I’ e been writing comics professionally since 1991 and my latest book series are sold to eight countries so far. Tips: Write page and panel number instead of slugline (EXT. BERNIES HOUSE - DAY) When you discuss panels with the artist, Its easier of you both now witch one you talk about. Be specific in the action text. Its not a man walking out the door. It’s someone; Ted, Bernie, Superman. Is it someone that never will be in the story anymore, you can call him ”a man” or whatever. Otherwise. How is he dressed? Is he happy, sad, sick, angry? What does he do? Tell the artist what you want him/her to draw, especially if you work together for the first time. I have worked with my artist for ten years and write more briefly descriptions to let him come up with the panels as much as I can. Is it some important that has to be in the panel, i tell him.

That's _how_ to do it from a technical stand point but how to know _what_ to write?

I posted this comment before: (I truly believe that any Artist, a Penciller, who works for less than 400 dollars per page is cheating himself/herself and working for peanuts. Marvel and DC are taking advantage of NEW artists! It's WRONG...READ below to get my SCOOP on PAGE RATES. Now Writers, that's a different story and I do not agree with writers getting paid as much as a penciller but they should be compensated fairly. I know Roy Thomas' page rate. He is, a veteran and one writer I have communicated before, but his page rate is not near what a penciller's is. I understand that NEW or YOUNG comics artists (pencillers) wanting to break-in and taking the meager PAGE RATE of between 100-250 offered by most publishing companies, starting out. They do not realize that in 1980, Marvel Comics and DC had a page rate of about 100 and 150 starting out. In today's dollars a 1980 page rate of 150 would be over 500 dollars. If an artist is not getting paid at a MINIMUM of 400 per page starting out, they are WORKING FOR PEANUTS. Nobody can survive with all the expenses on a monthly basis with the current page rate of even 200 per page, starting out. Average comics magazines are about 25 pages per issue. 25 X 200 = 5,000 dollars per month, if an artist is working on a monthly comic for the big companies. how much is rent? Insurances (vehicle, apartment/home/MEDICAL/Dental/Eyes/Ears)? Groceries? Gasoline? Taxes? Entertainment? The Basic Survival necessities we are all responsible for? In the major cities? It depends on where the artist lives or if he or she lives with their parents. No! THE COMIC ARTIST MUST BE PAID MINIMUM 400-500 PER PAGE. ANYTHING LESS THEY ARE SELLING THEMSELVES SHORT AND WORKING FOR PEANUTS. luckily as an artist, I have no desire to work for anyone unless they pay my page rate of at least 500 dollars, EXTRA for COVERS! And luckier also, is that I am much older now and retired from the U.S. Army so I get a little pension, not much but it helps pay the basic bills and I work as a contractor when I need to. AGL COMICS, once it gets started will pay what I expect to get paid for professional looking art! I as the creator and publisher of AGL COMICS, have already paid top dollar to the very few that have assisted me in the inking process and digital colors. I believe in fairness and paying as much as I can at the moment to CREATORS. MARVEL, DC, and any other big company, MUST PAY PENCILLERS AND INKERS TOP DOLLAR. Why? Because the PENCILLER, especially, is the CREATOR OF THE VISUALS and a WRITER must be paid what he/she is worth as well. The ARTIST/PENCILLER is creating a unique an NFT if you will of ORIGINAL ART that MARVEL or DC will make MONEY on. An ARTIST MUST BE PROPERLY COMPENSATED FOR THE CREATIVITY. BUT YOUR WORK BETTER BE OF PROFESSIONAL QUALITY. MINE IS. BUT I HAVE HAD 30 + YEARS OF PRACTICE:-) If you don't believe me, fair enough, but look at my Instagram account @aglcomics and see for yourself. I WORK TRADITIONAL SO I OFFER ORIGINAL ARTWORK. EVERY LINE AND ZIP-A-TONE IS PUT ON THE BRISTOL BOARD BY HAND, BY ME - or by a professional Inker! MARVEL/DC if YOU READ THIS. PAY ATTENTION. STOP EXPLOITING ARTISTS AND PAY THEM WHAT THEY ARE WORTH. AGL Creator/Publisher/Artist/Writer/Inker/Letterer/Jakc-of-All-Trades (Master of None:-) / Retired U.S. Army Special Forces) AGL COMICS De Oppresso Liber

