Late July/early August must be a big deadline time at Tokyopop. After an absence of several months, Svetlana Chmakova returns to her LiveJournal, having finally completed volume 2 of Dramacon. Just ahead of her was Rivkah, who had a harrowing two months while finishing the second volume of Steady Beat. Rivkah has been making up for lost time by posting frequently, and she’s also selling her work to help support herself in the manner to which she has become accustomed (i.e., starving artist).
If, after reading both of these, you still want to be a professional manga-ka, Tina Anderson has posted a sample submission package. Being able to draw or write is one thing, but being able to present your work in a professional manner is what separates the published from the unpublished. Tina has some valuable advice as well, so it’s well worth a look, even for the merely curious.
That sample submission page is really handy. I have a friend who is creating her own manga old school style – tones and inks and no digital help – who always wondered how to go about submitting it to a company. However, she already copyrighted it and I wonder if that would conflict when getting it published.
With written works, the creator usually retains the copyright—look on the copyright page of most books and you will see the copyright holder is the author, not the publisher. The situation may be different with regard to graphic novels, but everyone should copyright their work as a basic protection. Nothing prevents you from assigning or selling the copyright later on.
*Standard disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. But I am a writer, so I have dealt with this in real life.*
You should always copyright your work. The only time publishing is affected is when it’s printed in some form with an ISBN attached. What happens then is, the publisher must ‘license’ your work, as opposed to publishng it. I recall a few years back when Valois still worked for TO and OEL was coming to the front, many creators who didn’t apply to Tokyo Pop were irked by the idea that TP “shared” copyright with some of their new creators.
I would never share my copyright with the publisher. That’s just me. >_>
From Winter of 2005
http://the-engine.net/forum/messages.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=426.1
Warren lists David’s OEL count, but the discussions turns to copyright and why you mustn’t give it up.
Even though I’ve been nuked completely out of the thread Tina linked to, what tipped it over was me saying, “I won’t have a book with TokyoPop as long as they share copyright.”
Which led to a lot of “every contract is different.” What’s also missing is that I HAD spoken to editors at TokyoPop, and was told the sharing was non-negotiable, and if you can’t, sorry, buh-bye.
Thanx 4 the information Lea. I WAS JUST about to enter the rising stars of manga contest, but now I’M NOT. I DON’T WANT TO SHARE MY COPYRIGHT WITH ANYONE.