Title: The UK Market Taken from:

Due to the popularity of photocopying as a means of production, the dominant format for British small press comics is the A5 booklet comprising of any number of double-sided A4 photocopies folded and stapled across the middle. Variations on the ISO 216 paper size system are frequent with sizes under A6 commonly known as "minis". Minis have been known to go as small as 4.5cm² though A6 and A7 are more common. A4 is the second most common size though A3 (single sheets bound without folding) has been known. Creative forms of folding and cutting exist producing odd shapes but since the comics are generally sent by mail traditional sizes are more common. As it has become cheaper and short print-runs viable, many small press comics are being printed professionally. Small press comics have traditionally been black and white due to technological and financial limitations, though in recent years prices have fallen making full colour more viable, especially for covers. A common trait for small press comics is to be collated and stapled by hand and often extra flourishes will be added such a hand colouring or decoration making the comic something of an art object.

The predominant form of distribution for small press comics is by mail. Most publishers will post individual copies direct to the reader with orders coming from reviews, classified adverts, websites/email lists or word of mouth. If a creator has a regular series they may take subscriptions.Creators who live in the same area or share similar goals will sometimes group together as a loose collective to share resources, often bringing their titles together in a catalogue/website or under an imprint and sharing tables at conventions and marts. There is usually one or more mail order service, commonly known as a "distro", operating in the UK. These will hold a wide range of titles and take a cut of the cover price. The main distro at this time is SmallZone. Comics conventions and festivals will often have a small press presence where publishers are able to display their wares at a reduced rate. There are also events specific to small press comics such as Caption in Oxford and the Web and Mini Comix Thing in London. Distribution into comic book stores via traditional distributors (such as Diamond) is rare. Stores will often stock titles by local creators though some, notably Gosh! in London and Page 45 in Nottingham, stock a wider range and deal with small press comics on a level playing field.Creators will often make international links to these forms of distribution in other countries and vice versa.

With communication mainly taking place by post or online, there is no geographical centre for British small press comics. However, creators who discover they live in the same town will often meet up. In doing so they form a local scene.

Title: How to submit your comic Taken from:

If there's one complaint I hear most often from the poor saps that do submissions, it's that a majority of the submitted work they see is horribly and completely inappropriate for their company. Submitting comics or scripts to a company whose product you're not conversant with is almost always a complete waste of time. Art talent is at a much higher premium than writing talent in comics, for whatever reason, all of which I'm sure are very depressing. Part of it may have to do with the fact that an artist's component portion of a comic book looks like a comic book, while a writer's contribution looks like a letter to the bank. That may color perceptions at publishers that assemble work from various components, and it may keep the writer completely away from those publishing house that are interested in comics submissions that can be turned into books as opposed to displays of virtuosity that can then be marshaled behind a certain project. Another factor that may make it harder for writers is that working writers can often more easily take on multiple gigs, whereas artists are slaves to how much work they can do in a given month. This would make open spaces harder to come by. Whatever the case, the hardest thing in the world is to break in via simply writing scripts, let alone writing synopses or being an "idea man." Give up on the latter, and make sure you're really, really good before keeping at the former.

The craft of comic book coloring and lettering are hard trades to break into as well. In many cases, an artist working on a book will provide these services, or a company has someone on-staff. Many letterers and colorists are artists with a particular skill who start getting work from artist friends and build a career that way. Occasionally a company such as DC will put out an ad for an art department staff position. Stuff gets lost. Plus, and let's be honest, submissions in general is a low priority for many companies up and down the sales charts. Most comic book companies are desperately trying to muster enough resources to publish the stuff they already know and are excited about.

