Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc From: [s--ru--y] at [cbnewsk.cb.att.com] (sylvia.a.rudy) Subject: Submission Guidelines: Eclipse [8 of 12] Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 17:47:35 GMT Company: Eclipse Books Address: Box 1099 Forestville, CA 95436 Telephone: (707)887-1521 Telefax: (707)887-7128 Text of letter: WRITER'S GUIDELINES Writers who send us elaborate plot treatments, lengthy stories or full scripts for series proposal are almost certainly going to be disappointed by our response: we seldom have tome to completely review these materials. We are also, frankly, unlikely to buy a completely new series from an unknown writer when we have so many good, established writers working wit us. Because Eclipse Comics are creator-owned (that is, the creator of a series controls the copyright), we do not hire "fill-in" or "guest" writers to script stories about our ongoing characters very often. However, these are our standards, should you wish to submit material. MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS: We only review typewritten or computer-printed material. We do not read hand-written manuscripts or faint dot-matrix print-outs. A worker who doesn't use the proper tools for the job is putting him or herself at a disadvantage. Likewise, we have little patience with poor spelling. Buy a dictionary and use it. The format for a comic book is similar to that of a screenplay. See the short example on this page for one standard format. Avoid the use of blocks of all-upper case typing (i.e. for scene descriptions) as this is hard for an editor to read. A self-addressed stamped reply envelope must be enclosed if you want a response - and it must contain enough postage for your manuscript if you want the material returned. MAKE AN INTERESTING STORY OUT OF A TIME-WORN PLOT No matter what genre your story falls in, a romatic, political, humanistic, moral or other subtext will increase your chance of selling it to us. For example, a horror story in which career jealousy leads to murder will be more popular with our readers than a straightforward account of psychopathic killers on the loose. Likewise, a story about intrepid space explorers who fall in love with horrible shape-changing aliens is better than one in which the two species simply meet and fight to the death. And, of course, the best super-hero material is that in which the characters have private, human lives and problems they cannot solve by their brute strength alone. There must be some place in the story for the reader to identify with at least one of the protagonists. If the story features supernatural elements of any kind (gods, zobmies, super-heros, were-wolves, "mutants", vampires, psychics, space aliens, ghosts, etc.) it is a good idea to begin by establishing a mundane context within which the action will occur, so that the supernatural elements will appear more strongly highlighted by contrast. It is also common to portray the major protagonist, whether or not her or she has supernatural qualities, as psychologically "human" enough to be understood by the readers. Occasionally, a writer seeks to present a story about unrecognizably supernatural beings as seen through the eyes of a recognizably human narrator, but this risks creating a new central protagonist out of the narrator, who will be seen as more interesting to the reader than the "cosmic" characters whose drama the story ostensibly is. Ultimately, the best way to acquaint yourself with what Eclipse finds interesting, in terms of story content, is to read our comics. What we publish is, obvously, what we like. WHAT'S IN A SCRIPT Fully scripted comic books should contain a complete panel by panel description (for the artist) of what is viewed, plus all the dialogue, sound effects, and descriptive captions that will be lettered in. Think of the comic book script as a screenplay -- and remember never to tell the readers in the captions something you expect the artist to show in the panels. If you have had any success writing short stories, novels or plays, you should find it easy to adapt your techniques to comics. Here is a brief example of a comic book script: PANEL 1. Establishing shot of living room. Furnishings are middle class. Show tv set (it will be turned on during next page). JOYCE is on the couch, in causal clothes. She is 30 years old, blonde, pretty but not beautiful. BOB (33 years old, balding, office worker type in casual clothes) is standing over Joyce and shouting. They are having an argument. It is night outside the windows, please ink it black with a full moon. CAP: "Just a couple of newlywed lovebirds" -- that's what Mrs Rosenberg called the monroes down in Apartment 3B. BOB: I can't *stand* it anymore, Joyce! You've just got to -- PANEL 2. Close up reaction shot of Joyce. She is self-righteously angry. JOYCE: Bob, I'm *warning* you! He's *my* brother, and no matter what he's done in the past, I'm *still* inviting him to the party! PANEL 3. Bob and Joyce turn as knock is heard from front door. Not a shock reaction, they just turn to see what's up. BOB: You do that and I'll -- huh? SFX: NOK! NOK! Notice that the opening caption did not state that "Bob and Joyce are at home having a fight." The artist will be showing this through background art and body gesture, so it is redundant information. The caption did, however, tell us some things that will *not* appear in the art, namely that Bob and Joyce are newlyweds, that they live in an apartment building, and that they don't usually quarrel in public. In additon, the ironic contrast between what Mrs. Rosenberg thinks of Bob and Joyce's relationship and what the reader hears in the opening dialogue provides for a small touch of humor. And, should Mrs. Rosenberg appear later in the story, the reader will know approximately who she is (a kindly busybody in the same apartment building) and can thus be spared a stupid caption covering her abrupt arrival on the scene ("Just then, Mrs. Rosenberg, the kindly busybody who lived upstairs entered the room.") WRITING FOR THE ARTIST In additon to working out a solid plot, pacing the story so that small "high points" of excitement and suspense fall at the page turns rather