I understand that NEW or YOUNG comics artists (pencillers) wanting to break-in and taking the meager PAGE RATE of between 100-250 offered by most publishing companies, starting out. They do not realize that in 1980, Marvel Comics and DC had a page rate of about 100 and 150 starting out. In today's dollars a 1980 page rate of 150 would be over 500 dollars. If an artist is not getting paid at a MINIMUM of 400 per page starting out, they are WORKING FOR PEANUTS. Nobody can survive with all the expenses on a monthly basis with the current page rate of even 200 per page, starting out. Average comics magazines are about 25 pages per issue. 25 X 200 = 5,000 dollars per month, if an artist is working on a monthly comic for the big companies. how much is rent? Insurances (vehicle, apartment/home/MEDICAL/Dental/Eyes/Ears)? Groceries? Gasoline? Taxes? Entertainment? The Basic Survival necessities we are all responsible for? In the major cities? It depends on where the artist lives or if he or she lives with their parents. No! THE COMIC ARTIST MUST BE PAID MINIMUM 400-500 PER PAGE. ANYTHING LESS THEY ARE SELLING THEMSELVES SHORT AND WORKING FOR PEANUTS. luckily as an artist, I have no desire to work for anyone unless they pay my page rate of at least 500 dollars, EXTRA for COVERS! And luckier also, is that I am much older now and retired from the U.S. Army so I get a little pension, not much but it helps pay the basic bills and I work as a contractor when I need to. AGL COMICS, once it gets started will pay what I expect to get paid for professional looking art! I as the creator and publisher of AGL COMICS, have already paid top dollar to the very few that have assisted me in the inking process and digital colors. I believe in fairness and paying as much as I can at the moment to CREATORS. MARVEL, DC, and any other big company, MUST PAY PENCILLERS AND INKERS TOP DOLLAR. Why? Because the PENCILLER, especially, is the CREATOR OF THE VISUALS and a WRITER must be paid what he/she is worth as well. The ARTIST/PENCILLER is creating a unique an NFT if you will of ORIGINAL ART that MARVEL or DC will make MONEY on. An ARTIST MUST BE PROPERLY COMPENSATED FOR THE CREATIVITY. BUT YOUR WORK BETTER BE OF PROFESSIONAL QUALITY. MINE IS. BUT I HAVE HAD 30 + YEARS OF PRACTICE:-) If you don't believe me, fair enough, but look at my Instagram account @aglcomics and see for yourself. I WORK TRADITIONAL SO I OFFER ORIGINAL ARTWORK. EVERY LINE AND ZIP-A-TONE IS PUT ON THE BRISTOL BOARD BY HAND, BY ME - or by a professional Inker! MARVEL/DC if YOU READ THIS. PAY ATTENTION. STOP EXPLOITING ARTISTS AND PAY THEM WHAT THEY ARE WORTH. AGL Creator/Publisher/Artist/Writer/Inker/Letterer/Jakc-of-All-Trades (Master of None:-) / Retired U.S. Army Special Forces) AGL COMICS De Oppresso Liber

I want to publish my first project with any publisher, which publishers should I send my application? Thanks for the video btw

Can you publish your comic even if.. you're from South Africa

Ive been trying on and off to get into the industry, life just keeps getting in the way, but your video has been very helpful! I feel for my situation id love opportunities to network with other people who have published or are just stsrting out as well. You learn from others experience with rejection and success as well and what they changed to get more success than rejections! Hoping to find that community in the future 🙏🏾

Hi!, where can you contact an agent?

