A Week in Writing #567 - Three Down (Well Almost)

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

The three down are in reference to my queries for Past Present. One rejection came in this week, ironically, the last query I sent out was the first rejection I received. I won't go into what it said, but safe to say it was a form letter; what else do you expect these days from agents, other than no response at all? I wonder how many form letter emails I'll receive which will include "...please forgive me for responding with a form letter."

The first one I sent, in late April, has over-ripened into a DNR, as it's been two months. And the second one I sent is a few days away at best from spoiling as well.

And, to top it off, no new query this week. I spent most of Thursday night either getting ready for the trip I mentioned last week, or waiting to talk to the artist who did our podcast this past Friday.

Speaking of On the Air with Powers Squared, Julia Canon, our artist/colorst, hosted the show, bringing in her own guest, Kevin Krust. If you have a good memory, you might remember that we had Kevin on as a guest many moons ago, OAPS # 231 - Attempting to Impart Wisdom, She brought him back for OAPS #305 - The Return of KevinKrust...Hold the Krust. You can listen to it here, or watch it on YouTube on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT. And, if you act fast, you can still catch it on our twitch channel but only until next Friday.

Despite being out of town, there was a new review on Trophy Unlocked, Trevor's review of to a T. Since we weren't home, no Friday night movie, no Saturday night movie and no new review from me. We'll have to correct that in due time.

Even though I was away for part of the time, I'm now up to over 47,700 words on Blackmail. I did have an idea for it, so I'm going to add a bit at the beginning of the book to, hopefully, set up the subplot of the book. So for a short week, I managed to write nearly 4000 words. I'm impressing myself with that.

For the coming week, I've got a newsletter to write and a new query to make. I'm also having an issue with the copyright office, which I need to address. Oh, the fun never stops.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #519 - Report From the Front - San Diego Comic-Con 2024

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

Just got back from this year's Comic-Con. While SDCC can be brutal and unforgiving at times, it is still one of my favorite things we do every year. There is so much, too much, to do and see (and buy) at the Con, also called the Show, that it would be impossible to go through everything here, but I will try to share what I learned in the panels related to writing that I attended in hopes that something I learned might be of use.

How to Get News Coverage, this panel is moderated by Rik Offenberger, the editor at First Comics News, and a creator in his own right with the G-Men series of books. The panel is meant to help comic book creators, but much would be attributable to other media as well. 

Rik mentioned there are two types of marketing that a creator needs to do: first, is to the Comic Shops to buy it and secondly, to the Comic Shops to help them sell it.

When doing a press release, many on the panel wanted the press release to be in the body of the email and have links to the images. They don't want you to send them the comic book yourself.

Know the outlet that you're sending the press release to. If they cover comic books of a different genre than yours, don't send it to those outlets.

A press release should be about something that is about to happen, like the release of a book. It is important to send them as part of an EPK, or Electonic Press Kit, which should include, in addition to the Press Release:

• Bios of the creators
• Images
• the Cover
• Synopsis of the Book

Note: If the press release asks a question, it should answer it as well.

Also, Rik made the point of trying TV News to get coverage. TV news has to fill in with stories about puppies, why not a story about you and your work? And if you can get that coverage, it can really help you seem more legit to other outlets as well.

What to Know When Selling an Animated Series, moderated by Siobhan Murphy (manager, The Gotham Group). One thing to note that most of the people on the panel represented channels like Nickelodeon or platforms like Marvel and Disney, which wouldn't really be open to something from the outside, however, they do get pitches.

If you do get the opportunity to make a pitch, again, make it to an outlet that would be interested in your story.

Their advice:

• Know your stuff
• The shorter the pitch, the better. Your window will be about 30 minutes, so you want your pitch to be 15 minutes because you want to be conversational.
• Don't flesh it out too much with not everything filled in
• Practice makes perfect
• If you get notes, don't freak out about them
  
• Why now? Why you?

Once you've made your pitch, the person you gave it to will then have to pitch it internally.

Pitches most likely will be over Zoom.

And remember, you're never done pitching yourself.

The final panel was Pitching Your Comic to Publishers. This was a panel made up of a combination of editors and lawyers and was more of a getting your foot in the door with a new project, not necessarily one like Powers Squared that has been around for quite a while.

What Creatives think trade publishers want in a pitch:    

• Story
• Art
• Creative Team

What Publishers Want in a pitch:

• Story
• Art
• Creative Team
• Target Audience
• Marketability
• How it Fits in with Publisher's brand
• Will you be a Good Partner?
• Cost and Revenue Analysis

Thankfully, they don't expect you to provide everything they're looking for.

The project should must have the same number of pages in each issue and be PG-13.

In Writing Your Pitch, be sure to include:

• Title
• Contact Info
• Story Hook
• Project length (parameters)
• Genre, intended Age Group
• TELL the story
• Character Bios
• Artist Attached
• Thank you

Thinks to remember about a pitch:

• Should be Inviting
• Written in the Active voice
• Have Clarity
• Be brief
• Exciting
• Check grammar and spelling
• No Marketing needed

All Cliffhangers need to be addressed in the pitch. They're supposed to be cliffhangers to the reader, but not to the publisher.

