Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
From: [s--ru--y] at [cbnewsk.cb.att.com] (sylvia.a.rudy)
Subject: Submission Guidelines: Eclipse [8 of 12]
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 17:47:35 GMT


Company:   Eclipse Books

Address:   Box 1099
           Forestville, CA 95436

Telephone: (707)887-1521
Telefax:   (707)887-7128

Text of letter:

                    WRITER'S GUIDELINES	

	Writers who send us elaborate plot treatments,
lengthy stories or full scripts for series proposal are almost
certainly going to be disappointed by our response: we seldom
have tome to completely review these materials.  We are also,
frankly, unlikely to buy a completely new series from an unknown
writer when we have so many good, established writers working
wit us.
	Because Eclipse Comics are creator-owned (that is, the
creator of a series controls the copyright), we do not hire
"fill-in" or "guest" writers to script stories about our
ongoing characters very often.  However, these are our standards,
should you wish to submit material.

MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS:
	We only review typewritten or computer-printed material.
We do not read hand-written manuscripts or faint dot-matrix 
print-outs.  A worker who doesn't use the proper tools for the
job is putting him or herself at a disadvantage.  Likewise, we 
have little patience with poor spelling.  Buy a dictionary and 
use it.
	The format for a comic book is similar to that of a 
screenplay.  See the short example on this page for one standard
format.  Avoid the use of blocks of all-upper case typing (i.e.
for scene descriptions) as this is hard for an editor to read.
	A self-addressed stamped reply envelope must be enclosed
if you want a response - and it must contain enough postage for
your manuscript if you want the material returned.

MAKE AN INTERESTING STORY OUT OF A TIME-WORN PLOT
	No matter what genre your story falls in, a romatic,
political, humanistic, moral or other subtext will increase 
your chance of selling it to us.  For example, a horror 
story in which career jealousy leads to murder will be more
popular with our readers than a straightforward account of
psychopathic killers on the loose.  Likewise, a story about
intrepid space explorers who fall in love with horrible
shape-changing aliens is better than one in which the two
species simply meet and fight to the death.
	And, of course, the best super-hero material is that
in which the characters have private, human lives and problems
they cannot solve by their brute strength alone.
	There must be some place in the story for the reader to  
identify with at least one of the protagonists.  If the story
features supernatural elements of any kind (gods, zobmies,
super-heros, were-wolves, "mutants", vampires, psychics, space
aliens, ghosts, etc.) it is a good idea to begin by establishing
a mundane context within which the action will occur, so that 
the supernatural elements will appear more strongly highlighted
by contrast.  It is also common to portray the major protagonist,
whether or not her or she has supernatural qualities, as
psychologically "human" enough to be understood by the readers.
	Occasionally, a writer seeks to present a story about
unrecognizably supernatural beings as seen through the eyes of
a recognizably human narrator, but this risks creating a new
central protagonist out of the narrator, who will be seen as
more interesting to the reader than the "cosmic" characters
whose drama the story ostensibly is.  Ultimately, the best way
to acquaint yourself with what Eclipse finds interesting, in
terms of story content, is to read our comics.  What we publish 
is, obvously, what we like.

WHAT'S IN A SCRIPT
	Fully scripted comic books should contain a complete
panel by panel description (for the artist) of what is viewed,
plus all the dialogue, sound effects, and descriptive captions
that will be lettered in.  Think of the comic book script as
a screenplay -- and remember never to tell the readers in the
captions something you expect the artist to show in the panels.
	If you have had any success writing short stories, 
novels or plays, you should find it easy to adapt your 
techniques to comics.
	Here is a brief example of a comic book script:

PANEL 1.
   Establishing shot of living room.  Furnishings are middle
   class.  Show tv set (it will be turned on during next page).
   JOYCE is on the couch, in causal clothes.  She is 30 years
   old, blonde, pretty but not beautiful.  BOB (33 years old,
   balding, office worker type in casual clothes) is standing
   over Joyce and shouting.  They are having an argument.  It
   is night outside the windows, please ink it black with a 
   full moon.

   CAP: "Just a couple of newlywed lovebirds" -- that's what
   Mrs Rosenberg called the monroes down in Apartment 3B.

   BOB: I can't *stand* it anymore, Joyce!  You've just got to --

PANEL 2.
   Close up reaction shot of Joyce.  She is self-righteously
   angry.

   JOYCE: Bob, I'm *warning* you!  He's *my* brother, and no 
   matter what he's done in the past, I'm *still* inviting him
   to the party!

PANEL 3.
   Bob and Joyce turn as knock is heard from front door.  Not a 
   shock reaction, they just turn to see what's up.

   BOB: You do that and I'll -- huh?

   SFX: NOK! NOK!


	Notice that the opening caption did not state that "Bob
and Joyce are at home having a fight."  The artist will be showing
this through background art and body gesture, so it is redundant
information.  The caption did, however, tell us some things that
will *not* appear in the art, namely that Bob and Joyce are
newlyweds, that they live in an apartment building, and that they
don't usually quarrel in public.
	In additon, the ironic contrast between what Mrs. Rosenberg
thinks of Bob and Joyce's relationship and what the reader hears in
the opening dialogue provides for a small touch of humor.  And,
should Mrs. Rosenberg appear later in the story, the reader will
know approximately who she is (a kindly busybody in the same
apartment building) and can thus be spared a stupid caption 
covering her abrupt arrival on the scene ("Just then, Mrs. Rosenberg,
the kindly busybody who lived upstairs entered the room.")

