Thursday, December 25, 2003
Happy Holidays! The new year will have me working on a submissions package for Something to Build Upon. I'll be sending that to agents or publishers specializing in the mystery field. Any responses will get them the POD book, which looks and reads a whole heck of a lot better than anything I could do at kinkos
This means, of course, that the comics publishers I've submitted to have taken a pass on Odd Jobs for now.
And that's pretty much what I expected - Odd Jobs is a genre work and it doesn't fit with what they as art-comic publishers like to print. (Except for Oni Press, but before I submitt there I have to travel out to the west coast and meet them at a convention. If I ever go out to the west coast for a comics convention, I'll do just that.)
What I didn't expect was a nice comment from one of the two publishers who cared to reply - it's not what they like to publish but they liked Odd Jobs. That's pretty cool. Bizarre that I succeeded in creating something they like but aren't going to publish, but cool all the same.
But in a way, it's good I'm going for the mystery publishers. As much as I like some of the work that's coming out of the art comic publishing houses, when I check out bookstores' graphic novel sections they're a disaster. The shelves are flooded with Japanese and superhero reprints, and the books are arranged alphabetically by TITLE. That's WHEN they're arranged - more often than not they're all over the place.
I'm sorry, I don't want to be on those shelves and that's where art comic publishers would put me. So while it would be really cool to be published by one of them, I don't think it's a good fit for either them or me.
So I'm going for the mystery book publishers, and seeking to be put on the shelves where people who like to read mysteries browse.
What do you think?
This means, of course, that the comics publishers I've submitted to have taken a pass on Odd Jobs for now.
And that's pretty much what I expected - Odd Jobs is a genre work and it doesn't fit with what they as art-comic publishers like to print. (Except for Oni Press, but before I submitt there I have to travel out to the west coast and meet them at a convention. If I ever go out to the west coast for a comics convention, I'll do just that.)
What I didn't expect was a nice comment from one of the two publishers who cared to reply - it's not what they like to publish but they liked Odd Jobs. That's pretty cool. Bizarre that I succeeded in creating something they like but aren't going to publish, but cool all the same.
But in a way, it's good I'm going for the mystery publishers. As much as I like some of the work that's coming out of the art comic publishing houses, when I check out bookstores' graphic novel sections they're a disaster. The shelves are flooded with Japanese and superhero reprints, and the books are arranged alphabetically by TITLE. That's WHEN they're arranged - more often than not they're all over the place.
I'm sorry, I don't want to be on those shelves and that's where art comic publishers would put me. So while it would be really cool to be published by one of them, I don't think it's a good fit for either them or me.
So I'm going for the mystery book publishers, and seeking to be put on the shelves where people who like to read mysteries browse.
What do you think?
