[Monday]

Revolt Komiks is constantly taking submissions and since a good chunk of its submissions are veteran voiders I figure I'll make this place the first to get the memo.

So somethings you should know about this gig before signing up.

~We are a manga inspired, serial pulp comic anthology that uses the japanese manga method of having serial comic chapters compiled every month from various artists. The only difference is that unlike Shonen Jump, we release every month instead of every 2 weeks.

~To get started we will be accepting standalone one shots, or 2 chapter-length Pilots that run at a minimum of 36-60 pages.  For more details on submission, Email mangaofnakama@gmail.com. 

~You will get paid royalties only. Meaning that for every issue you show up in, the money YOU get will be based on sales alone. So don't look forward to anything that will pay soon or pay your rent. BUT this also means that if we do well the amount you get back could be huge. Again, we believe that the quality of your work should speak for itself.

~YOU WILL GET PAID

~Long term serial artists can assemble a tankobon [or graphic novel] under our publishing deal, for every 6-9 chapters we can assemble a book for ya and the royalties for that is much higher than if you were to show up on our monthly issues.

What we can offer:
As a company we have publishing deals with large distributors that hits international markets in 3 continents, as well as an editing staff that does the grunt work of book compilation and assembly for you. Not to mention a chance to get published in what could arguably be the first "international" manga publication.  What this means is that we intend to translate our works in as many different languages possible to circulate it around the world. Multilingual artists are definitely a plus.

The best part ? There's no financial risk. If it doesn't sell you only lost time with us but you can keep your work for portfolio use and future employment.

What we like
 Despite being a "manga" inspired company we embrace different approaches and styles so long as
-It's Black and White.
-Has competent writing.
-Looks complete.
- Is on a professional level that is salable.

Revolt Komiks also focuses on very specific themes such as:
Revolution
Adventure
Humanity
Virtue

Works that exhibit 3 out of 4 of these things are eligible to get published.

A few examples of works that we have include
A sci-fi fantasy involving a virtual MMORPG.
A crime drama.
And a martial arts epic.

A couple reality checks.
+ You can work from home so long as you have a scanner , an internet connection and a microphone.
- Even if you get serialized, theres a chance you'll get dropped. This is true for other jump publishers, if there isn't any sales or appeal being generated by a series, it tends to have a short life.
+ Depending on your local area we may send you to conventions. Paid. With a table. And 50 rounds of ammo.

+ We're looking for fresh tackles on the great manga experiment. That means we're not shooting for 10 chapter fight scenes, 500 chapter serial epics, or even super sexualized or objectified female casts. We're not japan , we're not japanese, so technically we can't actually make manga. We aim to make something new, internationally appealing and equally representational.

Take everything you hated about every cheap marketing ploy that every mainstream works did turn that hatred to bullets, inks and pages.

Operators are standing by.

[Mister Kent]

What's the upper page limit for one-shots?

[Monday]

60 pages

[Evil_Encounter]

Sounds amazing to me
And i would love to be published.

I know that my last comics were low quality but i improved allot since then i think...
Even tho i'm not sure if i'm on a level that you would consider "professional" as i don't know what you would call an professional level.

If i think that i do have the needed abilities, i will have some open questions:

I'm from germany and i think that should not be a problem?

I'm "working" on a thing that i think, would fit.

But on the other hand, i don't know how serious you take the declaration of the "genres" you want to see.
Because i cant deliver much sci-fi, but more steam punk/ Technology with magic
I have crime and Drama, but no crime drama...
It contains fighting, but is definitely no martial arts epic...

Is it essential for me to have this in my submission, if i want to get published?

Is it only for the first submission, or must every submission consist of 36-60 Pages?

Would it be possible to skip a month and submit in the next issue, or will one be dropped, if one can't or don't want to deliver every month?

[Monday]

On Genres: It doesn't matter, so long as there is a kind of childish or mature appeal to it. But if you stick to the 4 themes we declared it should all but fit in our publication.

On Germany: We do skype calls once in a while but mostly correspond through forums. I've experienced that parts of europe tend to only be awake at extreme hours.

