Friends of Lulu: Call for Entries
Marion Vitus writes to say that Friends of Lulu is planning a new anthology, “The Girls’ Guide to Guys’ Stuff” and they have posted a call for entries:
The Friends of Lulu, the national organization devoted to promoting women in comics, are in search of lady cartoonists for our next anthology, “The Girls’ Guide to Guy Stuff.” We’re looking for humorous takes on guys and the cool or stupid things they do.
You might write about:
Something usually associated with guys that you love.
Something men love that drives you absolutely nuts.
Some unique experience your guy friend told you about.
Playing with “boys’ toys.”
The submissions we’ve received so far range in topic from video games, sports, record collecting, comic convention etiquette, love of Terminator, desert car racing, and boobs, to a jazz legend who disguised herself for decades as a man. There are a few stories about individual male friends who’ve made strong impressions on the artists, or had memorable, unique experiences.
Your story can be autobiographical, a tribute, or take any other clever approach you can think of. We’re keeping the book light hearted and humorous, so no dramas about why your ex is the worst person ever. (Unless, of course, there are some really hilarious circumstances behind it.)
If you’re interested in participating, please e-mail lulu@mkreed.com and let us know.
For more info about Friends of Lulu’s previous anthology, Broad Appeal, check out:
www.friends-lulu.org
The deadline for final artwork has been extended to December 1st, 2006. Please send a jpeg preview or descriptively writen text file as your submission (or send us a link to where it is hosted online). Rough sketches and outlines are welcome as well.
GUIDELINES
- R-rated sensibility (Violence, swearing, and talking about/implying sex is okay, but no frontal nudity or depiction of sex.)
- 1-4 page self-contained, complete story
(nothing that ends with “continued at xo.com!” will be accepted)
- The book will be printed 6″ x 9″ so please keep those proportions in mind.
- black & white (grayscale or bitmap) **See specs for final pieces at the end of this document.**
- We’re also looking for a few longer “anchor” pieces as well, 8-10 pages in length
Of note: Your story CAN incorporate name brands or trademarks as long as they are editorially used. For instance, a story about how you used to play Legend of Zelda for hours on end is fine. But we can’t get away with doing straight-up Legend of Zelda fan fiction without getting sued! Especially considering many comics publishers nowadays own the exclusive rights to do a lot of ’80s properties (Transformers, He-Man, Ghostbusters, etc.) in comic form.
The book is being planned for a 2007 late winter/ early spring release. All contributors will get several comp copies, and be promoted on the Friends of Lulu website.
DEADLINE
Please e-mail MK Reed at lulu@mkreed.com ASAP if you would like to contribute a piece to the book. The deadline for final artwork is December 1st, 2006. (Though anyone who would like to submit something ahead of this date is encouraged to do so.)
Please include the following info with your final submission:
1) Name (as you want it printed)
2) E-mail/Website, if you want it included in the book
3) A brief bio of 100 words or less.
We would like this to be an all-woman anthology. If you are interested in doing a piece, but don’t have enough time to draw a comic yourself, please let us know and we will attempt to pair you with another talented female artist. Likewise, if you want to draw a
comic, but can’t think of a story, let us know and we’ll see what we can arrange.
Any questions or comments can be emailed to lulu@mkreed.com We look forward to your submission!
-Editorial staff:
Robin Enrico, MK Reed, Marion Vitus
FINAL SPECS:
The book will be printed at 6×9 inches (the same size as the previous Broad Appeal).
The dimensions of your actual artwork can be provided larger than print size (as long as the scale is correct), since we will adjust the final size on the page layout in QUARK XPRESS. Dimensions should not be smaller than print size, however, since sizing them up will affect the resolution of the artwork.
You can turn your final files in as either LINEART/BITMAP or GRAYSCALE.
If you do not have any shading in your artwork, then LINEART/BITMAP is the preferred format. This will keep your files CRISP and also amazingly manageable.
LINEART/BITMAP files should be turned in at between 600dpi-1200dpi and saved as TIFF files. Tiffs with LZW compression are okay and are much smaller in size without losing any quality.
GRAYSCALE files should be created and turned in at 300dpi (or up to 400dpi) and saved as a Tiff. (NO Jpegs, please!) Tiffs with LZW compression are okay and are much smaller in size without losing any quality.
Hand lettering:
We need to have a BITMAP file of the line art (between 600 and 1200 dpi) for the lettering, so that it prints 100% crisp black. Lettering saved as grayscale can print unreadable if anything shifts in the printing process.
We strip out the lettering from the BITMAP file and then place it over the GRAYSCALE file in QUARK XPRESS for print. So be sure to make any copy-edit changes to hand-drawn lettering in the BITMAP version.
NOTE: The BITMAP file for lettering must be scanned from the original hand-drawn artwork. If you try to convert it after you started coloring it from a CMYK or even a grayscale file, the results will be fuzzy and unusable for print in the book.
Fonts:
Fonts in Illustrator files should be converted to “OUTLINES� for print. If you are using a custom font, we ask that you provide a copy with your final art so that we can easily make copyedit changes if needed.
Fonts are great because they are provided as vector-based LLUSTRATOR files, which always print at 100% black. So they don’t run into the same print shift issues that hand-drawn lettering often does when not separated in a B&W bitmap file. But make sure the fonts you choose complement the artwork! Wizbang isn’t always the answer!
Friends of Lulu is a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry.
For more info about Friends of Lulu and their past anthologies check out their site:
http://www.friends-lulu.org/
