Inside the Submissions Process at First Second, Part II

Calista Brill
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:50:45 -0500

See Part I here.

The Three (Personality) Types of Submissions

Basically: we get a lot of submissions.

I generally group them into three categories: 1) agented, 2) unsolicited but known or referred, and 3) entirely unsolicited.

Agented: These submissions get top priority. They're read first, and my responses to them, for better or worse, tend to be the most thoughtful. Agents act as gatekeepers for editors - they filter and fine-tune the stream of submissions coming our way, and honestly, I'm grateful for that. When an agent I've worked with before who understands what First Second is all about sends me a new project, I know it's going to be worth my time to look at it right away.

Unsolicited but referred or known: A lot of cartoonists don't have agents. (These days, more and more cartoonists do, but compared to traditional book publishing, "agented people in comics" is still a fairly small population.) But a referral from a cartoonist I know and trust goes pretty far towards getting my attention. And of course, there's nothing I love more than being randomly approached by someone I've always admired! Submissions in this category, though technically unsolicited, are still more likely to make it into my subway-reading tote bag.

Unsolicited submissions. These are projects that come to us without having been requested, without a query letter first, and (usually) from someone we don't know.

There is no reason an unsolicited submission can't turn out to be a perfect candidate for First Second's list: a project that, for example, shows maturity in the writing and playfulness in the art; a story that's topical but not preachy; a book that will find new readers and change lives.

However, the fact is that it is much less likely that this First-Second-friendly masterwork will arrive entirely unsolicited than as a referral or an agented submission. And for this reason, and because we get such a staggering volume of unsolicited submissions...

FIRST SECOND'S OFFICIAL POLICY IS: WE DO NOT ACCEPT UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS.

What this means is that we are under no obligation to look at an unsolicited submission. We are not even under an obligation to return unsolicited submissions. There is nothing standing between an unsolicited submission and...the trash can. And here and there, I'm sorry to say, that's just where they end up. But more often, what happens is this:

So you see the issue. If an unsolicited 700-page cat-breeding opus never receives a response, it doesn't mean we didn't want to give it due time and consideration and send it home with praise and constructive suggestions. It's because there simply isn't time.

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HOWEVER: If you still wish to disregard the stern warning on our website, here are some tips I can offer you that will make our lives easier at First Second, and your unsolicited submission more likely to be read and responded to (I MAKE NO GUARANTEES).

1) Think as objectively as you can about whether your book actually makes sense for First Second. Do your homework. Look at our website. Read our books. Ask your friends. Look into other publishers -- would they be a better fit for this project? I'm going to be much more excited about a project that clearly has been sent to us because of who we are than if I get the feeling it's been indiscriminately sent  to First Second, DC, Oni, Scholastic, Kodansha, Penthouse, and the New Orleans Saints (woot!).

2) Looking for a freelance comic-writing gig on a work-for-hire basis? Look elsewhere. With very few exceptions, we publish only creator-owned work originated by the creators themselves, not us.

3) Don't have a graphic novel to sell, but want to put yourself on our radar as an illustrator? DO: send us a link to your online portfolio. DON'T: send us 10MB attachments. Our inboxes are frail.

4) Written a graphic novel script? Illustrated or no, please include a shortish summary with it.

5) Steel yourself for the very real possibility that you will never hear back from us -- not even a form letter.

6) No, don't give me those sad anime eyes.

...Aw geeze.

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Ball Peen Hammer

gina gagliano
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:33:50 -0500

Ball Peen Hammer isn't the typical First Second book.  The first review we got described this book as, "not for gentle readers," and gosh, that's an accurate description. 

The story that unfolds in this graphic novel is one of longing and despair and missed connections and death.  It's about people trying (and mostly failing) to live in a world that's falling apart. 

The writing's by Adam Rapp (an award-wining playwright whose young adult novel Punkzilla won a Printz Honor this year) and the art's by George O'Connor (who'll you'll recognize as the author of First Second's Journey Into Mohawk Country and Zeus: King of the Gods). 

It's not the most cheering book for the cold winter days we're having, but it's definitely worth a read. 

(Wait until you're in the mood to be depressed.)

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First Second is now on Goodreads and Shelfari!

Matthew Herzfeld
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:26:26 -0500

We've decided to start a joint account at Goodreads and Shelfari so that you can follow what we're reading around the office and get some good book recommendations! All of our staff - our hard-working artistic director Mark, our phenomenal editor Calista, our stupendous designer Colleen, our razor-sharp publicity-expert Gina, and our typo-prone intren Matt will be updating the website weekly with new books, so check out the sites. We're looking for new friends, too, so be sure to add us to your friend list! And, if you weren't aware, First Second Books is also on Facebook, where we would love to get comments and news from our wonderful readers!

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3181817-first-second-books

http://www.shelfari.com/firstsecondbooks

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65371568763

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Who Reads First Second?

Matthew Herzfeld
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:42:43 -0500

How many books can you read at once?

