Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image | Tagged: eric stephenson, kyle higgins

The Ins And Outs Of Pitching Work To Image Comics

The Ins And Outs Of Pitching Work To Image Comics, as explained by Massive Verse's Kyle Higgins

Over in the Connecting Comic Book Writers and Artists open Facebook group, people were asked about pitching to Image Comics, the publisher best known for creator-owned work without taking any IP ownership, publishing titles such as Spawn, The Walking Dead, Youngblood, Saga, Savage Dragon, The Wicked + The Divine, Witchblade and Wanted. There were a lot of false assumptions lifted until Massive-Verse founder Kyle Higgins popped up with a list of responses. He writes;

With respect to everyone who has commented, unfortunately, a lot of the information in this thread is wrong.
1. You do not need to be previously published in order to get a book at Image. Yes, the odds are against your favor, but Image is one of the few legitimate publishers (maybe the only one) who accept unsolicited pitches. Follow the guidelines on the submission site: https://imagecomics.com/submissions.
2. You do not need a fully finished book. You need exactly what is listed on the submissions site.
3. The direct market is not for everyone and it is incredibly challenging right now. There are too many publishers and too many distributors that retailers have to keep track of– everyone is looking to thread the needle on ordering which makes taking chances on new titles, challenging. Having a name in the direct market does help give retailers more confidence in a new project, though. And having prior publishing experience gives you a stronger "credential" when pitching– whether it's Image or anywhere else. It also increases the likelihood of meeting the direct people who approve books rather than going through the submission site.
4. Making a book via Kickstarter or other crowdfunding is a great idea and means for finishing books but they really are two different markets. Unless the crowdfunded project is a really massive success, it doesn't /typically/ translate to much in the direct market (there are exceptions, of course). It also doesn't usually translate to meaningful publisher interest in the specific project– "the people who really loved it already backed it at the crowdfunded stage" is part of the thinking, for better and for worse– and for the smaller publishers who do express interest, I would advise being very careful with the contracts. I.E. ask around and have a lawyer review the contract with you. Make sure you know what you are signing and really weigh if you think it's an equitable exchange– there are a lot of predatory publishers out there who are in the business of IP farming– I.E. they'll put out your book and will own (or at least control) the entire IP, for very little money. All that said, crowdfunding can absolutely be a great way to build up a catalogue of finished work, which will help you at all levels of comics making including future publishers seeing that you can finish projects. Plus, in this challenging market, building a direct audience for yourself is incredibly valuable and IMO something that every creator should be doing, at all levels.
The number one piece of advice I can give for trying to get a book at Image is that you will live and die by the quality of the art. (assuming, of course, that the writing is of a professional caliber). Stack the deck in your favor and collaborate with the strongest art team possible. That means not only pencils/inks but just as important– and I could make an argument that it's MORE important– is the quality of the color work.
Oh, and hire a professional letterer. It will cost you between $15-$30 a page. For your own sake and your chances of standing out, I do not recommend lettering your own book. Unless your name is Nate Piekos, Rus Wooton, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Becca Carey, Chris Eliopoulos, Buddy Beaudoin, etc.
Good luck!

A few other comic book creators added their takes;

Justin Jordan: They do pick up complete unknowns. It's just rare. Ask me how I know. You don't need a complete book for them to publish it. It's a good idea to do so, though.

Keith Champagne: The only problem I have the few times I've pitched Image is waiting 16 years for Eric to render a verdict.

John Bivens: Think I might be one of a handful that pitched on a Friday and was approved the next Monday as co-creator on my first Image series… I doubt that lightning will strike twice.

Keith Champagne: wow, that's mind boggling!

John Bivens: My first signing I told Phil Hester that and he looked at me like I had two heads.

Craig Taillefer: John Bivens that is fast. My one and only pitch to image was a mail package with three self published comics in it and if I remember correctly I got a written and mailed reply from Jim Valentino pretty quickly back. It may even have included the contract but it was a looooong time ago. Hence mail.

I will add that Image Comics once published a comic I'd written, Chase Variant, drawn by Bagwell and Saverio Tenuta. I sent the completed comic in, and a year later, was told they would publish it… fifteen years later that's pretty much how things still work.

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