Industry Elites Added As Judges for Webcomic Contest

Spinwhiz

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Zemalac said:
It doesn't say anything about this in the contest rules, but from the comments I gather that a comic created by more than one person is okay? I'm asking because it seems it would have to be submitted by only one of the creators.
Sure it is!
 

Spinwhiz

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Please keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to be able to draw. XKCD is very popular and is made up of mostly stick figures.
 

VonVirgo

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Sorry, but I barely update my drunk duck account, much less make a professional comic.
 

Silk_Sk

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Does it have to be funny? I'm working on a webcomic I would love to submit but it's more of an action-adventure-super-novel-plot kind of thing. I suppose it will have the occasional humor though. It doesn't relate to video games but I guarantee it's enjoyable.

I only have a few pages of it but they are on my DeviantArt. Would that effect the "cannot have appeared anywhere" rule? Only a few friends of mine look at them and I can delete them if necessary.

The other problem is the copyright thing. My submissions will be a few of the early pages that cannot be removed from the comic. The odds are I won't get in so unless I do, sometime down the road I plan on starting this thing on my own. If I do, I WILL use the pages I will have submitted here. I find it very restrictive to say I can't. I worked very hard on them and I believe they are worth reading. Why would I waste them on something like this if I wasn't sure I would win?
 

bluepilot

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em, can I submit the comics through photos?

Is so, what format would that be?

This is probably a stupid question, I do realise that.

(Born in the 80s technophobe)
 

Blind0bserver

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Mar 31, 2008
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Okay, so I have roughly a month to either learn how to draw or get some unwitting clod a collaborator to do it for me. Oh, and to come up with a premise.

Great, just great...
 

j0z

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Spinwhiz said:
Please keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to be able to draw. XKCD is very popular and is made up of mostly stick figures.
I agree, XKCD is my favorite webcomic, but I feel that if I drew a bunch of stick figures and had some humorous dialog, I would either A) Be accused of copying XKCD, or B)Forever be ashamed because I tried to copy XKCD. But maybe a slight modification of the XKCD art, so that you don't look at the comic and think "That's XKCD, wait, no it isn't."

Anyway,
I will definitely look into this, I am not a great artist, but I might try it. Hopefully something will pop out of my head and hands. I hope.

Zepren said:
Does anyone know any good drawing software that would be good for this? something not too complicated of course :D

If failing this, i'm jumping on the "Who needs a writer?" band-wagon. I have two ideas jotted down so far :p
Yes, there is this really cool thing that can write and draw the best things ever and just about anything else you can imagine.
It is called a pencil.
:p
Seriously though, if you insist on doing it on a computer, find a good drawing program, GIMP if you want something free and similar to Photoshop, and then you have Inkscape for vector images.
You also could always do a machninima, like Shamus does, just not in GMod :)
 

Susan Arendt

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Jan 9, 2007
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For those asking about collaboration -- remember, your goal is to win a contract and create sustainable work. In other words, make sure you're collaborating with someone you can work with long-term, in terms of personality, availability, and creative vision.

Also let me point out that Shamus can't draw worth a lick, and he does just fine.
 

Silk_Sk

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Am I the only one concerned about the copyright? I'm making the comic whether I win this contest or not. In the likely event that I don't, I think I should be able to self-publish or maybe enter it into another contest somewhere. It just seems wasteful to submit something I put all my effort into only to have it banned from ever being seen. Unless I'm misunderstanding it of course.
 

Spinwhiz

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Silk_Sk said:
Am I the only one concerned about the copyright? I'm making the comic whether I win this contest or not. In the likely event that I don't, I think I should be able to self-publish or maybe enter it into another contest somewhere. It just seems wasteful to submit something I put all my effort into only to have it banned from ever being seen.
Updated: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.171632-Webcomic-Contest-Now-Live#4786993
 

Spinwhiz

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Susan Arendt said:
For those asking about collaboration -- remember, your goal is to win a contract and create sustainable work. In other words, make sure you're collaborating with someone you can work with long-term, in terms of personality, availability, and creative vision.

Also let me point out that Shamus can't draw worth a lick, and he does just fine.
Excellent point!
 

Silk_Sk

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Spinwhiz said:
Silk_Sk said:
Am I the only one concerned about the copyright? I'm making the comic whether I win this contest or not. In the likely event that I don't, I think I should be able to self-publish or maybe enter it into another contest somewhere. It just seems wasteful to submit something I put all my effort into only to have it banned from ever being seen.
That work will always live on The Escapist and you will always be able to point people to your link. The copyright is for our protection as well as yours. We don't want to take your work and if you have that entrepreneurial spirit, we want you to do whatever is best for you. BUT it doesn't make sense for us to allow people to re-publish items they can find right here.