Hi Robbie, I am a comic book artist, I am the kind of artist your new, but committed writers will likely seek to encounter to hire for books at this level. Very good, but still unknown, hustling for his break. There are a few things in this video I, and the VAST majority of mid level working sequential artists find quite irksome. I want to offer some counterpoints and asides to help everyone communicate better. So much so, that I'm presently recording video for my channel to address it. Writes only talk to other writers, and artists only speak to other artists, so we all look like wild animals to each other. When really this is a collaborative medium, we must talk to each other. 6:28 - The idea that the writer is supposed to wear all the hats and be "the creative visionary" behind your work is a gigantic misconception. If you are telling stories to be a visionary, you aren't telling stories. You are selling yourself, and nobody wants that in comic books really. Comics are a conversation, you hand me a script you wrote thinking about your relationship with your father, I will read it and interpret it though the view of my relationship with my son, I pull different things forward, and push different things back from my reading. The colorist imparts mood and tone to the artwork based on how they process the emotion on page ( read the 80's original printing on The Killing Joke, then look at it's recolored reprints to see how drastically colors can effect the storytelling). If there is an inker, they will use different techniques to bolden or wither line art to speak to characters mind state or to emphasize drama. You are Hannibal in the A-Team, He may have been the fist to hatch a plan, but the rest of the team fleshes it out. Serve your story first. We are all gears in a clock, ticking together to form a story. And if we believe in that story, your artist will willingly help you to lift it to Image or the like. We can wear hats too, don't get it in your heads that we are your employees because you're paying us, we must all pay different costs in order to chase this dream, not all of it even monetary, but just as drastic. Work with us, and we will work with you! 10:36 - Artists need to spend a gigantic amount of time to produce artwork, it is already a considerable risk to produce high quality work for often free up front. Our bills don't go anywhere, and comics, no matter how much the writer is an invaluable part of the story telling process, is an inherently visual medium. Without us you have an outline for prose, a screen or stage play, but not a comic book. Writing also despite having a seemingly endless ceiling in terms of technical storytelling ability, also has the lowest possible floor. You could be Brandon Sanderson, but you are RIGHT next to Will from Nebraska in our inbox. Because the floor is so low, writers need to demonstrate an increased commitment to the pursuit of a comics creation. So more is demanded when sending in pitches. Can you work with editorial? Can you communicate with an artist effectively? Can you finish with consistent story quality? Everyone is an "idea guy" in comics, what ELSE can you do? 14:18 - He's mostly correct here, however. You can not tell a whole story in a panel. A panel is a beat, the page is a story. Synopsizing and building pitch decks is also a fantastic hat for you to share with your artist! We have a good ability to zoom out and give you the heart of something quickly. I find it funny that you said that you need to go back to "the drawing board" to develop this skill. once again, you are not my boss, we are collaborators. 15:00 - Do not under any circumstances do this AT ALL! I can not stress this enough. We are not gerbils running on wheels for your amusement, We have practiced our craft for just as long if not longer than you have yours by the time we ever even speak. Do NOT "test" or "challenge" us. We got enough of that in art school and getting savagely critiqued in order to get good enough for writers to want to hire us in the first place. Instead, talk to us, learn what we like to draw. Artists draw for fun by ourselves. I specialize in big ticket cape books, but I love drawing mecha and pulpy swords & sorcery! Learn what we like and work it into the story we're telling. Artists will see the effort, and appreciate it. If you give us a fun thing to draw, bespoke to our interests, and woven cleverly into the story being told, you will not have to convince us to go all out on detail. We will draw the ever-loving shit out of it for our own amusement, and your script's benefit. You are not pushing your limits doing this, you are being glib, and turning my workday from an 8 hour one to a 12-16 hour one SO you can be glib. Stop immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Thank you. 23:33 - Jim Valentino rejected Kirkman's Walking Dead pitch because no one read zombie books at the time, so he lied to Jim and said there would be an alien invasion to get the book greenlit. It is never a formality to pitch books, they are film auditions for an actor. Take them deathly serious! Also, pitch at least 10 pages. The 5-6 page pitch requirement is a trap to see if you are willing to go above and beyond the bare minimum. If you want to get a good artist to draw your book for you, hangout with us. I mean it, go look for us out drawing in the wild, hang out in discords, see if someone hangs around your LCS looking art "The Art of (name here)" books, and strike up a conversation. We are being "pitched" to constantly. Be a friend, and we will accommodate you as best we can during this whole rigorous process. We will not work for free without significant personal investment (There are only 2 people on earth that I am good enough friends with that I'd consider drawing a book on spec for), but we will share what things we can to collectively lift and elevate this story. Also don't befriend an artist JUST to butter them up to work with you. You will get artist friend zoned bad. I hope this helps in some way for everyone, if you want to see my work just search "popartmarquis", I'll answer any questions that come here as I can do so! Everybody in the pool, MARQUIS (pronounced mahr-KEESZ, soft z.)

