A Week in Writing #520 - Newsletter Week (and not much else)

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

Being this was the last week of July, I spent time putting together The Hound Dogs' Howl, the monthly newsletter from Powers Squared. While, the newletter sort of writes itself, there are bits that need attention. This month's was writing the section on twins. If you subscribe (and why aren't you?), you would know that we do a focus on twins, real and fictional. Since we had met the Gibbs Sisters, twins who write together, including graphic novels, at a networking event at San Diego Comic-Con, I thought they would be a good choice.

If you're interested, you can read the newsletter here or, better yet, enroll at San Romero Community College here and receive it in your inbox the first Sunday of every month.

Other than that, I didn't really do much writing. Call it the post-Con bends or something, but it takes awhile to recover from the experience.

Last night, as an example, we had had dinner and watched a rather short film, Daughter of Shanghai (1937), but as soon as I sat down afterward to write, I pretty much fell asleep, and it was only 10. Not a productive night to say the least.

While there were no new reviews from me, Trophy Unlocked continued, wrapping up X-Men month with Paul's second look at Deadpool (Game) and finally, on the 31st, his review of Deadpool & Wolverine. The Saturday Morning Review this week was also his review of My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission.

On the business side of things, I submitted my panel and ordered books for L.A. Comic-Con in October; and we wrote follow ups to people we met at SDCC, some of whom we'd like to have as guests on our podcast.

Speaking of On the Air with Powers Squared, we did recount our experience at SDCC, but more from an attendee rather than as a professional. I covered that in last week's post, which I hope someone found useful, or at least interesting. You can listen the podcast here or wait until Wednesday to watch on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared) here. Paul is also working on a video detailing our experience at the Con. Links when those go up.

Nothing else to report, but there's always next week to right the ship.

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 #516 - Not the Best Holiday Break

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

I won't go into details, but the time I've had off from work was very expensive for me personally and I mean that in the dollars and cents way. Nothing really bad happened, but keeping up a house can sometimes be very expensive, not to mention maintaining cars. It's been a large financial hit all the way around and time has been spent on other things besides writing because of it.

I did manage to finish a chapter and write a new one for Skylar, including over 1400 words today, which has been a long-time goal not oft reached; hence the name of the page: https://1000wordsadayeasily.blogspot.com.

I'm also working on a review of Man's Castle, a 1933 melodrama starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young. As usual, no idea when it will appear on Trophy Unlocked, especially since we're in the midst of X-Men month on the blog. So far, Trevor's review of X-Men (2000) kicked things off on Tuesday, followed by Paul's review of  X2 (2003) on Thursday and my review of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) as the Saturday Morning Review. During July, we will review all of the X-Men movies and a video game, culminating with Deadpool & Wolverine at the end. See, there is method to the madness.

On the Powers Squared front, Paul, Trevor and myself, the creators of the comic book, did our own character tier list as this week's OAPS podcast. This was in reaction to a similar tier list done the week before by the artists (Julia Canon, Jen Moreno, and artist emeritus, Rachel Wells). You can listen to ours here or watch it later, on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared), on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT, here.

To give you a preview, here's the artists' version:

and here is ours:

You can decide which is right. (See last week's post for links to their podcasts (audio and video).

We opened the banner we ordered for LA Comic-Con and it looks good. I was worried that the QR code wouldn't work, but it does. Haven't put it all together yet, but will share when that happens. We also received the t-shirts we ordered for the Con as well. While we're not going to be selling them there, we wanted to be able to wear everything available. There will be a discount for anyone who buys during the Con online.

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