Pitching Your Portfolio - Advice

[rivkah]

Heya there! I'm Rivkah, artist, writer and creator for "Steady Beat". *^-^* I've been seeing a lot of questions about pitching your idea or portfolio to TOKYOPOP, and I thought I'd hand out some of my own advice from way back when I first pitched my series to TOKYOPOP.

1) One of the most important things to remember concerning pitching your series, is that editors want to see sequential art. I was in town for Anime Expo two years ago when I pitched what was originally a webcomic at one of TOKYOPOP's portfolio reviews. It was face-to-face so I could talk about my art and story and accept feedback, and I didn't have a single pinup on me.There is a huge difference between something like this:
http://www.rivkah.com/artwork/harpercollins/winterfalcon.jpg
and this:
http://www.rivkah.com/artwork/steadybeat2/sbt2_4_01_finishes.jpg.
Pinups are great and all, but they don't show how well (or poorly) you tell a story. When I went to my portfolio review, I had twenty inked and toned and lettered pages of the original webcomic I'd created for "Steady Beat" to show.

2) Editors look at ART first, and writing second. I think this is a pretty big question for a lot of people, and while story is always important, it's your art that's most likely to get your foot in the door and garner the most attention. So work on refining your visual techniques before your written techniques; the latter is what editors are for. ^_~

3) Keep your pitch SHORT and SIMPLE. My original pitch went as follows:

"Love, Jessica." That's what Leah finds on the back of a love letter to her sister, Sara--but who is this Jessica? When odd letters, flowers, and gifts start popping up with "Love Jessica" attached to them, Leah goes undercover to discover her sister's paramour's true identity. What she doesn't expect to find is a love her own, and in some very unexpected places!

Try not to go longer than five sentences in your summary, and make sure to cover main character (Leah), theme (romance/drama), conflict (gay sister), and target audience (obviously girls) in as few words as possible. You want not just good writing, but also a catchy idea that's both original and easy to relate--TOKYOPOP wants the casual browser to pick up your book at a glance at the back and flip through the art. If you can't catch in the first few seconds, you've already failed. (speaking from the vantage point of someone with a background in marketing, advertising, and sales)

Along the same lines, DON'T write pages-long summaries of your characters. Keep each character to a paragraph.

4) FOLLOW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES! I can't even BEGIN to tell you how important this is! If you aren't pitching at a portfolio review, then more than likely you've sent your submission through snail mail (email submissions don't work, trust me), and if you don't follow the guidelines to a T they ARE going to go straight to the bottom of the slush pile. NO editor wants to work with somebody who can't follow simple directions. Exactly guidelines can be found on the TOKYOPOP website at http://www.tokyopop.com/aboutus/manga_guidelines.php Read them. Follow them. Live by them. ^_~

5) Welcome criticism. Our editors aren't out to Get You. They're out to find potential artists and writers they think could make it. When I pitched "Steady Beat" it wasn't anywhere NEAR publication quality, but with a bit of work with my editor and his suggestions, I was able to display the ability to accept criticism and use it to refine both my art and story. And I've improved exponentially for it. But you gotta be willing to take it first. So don't pout if an editor says your side profiles look awkward and your hands could use some work; ask them why and show them you can improve.

6) Don't be conceited. If you're turned down, it isn't because you're so talented any "mere" editor just can't see it yet, and that if they published you they'd sell millions and millions of books. No, you were turned down because that particular editor didn't think you had what it takes to make it into publication. Yet.

7) Rejection doesn't mean you'll never make it. It just means you need to try harder, practice longer, observe the world around you more. I've only been doing this for a couple years and honestly, when I got started, my art very literally sucked, but at LEAST four hours a night, every day, of drawing for half a year somehow got me good enough to at least catch somebody' attention. I never slacked, and I never gave up. And all that included juggling a full time job while running my own company out of my home office. And I still work just as hard as ever, if not harder because fans that pay are a lot more critical than the fans that download free webcomics off the internet. Print is simply more demanding.

Last but not by any means least, "Good luck!" Submitting a work is a nerve-wracking experience, and everybody fears rejection. We ALL want to be good enough, but we all have our own pace, abilities, and talents, and few people can stay focused long enough on a single field to truly go the distance it takes to succeed. So if getting your ideas out there is not just what you want but what you need, then keep heading towards that goal and never give up.

-Rivkah

[UrbanRevolution]

Thank you.

[PeNCILz]

Rivkah = Very Helpful. You should PM a mod and have them make this a sticky...

[Murasakivie]

Ah... Just as I was stressing over how to put together my portfolio. You are fantastic!

[Samekh Mem]

Any tips for us on story arc and synopsis creation, Rivkah?

Thank you for writing this out! I bet it'll help a lot of people down the road.

[rivkah]

Any tips for us on story arc and synopsis creation, Rivkah?

A lot of people take very different approaches to creating a story arc. For me, I tend to write my comics the way I would a book with a clear beginning, middle, and end (introduction, buildup, climax, conclusion). But a lot of creators tend to sway towards a more episodic story--a simple premise that can be "filled out" with more involving stories as you go along, making the series feel longer.

