Stone Dragon Press
Comics Style Sheet

We are always looking for new talent. We want good artists, good writers, and people who are both. If you aren't a writer, don't worry; see our art samples section. If you aren't an artist, don't worry; see our completed scripts section.If you do both, be sure to read the whole style sheet to see what applies to you. NOTE: all our comics are black and white. We do color covers and B&W innards.

Submissions should fall into one of five categories:

1. Art samples for folks who want to draw comic book scripts they didn't write.



2. Series/miniseries proposals for a series (a long-running comic with no set number of issues) or for a miniseries (a comic with a specific number of issues).



3. Compilation/Graphic Novels for a compilation of something that's already run as a series or for an original, unpublished, book-length comic book.



4. Completed stories for folks who have written and drawn a complete story—script, art, ink—the whole nine yards. The story doesn't have to fit the "issue" idea, it just has to be complete.



5. Completed scripts for folks who have a complete script and little or no artwork.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS

Art Samples

Show us what you can do.

1. Send several human pinups so we can see your anatomical style. Be sure to send both sexes, and send some funny animals for comparison.
2. Send several cover-style illustrations.
3. Send several studies or still-life type drawings so we can see your pure illustration skills.
4. Send several pages of sequential art.
5. If you ink your own pencils, send us samples of your work inked.
6. If you are exclusively an inker, send us samples of your work and copies of the original pencils (we have to have something to compare to).

Demonstrate your visual storytelling ability.

In the sequential art we asked for above, show us how you can bring the story to life with layout, perspective, light and shadow, and so on. In a film, the director decides which shot best conveys the content of the film—the drama, the tragedy, the comedy—and the cinematographer makes sure the quality of the shot is good. Show us you can be the director (choose the best shot) and the cinematographer (make the shot look good).

Stick to happy dimensions.

For interior pages, your art should be on an 11x17 surface (27.5 x 42.5 cm). The margins should be 1" top and bottom; 1/2" left and right (2.5 cm top and bottom; 1.25 cm left and right). These measurements did not come down from the mountain on stone tablets, but following them will make our jobs a lot easier.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS

Series/Miniseries Proposals

1. Send an overall description of the series.
• State the genre of your work.
• Tell us how long the series will last (total number of issues).
• Tell us how often it will come out--monthly, quarterly, semiannually, etc.
• State the level of the content.
  Use the film rating system: G, PG, PG-13, NC-17, R, X.


2. Describe the story arc of the series.
• Send a detailed synopsis or a complete script of the first issue.
• Send a synopsis of each of the next several issues.


3. Describe the major characters of the series.
• Physically describe each of them. This can be just like a police description.
• Psychologically describe each of them. Make this brief and describe their basic motivations; how they appear to others in public; and how they behave in private.
• Draw each of the major characters. Treat this like a model sheet, and let us see the character from several angles and in several poses; in public and in private; at work and at home.


4. Send at least five pages of complete sequential art.
• This can be any five consecutive pages of your project (1-5 or 29-34 or 12345-12350 or whatever).
• These pages should show us you have writing skills and art skills.
• For interior pages, your art should be on an 11x17 surface (27.5 x 42.5 cm). The margins should be 1" top and bottom; 1/2" left and right (2.5 cm top and bottom; 1.25 cm left and right). These measurements did not come down from the mountain on stone tablets, but following them will make our jobs a lot easier.

If you are missing someone from your team (penciller, inker, etc.), send as much of the above as you can. If your work is good enough, we may want to fill in the blanks and help you finish your project.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS

Compilations/Graphic Novels

A compilation is the reprint of a series work as a single book. A graphic novel is an original, novel-length work not designed for release in a series. In both cases, the work is complete and nothing remains to be done (if you have a novel-length script, please see the Completed Scripts section of this style sheet.

To submit to Compilation/Graphic Novels, your story should be:

• yours
• previously unpublished or published as a series
• at least eight (8) issues or 96 pages long

Please follow these mechanical guidelines for submission.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS

Completed Stories

We are very happy to look at a completed story (a completed story has been through the whole process: written, illustrated, inked, lettered—the whole deal—and is waiting to be printed). A completed story does not have to fit the "issue" idea. It can be 5 pages long instead of 12, 24, or 36; it can fit by content with other stories in an anthology; it should be at least one page long.

What is a "completed story?"

Two things define a completed story.

1. It's completely finished and ready to be printed. You've already done all the work.
2. It doesn't fit the "issue" format. It could have too few or too many pages; it could have dramatic breaks like an issue comic, but they are in the wrong places. It just doesn't fit the "issue" idea somehow.

So, my story could be one page or 200 pages and be a completed story?

Yes, but if it were 200 pages, that would kind of make it a graphic novel; you should submit to the Compilation/Graphic Novels part of our deal. You'll have to use some smarts here--there's a fine line between a long completed story, a miniseries, and a graphic novel. Please use common sense and put yourself in our shoes. Would you want to be deluged by hundreds of 96-page completed stories?

If it's 36 pages long, is it a completed story?

That depends. Does the story break at pages 12, 24, and 36? If not, it's probably a completed story.

I'm about to draw my story. Should I do anything special to submit it to you?

We have some requirements, but they're pretty easy.

• Do all your shading in ink, ink washes, or screen tones. Reproducing pencil shading has a difficulty rating of 1.5 bitches, and your work will look rotten.
• Put your name and address on the back of every page.
  Put it in the same place on every page.
• Put a page number on the back of every page.
  Put the page number in the same place on every page.
• Put the name of your story on the back of every page.
  Put the story name in the same place on every page. If the story name is long ("Oh, Dear, I Seem to have Fallen into a Well and Broken My Neck"), you can abbreviate it with something recognizable ("Fallen into a Well").
• For interior pages, your art should be on an 11x17 surface (27.5 x 42.5 cm). The margins should be 1" top and bottom; 1/2" left and right (2.5 cm top and bottom; 1.25 cm left and right). These measurements did not come down from the mountain on stone tablets, but following them will make our jobs a lot easier.

I'm ready to submit my story. What should I send you besides the art work?

Please send us a cover letter containing:

• Your full name and contact info.
• The name of your comic book.
• And nothing else.
• Really.
• Nothing else.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS

Completed Scripts

Please type your script in film script style and follow the mechanical standards below. Sample film scripts are part of the Script Style Sheet and Samples document.

ALWAYS SEND COPIES—NEVER SEND ORIGINALS