For Art with your Pitch:

• Professional Art Only
• One Splash Page
• Character Designs
• Five pages of sequential Art (consecutive pages)
• Clear Storytelling
• Contact Information

Be sure to follow the Publisher's Submission Guidelines. Follow them like the letter of the law. Be sure to follow their technical specs as well.

The panel then discussed what a partnership will look like:

• Do you know how to be a project manager?
• Are you a good communicator?
• Do you hustle?
• Do you strategize well?

As an Indie Creator:

• You will be required to submit "Final Files"
• If the Publisher has to rework your files, that costs the publisher time and money they didn't budget for
• They won't want to work with you again

4 Point Criteria system for Approvals:

• Is the STORY well told?
• Is the ART good?
• Do the Creators have a large fanbase already and do they HUSTLE
• Is the Concept Marketable?

You need to have at least three of those four.

Most importantly, know what's in the CONTRACT:

• What rights are you giving up?
• What do you get paid? And when?

Pitching to more than one publisher at a time is OKAY and acceptable practice. If you wait to hear back from someone, you may never hear back.

10 Reasons Your Project May Be Rejected (and there may be more):

• The project is of a genre the publisher doesn't have a track record with
• The project is for an audience the publisher doesn't have a track record with
• The project may deal with topics the publisher wants to avoid
• The project is of a length that makes it unlikely to be solvent
• It's in a format the publisher doesn't do
• The company has a project in development that is similar to yours
• The publishing slate is full
• The project has production issues which make it onerous to work with
• The publisher doesn't think they can execute the marketing the book will require
• Doesn't fit in the publisher's overall vision for its line

How any or all of that helps you with your projects.

While we were away, X-Men month continued on Trophy Unlocked. Starting with Tuesday, it was Paul's Second Look - Deadpool 2 (All Three Cuts), on Thursday it was my review of Dark Phoenix, followed on Saturday by Trevor's review of The New Mutants.

And finally, while we were gone, the show went on with Julia Canon and Jen Moreno co-hosting an episode called  Artist Takeover!! Chill Art & Yap Stream While the Bois Are Away. It will soon be available listening on our website and on Wednesday can be viewed on our YouTube channel, if you missed the live Twitch broadcast.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #515 - The Artists Takeover

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

We're a day late since I was driving most of Sunday. Too tired to really think much after 9+ hours behind the wheel. I have to give longhaul truck drivers credit, as I don't think I could ever do that.

Thanks to the artists, both past and present, for taking over our podcast in our absence. They decided to do a tier list of the characters from Powers Squared (there's a tab on the home page) if you want to play along. You can watch them on Wednesday at 2:30 pm on our YouTube channel. The audio is coming to https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps. Not sure I 100% agree with their ratings and am proposing the creators of the book do one of our own.

We're trying to map out podcasts for the month of July, and the artists will return at the end of the month, when we're off at San Diego Comic-Con. Speaking of which, last week, I heard from SDCC about tabling for this year's show (I was on the waiting list). As great an opportunity that would have been, I'm not prepared enough for that show, so I had to respectfully decline the last minute offer. Perhaps I would have been more ready to go if we had tabled somewhere before, but I'm not even sure I have everything I'll need and don't want to blow the opportunity by not being ready for it (and the additional costs associated with it as well).

Part of what I want to learn about tabling, for LA Comic-Con is, hopefully, going to come from speaking with small press exhibitors at SDCC. They are, hopefully, in the know and we can get advice before ordering our books. If the opportunity comes up next year, we'll be ready or at least better prepared to go from standing still to the big show.

Speaking of Powers Squared, we had a nice feature in the patreon magazine Mystic Mind #10 from Kirin Comics. I responded to a post, I believe on Facebook, looking for indie comics looking for publicity and we were selected. I'm told we will be considered for a Reader's Choice at the end of the year. You can support them at https://www.patreon.com/kirincomicstuff. If another way comes up to get the magazine, I'll be sure to let you know.

No new reviews from me this week, though my review for American Graffiti was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. Next month, though, July, will be devoted exclusively to X-Men and Deadpool. If you've been reading along, you know that we've been watching all the X-Men franchise films, including Deadpool, now that all pays off. So, keep checking for the first of 15 reviews, including a Deadpool video game and, of course, Deadpool & Wolverine, which will conclude the month. The movie, unfortunately, opens during Comic-Con, but we've reserved seats for the 29th, so it will be reviewed as promptly as possible.

Travelling Friday to Sunday and prepping for that trip, unfortunately, took a hit on my output this week. I did work some on Skylar and feel like I'm finally getting to new parts of the story. I've already mapped out an ending, but there are still several steps before I get there.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week. Happy Fourth of July!