One is neither better than the other, however, according to TOKYPOP's submission guidelines, you're supposed to pitch for a three-volume self-contained series. So keep that in mind while building your story arc, and try to avoid too much backstory or history behind the characters. A "she's been wandering the earth for thousands of years, seeking out the last hundred vampire souls to exterminate" isn't the kind of story that can easily be expounded on and wrapped up in three volumes. Unless she's killed all 99 already and is simply seeking out that last one, of course. ^_~

Also, fantasy and sci-fi tend to require longer story arcs, just like they do in novels. The reason to this is that you're throwing a reader into an unfamiliar world which requires lending extra time to explainations of certain objects, alien politics, technologies, etc. There's nothing to say you can't create a good fantasy manga in three volumes or so, but it certainly is a lot more difficult than something that takes place in the here and now.

As for synopsis creation, here's something I wrote for a couple other fellow creators a while back:

When you submit a proposal for a story to a publisher, you want a 1-paragraph pitch for all-purpose use. Something like you'd find on the back of a novel. Your pitch should cover the main theme of the story, how the main character plays into the theme, state the conflict, and end with a clear idea of who your target audience is.

As an example, here's something I wrote a while ago for the back cover copy of a fiction novel:

Main Character: When forty-year-old Hattie Davis returns to her hometown of Chattahoochee, Florida, following the death of her mother, she rejoins her quirky family.

Theme: She is reacquainted with Jake Witherspoon, a high school boyfriend who has returned to town, purchased the local florist, and has made no attempt to hide his homosexuality.

Conflict: When Jake is abducted and brutally beaten by two local teenagers, Hattie, her family, and the community are dramatically altered.

Target Audience: The Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate is a tragedy, comedy, mystery, and a love story -- a tale of the circular nature of life and friendship with a Southern twist.


For Steady Beat, it follows a very similar pattern:

Main Characters: "Love, Jessica" That's what Leah finds on the back of a love letter to her sister, Sarai--

Conflict and Theme: but who is this mysterious Jessica? When odd letters, flowers, and gifts start popping up with "Love Jessica" attached to them, Leah goes undercover to discover her sister's paramour's true identity.

Target Audience: What she doesn't expect to find is love of her very own, and in some very unexpected places!

The last one, "target audience" isn't so obvious about it's purpose, but simply by ending the paragraph on a note about 'love' it makes the title very obviously shoujo and girl-oriented. Perhaps it would be better if I worded it 'appeal.' End your paragraph noting the appeal of your book (such as if it's horror, humor, love, etc) and a bit of a cliff hanger.

Make them want to know more! If you explain too much, it begins to get tedious and difficult to follow what the story is about. Publishers don't care about the details of the story. They care about the first impression it'll make on readers in both visual appeal and content. You'll get to the details with your editor, so for the meantime, leave them out.

I'd also avoid posing any questions unless you answer them immediately. Posing a question as a means of piqueing interest actually doesn't work very well, for some odd reason. I think it's because posing a question is a little redundant. What you WANT to do is 'state the truth, but not the full truth.' It's a tease.

I hope this helps a little bit. :) I learned a lot about creating press releases and sales pitches, first in publishing, and second working for a company putting product catalogs together. The copy is actually very similar in purpose and style, even though the key words are different. Don't get frustrated if it takes several HOURS just getting the right combination of words for that one or two paragraph pitch, because in the end, it'll be really worth it. :)

[PeNCILz]

That first pitch is somthing I may want to read... My kind of story.

[Shamdu]

Waaa~ Thanks a lot!!
I'm working on a submission right now.... Well, even though there's no chance it will be accepted with my lousy art and writing skills, this still helped me out a lot. XD

What you written in your last post - is it enough for the "plot synopsis" part? Or should I also write some other stuff in that section?
And the "three book series plan" part - how much detail should be put into this? ^^;
Thanks, sorry for the bother. XD

[Pedes]

What you written in your last post - is it enough for the "plot synopsis" part? Or should I also write some other stuff in that section?
And the "three book series plan" part - how much detail should be put into this? ^^;
Thanks, sorry for the bother. XD
I'd like to know morea bout that too :)

[rivkah]

What you written in your last post - is it enough for the "plot synopsis" part?

If the situation warrants, deffinitely go into more detail, but you may wish to avoid overxplaining: the more words, the easier it is to loose interest. However, it's up to you to decide what the fine balance between telling too little and telling too much is.

And the "three book series plan" part - how much detail should be put into this?

For my final pitch, I wrote a paragraphy summary per book, no more. Which is good, because what I cut out were details I'd originally thought set in stone, but have altered since my initial idea. Yet the basic premise remains the same.

Also, if your pitch is accepted, you'll be putting together what's called a style bible, later, where you DO outline the details of your characters and series. So leave out the details for now and just focus on the basics.

[rivkah]

What you written in your last post - is it enough for the "plot synopsis" part?

