Speaking of SPLAT, the New York Post (!) previews the event with a cheeky lede:
BESIDES all the usual dreams young people move to New York to chase – singing, acting, sleeping with the governor – you can now add authoring graphic novels to the list.
but then gets into a very serious discussion with Brian Wood about how to break into comics, and
this is as good a list as we’ve seen. Clip ‘n’ Save!
* Publish something, anything: “Just get something into print. Then you’re proven. The next editor you approach sees that someone has already banked on you,” Wood says. If no one will hire you, print up your own copies of a book to give away as samples. “Not only does your work look the best in a printed form, it shows you can follow through on a project.” * Have patience: “I went to conventions and gave away
these self-published books to anyone I could find. It took three years until anyone called me back. You can’t get discouraged,” Wood says. * Sell it before you draw it: “If you’re just trying to get an editor interested in you, you don’t have to fully execute your 100-page graphic novel. You can just do the first chapter.” * Find the right editor: Look at the mastheads of books that you like reading and send your work to whomever edits those. Then mail a hard copy of your work.
“Don’t e-mail. An editor can just hit delete on an e-mail.” * Take to the Web: “That’s what everyone says is the next big business model,” Wood says. Many aspiring artists have been offered work by putting samples of their stuff up online.
Brian Wood also says keep track of your sales so you can correct errors in reporting.