Subject: MISC: Caliber Guidelines From: [s--ru--y] at [cbnewsk.cb.att.com] (sylvia.a.rudy) Company: Caliber Press Address: 621-B S. Main Street Plymouth, MI 48170 Phone: (313)455-3599 Fax: (313)455-3099 Text of Letter: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES At Caliber Press, we try to keep everything as simple as possible, hence this brief letter of what our guidelines are. First off, all of our books are strictly paid on a royalty basis after publication. No page rates, no guarantees, and no advances. We have tried different methods and this is what works best for us and our creators. The amount earned is totally dependant on sales. If the books does well, then the creators do. All of our books are in black and white. We have done color in the past but are very reluctant to do so now. Creators maintain complete ownership of their material right from the beginning. We allow creators a great deal of control of the production aspects as well. Our motto is "it's your book" and we truly feel that way. We don't put together teams on books. We don't match up writers with artists, pencillers with inkers, etc. Proposals should come in with writer and artist set already. We will help you with the lettering, but that too comes from the creator's royalites. We allow creators to do their own coveers if they want (virtually all of them do and most do fully painted covers.) We don't have a great need for colorists or cover artists because of this as well. What we want to see on a proposal is a rough idea of what the series will look like, where it's going, etc... Artwise we need to see at least a few pages of finished continuity so we can have a feel for what it looks like. Script should include some dialogue. Please, do not plan on doing a 38 issue epic. Most series never get that far. Plan on 1 - 6 issues. If you want to continue after that, you can always do another mini- series or continue past the original storyline. The most important thing to realize is that when working in the independants, you're not likely to make a great deal of money. Some people can make a living from it, but most can not. Over half of the over 400 comics that come out every month have sales of 3,000 or less. Be realistic in what you're expecting. The best way to approach it is to do the work for the love of it or think of it as a stepping stone to prove yourself, or to do a project you really want to do regardless of sales. We're not trying to be overly pessimistic here, but comic work is hard and frustrating so be prepared. On the other side of this sheet are come of the type of material that we are looking for. Please remember that we get in 100's of submissions a month and sometimes we can't answer them as fast as we would like especially during busy times of the year such as the convention season and major holidays like Christmas. We hope this letter is taken as an honest approach and does not discourage you from submitting to us and other companies. Always make sure that you check out titles from the company that you are submitting to so you are aware of what they do. Sometimes a proposal will be rejected because we're doing something that is very similar. Other times, it is evident that the submitter has no idea of what the company does that he is submitting to. Be sure to enclose a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) if you want a reply. If you want you work returned, send along an envelope big enough with enough postage. If you do not send a SASE, more than likely, you won't hear from anyone. After all, if you don't care about your work enough, why should we? Besides, the expense is enormous when added up over the course of the year and this for material we don't want to use! Please don't call us a day or two after you have sent in your proposal. We probably haven't had a chance to even open it yet. We allot certain days for looking through submissions and sometimes our schedule just can't fit it in on a particular week. Do not send submissions Next Day or Federal Express. Its a needless waste of money. Best way to show your stuff is send letter sized photocopies. NEVER SEND ORIGINALS!! Do not send scraps of paper that are not connected. If you're sending out a lot of proposals, the best thing to do is invest in a rubber stamp and stamp your name, address, and phone number on every page. (page ends) WHAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN This may sound flippant but what we're looking for is material that is good, regardless of subject matter. We do a lot of material that is different from what is out there but we also do some of the more conventional stuff as well. Caliber is a very diverse company that has done zombies, westerns, war, punk detectives, horror, science fiction, superheroes, slice of life...you name it, we've probably done just about every genre. Things to generally stay away from unless its something very different and/or good. The science fiction epic...Dungeons ando and will do: TOME PRESS These are the titles that are based on history, imaginary characters, or real people of the past. We're not too interested in doing "current day" biographies but depending on the subject, we might. If based on a real person or event, you must utilize a variety of sources who offer different viewpoints. We don't want sanitized versions yet we also do not want a version that just trashes ther person either. Previous subjects and characters have included the Alamo, El Cid, Zulu Wars, True Spy Stories, and Emelia Earhart. We also do a great many literary adaptations and we prefer short stories or poems rather than trying to condense down large novels. Titles we have done in the past include some Jack London stories, Pied Piper of Hamelin, Byron's Prisoner of Chillon, and Goblin Market. Always check with us before proceeding as we have many projects in the works. ICONOGRAFIX These are the titles that are called cutting edge, slice of life, avant guarde,etc. These are out of the mainstream and usually reflect a strong creator vision. Examples are Lowlife, Tad Martin, Dadaville, and other similar titles. GAUNTLET These are titles of action and adventure and that's where the focus lies no matter what the genre is. Can be science fiction, horror, the dark vigilante, superheroes, etc. These are hard to determine since so many ideas and proposals we get in this line read so similar. Give us something a little different. CALIBER One one hand, a catch all line for what doesn't fit elsewhere but also these titles may have a uniqueness to them yet still have somewhat trditional art and story. Most of these titles are more sophisticated but not adult. Hard to categorize but titles in this line include Baker Street, Taken Under, Silencers, Warp-Walking, Fringe, and also Deadworld and Realm. The last two will be undergoing some changes that will bring them closer in line with the rest of the Caliber line and away from their more derived influences. We also have a few anthologies that can be submitted to. Again, these will be based on pure royalties. Most of the time, we would prefer complete stand alone stories, but we which line you want, we'll decide that if and when we accept it. Wish you the best of luck. :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) :) "Why do you wear a mask?" :) Do you think I smile too much? :) :) "Look, I'm called the Masked :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) :) Wonder, right?" :) Sylvia A. Rudy - whamt!sar.att.com :) :) "Yes..." :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) :) "Well then, I'd look pretty damn :) Do you think for one second AT&T :) :) stupid going around without :) even cares what I think and say, :) :) a mask, wouldn't I?" :) let alone endorses it? :) :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)