If the situation warrants, deffinitely go into more detail, but you may wish to avoid more paragraphs: the more words, the easier it is to loose interest.

And the "three book series plan" part - how much detail should be put into this?

For my final pitch, I wrote a paragraph summary per book, no more. Which is good, because what I cut out were details I'd originally thought set in stone, but have altered since my initial idea. Yet the basic premise remains the same.

[Jo Soo Park]

Great thread Rivkah.

[Alexis]

I'm working on a submission right now.... Well, even though there's no chance it will be accepted with my lousy art and writing skills, this still helped me out a lot. XD

I thought your art and style was very promising! Keep improving and stay positive. It's very nice to see something that has a manga-like story and isn't over-toned. If you can make every panel look like your best panels, I know I'd be fighting to work with you.

[nicolepalmer]

that was very helpful thankyou

[Loverofpiggies]

Just wondering, sense this is a place for help and such, I DIDNT UNDERSTAND THE SUBMISSIONS AT ALL!!! For like RSOM, the whole "Tokyopop page layout" thing, confused the heck out of me! Mainly I KNEW where the bleedmarks where and blah di blah blah, but should my comic have covered up the lines so you couldnt tell where they were? And also it sucked more that TP had it only in adobe reader, making it to where I couldnt download it and have the page layout perfect. I had to guess on so many things. DX

Pretty much thats what confuses me. Also, what do people think of my art?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/Rufusonatrain.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/OREXISISSUEONECOVER1copy.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/Chrisnewoutfitcopy.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/InsaneAsylumme.jpg

PLEASE, I BEG YOU, what do I need to work on other than backgrounds? I've been practicing ALOT on backgrounds. ^^ Maybe Rivkah could help with that. ^^; (Hope I didnt post this in a stupid place but I WOULD LOVE a professional opinion XD)

[nicolepalmer]

many things. DX

Pretty much thats what confuses me. Also, what do people think of my art?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/Rufusonatrain.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/OREXISISSUEONECOVER1copy.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/Chrisnewoutfitcopy.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/bran15/InsaneAsylumme.jpg

PLEASE, I BEG YOU, what do I need to work on other than backgrounds? I've been practicing ALOT on backgrounds. ^^ Maybe Rivkah could help with that. ^^; (Hope I didnt post this in a stupid place but I WOULD LOVE a professional opinion XD)[/QUOTE]

i like your art.I would like to see more ecspecially the sequintial (i think i spelled that wrong)

[nicolepalmer]

woah...how the heck did your pictures get on my post that is wierd....

[rivkah]

Just wondering, sense this is a place for help and such, I DIDNT UNDERSTAND THE SUBMISSIONS AT ALL!!! For like RSOM, the whole "Tokyopop page layout" thing, confused the heck out of me! Mainly I KNEW where the bleedmarks where and blah di blah blah, but should my comic have covered up the lines so you couldnt tell where they were?

The lines should not be printed on your final page. That's why they're called guidelines: for guidance, but not for print.

And also it sucked more that TP had it only in adobe reader, making it to where I couldnt download it and have the page layout perfect. I had to guess on so many things.

Either print it out and use that print as a guide, or open it in photoshop and safe as a different file format.


Pretty much thats what confuses me. Also, what do people think of my art?

PLEASE, I BEG YOU, what do I need to work on other than backgrounds? I've been practicing ALOT on backgrounds. ^^ Maybe Rivkah could help with that. ^^; (Hope I didnt post this in a stupid place but I WOULD LOVE a professional opinion XD)

I don't believe this is quite the appropriate thread for asking about your art. You'll get many more responses in the "Share Your Manga" (http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23) forum.

[zetsui101]

is the "three book series plan" what Tokyopop's looking for at the moment? if i knew, then i could really get my ideas together for submissions and get somewhere in my page setups.

[Klawzie]

Yes. As it says in their submission guidelines, they're looking for you to pitch a three-book series. You should read what they say! It's very useful. :3 (I have it bookmarked so I can look at it.)

[skennedy]

This entire thread is excellent! I'm a newbie at the entire submission/pitch thing and this helps a bunch.

[mew luna]

this was so helpful! if i actually end up having a career with tokyopop i know itll be because of this website so thanx alot!

[mew luna]

oh yea and about turning in the three books- how many pages do you think each one should be!? im the only one making my own books so i'd really like to know how much work i have ahead of me! alot of writing and drawing along with schoolwork is alot of stress!:( anyway your story looks pretty cool i think ill look into it sometime! thanx for all the advice!:)

[Pedes]

oh yea and about turning in the three books- how many pages do you think each one should be!? im the only one making my own books so i'd really like to know how much work i have ahead of me! alot of writing and drawing along with schoolwork is alot of stress!:( anyway your story looks pretty cool i think ill look into it sometime! thanx for all the advice!:)
Everything is in SUBMISSIONS there's aling in the forum..
If I remeber right they write "how the idea would fit in 3 180-pages volumes" but I may remember wrong...