WRITING FOR THE ARTIST
	In additon to working out a solid plot, pacing the story so
that small "high points" of excitement and suspense fall at the 
page turns rather than in the middle of a page, and writing good
captions and dialogue that do not restate information which will be
shown in the art,  a comic book scripter must give instructions to
the artist concerning what to draw in each and every panel.  This
falls into two general categories of information: what the characters
are doing, and where the action is taking place.
	It is our opoinion that describing the look on a character's
face will help the artist to understand your intentions better than
giving long descriptions of the character's height, weight, clothing,
or personal history.  If you ask for Joyce in the example above to
be "crying", you will get a very different picture from the artist
than if you ask for her to be "self-righteously angry".  If you
simply ask for a "rection shot", you will leave the artist leeway
to draw anything from stunned shock to amused disdain.  Do not 
expect the artist  to "get inside" the character's personality as
you did when writing the script; many artists cannot do that --
which is why they are artists, not writer-artists.  Be extremely
specific in describing facial and body gestures and leave little to
chance.
	The opposite is true in describing scenes and settings for
the artists.  Unless this information is very important to the mood
of the story or to the establishment of continuity, let the artist
have some freedom here.  In the example above, a "middle class" 
living room was requested from the artist.  This will be easy to draw 
and the result will probably be satisfactory.
	The only reason to give exactingly specific scene
descriptions is to help the artist create a specific "atmosphere"
or to prepare for a piece of plot continuity.  For instance, if you
feel it's important to the mood of the example above that the living
room contains a red Barcalounger and a 19th century golden oak table
with a yellow Art Deco Monbeam clock on it, then instruct the artist
to draw them, even if they are never directly mentioned in the 
dialogue or captions.  Similarly, if the plot requires that one of
the characters is going to use a telephone in the living two panels
after this panel, remind the artist to draw the telephone into the
very first establishing shot of the room, so that there will be 
continuity throughout the scene.  A small schematic sketch of the room
as seen from above can be placed in the margin of the script, if you
think it is necessary.
	For precise "location shots" of foreign cities, historical
landmarks, or obscure museum artifiacts, it is customary for the
writer to supply the artist with xeroxed photo reference or pages
torn out of *The National Geographic*.  For historical or military
costume details, photocopies from an excyclopedia or other refernce 
book are the norm.  Do not ask an artist to draw an actual unfaked
location or military costume without reference, and do not expect
an artist to "go to the library and look it up" on your behalf.  It
is also an imposition to ask the editor of a comic to find photo-
reference for your story.  The rule here is: "If you want the Taj
Mahal, bring the Taj Mahal along with you when you submit your script."
	When it comes to non-specific locales (such as "the
interior of a restaurant") and imaginary settings ("an evil-
looking alien rocket ship, seen against a background of deep 
space with nebulae, galaxys, etc.), you will find that most 
good professional artists are capable of taking skimpy 
descriptions and producing beautiful, consistent work.
	Artists and writers who work together repeatedly
eventually develop a rapport.  At that point, the writer can
save scripting time by leaving out non-essential descriptive
instructions, and also save drawing time for the artists by
sticking to locales the artist already has reference on.
	Setting a story in the artist's home town or using
imaginary and historical places that the artist is particularly
fond of drawing is a sure way to establish this sort of
partnership.  An artist whose favorite subject is swashbuckling
pirates, for instance, will find it hard these days to get
an excuse to draw them.  The artist will be glad, and
possbly even effusively grateful, to work with a writer who
can occasionally come up with plots in which pirates appear --
even if they are only the costumed villains in a super-hero
series or the hallucinations of a dying space explorer who has
eaten poison mushrooms.  Give an artist an excuse to depict
what he or she wants most to draw, and that artist will work
harder and turn in better work.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS BUSINESS
	Beginning writers in the comics field usually have other 
writing jobs to support them until they pick up steady assignments.
Some are newspaper reporters, some freelance magazine writers, and
some do unlikely things like security guard work or grocery store
clerking until they establish themselves.
	In the direct sales market (where comics are solicited and
sold to distributers before printing) the name and reputation of a
writer is an important sales factor.  This makes it harder for new
writers to break in, but it also maximizes employment for those
who are steady workers and can meet their deadlines.  It is not
uncommon for a comic book scripter to produce four or five separate
25-page issues per month, each illustrated by a different art team
and dealing with a different genre of fiction.  With rates in the
industry currently ranging between 20 and 65 dollars a page, this
can translate into salaries of $24,000 to $97,500 per year.

GOOD LUCK
	Because of the volume of submissions we recieve, we may not
be able to get back to you for three months or more.  Please
be patient; we will look at your work and make comments if we can.
Don't telephone to monitor the progress of your submissioin: the 
works are reviewed by sveral of our editors, rather than by any one
particular person, and it is unlikely we will be able to help you
over the phone.

Thank you,

Eclipse Comics
 
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