Aazurn Publishing - Redefining Heroes

The Proposal

Scripts, be they excellent or terrible, take a long time to read. That is why comic book editors depend on proposals, one page synopsis of plot and idea. Unknown writers who send editors full scripts are guaranteed deposit in the circular file (The waste basket). From a proposal, an editor can tell whether the writer can spell and punctuate correctly, if he can be clear and concise with his concepts and if his ideas are worth considering.

In recent years editors at the major comic book companies have actually stopped accepting unsolicited proposals. You see, they already know all the best writers in the business and, if a read proposal is anywhere close to an idea the company already has in development, the company runs the risk of being sued. I'm not sure if this ban is still in effect and it doesn't matter to me - I'll never crack into the upper echelon of comic book publishing that way, and neither will you. The major comic book companies hire from writers already working somewhere in the business, writers with a track record and a following. The "independent" comics are, in essence, the "farm team" for the big league comic companies.

Beyond the proposal is the face to face sale. Your proposal page can help you come up with a sentence that describes your project. You use this sentence whenever you are talking about it with publishers, dealers and customers. If your sentence grabs them, you can then go on to tell them about it in a similar way to your proposal. This is basic advertising, especially in the entertainment business. You have to be able to describe your projects (and your company) in a catchy, interesting way. Aazurn Publishing is "redefining heroes." "Seductions" is a "vampire romance told as historical fiction." "Adam Among the Gods" is a "cautionary tale about using genetic engineering to improve the human race."

Below are the proposal pages for Aazurn Publishing's first two done-in-one comic book stories. Notice how there is more emphasis on the concept and the deeper meaning of the stories than how the stories progress. Writer after writer has told me editors are more interested in the inner concepts and layers of story than, "Wolverine meets Sabertooth and they fight." Forcing an editor's interest, addressing the key points of the plot, being witty and keeping it all to less than a page really separates qualified writers from wannabes - it's difficult!