Editorial Control #1: New Writers
Every so often I get an email from someone asking me if I'm looking to work with any new writers. The short answer is, "yes." The long answer is, "Yes, but we probably won't work together for at least two years." The truth is – I have a lot of "new writers" that I already want to work with. Look at Postcards - the less-established writers, guys like Chris Stevens and Jay Busbee – I've known them for close to four years at this point. The second volume of Postcards currently has seven writers that I'd consider "new" and I've known each of them for over two years.
So, yeah, I'm looking for new writers. But that doesn't mean I'm looking to publish new writers starting with my next book.
I've met a lot of great writers over the past several years. Some of them came to me and some of them I've found. Some of them I've managed to get into anthologies I've edited (Western Tales of Terror and now Postcards) and some of them I've decided to edit their graphic novels or comic projects (like Eric Hobbs' Broadcast and JJ Khars' Rose Colored Crash). But they all have one thing in common – before I agreed to work with them in any capacity I talked to them several times, over the phone and usually face-to-face. I got to know them. I got a grasp on their limitations and their strengths.
It's important that an editor has a strong working relationship with a writer. An editor needs to understand what can be expected and how good a writer can get and the only way to have that understanding is if a) the editor is very familiar with the writer's published work or b) the editor is very familiar with the writer.
It's also important to me is that I become comfortable with how a writer conducts themselves in public. I have to admit, I'd be more willing to work with a socially inept artist than writer. A good artist is hard to find and if someone can put down some gorgeous work that's all I need. I don't ask artists to do any extra promotion. If they want to take part in some of the promotional stuff that's cool, but as far as I'm concerned – they put in their time when they drew their pages. They spent hours in front of that table rendering a single page of script. Once I get those high-res scans their job is finished.
The writer's job, however, isn't done yet. They're the ones that I expect to take part in interviews and signings. They're the ones that I depend on to participate in the podcasts and roundtables. The writers become the public face for the book if I'm not around. That's part of the job, in my opinion. I prefer any writer I work with be someone I can trust representing me when I'm not around. And that's not something I get out of one email. In fact, here's how it'll usually go down…
You ask, "Can I send you some samples of my work?"
Are the samples illustrated? If all you have is a script, come back when you have a comic. If you can't find someone to illustrate a couple of pages of your story it means: a) it's not good or b) you don't know how to work with people. Neither of those choices makes you look all that attractive. I'd sooner read someone's short story than a comic script.
So I get your samples and I read them. I usually assume what you're sending me is the best you have and if the best you have is good but not great my answer will likely be, "I need to see more. Can you send me your new stuff as it comes out?" I'll also give feedback, most likely, just to see how you respond to feedback. You'll be surprised how many folks respond with a two page email explaining their artistic choices and telling me why I'm wrong. I could be wrong, sure. And I've confessed to being wrong many times. But if you go straight for a defensive posture and start lobbing grenades at me I don't care how wrong I may be, we're done.
If I don't like the work I'll probably just say it's not my thing. There won't be any critique. If I'm head-over-heals for the work, I'll set up a phone call.
We'll chat about a bunch of stuff, not just comics. I'll try to find out where you have an online presence. Blogs, social networking sites, message boards – I do a little snooping, yes. I also try to find out if we'll be in the same area anytime soon. Conventions are always a good rendezvous point. I also tend to travel a lot and, if you're coming to DC, I have no problem with grabbing a drink with you since I'll likely be drinking anyway.
As you can see, it's sort of like a job interview with me. And this is just so I can see if I want to work with you. If I decide I do, I still need to find something we can work together on. I have anthologies I put together, sure, but right now there's only POSTCARDS. I hope to get some more books started but even if I do we're talking limited real estate.
I tend to edit graphic novels on spec. Not an entire 140-page project, of course, but enough to get it to the pitch stage. At any rate, it's still work for me so I have to really love it and believe in it to sign on with it.
So saying that I'm looking for folks to work with doesn't mean I have something right now. It just means I believe in new blood. It means that you can certainly send me some samples. It means that one day we could work together on some project. But that's really all it means.