[tomselleck69]

apparently, it's 160 pages each.

[mew luna]

oh durr! but i guess it will take me a while to get atleast 600 pages done!>:0

[KarenCupp]

Thank you so much for the How-To on Submissions....big help.
Karen

[KeoKa]

*Bows Down*

[YamPuff]

Great thread; very useful. Its nice that there are accomplished artists out there willing to help us nOObs. Tank oo, Rikvah!

Anyhoo, I would suggest to anyone worrying about three volume manga to read three volume manga series. It might help you visualise how much space you have and what you can and cannot do. The page count is different I think, but close enough, so you can look into Magic Knight Rayearth (a fantasy series that finsihed in three volumes & then had a continuation also of three volumes, *hint hint*) and Suki a romance with no fantasy elements in it. Both are by CLAMP. Also, Wish by CLAMP is a four-volume series, so its close and its a fantasy-romance-comedy.

Also, read lots of one-shots, learn how accomplish things in a limited amount of space. Get the five-thousand-volumes-apiece Dragon Knights and Angel Sanctuary out of your mind and model your stuff on the shorter, easier to achieve manga. That would be my way of doing things.

[starlias]

waaa! this is soo useful!! even though I am not planning to submit anything.....I just felt like I am witnessing these great stuff right now!^o^..live !xDD

I feel like I really want to have a go at submitting stuff...*o* but probably in the future..(__o__)<;;;

and I just have one question, if tokyopop is limited to 3 volume manga, what if you really want to submit a long manga which runs about 9-11 volumes or something(like cardcaptor sakura, fruit basket, d-n-angel etc and etc..?___?)....
cos personally, I like to read long stories..^^;; I've enjoyed long series like LOTR and etc..cos I think it gives me a deeper feeling..^__^

[Elae]

and I just have one question, if tokyopop is limited to 3 volume manga, what if you really want to submit a long manga which runs about 9-11 volumes or something(like cardcaptor sakura, fruit basket, d-n-angel etc and etc..?___?)....
cos personally, I like to read long stories..^^;; I've enjoyed long series like LOTR and etc..cos I think it gives me a deeper feeling..^__^

You'll want to check this thread (http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2338&highlight=erisu-san) for a discussion about that.

[zetsui101]

I was reading the submissions page after school yesterday, and it said that when the idea is pitched to Tokyopop, you have to give a few competeing series by other authors. Do they mean series with a similar plot or main concept?

[WillieHewes]

Thanks, that was really helpful and useful, you officially rule now. I'll have a look out for your manga, too, it sounds cool. :)

[EirieYukifan]

thankee much! i rlllyy find this helpful ^ ^

[windra]

hi i'm wind

[stewisgood11]

hey! i'm gonna jump on the bandwagon and say thanks a lot for this thread! i know its gonna help me a lot! thanks for taking the time out of ur very busy schedule to post this up! *bows* i am not worthy *bows* :D :D

[WEZ88]

Mine has like 5 themes(action,comedy,romance,scifi,fantasy) :( how do I state them all ?

[Starplate]

Mine has like 5 themes(action,comedy,romance,scifi,fantasy) :( how do I state them all ?

It helps to state the main themes rather than listing every single element/sub-theme into the list. I would think sci-fi, action, comedy stands out as the dominant part. Of course there will be sub-themes like romance (which I would leave out cause that tends to be secondary unless it's a dedicated shoujo manga)

[WEZ88]

mm true true and with only 3 volumes ill have to flesh out the love less to get the core story in so it woudnt be that strong on a focus

[zetsui101]

Mine has like 5 themes(action,comedy,romance,scifi,fantasy) :( how do I state them all ?
I agree with Nodion. Sitck with the themes that are the strongest in the storyline. The minor themses don't have to be stated because if they were, submissions would be a bore to read if nearly every theme was listed.

[ZeKarmiSama]

I need to know.

I finally mustered it up in me to go to Tokyopop Portfolio review at Comic-Con, but my most recent manga/not-a-pin-up is also my Rising Stars of Manga entry... @_@ Would that be bad or some manner of unfair advantage to have a Tokyopop person looking at that?

[crispy]

I don't think there are any rules AGAINST it...

[TedTurtle]

Your advice was really helpful. I now know what to expect a little bit better than what I knew beforehand. I'm not quite ready to submit anything yet but I'm getting there. I think will try to make my story with a steady beginning, middle, and end. I usually just did it by episode stories.

[TunaKid84]

I was wondering… What kind of attire do you wear to pitch your submission?

We were going over attire for presentations in class and it got me thinking. Is it a formal thing? Formal-casual? Casual? Does it even matter if they’re just looking at your submission?
(I’m sure it does… Just being sarcastic…)
It’s probably an obvious answer but I was just curious of opinions. Thoughts?

[telophase]

I was wondering… What kind of attire do you wear to pitch your submission?

We were going over attire for presentations in class and it got me thinking. Is it a formal thing? Formal-casual? Casual? Does it even matter if they’re just looking at your submission?
(I’m sure it does… Just being sarcastic…)
It’s probably an obvious answer but I was just curious of opinions. Thoughts?

