big one for me, personally. I'd digitally publish everything I wrote and/or drew from here to the grave if I had my druthers, but most comic readers don't know me from Adam, and publishers are a way to change that.)
Seems as though face to face will be my best bet to get some real eyes on the work, so I'm aiming heartily to get a bunch of stuff ready for NYCC.
It's fairly intuitive, I think, to try to be natural in that kind of meet, but much more difficult to put into practice! Pitching cold is, for me, an awkward prospect; you're literally impinging upon these people's time, unwanted. Part of the whole deal, of course, but definitely something I'll have to get use to (and, if we're being honest, something at which I'll probably fail at the start).
Definitely will be saving that podcast for later today!
My Image pitches have the cover letter, which has a paragraph about the book and then about a para each for the creative team,and then the synopsis, about a paragraph apiece on the first six issues, and however many pages of lettered art - always at least five, sometimes more.
I've never found takeaways to be useful. It's alright to have printed out stuff, I've done that, but I think you should just let them flip through it, and then keep it if they ask. But what you're trying to do is show you're not a douche and have some social graces.
I think the Tao of Steve applies: Be brief, be awesome, be gone.
SDCC ’15: Less than 1% of Open Submissions Might be Published
Scott Pilgrim and Sixth Gun publisher Oni Press made waves a few months back when they announced the opening of their open submission program, which is notable for its focus on writers as well as artists. Today, at their SDCC panel, they gave a sobering update to all those hopeful scribes.
675 submissions of the pitch submissions that were received between May 1st and June 30th have been reviewed thus far. Of those, only eight of those 675 have been discussed at the company’s monthly pitch review meeting. Of those eight, only two have been escalated to the publisher for final consideration. This means that any given submission has a 1.2% of making it past the first vetting round and a 0.3% chance of making it to the publisher’s desk.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that comics are easy.
If you sent your stuff in, you're not competing against the other 675 (or whatever the total was) you're competing against sucking, basically.
Image, Oni and Dark Horse (for instance) don't really have a certain number of books they will or won't publish, which is what would be required for there to be competition. They publish however many good books they get. it is hypothetically possible for them to get so many good submissions a book they would otherwise publish, but in practice this essentially never happens.
There IS competition for WFH spots, mind. But for creator owned, it's not really that kind of zero sum game.
I mean, I've been told that by Image, but beyond that, Stephenson still mentions me and Hickman as blind submission successes.
I did it in 2010. Hickman was....2007? 2008?
In the interval since then, I know of maybe one other comic (Bivens' Dark Engine) that maybe got in that way. There might be others, but still.
Now consider that Image will publish anything they think is good and they get submissions everyday.