What's her story? What's yours?
ANNOUNCING STRUMPET 5: ORIGIN STORIES
About:
The Strumpet is a transatlantic annual focusing on women telling stories in comics, edited by cartoonists Ellen Lindner and Glynnis Fawkes (as well as, in prior issues, editrix emeritae Jeremy Day and Kripa Joshi).
Despite ENORMOUS progress made by women in comics in the last two decades, we still feel that there’s a bit of a lag between the number of women we know who are doing comics (a lot) and those who are getting published regularly (not always a lot). At the end of the day, we can all use another deadline, and a prompt to do new and interesting work. And that’s where The Strumpet comes in.
Over the last four issues, The Strumpet has further defined her mission: in addition to printing work from some of the best established lady cartoonists out there, she has dedicated herself to encouraging the next generation whenever possible - hence our policy of open submissions. We’ve seen stories from The Strumpet grow into fully-fledged graphic novels, seen folks try new styles and subject matter, and generally have a good time - and that’s pretty cool!
We invite submissions from all over the world, provided that the artist will help us translate their work into English.
We have received questions in the past about our policy on trans cartoonists. Our official policy is that if you identify as a woman, however you define that, we are interested in printing your work.
Theme:
The theme for this issue is Origin Stories. Where did you come from? How did the stuff you love or hate begin? Answer the question - how did we get here (particularly relevant in this year of massive political change)? Renaissances and re-inventions of all kind are also welcome, and we encourage you to look all around the globe, as well deep into your own history, for your fictional and non-fictional tales. Surprise us!
We have instituted a suggested page count of 1-3 pages for newbies, 1-6 pages for folks we've published in the past. Want more? Please shoot The Strumpet an email at strumpetcomic at gmail dot com and pitch us your idea. We are also happy to look at scripts or roughs and give editorial tips.
Deadline:
March 1st, 2017. No exceptions! (Seriously, anyone who's been in The Strumpet before can tell you - we are reasonable, though strict, about enforcing the deadline.)
Proportions:
The Strumpet prints simultaneously in Europe and America. The sizes are:
European/International: B5, 176 x 250 mm
American: 7 x 10 in
When you're designing your pages, just pick the measurement you prefer - they're close enough so that they're pretty much interchangeable.
Medium:
Black & White or Greyscale.
If you are shading digitally, please use only one tone of 40% grey. This will give the issue a nifty unified look! Folks who use watercolor, gouache, etc. - don't worry, just do your thing.
There is also a spot available for a full-color comic for the back cover, a spot filled in the past by such luminaries as Megan Kelso, Kripa Joshi and Kristyna Baczynski. Please let us know if you are particularly interested in submitting back cover work.
Bleed:
Yes, you can do a bleed. The size of the page in InDesign is 7.25 x
10.25" (including the printer's trim space - that's the .25" extra),
with an approximately margin of .5" all the way round (within that
measurement - so the non-margin area is 6.75 x 9.75". Please keep any
vital information - text or drawing - within the non-margin portion of
the page.
IMPORTANT: when you deliver your files, please name them with your last name in the file name, plus the page number: ie, quimby_1.jpg We receive a lot of files called things like "1.jpg" or "strumpet_1.jpg" If you want your files to be considered, please make them easy for us to download and find.
Format:
For this issue, the maximum page count is 6 pages. We want to be able to squeeze in as many Strumpets as possible!
For those contributing for the first time, the maximum page count will be 3 pages.
We strongly prefer that stories submitted be lettered by hand - we make exceptions, as you’ll see from prior issues (some folks have a font made of their handwriting, or have a knack for choosing sympathetic fonts), but it’s also the biggest thing we give our artists grief over.
Submission:
Files should be a minimum of 400 dpi (anything up to 600 dpi greyscale or 1200 dpi bitmap lineart is excellent)
When you first submit, please send legible jpg's only. We will request for hi-res files only once we have reviewed and chosen the artwork. You can send submissions to strumpetcomic at gmail dot com
The Strumpet requests that any stories be new material, and that we are able to publish it in exclusivity for six months from the date of this issue's publication. If you have a pre-existing story that you feel is just perfect and has not appeared in another anthology, please get in touch - we may be able to work something out.
Compensation:
For the stories we select for this issue, we will pay a $10 per page one-time license fee, to be paid via PayPal within one month of the launch of Strumpet 5. What this means is that whether you submit old or new work, we are asking for a license only - after six months from our launch has passed, you are free to do with it what you want (ie. you fully retain copyright). Please get in touch if you have any questions about what this means.
Also, you will also receive two copies of The Strumpet if your printed story is three pages or under; you will receive three copies if your printed story is between 4-6 pages.
Please note:
As noted above, The Strumpet's policy is open submissions. Therefore, it is possible that we will receive more stories than we can print.
We apologize in advance for any disappointment this may cause. We may also decline to publish stories because we don’t feel that they fit with this issue. It’s a Strumpet’s prerogative to choose, but we will do our best to be fair.
If all of this sounds good, please get in touch with us at strumpetcomic at gmail.com and pitch us an idea! Or ask a question. We look forward to hearing from you. (Also, don't forget our nifty FAQ!)
