Is it worth creating & submitting a graphic novel to IMAGE if NOBODY knows you?

[Steveberger]

Hey there! I need your honest thoughts & suggestions on this. So I'll cut right to the chase:

If a person has been working as a freelance illustrator for quite some time now (meaning - can actually draw), has done a few short comics (handled all aspects of it - sketching, drawing, inking, coloring & lettering) and has written a script that that person would like to turn into a graphic novel - KNOWING that it might take up to a year or more to do it, that it will suck up that person's entire existance and force to pass on other paying projects which will then lead to a year heavy on a canned bean diet - would you tell that person to go ahead and do it, make that graphic novel, EVEN THOUGH nobody knows about that person's existance? No twitter, no facebook account, no fans, nothing.

This is a question I haven't seen adressed much. And lately I've heard a few creators (last one being Mark Crilley) mentioning how they did projects - great, well made projects - that went right under the radar simply because they had no marketing strategy, no real fan base gathered, no social media presence... no nothing.

What would be your advice here? Build an audience first (start a blog, a website, a YouTube account, do sketches, post illustrations, ect.) and then go for a graphic novel? Or just do it, take that year-long shampoo slide, pitch it to IMAGE and see what happens?

[AstroWolfboy]

I think you'd be better off going on Kickstarter , getting more funding. Creating a website dedicated to your comic , make your own Label , kinda like a garage band would utilize their music.

[TotalSnorefest]

Seems like a major aspect of why there's not a whole lot of completely unknown, 'new' creators at Image right now might be down to their financial policy. Companies like Dark Horse, Boom!/Archaia and Oni offer pagerates, so the artists/writers/etc. get paid upfront. That makes it viable to dedicate a year to a project, because there's a steady reward for every page you hand in.

Over at Image, all proceeds come afterwards. I guess it's just not very viable to dedicate a year to drawing a comic, only to get periodic paychecks after each issue is released. Plus there's a greater risk: what if it doesn't sell? Add to that Image's trade policy (and subsequent trade-waiter heavy audience) - if you're relying on trades to move your story, that puts you in even more of a bind. The first one will likely be just a 10$ one, which I assume is mostly done to grow audiences. For that to become profitable though, you'll have to move a lot of copies. It's not until trade #2 where you can start charging serious money and presumably a more comfortable profit margin; but that's usually a year's worth of issues before you get there.

Not trying to say you shouldn't attempt it btw! But I think practical concerns like this are a big reason it's mostly established creators who can risk to gamble on an Image series. Image is a great place in terms of creative control, artistic freedom and the ownership of your output; but that's partially off-set by some practical concerns.

By all means go for it, there's always some new faces popping up at Image so it's definitely not impossible! Just consider it well, I guess.

[Scott M Davis]

Self publish it yourself. There are plenty of avenues to do it.

Make it available in digital and hard copy.

[Joker]

First of all, don't do a "graphic novel". serialize it. Single issues, man. Being a known quantity won't hurt your sales, but nobody knew who Jonathan Hickman was when The Nightly News was released.

Regardless of format you choose (Image would probably want single issues rather than a GN, though) Submit 5 finished pages and a summary of the story, per the guidelines. (https://imagecomics.com/about/submissions) If Image don't contact you, all you put in was five pages and a cover. You can figure out a different plan from there. No reason to draw a complete work and then submit it, Image only require a 5 page sample of completed work.

That's what I'd do. Make your pitch and see what happens.

Kickstarter is an option, but if you go that route you'd better be a businessman (which most artists aren't) as well as the creative team. Kickstarter can go horribly wrong if you don't have a solid business plan.

[Look]

build an audience and a name for yourself, you can start right here on cbr

[Steveberger]

Thank you all for replying! Very useful & interesting opinions here. A lot to consider.

[KeenerED]

You can do up and submit to Shadowline. Jim Valentino's division of Image. There are specific submission guidelines that you must follow or Jim won't even look at your submission, because if you can't follow simple instructions.....

Anywhere there's no harm in submitting it. Worst they will tell you is no.

[Steveberger]

Thanks again for answering, guys.

I have one more question, though - are there any upfront fees one should prepare for when submitting a book to IMAGE? I don't mean them taking a percentege from the [potential] revenue (that comes later), I mean paying for the initial order of however many copies or stuff like that?

Hope this question makes sense.

[Don C]

Image takes a flat fee to handle their costs. That's all.

[Deniz Camp]

A lot of mis, or lack of, information here, so let's get into it quickly.

