Occupation: Highly respected assistant manager of a very, very popular comic store.
Group Affilliation: I have chosen to grace the SBC with my wisdom.
Base of Operations: Florida
First Appearance: Nearly 40 years ago.
History: For more than seven years I have been an invaluable asset to the comic industry as a knowledgeable and talented assistant manager.
Powers and Weapons: Unlike so many other columnists and "professionals," I know the truth about comics. I will not waste your time with opinions, dear reader, I will give you only the facts.
For the last thirty years I have been reading a wide variety of comics and working in the comics industry as the assistant manager of a very profitable Florida comic shop. I have read hundreds of thousands of comics and know the insides and outs of comic writing. I have lost track of how many times my customers have told me I should be writing comics, after bowling them over with one of my hellacious story ideas. You are safe to assume that I am an authority on comics and so, comic writing.
There is no easier work to be found or to be done than writing a comic. This is the truth. It takes more determination and hard work to wake up in the morning, drive to a burger joint and flip patties. If I wanted to dream small and give up my current job as an assistant manager, a position that truly earns respect, I could find a job writing comics tomorrow.
Many would-be creators frequent my store and they are always asking me to read their submissions before they send them off to the comic companies. I do them the great favor of reading their proposals in front of them. But, for their own good, I am a tyrannical critic. More than a few of these "writers" have been driven to tears as I mark their scripts in red and even tear out whole pages, shredding them in front of their faces. I have helped many a youngster this way. But like Victor Von Doom, I am a kind tyrant, and with the bad comes the good; my writing submission tips.
A word of warning first, my tips are the real thing, not the lies that editors and other "professionals" give out. Contrary to what people in the know will tell you, this is how to get your writing noticed and how to get hired. The Roth approach is two pronged.
1 - Send in as much writing as possible! Do not limit your plots to one page and always send in full scripts, regardless of what the company's submission policy states. The notion that a "busy" editor will prefer a one-page, uninteresting, detail-lacking plot over several pages of solid material is laughable. And never send in a few pages of a script as a writing sample.
Send the entire script. Send two scripts if possible. Editors will be floored by seeing the entirety of your concepts brought to life through your writing, rather than partial snippets of a script. Who wants that?
2 - Keep in contact with the editor(s) you are sending the submission to. The day before you mail the submission, give the editor a call and give him a "heads up" that something fantastic is coming in the mail. Depending on the method of shipment, call on the day that you believe your submission package will arrive and ask the editor to get it from the mailroom. Tell him he won't be disappointed. Some may say that editors may get mad if they are called, that editors are too busy to be answering calls about submissions, but that would be like Boba Fett being too busy to collect a bounty.
Not gonna happen.
It's what they do, people! You may as well have them doing it for you! By now the editor will know you by name, so call them back once a week, twice if necessary, until you receive your acceptance letter. Don't be surprised if they tell you your story was accepted by the third or fourth call alone. That's how long I anticipate it should take.
Of course, the method above is mine and would work for me, if I chose to follow that lowly path, so please remember, you must be a good writer for these tips to work.
My tips are good, but they won't carry your bad writing.
The opinions expressed above are entirely the author's and do not represent those of Silver Bullet Comics, or any of its staff, or contributors.
