Answers to FAQs
Q:
How do you put a submission together?
A:
This is the most common question I get, and my answer applies to TOKYOPOP only, though the basics of submitting to most companies involve the same thing.
- Go to the company’s homepage and read their submission policy. A lot of companies out there don’t accept unsolicited submissions, so if they say they don’t accept it, they won’t. TOKYOPOP is one of the rarer ones that do, but always pay attention to that.
- Read what’s on the page carefully. It tells you what you need for a submission.
- Write your submission according to what’s in the submission guidelines. After you’ve finished, double-check with the submission guidelines to make sure you’ve done it properly and has included all the relevant documents, and then mail it to the TOKYOPOP headquarters.
It’s not that difficult, but for the people who still have NO idea how to put together a submission AT ALL, I’ve included an old PDF submission of mine called “TwinSide”, which should also includes a number of sequential art pages with it (which I haven’t included in the PDF file, and is here instead). I also chopped out the irrelevant parts of the submission, and you can see in the Table of Contents what I chopped out.
Note that this submission was done in 2004, and therefore extremely outdated.
The submission guidelines have since changed, but I have included my old submission to give people an idea of the writing style and layout I used. Certainly, this is not the best submission there is, and there are far better ones out there, so please only consider it a launching pad, NOT the Bible.
Some tips for the uninitiated:
- Include a title page, table of contents and page numbers. It can’t hurt, and makes it look more professional.
- Use a legible font, always spell-check, and structure it in a way that’s easy to follow. No one wants to look at something that’s difficult to read.
- Watch your grammar and punctuation, especially if you’re a writer.
- Don’t ramble or waffle, just get to the point.
- Make sure you followed the submission guidelines properly. Being the greatest writer and/or artist in the world means nothing if you can’t follow simple instructions.
- Use your common sense.