Considering the editor who reviewed mine a couple of years ago at a con was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, I expect in that situation it doesn't matter. If I were pitching at a meeting at their office, I'd wear nicer clothing, but I don't think going quite so far as a business suit would be necessary - business casual, to look somewhat professional, would be my choice.

[crispy]

You don't pitch your submission at the portfolio review... the purpose of the portfolio review is to get a critique of your work from the editors and to kind of... flaunt yourself and make them think that they may want to work with you later on. It's not to pitch them your glorious story about Suzie the wandering minstrel who must find the seven hundred deamon shards and defeat Quetzalcoatl, the evil hell-overload who's trying to destroy the Earth.

[tomselleck69]

You don't pitch your submission at the portfolio review... the purpose of the portfolio review is to get a critique of your work from the editors and to kind of... flaunt yourself and make them think that they may want to work with you later on. It's not to pitch them your glorious story about Suzie the wandering minstrel who must find the seven hundred deamon shards and defeat Quetzalcoatl, the evil hell-overload who's trying to destroy the Earth.
excuse me, there are 600 deamon shards and you're not even spelling the character's names correctly. at all. and fyi, it's not EARTH he's trying to destroy, it's ÆRTH. they are clearly different. did you even look at the style bible?? it's that 3-ring binder under all those other 3-ring binders in case you were wondering.

god, some people.

[frecklegirl]

If I were pitching at a meeting at their office, I'd wear nicer clothing, but I don't think going quite so far as a business suit would be necessary - business casual, to look somewhat professional, would be my choice.

Even at the office we dress casual. *laughs*

[midorihebi]

Even at the office we dress casual. *laughs*

Bad intern! You weren't supposed to tell them that! They're supposed to think that we come to work wearing fancy suits! ^.^

Seriously, though, for a portfolio review just go with whatever you feel comfortable in. Granted, you wouldn't want to dress like a complete slob, but it's not going to be an insult to the editors doing the reviews if you're wearing a t-shirt and jeans (and clean underwear, of course. Dirty underwear is bad).

[telophase]

Even at the office we dress casual. *laughs*
I believe I was wearing pajamas for the pitch my writer and I made a year or so back.

...Yeah, it was a phone meeting.

[TunaKid84]

(and clean underwear, of course. Dirty underwear is bad).

:confused:
'kay...

so biz-casual... unless talking at a con or over the phone...

Got it... Thank you!
:)

[lilbit075]

So if you are working on showing them something at a convention is it for straight up submissions? Or just advice and what they can tell you about your work? I myself only have about 5 panals inked. Maybe one toned. Do they only look at it for subbmissions or to give advice as well? I plan on entering the RSOM 7 this time around, so that's why I'm still working on tweeking a lot of things....

-Ren-

[KaYoKitten]

*claps hands together and bows underneath them* I'm sorry, everyone! I am in need of help...again...>.> No, not the kind with the men in white.

In the Submissions section, it says to state five or so "Marketing Points". Here is what it says (so no one has to drag another window up to see what the heck I'm talking about):

Five or so bullet points about the target audience appeal, competing stories from other manga-ka or in other media and reasons why we should consider publishing this series.

The reason we suggest this format is that it has worked well for us in the past and gives you the best chance for success. Our team can quickly evaluate your idea. It demonstrates to us how well you have thought out your story and characters.


I was told this part isn't really all that important, and I was also told it was invaluable. But WHAT, precisely, are you asking me to do? What is the format you are asking for? This is what I think, from what you've stated:

* Title of Manga--This title is similar to mine because blah blah blah and it will help market my manga because blah blah blah.

Um...what I guess I'm asking for is...^^; Example? Please? I'm lost...so very lost...

Also, you don't specify if you need turnabouts/character sheets. You said:

One to three pages with finished character designs (inked and toned) of your three most important characters. Does that mean I can hold off on the turnabouts? Are they necessary? Y'know, the entire submissions page is extremely confusing...

Or maybe I'm just stupid like everybody says. .__.

[YamPuff]

You're not stupid, Kitten. I find them confusing myself also and you know how smart I am. *puffs up* Oh, who'm I kidding...

Ok, Rivkah mentioned a bunch of stuff in her thread-starter, but this is a bit different. The bulletin points thingums are what you think your story is good for. I would do it like this:

* Shoujo manga, will appeal to girls of all ages
* Similar in style to the popular Sailor Moon manga
* Unique new story, refreshin heroine
* Filled with beautiful poetry that the romantically inclined will adore
* Features beautiful and creative hairstyles and outfits for the budding fashion designer

What you want is stuff that Tokyopop will market your manga by. When they make a banner advertising your book, what will they same? "Fans of Sailor Moon will love this" or "Any budding designer has to take a look". What audience are you appealing to and how should they market your piece and to whom?