First of all, Graphic Novels are fine, and in some cases preferable to mini series. It depends on who your marketing your book to, both in terms of audience and publisher. Publishing houses like Top Shelf, Archaia and Oni often public OGNs, and are very viable options. They'd prefer you have a GN complete before submitting. And they appeal to book buyers, rather than the direct market customers. That means that if your book has more in common with something like "Blankets" or "Scott Pilgrim" than it does Superman or even Saga (all genre books), you'd do well to think about tailoring your format to those publishers. By that same token, if you've got a ripping genre tale - science fiction, spy, action/adventure, fantasy - you might do better to serialize, as this is the preferred mechanism for Image.

To answer your initial question -- yes, it's a problem submitting to Image with zero presence. In fact, Image has only very rarely anything from the slush pile, which is generally pretty abysmal. The last book I can recall as such was Justin Jordan/Moore's Luther Strode, and Jordan had tons of presence previous to that on Zuda and in small press, and even so Stephenson was amazed that he found something that good in the pile. Neal Stephenson decides what does and does not get published based on what he likes (no superheroes being a general rule). You'd be better off pitching at a con, which I've seen have some decent results even with little 'insider knowledge' or presence. But consider that you'll be making this book for a year -- why not share the process of your work, as you put it together? Start a twitter account; hell, start two, one for yourself and one dedicated to the project. Start a tumblr. Share your work. Ask people to check it out, ask for feedback your art on penciljack and Digital Webbing and Reddit. Start to develop your community. Comment on other peoples' work that you admire. Start tweeting at editors and creators putting out work you respect. Nepotism is a huge deal in comics, in art. Getting known is an important part of the process. Networking is an important part of the process.

Additionally, spread out. Image is NOT the only game in town, not by a longshot. But even Image is sort of fractionated; Shadowline is its own imprint (now with Open Submissions) with its own rules. Then there's Image Central, which is what most refer to when they refer to Image. Then there's Skybound, Kirkman's imprint; they DO pay page rates and advances, but aren't open to submissions; you must be invited. There's Top Cow, if you're a certain type of creator with a certain type of project.

But there are a lot of other companies who might be willing to invest in you, big and small. Oni, Dark Horse, Top Shelf, Boom, Archaia, Monkeybrain, Action Lab, Red 5, Heavy Metal, Titan, IDW (you must join ComixExperience to get the right to pitch, so it's got a smaller pool to draw from, a potential advantage)...the list goes on. Leave no stone unturned.

But finally, and this is the hardest for you to judge on your own, what it all comes down to is - are you good enough? Is the quality of your writing and the quality of your art to the level it needs to be to get accepted at a place like Image, or Dark Horse? Because if it's not, no amount of strategy in the world is going to help. And a frank evaluation of our own skills is incredibly difficult, I think.

Anyway, good luck, and dont' hesitate to get into contact if you want to know more.

Deniz
PS, "Nightly News" made virtually no money for Hickman when it was released. Hickman not being known had a huge impact on sales; it's only thanks to a little buzz and a recommendation from BMB getting him a chance at a Marvel Gig that he became huge. The creator community is IMPORTANT. It may be the single most important element in breaking in today.

[Deniz Camp]

Oh, and to the last question - No, you don't have to pay anything up front but the cost of your own production of art/story/design. Even with design, Image can help with that, though they'll charge you more on the back end.

Image is investing in you when they publish your book. Sales of said book give them a return on that investment, and you don't start making mney until they've recouped theirs, and then some. But it's extremely fair.

[Joker]

PS, "Nightly News" made virtually no money for Hickman when it was released. Hickman not being known had a huge impact on sales; it's only thanks to a little buzz and a recommendation from BMB getting him a chance at a Marvel Gig that he became huge. The creator community is IMPORTANT. It may be the single most important element in breaking in today.

My only point was that they will publish a nobody if the work is good enough.

And I don't recall the months published, but Hickman was doing Pax Romana and Transhuman in the same year as starting to do actual work for Marvel. (Baring the one short he did for them prior.) So even if Nightly News made him no money, it didn't stop them from letting him do more books.

[Deniz Camp]

But it did stop him from making longer books; the length of those books is precisely because he couldn't sell anything longer with his name.

Likewise, not being known to the GENERAL PUBLIC is very different from not being a part of the creator community. John Hickman, as an artist, came in second in the Marvel artist competition, and was heavily active on various creator boards while he was coming up, discussing craft, marketing, etc. Jonathan Hickman was known, just not to the audience.

Image Central very, very rarely accepts anything from their open submissions policy/send in. That's a reality you have to accept.

[el shah]

Good Info in this thread. I've been putting together a submission myself for next year.

Dont have any recognition yet but im going to try build it a bit before I submit.