So even if a comic book company says they will return stuff in a self-addressed stamped envelope provided; if it arrives, consider yourself blessed. I know very little about portfolio reviews and on-table talent look-sees except what people have grumbled my way in casual conversation. The gist is as follows. A lot of companies will do portfolio reviews at the larger comic book conventions, or even when an editor visits a class or gives a speech or something like that. All of the rules for regular submissions should apply here if not more so -- particularly appropriateness and research. It makes sense that you should also take care to present yourself in a good light, by looking presentable and being friendly, because it's not a great leap to suppose a lot of companies are buying a working relationship as well as the work. Schmoozing editors and gateway company employees after-hours is overrated, and it really must be unimportant for people to admit this and risk no longer having things purchased for them. As far as the reviews themselves, take any advice you hear to heart, and ask if you can follow up so you don't waste your time following up with an editor who is not interested. Presenting work to established professionals has worked for some people, particularly during those rare periods when comic books were enjoying a sudden surge in business. The legend of the 1990s superhero sales powerhouse Image Publishing includes on-site hires by studio heads at events like comic book store signings. The thought that an established legend will read someone's work and pull an empty chair up to the computer or drawing table may be comic books' version of being discovered by Hollywood at the soda fountain.

The 1990s are very much over, however. Image is a moderate house with very strict publishing submission guidelines, and this kind of spot-hiring thing has always been very, very rare. Most comics professionals are too busy trying to find themselves work to find work for you. Very few professionals are in the position to select creative partners on a project, and if they are it is more than likely they will draw upon previous relationships with dozens upon dozens of professionals, all with a discernible publishing pedigree. Most importantly, though, comics professionals are completely unable to process unsolicited material, and will almost always toss it away. Throw in the fact that many creative people are paranoid about seeing others' ideas because it opens them to litigation if future ideas are similar -- and you'd be surprised how many surface similarities exist between some ideas -- and the chances of your package being completely unopened are pretty darn good.

If you were a baseball manager and had to replace your injured center fielder for a couple of weeks during the season, you'd be much more likely to look at players on other teams or in the minor leagues as opposed to going through a bunch of workout tapes sent in at random. Right? Okay, sports metaphors are really poorly applied to comics, but it seems to me that the best way to get work in comics is to be already working in comics in some capacity. That may sound like a vicious cycle but, luckily, with self-publishing, small press publishing, and even mini-comics, the threshold is reasonably low for making a work that shows off what you can do. You may have to give up those Hegelian notions of your perfect, unrealized mastery of art for the reality of what gets on the page, but you'll get better and better for doing something beginning to end. In many cases the best way to become the pencil artist on Spider-Man five years down the line is become the pencil artist on Night of the Breadsticks right now. Most cartoonists who create their own work have a mini-comic or two to their credit before working on page one of their 400-page magnum opus. Comics chat rooms, conventions, and in big cities local artist get-togethers are a good way to network with people that might collaborate or help you along. If nothing else, working on something right now gives you definite, concrete samples to show the next time you submit to other companies. And it may give you more opportunities. Something to think about: it may be true that no one wants to be the submissions editor, but very few people mind being the guy or gal who gets free comics.

Title: Conventions Taken from:

Anyone attending their first comic convention as an exhibitor this year ere are 10 items you should take to ensure you, your table and your comics make a real impact…

1. Tablecloth

Chances are the table you have hired from the convention organiser is going to be a bit old, plain and knackered. You therefore need to disguise its utter gruesomeness with a nice bright tablecloth. I usually buy a couple of disposable bright red ones from Sainsbury’s, the idea being to make my table and its display as eye-catching as possible. Trust me, your display’s going to look a bit bare if it hasn’t got a cloth under it yet it’s the one item exhibitors always seem to accidentally leave at home or fail to consider in the first place.

2. Business cards

Whenever I mention business cards to anyone I struggle to keep a straight face as I’m always reminded of that hilarious scene in the American Psycho movie when Patrick Bateman and his yuppie mates engage in a pissing contest over who has the best card – “That’s bone… and the lettering is something called silian brail.”