If you want, create for us a rendition of what you have wanted to do. That way, if you win, you have a contract and if not, you still have your original idea and a way to point to some of your ideas that are still posted on The Escapist.
I know this is convenient for people who would be making something specifically for this contest, but I've been working on this comic for a while. I am quite happy with how it's turned out so far. I couldn't make a rendition of what I've done without it being of vastly inferior quality to what I already have, especially in such a short time frame. If I intend to win this, I would submit something I believe actually has a chance.

And then there's the submission guidelines. Four pages and a Logo. I've got 6 pages done and am working on a 7th. As I understand it, unless I win I won't be updating it on this site, effectively cutting off the beginning of the comic from the rest. My comic is plot based and the pages are not stand-alone. Neither are they something I can just re-do. Each one represents 15 hours+ of work. I'm going to be honest; updating twice a week would be a full-time job for me. But frankly, I could use a full time job.

Again, it's likely I won't win. As these rules stand, entering this contest is a huge risk for me. I don't expect you to change the rules just for me. But please understand that not all submissions will be stick figures covered in word bubbles. Some will take actual WORK to produce. Work that will be wasted by a loss as these rules are now.
 

Spinwhiz

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Silk_Sk said:
Spinwhiz said:
Silk_Sk said:
Am I the only one concerned about the copyright? I'm making the comic whether I win this contest or not. In the likely event that I don't, I think I should be able to self-publish or maybe enter it into another contest somewhere. It just seems wasteful to submit something I put all my effort into only to have it banned from ever being seen.
That work will always live on The Escapist and you will always be able to point people to your link. The copyright is for our protection as well as yours. We don't want to take your work and if you have that entrepreneurial spirit, we want you to do whatever is best for you. BUT it doesn't make sense for us to allow people to re-publish items they can find right here.

If you want, create for us a rendition of what you have wanted to do. That way, if you win, you have a contract and if not, you still have your original idea and a way to point to some of your ideas that are still posted on The Escapist.
I know this is convenient for people who would be making something specifically for this contest, but I've been working on this comic for a while. I am quite happy with how it's turned out so far. I couldn't make a rendition of what I've done without it being of vastly inferior quality to what I already have, especially in such a short time frame. If I intend to win this, I would submit something I believe actually has a chance.

And then there's the submission guidelines. Four pages and a Logo. I've got 6 pages done and am working on a 7th. As I understand it, unless I win I won't be updating it on this site, effectively cutting off the beginning of the comic from the rest. My comic is plot based and the pages are not stand-alone. Neither are they something I can just re-do. Each one represents 15 hours+ of work. I'm going to be honest; updating twice a week would be a full-time job for me. But frankly, I could use a full time job.

Again, it's likely I won't win. As these rules stand, entering this contest is a huge risk for me. I don't expect you to change the rules just for me. But please understand that not all submissions will be stick figures covered in word bubbles. Some will take actual WORK to produce. Work that will be wasted by a loss as these rules are now.
I have re-read your question and have an answer, which is part of the "General Rules" at the bottom of the contest:

"The contestant hereby grants a non-exclusive, royalty free, world-wide, irrevocable, perpetual license to publish, distribute, sell, and otherwise exploit the Contest Entry in any medium to Company. The contestant retains all other right, title, and interest in the Contest Entry."

This means, whatever you submit to us, we can do whatever we want with on The Escapist but you own it. So, if you don't win and want to create your own site or pitch it to someone, we have no problem with it. Non-exclusive being the main word, so we look forward to seeing your entry.
 

Silk_Sk

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Ah, thank you very much. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I look forward to submitting.
 

CrysisMcGee

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Can you tell us what the pay is?

Also, if the comic becomes popular enough, and you exploit it with T-shirts and other merchandise, will there be any compensation?
 

Spinwhiz

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CrysisMcGee said:
Can you tell us what the pay is?

Also, if the comic becomes popular enough, and you exploit it with T-shirts and other merchandise, will there be any compensation?
Those are all things that we will go over with you as part of your contract when you win.
 

CrysisMcGee

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Spinwhiz said:
CrysisMcGee said:
Can you tell us what the pay is?

Also, if the comic becomes popular enough, and you exploit it with T-shirts and other merchandise, will there be any compensation?
Those are all things that we will go over with you as part of your contract when you win.
Thanks. That's what I wanted to know.