As for the turnabouts, that's not absolutely necessary. they aren't going to base your pitch on whether or not ypu have turnabouts, but for the actual design of the character, how well he's drawn, the expressions. You want to capture their personality through the sketch. If you want to show them taht you are caoable of drawing turnabouts, go ahead, but its not the be-all-and-end-all.

Check out Beanclam's submission; its a sticky as well. His character sketches didn't have tunrabouts.

[Klawzie]

Beanclam's a girl. :3

[bejoalan]

If you aren't pitching at a portfolio review, then more than likely you've sent your submission through snail mail (email submissions don't work, trust me),

what is portfolio review??? is it the same like normal submision? I interested on submitting my work, but I can only afford it thru email. T__T

btw, can anybody gives some example of these guideline that I found at the submission guide line. I dont really understand them, esp. the bold letters.


Series Synopsis:
One synopsis page selling the series concept. This should include a two-sentence "log line" summary, a story arc suitable for three volumes plus a summary of the main character's journey and the antagonist's motivation.

Character Descriptions:
One page giving us some information on the main characters (name, background, role and personality, as well as how they will develop throughout the story arc, what path they will take and why).
>> Q: one page per main characters, or one page for all main characters


thanks

[KaYoKitten]

A log-line is a short blurb that is limited to a sentence or two. Tokyopop asks for two sentences. Here's one that I just kinda made up on the spot:

Tommy and Docker both have fallen for the same young girl, Jenny Quarks. Unfortunately for both men, Jenny is more interested in physics than men.

You get the whole of the story from those two lines--two dudes like this girl who couldn't care less, so obviously enough, they're both gonna try and get her nose outta the books and into one of them.

The summary should tell a story arc, basically a piece or whole of the story, so that it would fit into one to three volumes of manga (which rests around 160 pages, or so I'm told).

And good question on the character descriptions. o.0 I don't know. XD

[YamPuff]

Regarding the character descriptions thing, I would say just one page because it does say 'one page with some info on the main characters' and not 'one page for each'. You don't need a whole page for each character, I mean, all they want is something like:

Joey is a young man starting out work as a lawyer in a top law firm. His naivite and inexperience get him in a lot of trouble, but he learns from his mistakes quickly. Joey starts out as a lousy, nosy character who gradually calms down as the story progresses and begins to talk less and listen more. He matures significently due to the influence of Carol, his boss. He is one who will taking on the big trial the series is about.

I don't think they want much more than that. They just want a general idea of each character.
Beanclam's a girl. :3
:eek: :eek:
eep

[KaYoKitten]

Ya'll see? You tell us to follow the submissions guidelines...but they're utter confusing nonsense to most people. If it were really so simple, we wouldn't have been sitting here scratching our heads wondering WHAT do they want?! .____.

[YamPuff]

What they should have is a completed submission available for print. Its so much easier to follow that way. Or maybe they're testing us on how we interpret their stuff.

[bejoalan]

thanks for all the A's

btw, about that email subs that I've been asking, I still confused between what rivkah suggest (email wont work) and what on TPOP site (we can corresponded thru email).

[crispy]

Tokyopop can corospond with you in email if your submission is picked, but generally, submissions are better recieved if they're sent in by snail mail. When it comes to submitting, email wont work; but once you've got an editor, most of your contact is through email.

[Aquasakura]

This is very useful information I can use for becoming a better mangaka and sumitting my ideas the right way. ^_^ I'm glad Rivkah started this thread. Thanks, Rivkah!

[EwanG]

What they should have is a completed submission available for print. Its so much easier to follow that way.

True, although I suspect part of the reason for this thread is to help folks out on that. Plus if you have an "example submission" package, you'd be surprised how many of your submissions would then come in with only the names changed. I was an editor (many years ago) of an SF magazine, and quickly learned my lesson on that count :)

Similarly, I have been published in several technical markets (contributing author or tech editor), and I know that they also are rather picky about format in part to separate the folks who will pay attention to detail from folks who just throw something together.

Or maybe they're testing us on how we interpret their stuff.

Or on whether you care enough about your art to look at the forums and pick up the info they give you there. It's not uncommon for someone to get heated up about something, but then not follow through. This way they can tell you cared at least enough to spend time doing some background work.

There was a competition to do a book pitch at Harlequin last summer at about the time I hit their board because I was thinking of writing a romance novel (am now working on a romantic comedy manga, so I guess the progression isn't that strange), and part of the reason I won a position to do a pitch is that I took a little time to actually read their forums to make sure I was pitching properly and in the right format. Of course the pitch only won me an invitation to submit the rest of the book, and they decided it wasn't quite what they were looking for. Still, nice to get a letter from an editor so you know they actually READ what you wrote.

Anyway, there's my .02 worth...

[Dixzallicx]

Nice.

