From: [s--ru--y] at [cbnewsk.cb.att.com] (sylvia.a.rudy)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Submission Guidelines: Dark Horse [5 of 12]
Date: 21 Aug 93 01:42:25 GMT
Company: Dark Horse Comics, Inc.
Phone: ?
Fax: ?
Address: 10956 SE Main St.
Milwaukie, OR 97222
Dear Submitter,
Is it the policy of Dark Horse Comics to secure a signed
Submission Agreeement before reviewing series, story and/or
character proposals. If your desire is only to submit art
or script SAMPLES, signing this agreement will not be
necessary. If, however, your intention is to submit any
original series, story, and/or character material, it will
be necessary to submit a signed Submission Agreement before
any Dark Horse personnel will review your proposal. _Any_
_submissions_of_original_series_story_and/or_character_
_material_that_is_not_accompanied_by_a_signed_Submission_
_Agreement_will_be_returned_or_destroyed_without_review_.
Read the included agreement carefully, fill in the
necessary information, sign the document, and return it to
Dark Horse along with any original series, story, and/or
character submissions. This signed agreement will be kept
on file.
You must submit a new Submissions Agreement for every story
series, or character proposal.
Materials that are co-authored and/or copyrighted by other
persons must include a Submissions Agreement signed by all
authors and/or copyright holders.
Dark Horse has the highest regard for creators and for the
owndership of original properties, and this agreement should
in no way be misconstrued as license for Dark Horse to
appropriate your creations. The purpose of securing this
agreement is to protect Dark Horse from any liabilities
involving coincidential similarities to works-in-progress or
other submissions. We hope that this procedure will cause you
no undue inconvenience, and we hope, as always, that you will
consider Dark Horse first whem looking for a publisher.
Sincerely,
Edward Martin II
Submissions Editor
(end of page)
SUBMISSION AGREEMENT
Dark Horse Comics, Inc.
10956 SE Main St.
Mikawukie, OR 97222
To Whom It May Concern:
I am submitting to you the following materialsm ("the Material"):
_____________________________________________________________________
in accordance with the following agreement:
1. I represent and warrant to you, your successors and assigns that
the Material is original with me and that no other persons other than
those who have signed this agreement have collaborated with me in
creating and developing the Material.
2. Your consideration of the Material and any negotiations between
us regarding the Material shall not be deemed an admission of the
novelty or originality of the Material.
3. You may retain a copy of the Material and I release you from any
liability for loss or damager thereto.
4. I hereby grant you the right to use the Material provided that you
shall first conclude and agreement with me for such use or you shall
determine that you have an independant legal right to use the Material
or any portion thereof which is not derrived from me either because the
material is not new, novel or original or has not been reduced to
concrete form or because other persons (which may include your employees
and other persons presenting materials to you) have submitted similar or
identical suggestions, features and material which you have the right to
use.
5. At your election, any dispute between us may be submitted to
arbitration in Portland, Oregon, in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the American Arbitration Association. I agree that
any action against you, your employees, officers, directors, or
shareholders based on the Material must be brought within one year
after the date of your first publication or other relevant use of the
Material.
6. This agreement constitutes out entire understanding and my
signature and the signature of any person who has collaborated with
me in the creation or development of the Material shall constitute
agreement to the terms and conditions set forth herein. This agreement
may be changed only by a written instrument signed by you and me. This
agreement also applies to any other material which I may submit to you
unless it is agreed bu us in writing to the contrary. The invalidity
of any provision of this agreement shall not affect the remainder,
which shall continue in full force and effect.
------------------------------- ------------------------------------
^signature ^name (please print clearly)
------------------------------- ------------------------------------
^street address ^city,state,zip code
------------------------------- ------------------------------------
^telephone number ^date
NOTE: In case of collaboration, each collaborator should sign and
provide the above information.