The first submission of a serial pilot is usually a doublesized submission but proceeding chapters are 18-36 pages which is easy to do for a month. The rules for one-shots are pending but should have similar requirements.

As for missing out on chapters ? Some form of advance notice usually works (it helps to be one chapter ahead). We've also had submissions get deferred to the next month if their work isn't on par with the editor or needs more time which usually leads to them having doubled pages by next time. If it's a no-show and done in bad spirit then your contract gets revoked or something comparable.


Usually taking a break is fine if theres a lot of give in your favor. Most newbies are expected to perform in order to build momentum for their work. In the first three months, expect to burn through a lot of concept art, pages, and revisions.

[UmbrellaFrog]

~We are a manga inspired,

Does this mean you are going to publish the comic in a right to left format?_{please say no}

~You will get paid royalties only. Meaning that for every issue you show up in, the money YOU get will be based on sales alone.

How much are you going to sell each unit, and what percentage of that price goes to each artist?

proceeding chapters are 18-36 pages which is easy to do for a month.

This would be hard to do without quitting my day job...

So don't look forward to anything that will pay soon or pay your rent.

...and you're basically telling me not to quit my day job...

There's no financial risk.

right...

I guess I'll just work on getting 18+ pages done every month while working full time. I don't know, maybe it is possible.

[The Bent One]

If you are truly passionate about making comics, nothing will stop you. Not a full time job, not giving up sleep, not taking risks and putting stuff out in anthologies and self publishing your own stuff.

[Charlie]

But BenT, you also have to be reasonable. For an outlet that is paying your bills and whatever, being expected to go in there fresh and competent should be a priority. I can definitely see the merit in both of what you guys are saying - Umbrella is stating its a difficult thing to accomplish with a full time job and a lot of responsibilities. I also get what your point is too in that you can find ways to make more time. Ultimately I'm gonna have to say worry about your job Umbrella, it's the thing keeping food on your table and a roof over your head.

THAT SAID - In the end if the schedule for this not something anyone can adhere to I guess that's tough luck. The guidelines here are what they are, but remember for comics this isn't going to be your only outlet to put your work in - just that its one that isn't available to you at this current moment in time.

I do like the idea. I've been talking about organizing something like this myself now on and off since early this year and I haven't done it yet. So seeing you guys do this is pretty cool. I know I wouldn't be able to adhere to this sort of schedule yet myself so I'm gonna have to decline but I definitely gotta say that's some lineup of people. Really nice to see Six is still at it.

[RobThing]

I'm tempted to do it  ^.^

Umbrella, if you want to do it you can, just create one-shots in the time that you do have, and then submit it when it's done. Its a oneshot, so you don't necessarily have to continue with a new comic every month 

[Angie]

Well, all pro comic artists have to do 22 pages monthly minimum. Some of them do still have regular day jobs. Keep in mind I was coloring as much as 60-80 pages a month while I was still working at Starbucks. (thank god I no longer have to worry about a day job) It's a pain in the ass, but not impossible.

[Sabulive]

I'm super keen for this.

Im sure I have a ye olde script I can revise somewhere...

[Charlie]

Well, all pro comic artists have to do 22 pages monthly minimum. Some of them do still have regular day jobs. Keep in mind I was coloring as much as 60-80 pages a month while I was still working at Starbucks. (thank god I no longer have to worry about a day job) It's a pain in the ass, but not impossible.

Yeah I'm not saying its impossible either, simply just be reasonable and most importantly take care of yourself. If its a workload you think you can manage then go for it, if not there are alternative avenues to take than something like this. Not everyone works at the same pace and can handle a lot of pages per month while juggling other things either, especially if they have kids or other obligations to worry about as well . There are ways to slowly inch your way into comics and work at your own pace for a bit is all.

[Cherubas]

So lets say my innovative and engaging story has a scene where a samurai is eviscerated and his enemy strangles the samurai's first born son with the samurai's own lower intestine while screaming obscenities. Are guts and naughty words permitted or not?

[Monday]

Killing children violently isn't.

 Violence has to be tasteful even if it's visceral. If it comes off as porny we'll know.

[Animeshen]

Killing children violently isn't.