[suicidollxp]

i've been reading all the 7 pages of advice and i'm having a bad neck ach but at last you've answer about all my questions i've been askinf myslef, but i've got one last can somebody plz give me the size of the pages "art" to submit in cm! cause i don't understand those inches thing! that will be very helpful, i'm thinking about submiting something but like someone said some pages back, i'm workin alone and 160 per book is a lot of work! even if i work rapidly! and posting will cost me a fortune cost i live very very far. anyway i think this threat is awesome hope to hear from you all!http://www.tokyopop.com/suicidollxp/manga/2105.html

[slaverce]

Waaa~ Thanks a lot!!
I'm working on a submission right now.... Well, even though there's no chance it will be accepted with my lousy art and writing skills, this still helped me out a lot. XD

What you written in your last post - is it enough for the "plot synopsis" part? Or should I also write some other stuff in that section?
And the "three book series plan" part - how much detail should be put into this? ^^;
Thanks, sorry for the bother. XD


i read some of your web comic. its a very good story, i really like the idea keep it up! ^^

[chrisbitm]

If the situation warrants, deffinitely go into more detail, but you may wish to avoid overxplaining: the more words, the easier it is to loose interest. However, it's up to you to decide what the fine balance between telling too little and telling too much is.



For my final pitch, I wrote a paragraphy summary per book, no more. Which is good, because what I cut out were details I'd originally thought set in stone, but have altered since my initial idea. Yet the basic premise remains the same.

Also, if your pitch is accepted, you'll be putting together what's called a style bible, later, where you DO outline the details of your characters and series. So leave out the details for now and just focus on the basics.

so what you're saying is that don't tell too much detail, right

[slaverce]

so what you're saying is that don't tell too much detail, right

im pretty sure thats right

[beautiful0shinigami]

I just want to know, does it have to be 3 books?? What if you only have an idea for a story that'll complete in just 1 book?? (like a one-shot book) haha! just wondering.
Or can you have 3 different stories for the 3 books?? Like each book is the same title but it has different plot/characters/etc. (like how some video games are like that like Final Fantasy) XD

[YamPuff]

No, it doesn't have to be. I belive 'Go With Grace' is a oneshot OEL. I think they prefer a longer series though...more volumes = more cash (sometimes XD)

[beautiful0shinigami]

No, it doesn't have to be. I belive 'Go With Grace' is a oneshot OEL. I think they prefer a longer series though...more volumes = more cash (sometimes XD)

haha! okay. (so it's all about the $$ huh?? :( Not for the passion??!! :( :( )

[rivkah]

haha! okay. (so it's all about the $$ huh?? :( Not for the passion??!! :( :( )

It's deffinitely for the passion. Considering the amount of time and effort that goes into these books, the $$$ usually comes out below minimum wage. If I were just interested in money, I would have stayed at my old job, lol! At least I lived above poverty level back then. :P

But it's good practice, and you hope with enough hard work, that all the passion just might pay off someday, whether it's by reaching out to people or being able to finally make a decent living. :)

[Yakisoba]

It's deffinitely for the passion. Considering the amount of time and effort that goes into these books, the $$$ usually comes out below minimum wage.

Comes out below minimum wage? :eek: But wouldn't it be higher if you sell well? Either way, I guess it can feel pretty satisfying to see your own work in book form on store shelves and you can say "Ah! That's mines!" to random people in the store. :p

[slaverce]

Comes out below minimum wage? :eek: But wouldn't it be higher if you sell well? Either way, I guess it can feel pretty satisfying to see your own work in book form on store shelves and you can say "Ah! That's mines!" to random people in the store. :p


i think if you sell well you will get more money. It all depends on the story and art. for the reader you have to provide somethingdedicated to a wide audiance, and if nesisary get a pen handle so that they will theink your japanese (lol). Because some readers will only buy manga from a famous japanese author. For me i like to pick up what ever looks good.

P.S.
To all the people who are pickey about races in the manga bussiness, BUY AMERICAN MANGA TOO!! We're just as good as the japanese!

[YamPuff]

Okies, people. This thread is supposed to be about getting advice for one's portfolio, not comapring between Japanese and OEL manga. To compare and argue between them go here (http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4835) or here. (http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3685)

[beautiful0shinigami]

So, if a creator's mangas were published, how much $$ would he/she get off of them?? XD (always wondered) Does most of the $$ go to the publishing company??

[sargent_rose]

I HAVEN'T READ ALL OF THESE BUT I'LL GET BACK ON IT. >.< I WANNA KNOW HOW. o and am a noob on manga studio and it's really hard... can anyone help me.

[kofa]

I would be interested in how it works if I was creating a book with tokyopop. I mean how many books do you have to ell to get X amount of dollars. Or is it a percentage of the sales? Is there money upfront? And do you know which stores your book is going to be in?Not that the money is the most importatant thing but I want to see if this is the best route. I'm looking at other publishers as well.

[Valencia]

Yay thread necromancy....

So in the Rising Stars of Manga rules, it says that winners get to "pitch an idea for a full-length series to our top-brass". Does this mean that winners have to follow all the submission guidelines for a series like everyone else, or do they like actually meet a bunch of editors in person and discuss the plans or something?

