WHEN THE STUDIOS COME A’CALLIN’… Devourer of Words 008: Hollywood State of Mind While the crazy intellectual-property gold rush of the 2000s—when producers and development executives would visit the San Diego Comic-Con and shower creators with lucrative options like it was going out of style—are mostly over, the prospect of having Hollywood show some interest […]

A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH CONVENTIONS . . . BUT MOSTLY LOVE. Devourer of Words 006: Convention Season I love conventions, even though I hate them. It’s an odd sentiment, to be sure, to have for a thing as wonderful as the annual invasion by like-minded nerds of an innocent city, but it’s true. I love […]

KATIE’S FIRST DRAWING TUTORIAL! Devourer of Words 005: The Big Sell You’ve convinced a publisher to take on your book. You’ve found a team of collaborators who are all bringing their A game. You’ve figured out a way to write it that won’t embarrass anyone. (You still haven’t conquered the idea that they’ll all find […]

HOW WRITERS BECOME COLLABORATORS! Devourer of Words 004: The Collaborationist So, let’s pretend you’ve landed that first gig. You hewed to the advice of the last column—pitching at a convention—and convinced a publisher to be the midwife for your sequential genius. Now you have to work with other people. Comics are, like most forms of entertainment, […]

HERE’S THE PITCH . . . Devourer of Words 003: The Wind-up Before the Pitch We continue our ramp up to WonderCon Anaheim with this column by Toucan contributor Marc Bernardin. The perfect counterpoint to last week’s Portfolio Review Tips by fellow columnist Steve Lieber (click here to read), Marc explores how to pitch a […]

SO YOU SAY YOU WANT TO WRITE COMIC BOOKS . . . Devourer of Words 002: Cracking the Codes “It should be hard. I like that it’s hard… But it should be a little easier.” —The West Wing, “20 Hours in America, Part II” Let’s pretend you’ve never written a comic book before—which shouldn’t be hard, […]