I broke into comics as a writer. I was managing a bookstore in La Jolla, and Jim Lee's wife became my assistant manager. (I'd been a huge comics fan in the 60-70s but was pretty out of touch in the 80s, and didn't know who Jim was). While working at that store, my first professionally published fiction came out, in a science fiction anthology from Bantam. Jim read that story, and after forming Aegis Entertainment as part of Homage Studios, he asked me to write the backs of the Topp WildC.A.T.S trading card set. I did, and that led to full-time work, which eventually led to me being VP of Marketing and writing comics and novels (my first was a Gen13 novel), and when DC bought the company, to me being a senior editor for DC. A circuitous route!
My first freelance gig was as a colorist. Which lead me to you guys at Image but as a writer. There's no one path. My biggest takeaway - look professional and know your S#!T – lot of folks i come across that want to break in don't seem to embrace either or both sometimes
Thanks for writing this! I've often wondered how people break into editing, especially since even in this post-COVID era a lot of the job postings for editors at major publishers require you to live locally to their offices. The way you did it makes sense for me, especially since I love editing but have a full-time day job that pays the bills so doing things that are project-based is pretty much the only thing I have time for.
My editorial journey: I started as editor for a local comics collective that I help run, then eventually people from that group asked me to edit their own larger projects. 15 years in and I've edited about 2500 pages' worth of comics (including one series that was nominated for an Eisner—go read "The Atonement Bell" from Red 5 Comics!) plus 4 prose novellas. A healthy body of work, for sure, but all of it has been from people I had known personally long before working with them. The big question is where do I want to go from here and how do I get there?
Most of the smaller publishers will accept working remotely. Unless the publisher is in a major city, like NY or LA, or even Portland, since it's a central comics hub, publishers do realize that they can get a better pool of talent if they are open to remote. Red 5 is good, but you need to level up. Look for publishers who do creator-owned and offer to revise pitches for free, it'll attach you to the project if it gets accepted. Get your Eisner-nominated pals to spread the word.
Thank you, this is great advice! And to clarify, I didn't even directly work with Red 5 on the 3 series I've worked on that were published by them...I worked directly with the writer and artist, editing the script, art, and lettering as it came in while the writer did all of the interacting with the publisher in delivering the finished pages. I probably should have inserted myself more, if for no other reason that they'd know who I am haha.
Still remember meeting you back in the Shadowline days!
We're pretty damn old, aren't we? LOL
I broke into comics as a writer. I was managing a bookstore in La Jolla, and Jim Lee's wife became my assistant manager. (I'd been a huge comics fan in the 60-70s but was pretty out of touch in the 80s, and didn't know who Jim was). While working at that store, my first professionally published fiction came out, in a science fiction anthology from Bantam. Jim read that story, and after forming Aegis Entertainment as part of Homage Studios, he asked me to write the backs of the Topp WildC.A.T.S trading card set. I did, and that led to full-time work, which eventually led to me being VP of Marketing and writing comics and novels (my first was a Gen13 novel), and when DC bought the company, to me being a senior editor for DC. A circuitous route!
A different journey for everyone! Sometimes it's a combo of your talent and the right place, right time, right person. :)
My first freelance gig was as a colorist. Which lead me to you guys at Image but as a writer. There's no one path. My biggest takeaway - look professional and know your S#!T – lot of folks i come across that want to break in don't seem to embrace either or both sometimes
It's true. Break in any way you can, and form relationships! I mean, hell, our letterer Jim Keplinger ended up writing ShadowHawk!
Thanks for writing this! I've often wondered how people break into editing, especially since even in this post-COVID era a lot of the job postings for editors at major publishers require you to live locally to their offices. The way you did it makes sense for me, especially since I love editing but have a full-time day job that pays the bills so doing things that are project-based is pretty much the only thing I have time for.
My editorial journey: I started as editor for a local comics collective that I help run, then eventually people from that group asked me to edit their own larger projects. 15 years in and I've edited about 2500 pages' worth of comics (including one series that was nominated for an Eisner—go read "The Atonement Bell" from Red 5 Comics!) plus 4 prose novellas. A healthy body of work, for sure, but all of it has been from people I had known personally long before working with them. The big question is where do I want to go from here and how do I get there?
Most of the smaller publishers will accept working remotely. Unless the publisher is in a major city, like NY or LA, or even Portland, since it's a central comics hub, publishers do realize that they can get a better pool of talent if they are open to remote. Red 5 is good, but you need to level up. Look for publishers who do creator-owned and offer to revise pitches for free, it'll attach you to the project if it gets accepted. Get your Eisner-nominated pals to spread the word.
Thank you, this is great advice! And to clarify, I didn't even directly work with Red 5 on the 3 series I've worked on that were published by them...I worked directly with the writer and artist, editing the script, art, and lettering as it came in while the writer did all of the interacting with the publisher in delivering the finished pages. I probably should have inserted myself more, if for no other reason that they'd know who I am haha.