Comic Book Submissions Guidelines for Artists and Writers -- Avatar Press

Avatar Press is a leading independent company which publishes a wide variety of comic books -- highly-regarded creator-owned titles such as Alan Moore's The Courtyard, Warren Ellis' Scars, and Garth Ennis and John McCrea's Dicks; licensed comics such as Frank Miller's Robocop and Stargate SG1, company-owned properties such as Pandora and The Ravening, and a number of other current and upcoming titles. Avatar is privileged to work with some of the most talented creators in comics, and the company is currently seeking out additional creators - both new and established - in a number of categories:

ARTISTS

Avatar Press is always looking for talented freelance artists, and often has a range of work in a wide variety of subjects and genres available. If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending Avatar Press editor-in-chief William Christensen a link to that is generally a good place to start. Emailing a few graphics is also okay, as long as the file size is not too large to start with. The continued search for artists to join the talented group of creators we work with for a number of upcoming projects is an important priority at Avatar.

When sending submissions via snail mail and/or other more comprehensive submissions, your submission should include a wide range of samples, showcasing all your abilities. We want to see panel to panel continuity (storytelling), as well as illustrative work (pin-ups, covers, etc.) If you need a sample script feel free to use this one. It is not necessary to pencil the entire script ... just pick 4-6 consecutive pages. We will consider penciled and inked pages, penciled pages (so long as the pencils are tight and clean), fully-rendered pencils (grayscale tones), and painted pages. Don't forget to include your name, address, e-mail address and/or a phone number at which you can be contacted.

You may send a link to a web page or gallery of your work as a preliminary indicator of your abilities. We want to see work from talented artists of all kinds.

WRITERS

Send us an 8-12 page story with panel to panel descriptions and in full script format. The story should feature an adventure by any Avatar Press company-owned character. Do not send us stories featuring characters owned by other comic companies or any creator-owned characters (even if the creator who owns the character is you — if you want to submit a creator-owned project see our listed guidelines for that ... these are the guidelines for freelance writing submissions). E-mail submissions are OK. If you have been previously published you may send copies of those comics. Don't forget to include your name, address, e-mail address and/or a phone number at which you can be contacted.

COLORISTS

If you would like to be considered for freelance color work at Avatar Press here's what you need to do — send us samples of your work on a Zip disk or CD, preferably PC formatted but Mac is OK. The files should be sent to us in CMYK mode at size (6.875 x 10.5 at 600dpi is our current standard size, if you have previously published work at another size that's fine). Don't forget to include your name, address, e- mail address and/or a phone number at which you can be contacted. We recommend using Adobe Photoshop, but you may color them using whatever program you wish so long as the files are saved either as tifs or psds with the line art in either a separate channel or on separate layer from the color art. We are at this time interested only in hiring digital colorists. If you want to email us some small-ish thumbs of your work that's fine, please keep the file size reasonable.

Note: Avatar's digital color needs are currently fulfilled. However, feel free to submit work to be placed on file for any possible future reference, if you so desire.

CREATOR-OWNED PROJECTS

Avatar Press is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Much of what we publish is creator-owned ... Warren Ellis' Stranger Killings and Scars, Alan Moore's The Courtyard, Garth Ennis and John McCrea's Dicks, and many others. All genres and styles will be considered. The ideal submission will include an overview of the story, a detailed plot synopsis, sample script pages, character designs, and sample art pages (panel to panel continuity). Don't forget to include your name, address, e-mail address and/or a phone number at which you can be contacted. We may make exceptions for established professionals, but it is generally more difficult to consider projects without an artist firmly attached as a co-creator.

OTHER SUBMISSION NOTES

Submissions should be sent to the attention of William A. Christensen, Editor in Chief unless you have previously arranged to send it to another Avatar staffer. See the contact page for information on where to send your submission.

Avatar Press does not currently have work available for additional freelance inkers or letterers. Again, feel free to submit work to be placed on file for any possible future reference, if you so desire.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU SEND IN YOUR SUBMISSION

If we have an immediate interest in your work you will be contacted. If anyone on the Avatar staff has even the slightest interest in your work your submission will be kept on file for future reference. No immediate response from us does not necessarily constitute a rejection. On the other hand, if you're sending a submission cold and we're not currently not interested, we may not have time to critique your work and may not get back to you. That said, if we like your stuff and have a place for you, you will hear from us.

Thanks for your interest in submitting material to Avatar Press.

Creators