How to Prepare Your Work for Review by an Editor at a Convention
Approaching an editor at a convention and showing him or her your portfolio is a time-honored method for breaking into the comics biz. A convention are also one of the few places where you can receive detailed feedback on your work beyond the form-letters that are usually sent in response to mailed submissions.During a typical two- to three-hour review session, an editor will see between thirty and fifty individual portfolios. The reviews are, by necessity, brief and to the point, and if you show up with your portfolio in a mess, or filled with inappropriate samples, you will have wasted some (or all) of that time -- not to mention that of the other folks in line behind you. Just like the Boy Scouts, you should be prepared.
Pencillers
- Bring no more than eight to ten consecutive story pages showing panel-to-panel continuity. Unless your specialty is painted cover illustrations, do not include pinups, cover drawings, or other non-story pages. Editors are searching for artists who can tell stories, not simply draw pretty pictures.
- Show only your best, most recent work. Don't bring old work that isn't representative of the way you draw now.
- Your samples should include establishing shots, backgrounds, normal people in regular street clothes, buildings, cars, furniture, and other objects one would expect to see in everyday life.
- If you worked from a written script or a plot (as opposed to making up the story as you went along), include a copy of it. The editor will want to see how you interpreted the script and how successfully you told the story.
- If you decide to ink your work as well, be sure to include full-size photocopies of the pencilled art. An editor will want to know whether or not your pencils are complete enough to be inked by another artist.
- If you feel your work is of professional quality, bring clean, readable photocopies of the same work you're showing in your portfolio. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with them. The editor may not want to take your samples at that time, but it's best to come prepared.
Inkers*
- As with pencilled samples, bring no more than eight to ten of your most recently inked story pages. If possible, include work by several different pencillers.
- Include full-size, readable copies of what the pencilled art looked like before it was inked.
- Come prepared with copies of your work (with a SASE) in case the editor wants them.
Colorists*
- Again, eight to ten pages of samples are enough. Try to include examples of different styles (flat color, rendered, etc.). Make sure that the rendering styles you show are appropriate to the kind of art you're coloring.
Letterers*
- Copies of a few pages showing regular lettering and balloons, sound effects, and a story title are all you should need to bring. Again, include a SASE with your samples.
Writers*
I saved writers for last because, unfortunately, conventions are not ideal places to present stories or scripts to editors. Art can be looked at and evaluated in a few seconds; reading a script takes time -- more time than an editor has available at a con. Come expecting to leave your work (and a SASE) with an editor for later evaluation.- Unless you're already an established writer, save your multi-chapter epic for a later date. Stick to presenting a short story or a single-issue story.
- Keep your synopsis short -- no more than two double-spaced pages in length.
- Include eight to ten pages of full script (panel descriptions and dialogue).
--Randy Stradley
creative director
*Copies of pencilled pages on which to practice, or writer's guidelines may be obtained by sending a 9"x11" SASE to:
Submissions Editor
Dark Horse Comics
10956 SE Main St.
Milwaukie, OR 97222.