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Does anybody know where and how I can find an agent? I mean, it makes no sense for me to split up time between being creative and doing publicity. Besides, I'm LOUSY at publicity.
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Michigan
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Re: Agent
Sat, August 20, 2005 - 8:53 PMAn agent for a comics creator? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -
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Re: Agent
Sun, August 21, 2005 - 5:53 AMHmmm. I don't get the joke?
Yul has a legitimate question. Charles Shultz and the whole comic strip industry has agents all over the place.
Jaime Buckley
www.wantedhero.com -
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Re: Agent
Sun, August 21, 2005 - 5:53 AMhehe Charles HAD one, I should have said....but you get my point. -
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Re: Agent
Sun, August 21, 2005 - 9:51 AMAnd then there's this:
www.kitchenandhansen.com/
"Denis Kitchen and Judith Hansen are partners in the Kitchen & Hansen Agency (founded 1999), which represents the intellectual property of the following clients as (literary, media and merchandising unless noted):
Dan Burr: Kings in Disguise
Gary Chaloner: Red Kelso; Morton Stone, Undertaker; John Law [with Will Eisner]
N.C. Christopher Couch:Will Eisner Companion
R. Crumb: Devil Girl, Mr. Natural, Keep-on-Truckin'; TV commercials (as co-agents).
Will Eisner: The Spirit and nearly twenty graphic novels covering over 60 years.
Wendy & Richard Pini (Warp Graphics): Elfquest (literary only)
James O'Barr:The Crow
Mark Schultz: Xenozoic Tales/Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Robert E. Howard: Mythmaker
James Vance: Kings in Disguise, novels.
Stephen Weiner: Will Eisner Companion and children's books."
Obviously the above creators have a certain pedigree, but the concept of an agent for a comics creator has already come true. I don't imagine you'd be able to get one without some published work to your credit, much as a prose writer wouldn't get an agent until after his or her first book was published. -
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Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 6:32 AMAn agent isn't exactly needed to get in comics considering the majority of people who work on comics get the job simply through knowing someone in the field. As for an Agent doing publicity for you, don't count on that one, an agent isn't going to run around and promote your book and your stuff unless you're jim lee (and even then it's not likely).
If you want to make comics but don't want to go through the work of promoting yourself and climbing the ladder than just make a webcomic and update often. Sure you probably won't be making cash but you'll be creating comics and doing what you want to do.
Alex~
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Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 11:08 AMI'll state what IMAGE posted a year ago on their submission pages:
"You want to get into this business and get your creations seen and purchased by people who read comics? Then there's only one rule you need to remember:
DON'T SUCK."
Sounds simple to me.
We can all stop crying now and go back to work, yes?
Jaime Buckley
www.wantedhero.com -
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Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 12:13 PMWell, that's about as insightful as I'd expect from Image...but it ain't gonna be much help to anyone.
As a rule, people are notoriously bad at self-evaluation. The suckiest are convinced they totally rule...and the most talented and capable often believe they suck. There might be a lot of reasons for this. The untalented may have no capacity to look at their own work critically, whereas the gifted who know their medium can also see the flaws and mistakes and stuff they wish they'd done better. I dunno. But endless studies have been done confirming that most people tend to be very poor at judging themselves.
So basically, that statement is going to scare off folks who fear they suck -- whether or not they actually do! -- while having no effect whatsoever on those who totally suck but have no way of seeing it.
BTW, watching the auditions for American Idol is tremendously instructive in this area. -
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Unsu...
Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 12:32 PMAnd it's just as hard to write something that sucks as it is to write something that kicks ass. The point being, all you can do is give it your all, write your heart out, turn yourself on, and hopefully the fans and dollars will follow, so you can keep doing it. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 1:17 PMGood point! Maybe a better criterion would be "Would you enjoy this if you hadn't written or drawn it?" -
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Re: Agent
Mon, August 22, 2005 - 2:05 PMVery, very good points. Personally I had not thought of that RAB-about the self evaluation thing. Personally I don't think I have much tallent myself. I don't think I completely stink, but I have many personal heros myself that I look up to.
The fact remains that all I can do is keep working with what I have and develop my own style. But hey, the proof is in the pudding. My comics sell. So that's not too bad.
Maybe there should be another question though, such as:
How many complete works have you done for people to see and enjoy?
This is a serious matter. I know MANY people who say they will get something done once they have the contracts lined up, or when they get "discovered", or people who say they are comic book artists, but they have been working on the same premiere issue for 5 years now.
I'll tell you what, nothing is going to matter unless you have the projects to show.
So Yul---make your books, get them out on Lulu.com (cause it's FREE) and then start pushing.
Jaime Buckley
www.wantedhero.com
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Agent
Tue, August 23, 2005 - 9:24 AMI'm sorry but, "it's just as hard to write something that sucks..."
I don't think i'd have a hard time writing plot holes, bad dialogue, every cliche know to man and all the other crap out there that is the entertainment industry.
Now it's one thing to TRY to write something well and just fail out of lack of experience and/or talent.
But, to write something without even trying to learn how to write or even trying to write anything honest isn't difficult to do
at all...
I'm not trying to come off as rude by saying all of this but something about that just struck a cord with me. After seeing so many people just produce garbage and not even try to fix it at all, it drives me insane. The biggest problem with writing is, there is no structure really to imply what is bad and what is not. With art is someone tries to draw a hand and it looks nothing like one at all, or tries to draw something in perspective and doesn't even have mild success most people consider that work to be bad, even if it's your style to draw a certain way if you just ignore all the rules the majority will see what's wrong with the work. But in writing the majority of people don't see what's wrong with something considering they don't really read at all and if something is just total crap (aka most hit movies come to mind) no one can really argue how bad something is.
wow, did that make sense? If not i'm sorry, kind of hard to explain.
Just with writing in general people don't try to learn how to improve, they won't take writing courses or read more or notice if they've used the same lines too often or how something flows etc. etc. And as a result you have people making bad writing without even the smallest attempt to make anything good.
so yea, that's uhmm my post (can't think of anything to end on)
Word
Alex
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Re: Agent
Fri, August 26, 2005 - 6:40 AMWhat type of publicity are you looking for? There are great ways in terms of underground guerilla marketing to promote yourself. The truth is, no one is going to promote your work like you can, not even an agent. On our budget, we decided to purchase a van and have it wrapped with graphics and form a street team. A group of young people who go out and spread the word at different events, parks and malls to promote our comic book by handing out t-shirts, stickers and postcards. Also, press kits are good to mail to different media outlets. You are your own best pitch man. An agent has tons of clients and will push the one who is the hottest on their list. They will tell you that they are doing the best that they can, but you will end up being stuck in a pile of papers on their desk. I know that from experience.
Best,
Ron