I'm not sure if i will get a response, but I'm gonna try. I have a story, and 1st issues are pretty much done, and the other issue mapped out. But i have no artist and dont know any. Would they still accept my pitch, or do i have to find an artist somehow?

Do you have any advice for someone that has $20K? Would I be able to approach you? Sorry, not approach but, reach out to you?

Please do: SkyNet Vs. The Matrix

Thanks for your work and dedication. I wanted to ask, what if the comic is like 5-6 chapters and I only finished art for one and pitch with it. Say they accepted that first chapter, how do I go about the rest? Will I have to fund the rest myself too and work for free for a year to finish those too?

Sumerian Comics is another one for the list.

This type of content is essential for new creators -- budgeting and scheduling are much bigger pitfalls than artistic talent.

Really enjoyed this candid commentary on the process. Glad you're continuing to pitch. 👏

Another Banger!

We're lurking on Twitch! Love your content bud keep killing it!

awwesome video

Where can you find colorists?

How to write a logline: imagine what the title would be if it was an isekai manga

A lot of people are not ready for prime time. First and foremost don’t quit your day job. Budgeting and time management are your allies. Minimize costs and maximize your visibility using online tools. My approach: Create a platform to offer some entertainment and value to comic book readers. Example: reviews, live work sessions or tutorials based on your work flow. Publish digitally online with your chosen platform. Make it free tethered to Patreon or donation. Continue publishing and finishing work in this manner. This takes time but if you’re personable and persistent you can garner an audience. Collect your 6 issues/chapters when you’re ready and campaign for a crowdfund. Don’t make it an ongoing. Focus on it as a one-shot and self contained with a conclusion. This allows you the flexibility to do a new project if it fails. Consider printing and fulfillment before thinking of paying yourself. This is advice for writer/artists btw. If you’re just a writer you’re going to have to do the same but maybe with substack and KZbin videos. The larger an audience and outreach you have any prospective artist might take that into account in collaborating with you. Just going all in on an idea without any “product testing” is an insane gamble. Whether it’s 10grand or 20grand and high quality production, with another 2K in marketing-- if your story stinks and it flops you’ve dug yourself a deep hole.

