Submissions

HOW TO SUBMIT

It is far more desirable for you as a submitting artist to be versed in penciling, inking, and writing. As publishers, we prefer creators who can do it all. If you can't ink your own work, you can team yourself with an inker, but remember, the royalty will now be spread between you and the inker. The same deal applies if you work with a writer. It's much more beneficial for you to be multi-talented in these areas, but it's not essential. If you can do it all, then it's better for you and for us.

WHOM TO SUBMIT TO

Address your package as follows:

ATTN: Submissions Editor
ANTARCTIC PRESS
4334 Parkwood Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78218

We have two submissions editors who review the submissions and then distribute them to the appropriate editors, who will then do their own reviews and make a decision on what steps will be taken with the work. At this point, you will either be contacted or your work will be put on file. We try to respond to every submission, but if you do not receive a response, please don't be discouraged. Unfortunately, due to the large number of submissions we receive and the limited number of our staff, it is difficult to respond in a timely manner, or worse, your submission may become lost. If this is the case, please continue to send submissions in to us. This helps ensure your work will be seen and demonstrates your tenacity and professionalism.

Whom NOT to Submit to:

Do not send submissions to anyone other than the Submissions Editor.

Artist Submission Guide

GENERAL GUIDELINES: ARTISTS WHAT YOU SHOULD SUBMIT

1. ONE COMPLETE ISSUE (22-30 pages) of rendered (penciled, inked) SEQUENTIAL art. For physical submissions, MAKE SURE THAT THESE ARE NOT YOUR ORIGINALS, but PHOTOCOPIES of your work.

2. We tend to look for a MANGA/ANIME style of artwork, a style that many of our creators employ. If you don't have this style, that's fine; we'll review your work regardless. Besides, manga is not the only style we publish.

3. Examples of published work if applicable.

4. If you wish to submit your own original series, we suggest you start with a one-shot or a 3- to 4-issue mini-series. This is for the reasons stated above regarding retailers and the current state of the industry. Starting with a one-shot or mini-series will enable you and the publisher to gauge the response of retailer and fan response without dedicating a large amount of time and resources to a book that may be canceled due to poor sales. Keep in mind that the average comic book generally consists of 24-32 pages. If your story consists of more than 4-6 issues|for instance, —8 or more— we suggest breaking it up into chapters that can fill 3- to 4-issue arcs and running them as consecutive mini-series. If you already have material prepared, then send us a synopsis of the story and some sample pages of the art if possible. These sample pages can range from one issue to the entire mini-series if you have it.

GENERAL GUIDELINES: ARTISTS WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T SUBMIT

1. A portfolio of pin-ups. Remember, we're in the panel-to-panel business.

2. NO ORIGINALS. PHOTOCOPIES ONLY, please. Due to the high volume of submissions we receive, we cannot send back submissions and we cannot track which are originals and which are copies. If we want your originals, we will request them. They are filed separately from our submissions and are RETURNED to you after your work has seen print. Sending copies of your work will also avoid your work getting damaged in the submission pile. (This doesn't apply to digital format submissions, of course.)

ANNUAL AND SWIMSUIT ISSUE GUIDELINES

The following guidelines are intended for creators who want to contribute to the Gold Digger fan annuals: Gold Digger Annual and the Gold Digger Swimsuit Special. Since they are published annually, you may submit to these at any time. If your submission is accepted but you missed the deadline for the current issue, you will automatically be scheduled for the subsequent issue.

Currently, the GD Swimsuit and GD Annual are in color, which requires more lead time for our color-book printer. The annual deadlines are as follows:

Gold Digger Swimsuit (May issue) - March 15
Gold Digger Annual (September issue) - July 15

The following rules and restrictions apply:

All physical submissions should be sent to:

ATTN: Submissions Editor
ANTARCTIC PRESS
4334 Parkwood Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78218

Digital submission notices should be sent to apsubmissions@yahoo.com and apcog1@gmailcom.

