What's in the Package????

Awwww--Eric brought you all a present!

So in my mind, when I first started thinking about Dead Meat, I imagined this epic, on going series running at least 60 issues (which in comic book terms is FIVE YEARS), with many characters coming and going, tons of plot lines, and a scope wider than the Panama Canal. This is all well and good, but if you're trying to get your book published by a company, and you come at them with this massive, overblown, multi-year commitment, and you just look like a psychopath. Think of it like approaching someone for a date: if you were to go up to that guy or gal you have a crush on, and you say to him/her "I've been thinking about this relationship for a long time, and I want to get married to you and have kids, and buy a house," he/she is going to run screaming in the other direction! Now it's fine to have all these grandiose ideas (as long as you're not REALLY a psychopath), but for the love of sweet Krejci feed do not TELL them that! The same goes for your comic: you can have these grand ideas of having a long-running, Eisner award-winning mammoth of a book, but you need to package your product in a way that is non-threatening to a potential publisher, and will seem like way less of a commitment if they decide to take a chance on you. You want to ask him/her out to the school formal or to the local competitive sporting club match or whatever it is you kids do these days.

With Dead Meat, I approached my packaging as though I were creating the pilot episode of a television series. One story, over 6 issues, self contained, that could either serve as the jumping off point for a series, or could end the story in a satisfactory way right there. It was enough breathing room to introduce characters, concepts and the world, but it was short enough that it's a little less intimidating. This "pilot episode" concept is also very beneficial because it leaves you with a product you can adapt to many different formats. It could be the first 6 issues of an on-going series, a 6 issue mini series, or a graphic novel. Having this sort of wiggle room really opens you up to more options in terms of getting your work out there, and getting your work out there is the name of the game!

However, since I'm publishing this story of mine all by my lonesome, that means I don't have to apply ANY of that advice to my own work! GET READY FOR THE MOST EPIC EPIC YOU'VE EVER READ--BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

No, actually all of that stuff does still apply to Dead Meat because in addition to publishing it myself, I still write my stories in 6 issue chunks to later produce as graphic novels. So there--I didn't just waste your time!

Until next time,

Eat Dead Meat!