Phoenix Comic post Submission Guidelines

By John Freeman on May 26, 2011

The Phoenix Comic – the new weekly comic springing from the ashes of The DFC – has just updated its website and also published its submission guidelines, which we’re running here in full.

Launching in January 2012, the team say the 32-page comic will offer both humour and adventure strips, along with features and puzzles.

The Phoenix Comic is looking for strips with heart – stories that are open and engaging, whether they are told across three panels, three pages, or episodically over several months.

“We’re always open for new submissions of self-contained (ie conclusive within one issue) and episodic strips.  We consider pitches from makers working alone, or from writer/illustrator teams and are interested in strips in the following forms:

Single panel to single page (fiction or non-fiction), self-contained
 Visually dynamic non-fiction spreads, self-contained 
Longer form episodic fiction strips (up to 3pp per week)

“Right now we’re particularly interested in receiving pitches for stand-alone (conclusive within one issue) stories of 4pp in length.

“We’re also keen to hear from puzzle-makers with experience in producing challenging and fun puzzle content for 8-11 year olds, and artists with experience of providing occasional illustrations for text content.

When it come to what they’re not looking for, the Phoennix will not be publishing material for very young children, or teenagers, or adults, or strips bulging with counter-culture angst. “We won’t be a good home for you. Sorry! And at present we are not accepting material from authors with a script but no illustrator on board.”

To submit material, include the following in your submission:

a brief outline of the concept and, if not stand-alone, short detail on the proposed story arc and intended number of episodes.
a script for the first episode
style sheets showing key characters, a sample page layout and indication of finished colour work.

Tech info: detail on paper finish TBC but please assume a sheet-size of 211×297 (A4).
You can email your submission to: submissionsATthephoenixcomic.co.uk or send by post to: The Phoenix Comic, 29 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX33 1AL (please enclose an SAE if you would like your material returned).

The Phoenix crew point out “we are a very small editorial team and look closely at every single submission. Sometimes this can take a little time.

“We will get to your material as fast as we can, but you may have to wait up to six weeks for a response (sorry).

“If we think your submission has potential we’ll contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss the material in more depth.

“If your submission isn’t right for us we will let you know the core reasons for rejection. And, in that event, please don’t give up hope – there are many other potential homes for great content out in the world and in many instances we will be saying no simply because of space limitations. We have to make tough choices, and of course there is a degree of subjectivity involved too. Unfortunately time constraints prevent us from engaging in extended correspondence on rejected submissions.”

• Help spread the word about The Phoenix Comic and point parents, teachers, librarians and everyone else to www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.