For All You Budding Comic Book Writers Out There:
Submissions Guidelines
Submission Guidelines
SLG Publishing accepts unsolicited submissions. Please follow these guidelines when you send in a proposal.
1) We only review projects.
We do not accept scripts without artwork, or art samples without a story. If you are only a writer or only an artist, you need to find someone to work with BEFORE submitting your project. We know this sounds unfair to some people, but please keep our situation in mind. If we attempt to hire an illustrator to draw your script, or vice-versa, we are creating a work-for-hire situation where the artist or writer is going to (rightfully so) expect us to compensate him or her for their time. All members of the creative team need to be fully committed to the project BEFORE it is submitted.
2) Always include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission.
While we will contact you via phone or email if we are interested in publishing your work, we will not pay postage to send you a rejection letter. If you want to receive a reply, include a SASE. If you want your submission returned, be sure to not only include sufficient postage, but an envelope large enough to hold your materials.
3) All submissions MUST include a cover letter that clearly explains your project.
Do you envision a series or graphic novel? (Please note that at this time, the market favors graphic novels.) Black and white or color? (If you look at our published books, you'll notice that color books are the minority.) We need to know what you want to do, and what you want us to do. If we just get some pages or self-published work without an explanation, it will likely go unread.
4) Let us know if this is a simultaneous submission.
We need to know if you have submitted this book to other publishers. If we contact you about publishing the book, and you are also talking with other publishers about it, it is a matter of professional courtesy to let us know. If you have already signed with another publisher, also let us know. We do not "bid" for projects. We have a standard contract we use with all our creators, and they all receive the same terms. We are very proud of our publishing history and treatment of our creators, and expect anyone who wants to work with us to do so on the basis of this tradition. We will not begin discussing business with anyone until we are sure WE are the publisher that THEY want to work with.
5) Be sure to include ALL of the following:
* A Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE)
* A cover letter
* A synopsis outlining your story/series, INCLUDING how it ends.
* Character Descriptions
* Character Sketches
* At least five pages of finished (penciled, inked and lettered) panel-to-panel art (pages that tell the story, not pin-ups)
* A list of possible titles
6) Do not send CDs, e-mail samples of your work or refer us to your website.
We will not evaluate artwork sent to us on CD or at websites and will delete emails with attachments.
7) Do NOT send original art.
This means do not send your actual artwork — the piece of paper you drew on, the one-of-a-kind that you can’t replace.
8) Do NOT send your submission by registered or certified mail.
If you do, we will have to stand in line at the post office in order to sign for your submission, wasting time that could be used for reading it instead.
9) PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE OFFICE TO CHECK ON THE STATUS OF YOUR SUBMISSION!
If it has been more than three months since you submitted, you may email slgchief@slgpubs.com to check on its status.
Once you have your proposal together and ready to send, you should keep a few points in mind:
Just because we’re a small company doesn’t mean we’re not busy.
In fact, it means that the two people in the editorial department often are very busy. We try our best to read submissions in a timely manner, but please be patient.
We’re still nice people, even if we don’t like your project.
Please keep in mind that when we review your work — we’re not making value judgments about you as a person — we’re merely reviewing a comic book project. Likewise, if we don’t like your work, it doesn’t make us any less human. Sending us hate mail, nasty emails or berating us at a convention is a sure way to guarantee that SLG will never, ever, ever-in a-million-years, publish your work.
We do NOT discuss contracts and business terms prior to evaluating your project.
First submit your proposal. If we like it, we’ll start talking business. But in brief: all books published by SLG are creator-owned — that is they remain the property of the creator. We do not pay advances or page rates; all creators are paid a royalty — a percentage based upon the number of copies sold. The terms of our contracts are confidential and between ourselves and our creators. Do not call or email to find out how much you would be paid or would make if we publish your book. We always hope creators will make money from their books, but this is a small industry, and that doesn’t happen too often.
SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:
Submissions Editor
SLG Publishing
P.O. Box 26427
San Jose, CA 95159-6427
ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT SEND SUBMISSIONS TO US VIA REGISTRED, CERTIFIED OR ANY OTHER METHOD WHICH REQUIRES A SIGNATURE!!!
Really, sometimes we have to wait in line at the post office for upwards of 20 minutes just to get ONE submission. Seriously, we might reject your project out of both spite and the fact that you decided not to follow this one simple instruction.
Thanks again for your interest in SLG/Amaze Ink.
Dan Vado, President and Publisher
Jennifer de Guzman, Editor-in-Chief
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