If for a specific publication, mention that publication after "Submissions Editor." (Example: For a Gold Digger Annual, the submission would be sent to "Submissions Editor, GD Annual") Remember, there's a lot of competition trying to get into these books. As a result, we get tons of stories featuring or Gina and Cheetah for the GD annuals. You might want to consider focusing on one of the interesting side characters instead. These stories are not considered part of regular continuity, so feel free to go wild; let your imaginations soar!

Good luck!

GUIDELINES FOR A.P. ANTHOLOGIES.

These guidelines are intended for creators who want to contribute to any of our running black and white comics anthologies. AP has published many anthologies over the years and will continue to do so. An "anthology" is a collection of stories by various contributors. These stories do not need to be linked in any way. Usually for our anthologies the only common theme is the stories or art have a manga or anime influence. However, it is not required. We publish these anthologies sporadically. We tend to collect contributions over time to fill out a certain amount of issues and proceed to print from there, so you may send contributions in at any time. The advantage in doing anthology work is, unlike our annuals or swimsuits (which are based on titles owned by their respective creators), it allows you to do your own creator-owned material. It's an opportunity for you to showcase your talent and ideas.

The following rules and restrictions apply:

1. ALL physical submissions must be accompanied by a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) and/or your e-mail address for our response.
2. Digital submissions may be sent on CD or uploaded onto a web site, or file server, with links e-mailed to us. If you use a web-based file-sharing service (such as WeSendIt or WeTransfer), links will automatically be sent to the recipient's email. A.P. is primarily a Mac-using office, so make sure PC file extensions and file names are intact! Do not directly e-mail full-sized digital files. This clogs up e-mail in-boxes very quickly.

3. E-mail notices of digital submissions should include your full mailing address.

4. Original art should NOT be sent for physical submissions. Photocopies are cheaper for you to mail and easier for us to deal with. If originals are needed (to reproduce grey washes or other toning techniques), we will request them after acceptance of the story.

5.Digital submissions should be in 300 dpi TIFF format, LZW compressed. (This is the best for quality vs. file size). We prefer CMYK, but RGB is acceptable.

6.Digital image dimensions are 6.75" x 10.5", which includes bleed. Allow .3125" bleed all around for your primary image area.

7. Stories for consideration need not be completely pencilled, inked and lettered. Scripts, story ideas and unfinished artwork will be considered. Stories can be finished after the initial evaluation and comments made. This saves your touchup or correction work later.

8. Serialized stories should be up to twenty pages for your first chapter and no longer than eight to twelve pages per subsequent chapter. Shorter stories are likewise considered, since they're easier to fit into the limited space of each issue. A one shot or single chapter story may be up to twenty-two pages.

9. For physical art, standard dimensions are 11"x17" with margins of 1" top and bottom and 1/2" on each side. This produces an image area of 10"x15". Art can be drawn at a different size, as long as the proportions are the same.

10. Overt nudity and excessive vulgarity are not allowed | keep it PG or PG-13, please.

11. Stories for the anthologies are the property of the individual creator, except when material owned by Antarctic Press is used. This material becomes the property of Antarctic Press Inc.

12. Payment is made on a royalty basis after publication. Royalties are a percentage of the gross income of a given book based on sales.

9. Original art & digital media will only be returned to the creator if full mailing information is supplied, NO EXCEPTIONS.

13. ANTARCTIC PRESS is interested in original concepts as well as works created using AP's established charactors & titles. Feel free to present any & all ideas you have to us. Remember, there's a lot of competition to present comic one shots stories & serialized stories to ANTARCTIC PRESS. As a result, we get tons of stories featuring Asrial and Ichi-Koo for NHS, Areala for WNA, or Gina and Cheetah for GD. You might want to consider focusing on one of the interesting side characters instead. Alternate timelines (such as Ted Nomura's World War II: 1946 books) are popular, or perhaps the "Small Body" style of manga stories. Stories based on AP copyrighted material will not considered part of regular continuity, so feel free to go wild; let your imaginations soar!

All physical submissions should be sent to:
Submissions Editor
ANTARCTIC PRESS
4334 Parkwood Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78218

And all Digital submission notices should be sent to apsubmissions@yahoo.com.
Good luck!