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Inside the :01 Offices, Marketing Edition

gina gagliano
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:36:04 -0500

This is a picture of my office bookshelf:

I keep copies of all the books we publish on it, so when someone calls to tell me that they need a particular book, right now, there's one on hand we can overnight.  It is an excellent bookshelf!  But with the amount of books that we're publishing in the coming year (you can see some of those teetering on the edge of the fourth shelf down), I suspect I may have to lobby for a bookshelf expansion. 

(Want to see more of the insides of our offices?  Here's a piece I wrote for our parent company's blog.  There are pictures!)

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Who Reads First Second?

Matthew Herzfeld
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:13:04 -0500

First Second Books - slips inside Joyce easily.

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A.L.I.E.E.E.N.

gina gagliano
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:58:58 -0500

I was going through my files this morning and I found the following quote from the most excellent Jhonen Vasquez, who apparently sent it to us a few years ago. 

"The book is brilliant!  It's the kind of book that I used to love finding as a kid, something that I'd go back to again and again because it never fully answered my questions (which only made the experience better).  Something that makes you think while it makes you sick.  Lovely."

For anyone who knows Jhonen Vasquez's work (which includes the Invader Zim series, I Feel Sick, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and many more delightfully weird and twisted books), the fact that A.L.I.E.E.E.N. is his kind of book should speak for itself. 

For the rest of you, well.

The book starts out like this. 

In the next panel, eyes start getting gouged out.

Read it.  Seriously. 

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Editor tells all! Inside the Submissions Process at First Second, Part I

Calista Brill
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:40:45 -0500

"Submissions." It's a word that sends a thrill up -- and a chill down -- an editor's spine.

The thrill up: that query email or manilla envelope might be a project you've been dreaming of. It might be a graphic novel that breaks boundaries and says something the world needs to hear. It might be a bestseller, or a dearly loved underground jewel. It might be from someone with a ton of raw potential, who can be encouraged and directed until they're ready to be published. It might be from someone who will become a new friend, a new valued colleague. It might be, in short, awesome.

The chill down: But submissions can also be a bit overwhelming for an editor. There's little time in the day, after dealing with all the books you already signed up, to evaluate the projects you *might* want to sign up. That's what late nights at the office are for. That's what the subway is for. And your couch. And your breakfast table. And your vacation getaway. After all, it doesn't do to keep an agent waiting. (Of course, as I type this there are at least four agents I'm keeping waiting by dint of writing this blog post instead of looking at their submissions. Um! Sorry!)

*

And then there's the steady stream of unagented submissions, which tend to be a bit more hit-or-miss. Many are worth consideration, many (I'll state plainly) are not. But you won't *know* until you look at them. Sometimes I'm actually sort of perversely grateful when I open an envelope or an email and find a picture book from someone who thinks First Second is a picture book publisher, or a graphic novel that's clearly the ravings of a madman. Those are the easy ones. They don’t require any thinking.

The tough ones are the 200-page scripts where you have to read at least 150 pages (or the whole thing, twice) before you can even decide if it's worth considering or not. Or the projects you read three times and still just can't decide if you should pursue them or not, and weeks go by while they prey on your conscience. (And that's to say nothing of the poor writers and cartoonists who sent them.)

Yes, yes, my life is so hard. I know.

But it's heavy business, people! I'm not sitting on that "maybe yes maybe no" project for six weeks out of spite. I'm sitting on it because it's a decision that carries weight and consequences both for First Second and for the artist or writer who submitted it. And a decision that big takes a little thinking. And ten to forty decisions that big per week, well, let's just say we sleep in our thinking caps around here.

Because as easy as it is to turn down a submission because it's "the ravings of a madman," or (a big step up!) "not right for the First Second list," the inescapable fact is there's a *person* on the other side of every single submission. And a big part of First Second's mandate is enriching and supporting the world of comics in general -- not just our little corner of it. We feel some responsibility to every single cartoonist who sends us their work. Which is why, when I can, I try to include some constructive criticism -- and honest praise -- for the projects I turn down, even if they come from an inmate in a supermax penitentiary in Alaska.

Maybe especially if they come from an inmate in a supermax penitentiary in Alaska.

Tune in soon for "Inside the Submissions Process at First Second, Part II: Three Categories of Submissions, or What Do We Do With An Unsolicited Submission (So Ear-ly in the Mornin')?"

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Laika

gina gagliano
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:14:38 -0500

Two years ago, First Second published a graphic novel by Nick Abadzis about the first dog ever to travel to outer space. 

It's amazing.  And sad.  And gorgeous.  And wonderful. 

You should check it out. 

(You should also check out Nick's Laika site, where he shows exactly how much research you have to do to make historical comics.  Drawing things historically accurate apparently takes lots of research!  Who knew?)

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Concerning Charles Gehring

gina gagliano
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:18:06 -0500

"There is surely no one who loves Dutch Americana more than Charles T. Gehring," says the New York Times. 

Gehring has been translating Dutch-American journals, letters, and deeds for the New Netherland Project for three and a half decades now. 

He's recently been featured in the New York Times.

His name might sound familiar to some of you who've been paying especially close attention to First Second's collection -- he was the original translator of the diary that formed the backbone of Journey Into Mohawk Country.

You should read about him!  (And as a bonus, the NYT piece talks about Journey, too.

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