Thing is, if you’re making comics and exhibiting at conventions you’re going to need a card because the number of interesting and potentially very useful people who are going to pass by your table is pretty high. Over the last few years at Bristol alone I have swapped contact details with writers, artists, letterers, colourists, publishers, printers, TV and movie company reps, distributors and fanzine/magazine/website reviewers and their editors. I guess I could have just scribbled my name and email address down on a scrappy piece of paper but it’s considerably more professional to give them a properly-printed card. If nothing else it shows you’re serious about what you do. There are loads of places online offering cheap and cheerful business card printing so you’ll find you’re spoiled for choice.

3. Display cases

I’m talking about those Perspex things that are usually used for holding leaflets and brochures at the library or in travel agents. You can get them for under a tenner each from Staples and are about the right size for a US format comic or something slightly larger. Again it’s all about making your table as eye-catching as possible – showing people that as much care has gone into your display as it has your comics.

4. Something that says who you are

A couple of years ago I sold one of my children to buy some nice exhibition stands featuring a selection of my characters and the words Moonface Press in large letters. Ooh, they do look lovely. You don’t have to spend a ton of cash telling people who you are though; just hire some backing boards and print up some nice big full-colour A2 posters to stick on them. You could also get a printed cloth banner made to hang over the front of your table – this company did a good job on mine: www.BannersForAll.co.uk

5. A moneybox

Somewhere to put all that cash you’ll make from sales of your latest hot comic. Make sure the moneybox is lockable and kept close at hand. You’ll also need a float of change because not everyone is going to have the exact money. Working out what change you should have in your float is fairly easy. If your comic sells for £1.50 then the chances are a fair few buyers are going to pay with two £1 coins or a fiver – your float should therefore contain mostly £1 coins and 50 pence pieces. Similarly, my new book Septic Isle costs £3.95 so I’ll be making sure my float contains lots of £1 coins and five pence pieces. I usually take a float of £20-£30 and find it’s more than enough for a weekend. The idea is to not run out of change as it can get a bit embarrassing and you could even miss out on sales as a result (“Sorry, we haven’t got any change.” “No worries, I’ll spend my cash elsewhere then.”)

6. Price list

Just a simple, clearly printed list of the comics you have available on the table and how much they cost. Make sure you display details of any discounts you’re offering too, e.g. 20% off all comics, Buy One Get One Free, Special Convention Price £5. People expect to pick up a bargain at conventions so discounting your comics is nearly always good for business.

7. A sunny disposition

I was most amused to read a convention report criticising certain exhibitors at a recent London show for being unapproachable. Apparently, the small press creators in question spent the entire time scowling behind their table looking like the front row at a My Chemical Romance concert. I suspect they didn’t shift many comics.

Let’s face it, lots of us are painfully shy around new people and find the very notion of selling to complete strangers a bit intimidating. Unfortunately, playing the wallflower when you’re an exhibitor at a comic convention really isn’t an option. You don’t have to be especially effusive, just able to exchange pleasantries and talk about your comics enthusiastically. Punters will pick up on that enthusiasm and will be more likely to hand over their cash as a result.

8. Help

Staffing a convention stall on your own all weekend is a colossal pain because it means you have to ask someone to keep an eye on your comics every time you go to take a leak or grab some food. It also means you can’t attend any panels and that walks round the convention floor have to be conducted with military precision (“Right, I’ve got five minutes; just enough time to visit Markosia and the Brodie’s Law guys – Moonface Press can wait until next year.”) In other words, rope in a mate or loved one to help out and you’ll probably find your convention experience is a lot more rewarding. It’ll also be a lot less stressful and tiring.

9. Pens and paper

Even if you’re an obscure no-mark like me, punters are going to ask you to sign copies of your work (I suspect they plan to sell them on eBay in the unlikely event you become rich and famous). It’s therefore a good idea to always have a pen handy. If you’re an artist, having pens and paper to hand is a must as in addition to asking you to sign stuff, you’ll also be asked for sketches. In fact, sketching for people is a good way of encouraging sales of your comic (a free sketch with every sale!)

And let’s face it; if you’re setting yourself up as a writer or artist, not having a pen to hand is going to be a little bit embarrassing, isn’t it?

10. The comics you’ll be selling

For god’s sake don’t forget them!