Last week, I saw @vellichorvictim ask why they see more guides to pitching GN projects than periodicals for comics and if there were any guides of that nature. So, figured I could put together a few pointers for them and anyone else who might be interested! 1/25

Obviously, this is all the opinion of one editor at one publisher and specifics can vary pretty dramatically, but a lot of this should apply for a broad base. With that said, the first tip for pitching anything--a GN or a monthly(ish) series--is check out the publishers! 2/25

There are a ton of comics publishers right now and every single one has different things they're looking for in submissions. Some places don't take single-issue periodical format submissions. Some places may only want romance or anything but superheroes or superheroes only. 3/25

If you can't find submission guidelines for a place, they might just not be taking submissions at the time. That happens some places. Key tip A: If it's an existing property, don't submit a story unless you've been asked to! For legal reasons, editors literally can't look! 4/25

And when I say "legal reasons", that's to protect both you as a creator and them as editors. No one wants to feel like their material's been stolen or lifted or somehow taken without credit, so there are a lot of protections in place to try to make sure that doesn't happen. 5/25

With that too, this is why you see if a publisher is open for submissions and how that process works. All submissions should be requested, and a general invite to submit is a request. But unsolicited submissions don't get looked at. You NEED that okay to send from someone. 6/25

Now, that's the like, most top level stuff and goes for any submission. In terms of commonalities in what editors are looking for in monthly series submissions, I think most of us are looking for about these sorts of materials and a few common good ideas/practices. 7/25

So the very first thing I look at on a pitch, if it's available, is completed pages by the team. Colored lettered art is the top choice. If you don't have a letterer involved or the money to hire a pro to do the sample, we can live without. Same for colors or whatever. 8/25

If you can't show a step because you don't have someone to do it at a professional quality, don't include it because it can make the package look sloppy. But, explain a tiny bit about why you don't have it in your one-sheet. That should be a one to two page document covering 9/25

a brief story synopsis, the team or creator involved, who the story's for and why this is the team to tell it, and potentially even a little bit about why you think it'd work better as a series than an OGN or if you know this, what sort of deal you're looking for. 10/25

Think of it kinda like a cover letter to provide the context for your pitch that might not fit other places in it. It's also the place to mention stuff like "I self-published this on [funding website] and it did great" or "this is also a webcomic" or what have you. 11/25

As a personal note, I also like it when the pitch packet explains the philosophy of the story. Like, you look at Canto and you know that story's ultimately about hope. That was clear from the first time we saw the pitch and holds true in the series. 12/25

After the completed pages and the one-sheet, I like to see what I'd call "proof of concept". The completed pages are obviously the best option, but barring those for various reasons, proof of concept can be anything from character designs and sketches, mock covers or pin-ups 13/

a full issue script (which is generally a good inclusion on it's own), even something like samples for the general style or vibe you want from the art. The materials to show you have a vision for this and have put some work into a story over an idea. We need to see execution. 14/

Next, you should include a plot synopsis. For a series, you'll want to maybe put a top level view of the project, but then break it out by issues or story arcs as appropriate. To that end, make sure this stage is as tight as possible. Make sure your stories fit an issue. 15/25

Use this as a chance to set the series pace more than anything else. Also, do feel free to spoil stuff in this stage. Editors need to know what the story you're telling is and don't need to be in the dark. A good surprise is great and will still be great in the pitch. 16/25

Not to double-back too much, but because it's related, make sure your completed sample pages are your best pages. That can be hard without a full script, but do your best. If your story's about laser pirates fighting zombie gorillas in the space-ocean and the sample pages 17/25

are two talking heads drinking at a bar, that doesn't really show your story. And, on the other hand, if you have an exciting chase scene in the space-ocean but no contextual pages around it and your pitch doesn't really explain the gorillas, that's very confusing. 18/25

The final piece is what I'd call miscellaneous magic. If there's any other info you want an editor to have when reviewing your story, do try to include it, but don't go long. So, say, if you have character profiles, cool. If you have a map of the world, that's rad. 19/25

If you have a family tree lineage dating back to the history of the universe for every character including a cool dog who appears in one panel in one issue, maybe cut that. Knowing the difference between what your story is about and what details your story has is huge. 20/25

Generally, I recommend PDFs and Word docs for this sort of stuff. If you use another program, just make sure whoever you're sending it to can open it. I've seen some great submissions come in as Powerpoint decks too, so it really depends. 21/25

For the other "best practice" stuff, like I said, I recommend being clear and concise, explaining your vision for the project, and if you have a philosophy behind it, throw that in there too. It can really help convince a reader to your side if they like what you're going for 22/

And, in a time when graphic novels are a huge force in the marketplace and most projects are later collected into books, it's also good to suggest why your story should be a series. Does the story flow in a way that there's a good break every 20-ish pages? Are there fake ads? 23/

Do you think it appeals to direct market readers for a particular reason? Or do you just love monthly comics? All of these are good things to outline at this stage. Lemme see, what other general tips can I give...? If you have an agent or get an agent, they'll do a lot of 24/25

the heavy-lifting of finding a publisher and submission guidelines and whatnot for you. Outline how long you see the series going realistically and what your minimum commitment would be. See if you can fill a hole in the publisher's products. And be kind to editors. 25/25

Oh, 26/26, these really are meant to be general tips. As per one of my earlier tweets in this thread, please don't try to send a submission to me or the other fine folks at IDW unless we request it!