I think you need to go into it knowing that. I think you should establish a relationship before asking for work. And this goes for any editor, really. Maybe it's just me, but there are few things that burn me up more than a writer I've never met before, whose work I've never read, writing me an email and asking if they can be in some project they read about on the internet (right now that'd be Postcards: California Dreaming). It just feels like you think you're already there – that your stuff is as good as the stuff I'm currently working with, you don't need an editor, and you don't care all that much about where your work ends up as long as it's printed somewhere. It's insulting to me and my book.
Besides, don't you know it's harder for someone to say no if they like you? I guess what I'm saying is, plan for a couple of projects down the road, not the next one. There's no rush…
____________________________________
If you want to get an idea of an up-and-coming writer that's doing it right, in my opinion, you should get in touch with Elton Pruitt. He contacted me a little over a year ago just to introduce himself. He'd check in with me now and again and send me whatever short comic he recently completed and ask for some feedback. I soon realized that he was doing this with a lot of different editors. But he wasn't annoying about it. His correspondences didn't feel like auditions. He wasn't kissing my ass every time, either. He's a nice guy. The guy you cheer for. And he was listening – he was improving. I found that he was getting pieces published in various anthologies. His writing wasn't the Best Thing I've Ever Seen but it was certainly good. I thought he could benefit from a good editor. So when it came time to put together my pitch-list for Postcards 2 I included him. He never once asked for it – I just knew we could work together and I wanted to give him his shot to be alongside some great creators in a great book. And his pitch was good. His script, after several revisions, was also good. I imagine you'll see him in the book.
He took his time, improved his craft, and kept reminding me that he existed. By doing so, we're working together less than two years later. He'll likely be in a book that'll be great exposure for him and cut him a check for his creator-owned story. I'd say Elton's the kind of guy you should study a little bit.
So, yeah, I'm looking for new writers. But that doesn't mean I'm looking to publish new writers starting with my next book.
I've met a lot of great writers over the past several years. Some of them came to me and some of them I've found. Some of them I've managed to get into anthologies I've edited (Western Tales of Terror and now Postcards) and some of them I've decided to edit their graphic novels or comic projects (like Eric Hobbs' Broadcast and JJ Khars' Rose Colored Crash). But they all have one thing in common – before I agreed to work with them in any capacity I talked to them several times, over the phone and usually face-to-face. I got to know them. I got a grasp on their limitations and their strengths.
It's important that an editor has a strong working relationship with a writer. An editor needs to understand what can be expected and how good a writer can get and the only way to have that understanding is if a) the editor is very familiar with the writer's published work or b) the editor is very familiar with the writer.
It's also important to me is that I become comfortable with how a writer conducts themselves in public. I have to admit, I'd be more willing to work with a socially inept artist than writer. A good artist is hard to find and if someone can put down some gorgeous work that's all I need. I don't ask artists to do any extra promotion. If they want to take part in some of the promotional stuff that's cool, but as far as I'm concerned – they put in their time when they drew their pages. They spent hours in front of that table rendering a single page of script. Once I get those high-res scans their job is finished.
The writer's job, however, isn't done yet. They're the ones that I expect to take part in interviews and signings. They're the ones that I depend on to participate in the podcasts and roundtables. The writers become the public face for the book if I'm not around. That's part of the job, in my opinion. I prefer any writer I work with be someone I can trust representing me when I'm not around. And that's not something I get out of one email. In fact, here's how it'll usually go down…
You ask, "Can I send you some samples of my work?"
Are the samples illustrated? If all you have is a script, come back when you have a comic. If you can't find someone to illustrate a couple of pages of your story it means: a) it's not good or b) you don't know how to work with people. Neither of those choices makes you look all that attractive. I'd sooner read someone's short story than a comic script.
So I get your samples and I read them. I usually assume what you're sending me is the best you have and if the best you have is good but not great my answer will likely be, "I need to see more. Can you send me your new stuff as it comes out?" I'll also give feedback, most likely, just to see how you respond to feedback. You'll be surprised how many folks respond with a two page email explaining their artistic choices and telling me why I'm wrong. I could be wrong, sure. And I've confessed to being wrong many times. But if you go straight for a defensive posture and start lobbing grenades at me I don't care how wrong I may be, we're done.
If I don't like the work I'll probably just say it's not my thing. There won't be any critique. If I'm head-over-heals for the work, I'll set up a phone call.