 Violence has to be tasteful even if it's visceral. If it comes off as porny we'll know.

what if its about vampires and the violence is inherently a bit porny? also how are we on mature sexual themes? basically i guess whats the rating?

[Monday]

Yes we go from left to right, we're formatting for international publications.

The frogman has a point but all i can say is that this is the kind of ball game we're playing. It's intense commitment.
 
Starting a company and getting a publishing deal in 3 months wasn't easy either. At least 2 people are working with us with near full time gigs are taking a risk with this.

 Again, quality of work will determine sales and earlier issues tend to have the higher sales once we get big. I would train up my page discipline in void before attempting something like this for real.

With that said here's some real numbers:
- Issues range from 9-12 dollars depending on page count.
- We run up to 8 submissions per issue. The 8th will always be a one-shot
- Each of those 8 submissions get a 5% cut to a maximum of 40% off our net. This is actually huge. No company is crazy enough to fucking do this.
- The 60% goes back to reinvesting into the company.
- The owners [us] who get paid last do not expect a cut of the money from this on the first year, we are simply not that big yet.

Even we're trying to get our artists out of their day jobs and the only way to do that is be BIG. Maintaining cult appeal across all international sectors was one of the only feasible plans of doing this without resorting to mainstream bullshit ploys at popularity.

For your benefit, however. You can always tackle One-Shots. One shots to us are like a breath of fresh air from our regular programming. You won't get as much per-volume coverage but its great experience.

[Monday]

Killing children violently isn't.

 Violence has to be tasteful even if it's visceral. If it comes off as porny we'll know.

what if its about vampires and the violence is inherently a bit porny? also how are we on mature sexual themes? basically i guess whats the rating?

We're sex positive about a lot of subject matter. When I say it's porny I really mean that you're just doing it to fellate some kind of dark fantasy without actually adding to the literary quality.

We're rated at 16+, though, so the chief editor will look through it and see if anything is illegal in other countries. The  DEPICTION of child killing is illegal in Germany. But the implication of dead children is fine. A lot of things can be fixed if it happens off-screen or in silhouettes actually.

If you're unclear on what you can or cannot tackle, try reading a volume of Gantz or Air Gear.

[Tofubeast]

If you've published a comic online as a webcomic, are you allowed to run it in Revolt as well as continuing to update it online?

[Monday]

No. Use something new or 25 percent new.

[Animeshen]

is there a deadline on this? and would it still be welcome if it only matches really one of the themes?
I was thinking of starting a webcomic but this might be a better idea....

[Monday]

We are accepting submissions forever.

However if you want to go serial you need a 36-60 page pilot.

You have a lot of time to get 36-60 pages together but its the monthlies after that that you have to maintain. [18 pages a month minimum]

[Cherubas]

Oh... Although my example was exaggerated I did have a story in mind that called for the death of a child as a drama point a la The Walking Dead. Glad I checked before investing that much time, lol.

[Monday]

It could still work. As far as mild themes go.
The actual showing of children getting killed skirts on the edge of illegal of course

[Tofubeast]

Alright, thanks for the response, Monday! I think I'm going to stick to promoting/drawing my own webcomic by myself for right now--my schedule is pretty packed as it is this year with anthology entries. D :

[sixtem]

As one of the artists on this, I'll say it's not for the faint of heart, the unmotivated, or the hesitant. But keep in mind that this isn't a big publishing house giving you a rubbish contract and hoarding money, or a writer trying to squeeze free work out of you so they can reap the benefits - this is a group of Void alumni and other artists throwing their fate with a collective roll of the die. Monday, as our CEO, is basically in the same rickety boat as the rest of us.

I did my pitch, which at the time was a lower limit of 30 pages, while working seasonal hours (50+) and maintaining my regular commissions. It's definitely possible, but also definitely taxing. If you're interested in the zine but you understandably don't want to commit to monthly deadlines, just try out a one-shot. That way you can work on it as long as you need, put it out there for some coverage, and get some cash back.

We're not promising money or fame. We're just saying that if you wanna take a chance with the rest of us and make something new, and great, and potentially knock one out of the park, we'd be happy to have you.