than in the middle of a page, and writing good captions and dialogue that do not restate information which will be shown in the art, a comic book scripter must give instructions to the artist concerning what to draw in each and every panel. This falls into two general categories of information: what the characters are doing, and where the action is taking place. It is our opoinion that describing the look on a character's face will help the artist to understand your intentions better than giving long descriptions of the character's height, weight, clothing, or personal history. If you ask for Joyce in the example above to be "crying", you will get a very different picture from the artist than if you ask for her to be "self-righteously angry". If you simply ask for a "rection shot", you will leave the artist leeway to draw anything from stunned shock to amused disdain. Do not expect the artist to "get inside" the character's personality as you did when writing the script; many artists cannot do that -- which is why they are artists, not writer-artists. Be extremely specific in describing facial and body gestures and leave little to chance. The opposite is true in describing scenes and settings for the artists. Unless this information is very important to the mood of the story or to the establishment of continuity, let the artist have some freedom here. In the example above, a "middle class" living room was requested from the artist. This will be easy to draw and the result will probably be satisfactory. The only reason to give exactingly specific scene descriptions is to help the artist create a specific "atmosphere" or to prepare for a piece of plot continuity. For instance, if you feel it's important to the mood of the example above that the living room contains a red Barcalounger and a 19th century golden oak table with a yellow Art Deco Monbeam clock on it, then instruct the artist to draw them, even if they are never directly mentioned in the dialogue or captions. Similarly, if the plot requires that one of the characters is going to use a telephone in the living two panels after this panel, remind the artist to draw the telephone into the very first establishing shot of the room, so that there will be continuity throughout the scene. A small schematic sketch of the room as seen from above can be placed in the margin of the script, if you think it is necessary. For precise "location shots" of foreign cities, historical landmarks, or obscure museum artifiacts, it is customary for the writer to supply the artist with xeroxed photo reference or pages torn out of *The National Geographic*. For historical or military costume details, photocopies from an excyclopedia or other refernce book are the norm. Do not ask an artist to draw an actual unfaked location or military costume without reference, and do not expect an artist to "go to the library and look it up" on your behalf. It is also an imposition to ask the editor of a comic to find photo- reference for your story. The rule here is: "If you want the Taj Mahal, bring the Taj Mahal along with you when you submit your script." When it comes to non-specific locales (such as "the interior of a restaurant") and imaginary settings ("an evil- looking alien rocket ship, seen against a background of deep space with nebulae, galaxys, etc.), you will find that most good professional artists are capable of taking skimpy descriptions and producing beautiful, consistent work. Artists and writers who work together repeatedly eventually develop a rapport. At that point, the writer can save scripting time by leaving out non-essential descriptive instructions, and also save drawing time for the artists by sticking to locales the artist already has reference on. Setting a story in the artist's home town or using imaginary and historical places that the artist is particularly fond of drawing is a sure way to establish this sort of partnership. An artist whose favorite subject is swashbuckling pirates, for instance, will find it hard these days to get an excuse to draw them. The artist will be glad, and possbly even effusively grateful, to work with a writer who can occasionally come up with plots in which pirates appear -- even if they are only the costumed villains in a super-hero series or the hallucinations of a dying space explorer who has eaten poison mushrooms. Give an artist an excuse to depict what he or she wants most to draw, and that artist will work harder and turn in better work. WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS BUSINESS Beginning writers in the comics field usually have other writing jobs to support them until they pick up steady assignments. Some are newspaper reporters, some freelance magazine writers, and some do unlikely things like security guard work or grocery store clerking until they establish themselves. In the direct sales market (where comics are solicited and sold to distributers before printing) the name and reputation of a writer is an important sales factor. This makes it harder for new writers to break in, but it also maximizes employment for those who are steady workers and can meet their deadlines. It is not uncommon for a comic book scripter to produce four or five separate 25-page issues per month, each illustrated by a different art team and dealing with a different genre of fiction. With rates in the industry currently ranging between 20 and 65 dollars a page, this can translate into salaries of $24,000 to $97,500 per year. GOOD LUCK Because of the volume of submissions we recieve, we may not be able to get back to you for three months or more. Please be patient; we will look at your work and make comments if we can. Don't telephone to monitor the progress of your submissioin: the works are reviewed by sveral of our editors, rather than by any one particular person, and it is unlikely we will be able to help you over the phone. Thank you, Eclipse Comics ##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*## ## Sylvia A. Rudy * "Have you any idea how completely miserable it is ## ## whamt!sar.att.com * to have a runny nose under a full facial mask?" ## ##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##*##* -The Masked Wonder- *##*##*##*##*##*##