(end of page)
PROPOSAL AND SCRIPTING GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS
To submit a written proposal to Dark Horse, the following material
must be included for your proposal to be reviewed:
1. SIGNED SUBMISSION AGREEMENT -- Before Dark Horse will review an
original proposal, a Submission Agreement must be signed by the
proposals's copyright holders and returned to Dark Horse. A
Submission Agreement may be obtained by sending a self-addressed
atamped envelope to the above address. *Please note that Dark
Horse will not review unsolicited scripts, story ideas, or proposals
pertaining to any licensed property currently published by Dark
Horse (_Aliens_, _Predator_, _RoboCop_, _Indiana_Jones_, etc.) or
any copyrighted or licensed propertly not owned by the submitter.
Such material will be destroyed or returned without review.*
2. COVER LETTER/BRIEF OVERVIEW -- This is the sales pitch for your
proposal. Proposals shall be neatly typed -- handwritten proposals
will not be reviewed -- and proofread for spelling and grammar. Be
clear, succinct, and cover all bases. Your cover letter should
include:
* The addresses and phone numbers of all collaborators, date of
submission and title of story or series you are submitting.
* A list of any published professional credits of all collborators.
* A brief (as in a couple of sentences) story or series overview,
concentrating on central characters, themes, settings, and
story situations, including the project's desired format (how
many pages, issues, etc.) and any acceptable format alternatives.
*Remember, the more ambitious and inflexible the project,
perticularly from unproven talent, the less likely a publisher is
to risk involvement.* If you are an unknown, a short story will
be much more likely to be accepted than a 36-issue miniseries.
3. COMPLETE SYNOPOSIS -- Being as succinct as possible, this portion
must include all important story elements. Tell the entire story --
beginning, middle and end. Avoid details that are not absolutely
essential. A short-story synopsis should be no longer than a half
of a page. A synopsis of a series (limited or ongoing) or graphic
novel should be no longer than four or five pages. Make sure that
major character names are always typed in caps. Double space
between paragraphs. Clearly indicate where each issue begins.
4. FULL SCRIPT -- If you are a published professional, you need not
include a script of your proposed porject. If you are not an
established professional, you *must* include a full script for any
short story or single-issue submission, or the first issue of any
series. *Proposals from unknown writers that do not include
scropts will not be reviewed.* It is important than an editor know
that the writer has the requisite skills to carry out an assignment.
Script fortmat guidelines are included. If the work is already
completed -- story, art, and lettering, copies may be sent instead.
5. SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED, ENVELOPE -- Make sure the envelope is
large enough and that you have attatched sufficient postage for the
return of your work. Without a proper SASE, your work will be
considered disposable and you are not likely to recieve a response.
If you like outside of the United States, yoiu must use appropriate
postage or International Reply Coupons.
6. OPTIONAL INCLUSIONS -- If you wish, you may include such items
as character profiles or descriptions of possible future
storylines, but they are not required and usually have no bearing
in the publisher's descision.
NOTE FOR PROPOSALS WITH COLLABORATING ARTIST -- If a submitted
project has an artist collaborator, samles of the artist's
continuity work *must* be included (panel storytelling, *not*
illustrations or pinups). If the artist is a well-known professional
art samples will not be neccessary, but the artists name and phone
number must be included in the cover letter so that Dark Horse can
confirm the artist's involvementn in the project. If the
collaborator is also a copyright holder of the project, they must
also sign the Submission Agreement.
* DO NOT SEND FAX PROPOSALS! The Dark Horse fax machine is reserved
for business purposes. *Faxed unsolicited sumbissions will not
be reviewed!*
* DO NOT MAKE TELEPHONE FOLLOWUPS TO UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS. Dark
Horse phones are for business purposes only. If you include a
S.A.S.E., you'll recieve a response.
A FINAL NOTE: Dark Horse is always looking for fresh ideas from
talented creators. But bear in mind that Dark Horse wants only
superior material from creators with well-developed professional
skills. Our is a very competitive industry, and although we make
every effor to aid talented newcomers in their struggle to become
published, we do not have the time or the facilities to teach you
your craft. Classes, workshops, and writer's groups exist for
that purpose.
Good luck!
(end of page)
CRIPT FORMAT AND SPECIFICATIONS. Please create your
scripts as follows.