[suicidollxp]

i think if you sell well you will get more money. It all depends on the story and art. for the reader you have to provide somethingdedicated to a wide audiance, and if nesisary get a pen handle so that they will theink your japanese (lol). Because some readers will only buy manga from a famous japanese author. For me i like to pick up what ever looks good.

P.S.
To all the people who are pickey about races in the manga bussiness, BUY AMERICAN MANGA TOO!! We're just as good as the japanese!
lately i've noticed that pple read or buy manga choosing them by just looking at the art...too bad for the good story! anyway it's true that readers tend to only from japanese mangaka's book it's sad but true. Even if there are a lot of good one outside japan. Manga is international now. I've haven't sell any of my manga yet mmh it's still cooking but i really want pple to read them even if it doesn't sell much i'm not doing it for the money...:p it's my dream to be pro and pple say my artwork is above mauritian level...which is very prehistorical :mad:

[dechanique]

NECRO for a question.

I'm going to a tokyopop portfolio review at Anime Expo.

For the total noob, what do I need to bring to this portfolio review? How many pages of work (and should i have more?), do i need to have a pitch idea or just let them look at my work? Should I bring a business card? Does the sequential art have to be pages 1-?? or can it be somewhere in the middle?

At a convention, it's not quite as extensive as this to pitch an idea, I wouldn't think? I think they just look at your actual pages?

I'm a little petrified, honestly.

[YakuraShima]

Your first posted image is beautiful.
Such grace with color.

[Weezze]

Wow there is alot to take in and this is not all of it. All seems pritty usefull though.

[Silently]

Hm.... When you meant sequential art, do you mean like random artworks that you do or a pieces from the manga?? 0.o;;; Sorry, I'm not very clear about that part ^^;;;

[TheBohemian]

Sequential art would be the pages of the manga.

[riais]

Should the sequential art be all from the same series? Or should it be random/really good pages from a variety of stories and/or chapters?

Just curious

[GHJY]

Hey Rivkah, I am starting to write my manga, called One Thousand Strokes, and I just completed three synopsis on three of the volumes. Each synopsis is two pages. Will that be okay for my pitch?

[FujikageDaiki]

Hey Rivkah, I am starting to write my manga, called One Thousand Strokes, and I just completed three synopsis on three of the volumes. Each synopsis is two pages. Will that be okay for my pitch?
Two pages is a bit long. Don't they ask for 1 paragraph?

[nikitia]

have to love it when someone posts a question to a member who hasnt posted in nearly 2 years.

[jnette]

Hey Rivkah, I am starting to write my manga, called One Thousand Strokes, and I just completed three synopsis on three of the volumes. Each synopsis is two pages. Will that be okay for my pitch?


If you haven't already read her first post because most of the answers are there.

[GHJY]

I guest I should keep my synopsis in one paragraph, but there's so much detail in it, which explains the entire story.

[nikitia]

better learn how to condense it then

[TheBohemian]

What she said.
Not being able to follow simple, clearly stated instructions is probably the best way to get your pitch thrown in the trash.

[GHJY]

That would seriously make me cry.

Okay, I'll just write one paragraph, which will explain what the publishers need to know, and probably show the editors my volume synopsis pages.

[Hanyouyomi]

Okay... I know what to do... But... How do I set it up? I ask this because when I went to Wizard World in Arlington Texas last month, I saw a few artists who had samples of their artwork in binders, and I figured that's how I had to present my pitches... Many of which I hadn't worked on yet. :(

[Ashikai]

You can buy professional portfolio binders at your local art store. They're great for keeping your work organized and clean. Try to keep a limited number of pieces in the folder, but remember to show a wide variety of works. People who review portfolios review hundreds at a time and don't want to spend hours going through cheap sketches.

So, try limiting yourself to about three sketches, three clean drawings (inked, maybe), and three finished drawings. And with those, remember that while your character art may be gorgeous, it's not all that counts. Perspective, landscapes and still-lifes are all viable and encouraged. =)

[Hanyouyomi]

You can buy professional portfolio binders at your local art store. They're great for keeping your work organized and clean. Try to keep a limited number of pieces in the folder, but remember to show a wide variety of works. People who review portfolios review hundreds at a time and don't want to spend hours going through cheap sketches.

So, try limiting yourself to about three sketches, three clean drawings (inked, maybe), and three finished drawings. And with those, remember that while your character art may be gorgeous, it's not all that counts. Perspective, landscapes and still-lifes are all viable and encouraged. =)

Do forgive my grammar but... "Thanks Dogg, Dis is exactly Da Shiz I hoped to hear."

Although I didn't know there were binders designed specifically to be used for portfolios. I just figured on using a binder I and a few of those index pages I found in my closet last week :p Which is the reason why I asked because I thought that wouldn't cut since I'm certain editors look for professionalism in a binder's look as well as the contents inside.

[Ashikai]

Yeah. Head to your local art store and ask them about portfolios. They normally have a great selection. Places like ACMoore, Michaels and other craft stores should have them too. I think WalMart carries them as well, but don't quote me on that 'cuz I don't shop their.