Before You Submit

Take a look at the kind of books that our company publishes. As you'll notice, most independents don't publish superhero titles, so it is recommended that you submit concepts that are specific to that company. Some of the concepts out there have more universal appeal to many publishers, some don't. Gear your submission toward the style and look of the books a specific company publishes.

It is also wise for an artist to show sequential pages of art rather than pin-ups. A pin-up won't show us how well you can tell a story from page to page, and we are in the business of telling stories with panels. Some submissions will call for pin-up material, such as our annuals and swimsuit editions, be sure to read the specific guidelines for each submission call.

State of the Industry

The American comic book industry has been suffering for years from a shrinking market due to competition from other entertainment venues such as video games and the internet. This competition is fierce, and many stores and comic book companies have closed since the "crash" of the industry in the early '90s. Compounding the problem is the diminished number of distribution outlets, as well as the severe economic downturn following the banking industry problems that came to a head in 2008/2009, which just made things tougher on the remaining distribution outlets, retail outlets and publishers.

What does that mean to you?

The potential for a book having a large initial print run has declined greatly since the '90s. Although there are exceptions to this, the reality is that sales across the board are not what they used to be. A new creator doing a book for an independent publisher can expect to sell only a few thousand copies.

Why?

Because many retailers are not willing to take a chance on a book or a creator they've never heard of before. Retailers must budget their money wisely. They must be able to sell the products they order from the publishers. If they are unsure of the quality of the product (e.g., a new and unknown writer/artist), they are reluctant to commit valuable budget money or shelf space for it. This may change as a creator slowly builds a fan base and gets more recognition for his book, but there are no guarantees.

The key factor motivating you to do comics should be your passion for the medium and the desire to tell stories. This desire should far outweigh your need for huge financial gain. Can you make a living doing comics? Of course you can, and many people do, but it takes a great deal of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, especially in today's comic market. Keep in mind the competition is enormous, there are lots of talented people out there who want to contribute to the comic book market, but only those with a realistic view of it and a dedication to it will get in the industry and survive, and possibly thrive. Unless you are exceptionally talented and start off on a book for one of the major publishers chances are you will not find success right away. The runaway overnight success is extremely rare for a first time creator or book. A new creator should at least start with the solid foundation of a book with a certain level of quality, preferably on a regular monthly basis and always be on time. If the initial sales numbers of your first book are low, don't worry. If you have a book that people want they will find it, and the word will spread. The creator should present his work to as many people as possible, as often as he can. This is how you build a fan base. With hard work, dedication, and a little luck, your sales will increase over time. This has been the case for many of our creators. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance produce results.

How OUR company works with talent

Antarctic Press is among the top 10 publishers of comics in the United States. However, the difference in market shares between the top five publishers and the next five publishers is dramatic. Most of the publishers ranked above us have a far greater share of the market place. That being the case, we are an independent publisher with a small staff, and many of our employees have multiple responsibilities. Bigger companies would spread these responsibilities out among a larger staff. Additionally, we don't have the same financial power as a larger company. We cannot afford to pay high page rates; instead, we work on an advance and royalty system which is determined by sales or potential sales of a particular book. We pride ourselves on being a company that gives new talent a chance to get published and take a shot at comic stardom.

We get a huge volume of submissions, so the chances of AP publishing your book, or having a regular job as talent on one of our books is tough, but it's definitely possible with the right mix of skill and dedication.

We do have annuals, anthologies, and specials (swimsuit issues, etc.) that are venues for talent to get their work published. Some of these books are specifically connected to the source material (e.g., the Gold Digger Swimsuit issue will naturally have Gold Digger characters and situations.) Review the guidelines for these specifics before you submit to them.

Essentially, we give amateur and professional talent an opportunity to publish projects other companies might not. You could be the next Ben Dunn, Fred Perry, Joseph Wight, Terry Moore, GURU eFX, or one of many other talented AP alumni who have made a career in comics. All it takes is hard work and dedication.