WRITER'S NAME [name, address, and phone should appear on
the first page of your script]
Street Address
City, State and Zip
Phone Number
BOOK TITLE AND ISSUE NUMBER [should appear on first page]
"Story Title" [if there is one]
_PAGE_ONE_ (five panels) [Begin each new story page on a
new sheet of paper, label it, and indicate how many panels
make up that page.
Panel 1. Number your panels. Panel descriptions should be
typed in standard upper and lower case.
1 CHARACTER #1: DIALOGUE SHOULD APPEAR IN ALL CAPS,
JUST AS IT WILL BE LETTERED. NUMBER
ALL TEXT SECTIONS CONSECUTIVELY FOR
EACH STORY PAGE, STARTING AGAIN WITH
1 ON EACH NEW STORY PAGE.
2 CHARACTER #2: INDENT ALL LINES OF DIALOGUE SO THAT
THE EDITOR AND THE LETTERER CAN
EASILY IDEENTIFY THEM AND THE
CHARACTER TO WHOM THEY BELONG.
Panel 2. There is no set limit for how much or how little
information should be included in each panel description;
generally a sentence or two is enough. But remember, if
there are specific character traits, objects, or placement
of either than you desire, make sure you tell the artist.
If it doesn't appear in the script, it won't appear in the
art.
3 SFX SOUND EFFECTS ARE INDICATED JUST
LIKE DIALOGUE.
4 CAP CAPTIONS ARE DONE THE SAME WAY. ALL
DIALOGUE, SOUND EFFECTS, AND
CAPTIONS SHOULD BE LISTED IN THE
ORDER THEY SHOULD BE READ IN THE
FINAL ART.
5 CHARACTER #1 (thought): THOUGH BALLOONS ARE INDICATED IN
THIS FASHION. CAPTIONS AND
DIALOGUE SHOULD BE LIMITED TO
APPROXIMATELY 15 WORDS PER PANEL
(DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE
PANEL).
1
[number each sheet of paper in your script]
(end of page)
WRITER/BOOK TITLE #1 [on the top of each sheet]
_PAGE_ONE_ [always list story page at the top of each sheet]
Panel 3. Exact panel layout is usually left to the artist,
but if you have something specific in mind, put it in your
description. If absolutely necessary, you can draw a
rough version of what you want.
6 CHARACTER #1 (OP): CHARACTERS SPEAKING FROM OFF-PANEL
ARE INDICATED IN THIS WAY.
Panel 4. For action sequences, you'll get best results if
you limit yourself to four or five panels per page.
Remember: the larger the panel, the more spectacular the
action; hence, the more spectacular your action description,
the larger the panel should be and the less room you'll have
for other panels.
7 CHARACTER #1 (whisper): IF A CHARACTER IS WHISPERING, THE
LETTERER NEEDS TO KNOW.
8 CHARACTER #2: DIALOGUE THAT CARRIES OVER FROM ONE
BALLOON OR ONE PANEL TO ANOTHER IS
INDICATED A SPEECH THAT IS CUT OFF
BY EVENTS IN THE STORY --
Panel 5. For non-action scenes, you can have more panels
per page, but keep in mind how many characters and props are
necessary in a scene you are writing. The more panels in a
page, the smaller each of them will have to be. Trying to
cram too much information into small panels will resultn in
a comic that's difficult to read, and will irritate your
artist.
11 CAP (CHARACTER #1): "A CAPTION CAN BE USED TO CARRY OVER
DIALOGUE FROM A PREVIOUS SCENE TO A
NEW SETTING BY PLACING THE SPEECH IN
QUOTATION MARKS."
12 CHARACTER #3: UNDERLINE WORDS THAT YOU WANT TO
_EMPHASIZE_. ELIPSIS POINTS (THREE
PERIODS) INDICATE A PAUSE... OR A
SPEECH THAT TRAILS OFF AT THE END...
2
[number each sheet of paper in your script]
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:) "Why do you wear a mask?" :) Do you think I smile too much? :)
:) "Look, I'm called the Masked :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
:) Wonder, right?" :) Sylvia A. Rudy - whamt!sar.att.com :)
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