What makes the difference between staying in the slush pile for half a year and actually getting your submissions read?
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Brevity.
-- Erik Larsen
Communication. The bottom line is that the editor had damn well better know that the proposal is coming in before it gets there.
I once had an editor explain to me that he reads submissions once a year -- during winter break. So if you sent him a proposal in mid-December, you'd have a good chance of him getting right back to you. If, however, you happened to send a submission over in early January, it could be twelve months before he even looked at it!
One way to stack the odds in your favor is to carpet bomb; submitting is a numbers game, and the more you send out, the better your odds of getting one read. But a far more intelligent approach would be to talk to the editor you're submitting to before you send anything in. Not only will this give you a better idea of the editor's schedule and, by extension, when you might expect to hear back from him or her, but this gets you past the "we can't read any unsolicited proposals" quagmire -- if an editor has agreed to see your submission, your submission has been, for all intents and purposes, "solicited."
You can speak with editors at conventions, or during online chats (and if you don't have access to either of those forums, then in all honesty, you're probably not equipped to be a freelance writer....but you can always try an introductory letter). Once someone is expecting your proposal, it's up to you to make it concise, neat (spelling and grammar errors are totally unacceptable), and dynamic. You will, of course, have read the submissions guidelines, and have a great story you want to tell.
One last suggestion if you're an unknown talent, they're probably not going to let you change the status quo of a major character. So save your "Barbara Gordon Walks Again!" and "Superman Kills Lex Luthor!" proposals until you're a little better established and they can say no to you to your face.
Good luck! -)
-- Devin Grayson
Establishing a relationship with the editor to begin with.
How? LoC's (Letters of Comment) to the letters page. Put your best writing into it. You don't have to fawn but bringing up interesting points about the comics you read is a good thing. Make it succinct. If you start getting your letters printed with some regularity, then they have SOME idea of who you are. Beats them having NO idea. Once you have a relationship, see if you can meet the editor at a Con. face to face helps. Or, if you're in the metro area, see if you can arrange an interview. Ask them to look over what you have. Make it plot SYNOPSES, not the entire thing, In three pages you should be able to do five of them, double-spaced, no more than a page each. If you've done work for a smaller company, send along a copy of the printed story. It shows you're not just another fan dweeb. PRESENTATION COUNTS -- typed, spell checked, double spaced, with your name, address and phone at the bottom of each page. They want to work with a pro; don't let your presentation mark you as a wannabe.
If you follow these suggestions, will they do the trick. Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes slush piles never get opened and sometimes there just isn't any work even for experienced people. But none of the suggestions above will HURT.
--John Ostrander
Persistance, persistance and, oh yeah, persistance. Follow up submissions with phone calls, e-mails, skywriting, whatever. Anything just shy of stalking. Getting stuff read is nearly impossible. You gotta WORK at it.
-- Chuck Dixon
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Page created by Dave A. Law
Last update: December 28, 2003 |