We'll chat about a bunch of stuff, not just comics. I'll try to find out where you have an online presence. Blogs, social networking sites, message boards – I do a little snooping, yes. I also try to find out if we'll be in the same area anytime soon. Conventions are always a good rendezvous point. I also tend to travel a lot and, if you're coming to DC, I have no problem with grabbing a drink with you since I'll likely be drinking anyway.
As you can see, it's sort of like a job interview with me. And this is just so I can see if I want to work with you. If I decide I do, I still need to find something we can work together on. I have anthologies I put together, sure, but right now there's only POSTCARDS. I hope to get some more books started but even if I do we're talking limited real estate.
I tend to edit graphic novels on spec. Not an entire 140-page project, of course, but enough to get it to the pitch stage. At any rate, it's still work for me so I have to really love it and believe in it to sign on with it.
So saying that I'm looking for folks to work with doesn't mean I have something right now. It just means I believe in new blood. It means that you can certainly send me some samples. It means that one day we could work together on some project. But that's really all it means.
I think you need to go into it knowing that. I think you should establish a relationship before asking for work. And this goes for any editor, really. Maybe it's just me, but there are few things that burn me up more than a writer I've never met before, whose work I've never read, writing me an email and asking if they can be in some project they read about on the internet (right now that'd be Postcards: California Dreaming). It just feels like you think you're already there – that your stuff is as good as the stuff I'm currently working with, you don't need an editor, and you don't care all that much about where your work ends up as long as it's printed somewhere. It's insulting to me and my book.
Besides, don't you know it's harder for someone to say no if they like you? I guess what I'm saying is, plan for a couple of projects down the road, not the next one. There's no rush…
____________________________________
If you want to get an idea of an up-and-coming writer that's doing it right, in my opinion, you should get in touch with Elton Pruitt. He contacted me a little over a year ago just to introduce himself. He'd check in with me now and again and send me whatever short comic he recently completed and ask for some feedback. I soon realized that he was doing this with a lot of different editors. But he wasn't annoying about it. His correspondences didn't feel like auditions. He wasn't kissing my ass every time, either. He's a nice guy. The guy you cheer for. And he was listening – he was improving. I found that he was getting pieces published in various anthologies. His writing wasn't the Best Thing I've Ever Seen but it was certainly good. I thought he could benefit from a good editor. So when it came time to put together my pitch-list for Postcards 2 I included him. He never once asked for it – I just knew we could work together and I wanted to give him his shot to be alongside some great creators in a great book. And his pitch was good. His script, after several revisions, was also good. I imagine you'll see him in the book.
He took his time, improved his craft, and kept reminding me that he existed. By doing so, we're working together less than two years later. He'll likely be in a book that'll be great exposure for him and cut him a check for his creator-owned story. I'd say Elton's the kind of guy you should study a little bit.
Labels: editorial-control, jasonrodriguez
This entry was posted by Jason, on
Monday, August 20, 2007.
You can leave your response.
December 27, 2007 11:17 PM
Hobbs is a very poor writer as I have seen a variety of his works and comic books "Awakenings". His plots are all the same, and the title itself is none-the-less similar to other comic books with the name "Awakenings". His public demeanor is horrid as well. He conducts himself poorly, and has the attitude of "I am better than everyone else". Most people actully wanting a career in writing do so because they enjoy it, not because they have boredom in their life from not doing anything with it and stealing others ideas, even from published sources. I have had the unpleasurable experience of working with him. Needless to say, never again. I am not alone in thinking that any writer is better than Hobbs, then again it is easy to take the works of other "real" artists/writers and call it your own. I feel sorry for any one willing to put any effort into any of his "work". At least be original when creating something you want to claim as your own. Not only would I not pay for anything Hobbs has written, you could not pay me to add anything of his to my book or comic book collection. It is a sheer embarrassment to even claim to own anything that is written by such a poor author. If you can even refer to him as an author. Do yourselves a favor, from a publishing stand-point do not invest time, money or any effort into this "author", and to those who enjoy a good read, believe me, move onto the next periodical, you would get more enjoyment out of reading Dr. Seuss than anything dealing with Hobbs. I do not criticize many things in life, however, sometimes things cannot go unspoken. Do yourselves a favor, as many agree with me, save your money and invest it elsewhere. Hobbs: do the world of art a favor buddy, hang it up, leave the writing for those that actually have talent.