Awesome video, I am a relatively new comic writer with a few comics under my belt (posted online for free). I found your channel a few weeks ago and must say, your advice has been incredibly insightful and motivating! So thank you for sharing your knowledge. I do have a questions that’s been bouncing back and forth in my head. I’ve watched a number of videos on “How to launch a successful Kickstarter campaign” and most of them have the same message: Complete as much of the book as you can (script, art, lettering, etc.) and then only use Kickstarter for printing and distributing. I am currently working with an artist who is not cheap, and I mentioned to them I really want to proceed with the project (6 issue series) but I will need AT LEAST a year to pull together the funds to pay for their services. They mentioned using Kickstarter to pay for the production of the comic (pencils, colors, etc) as opposed to the printing and distribution. This obviously goes against everything I learned about Kickstarter on KZbin. I started thinking about it more and came up with a rough combination of the two Kickstarter approaches. I plan to full produce the 0 issue (teaser story) for the series on my own dime and post it online for free. Then moving forward, I could pay for the first 4 pages of each new issue to show proof of concept and get the backing (hopefully) to fund the rest. This would break the project up into more digestible and achievable goals as you recommend in this video. Plus it would make the financial side of it less daunting on my end, which could keep the project on a more consistent schedule. The only negative (and it’s a big one) is what would the rewards be? As for publishing, I would like to submit this to a mainstream publisher for distribution if possible. But there is no guarantee it would get picked up. I suppose I could then self publish it online (for sale) if my submission attempts fall through but then is a free digital copy worth it? I’m not sure. Apologies for the long winded thought process. But I guess ultimately my question is: In your opinion, do you think this could be a successful Kickstarter campaign? Have you seen people use Kickstarter for funding artwork? Lastly, if I had to self publish online (because my publisher submissions for single issues got rejected), if by some miracle a publisher wanted to produce the trade version of the 6 issue series, would it be a problem that the individual issues of the comic have already been self published online?

Thank you man!

Lots of valuable and helpful advice!

Wow, great info! Hey, Eddy!! Can you submit a copywritten property? Thanks, TLB

Cool!

Subbing to the twitch!

Spiderman.

I’ve done work for Dark Horse (but it’s always been my collaborator doing the pitch). It’s frankly the best deal you’re going to get today. It’s a page rate with royalties & option rights. Things take a dip from here with other indie publishers.

My understanding of how Robert Kirkman pitched the Walking Dead series is that after an initial rejection, he stated that there was an alien invasion conceit with zombies used as a point of misdirection. After a few very successful issues, Jim Valentino asked when the aliens would show up, and Kirman stated that there were no aliens, now having proof of concept in high sales. Could you let me know if you're familiar with this story?

I always told myself that if I were ever able to break into the comic book industry that I would never work for a popular publicist such as DC or marvel, I will stay independent and sell my work via multiple multimedia platforms.

Amazing video by the way, but I have a question for the artist. Sooo, am I suppose to send them not original submissions and send them all ready Image Comics created characters artworks? I have a ton of Spawn covers that I did.

Good job Congratulations

Congratulations! I'm a comic artist, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of what you make!

Why do you think that they don't want character profiles in the submission? I would think that that would be helpful in understanding your character(s)/comic.

Congratulations ! Well deserved 😎

Congratulations!

Congratulations on your milestone Robbie!

I enjoy your videos Robbie, very informative.

I have a question I’m working on my comic book/manga right now and I’m almost done but i don’t know if image comics accepts solo creators because I read that dark horse dosent dose image do? And dose image accept the full comic as a pitch ones I’m done?

Congratulations

I dig this guy

Congrats!!!

Glad to have found you! Would love to see videos on your favorite comics and maybe different creating techniques you like 🤘

I really love your videos. Keep it up!

If it takes the artist a full work day to produce one page, he/she will starve. That's minimum wage. Also, the writers WILL be very demanding. The artists need to be taken care of. Artists notoriously undervalue their talent in my experience.

I'm a pre-press graphic designer. I am able to redraw hand drawn line art into illustrator to create a master vector file. Hmu

I appreciate you taking time to explain in depth and in lemans terms so that I could understand the submission process. I was watching your video in my back yard. I stood up and said I’m going to change my life, I’m going to finish my comic, I’m going to submit it. But first I’m going to finish this video and do further research to really get it done. Then the brightest falling star I’ve ever seen dropped from the sky and I knew it was true! Thank you!

Given the means, I would not put a price on art from Lee. he's a legend. I would pay him whatever he wanted. Finch, or Sienkiewicz, as well. As an artist, I'm always developing and working to get better. I look to those masters and artists like Watts to pull more out of myself. That immediately sounds wrong and deviant, but you know what I mean...