My new short comic is a pitch that went nowhere

[JamesMulhollandFilm]

Hey everyone,

Just uploaded another short comic (8 pages) which was a pitch for a longer series that got rejected by publishers. Feel free to have a read, but more so, I was wondering has anyone else been rejected by publishers but went ahead and completed their stories?

Short Stories by James Mulholland | Tapas

[Tanako]

Absolutely. My very first digital comic "a boy with a secret", they wouldn't take it. said the art was bad and even went as far as making fun of it and also making fun of my last name. I was very upset but soon realized I don't need a publisher to be successful lol. Now when I look back at it, they did me a favor. I worked harder and now I'm doing well for myself. I'm not famous by all means but I like what I'm doing. no strings attached and the sky is the limit. so yea. I'll keep working hard and maybe just one day, I'll make a living off of it and even if I don't, that's okay too because I'm happy just doing it regardless so, what need you to do is say "fuck it", and keep working hard to better yourself and your art.

[mbindhammer]

How many publisher rejected it? It's kind of normal that you get rejected many times. Depending where you live, you need an agent, publisher don't accept personal submissions.

[JamesMulhollandFilm]

I mainly focused on some of the more major comic publishers in America and Europe. They either never responded or some of the bigger indie ones would respond with feedback. I could have went to smaller publishers but I'd rather release the stories online for free, I think.

[JamesMulhollandFilm]

Yes, I agree. To be honest, I just want readers. I don't mind releasing all my stuff online for free if I can get 100+ readers interested. I spent the last 5 years paying two artists to draw 2 stories - a 100 page western book and a 70 page gritty super hero tale. I'm thinking of putting them out on Tapas and Webtoons 1 page each on a weekly basis.

[mbindhammer]

My advice: release it but don't show the complete story - no publisher like to have the plot exposed completely. Normally they ask for 30 to 50 pages plus plot plus some sketches. In USA you need to have an agent - this is at least my experience.

[Tanako]

I checked your stuff out and art work is very nice. I left a comment so you know what might be the contributor to your low subscription rate. You might want to consider enlarging your font. I had to squint to get each word out and that's a "no", for me given the fact that I wear glasses. If your readers have to struggle to read (including me) that's a no go zone for me. just a thought.

[kennielacroix]

Wow! I am happy to hear you went ahead with it anyways. Looks like your story has a pretty established following! (: Keep up the good work.

[joannekwan]

Yeah, sometimes you just gotta get a story out and share it with the world. It's great that self-publishing is an option!

A time ago I applied to be part of a comic anthology, was rejected, but I liked my premise so much I drew it out into a full story anyway and so we got Erie Waters.

Erie Waters | Tapas

Also checked out your series! I like each little self-contained story, the first two in particular. I agree that the speech bubbles and text need to be at least 50% bigger for better reading on the internet. Anthologies do have a tougher time gaining an audience, since some readers might like one story and not the others, but there is definitely a strong potential! As you continue to complete more stories, I think it would benefit from further curating. Maybe have the real-life drama as one anthology (like the first two stories) and the action ones as another (the latter two stories) so that each anthology has a more central theme.

[darthmongoose]

Oh yeah, I've pitched plenty of comics that got rejected by publishers!

Back in around... I dunno, like, '08? I pitched to do Measure for Measure for the Self Made Hero Manga Shakespeare series, which was largely created by young UK-based illustrators.

I imagined it with a Gothic, New-Romantic kind of feel to complement the play's themes of lust, sin and death, and how it's a "problem play" that's kind of a comedy, but veers close to tragedy.

The series is still in print and sold internationally, but the publisher told me when I pitched this, they weren't making them any more. (and to be fair, they never made any more, so it wasn't a lie.)

It's old work, but unlike a lot of my old failed pitches, this one hurts because it actually holds up all right, it was definitely my best work at the time and I'm a massive Shakespeare nerd. I'd have liked to have made this.

Maybe someday I'll make it myself, but I'd have to redesign Angelo, I kinda used his design a bit for Urien in Errant hahahaha!

[JamesMulhollandFilm]

That's cool so you fleshed the story out. I might think of doing that in the future. I really should start to think about costs etc incase I do.