I don't really expect this thread to have anything to do with actual submissions, though. That would be the next thread, where I start talking about protagonists in-depth. This thread could be called the Basic-Info-Not-Related-To-Business Thread.
The others can be found as follows:
Business things thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41642
Main protag info thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41668
Secondary protag info thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41695
Main Antagonist info thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthrea ... t=Mikonese
As before, the format will be presented as a series of Fraternally Anticipated Questions. And since the introductory information on this thread is a little too long for one post, there will be a followup post continuing it.
WAIT, DO A LITTLE BUSINESS RECAP FIRST! DO WE HAVE TO BE WORKING FOR YOU TO SUBMIT ART HERE; OR DOES IT OBLIGATE US IN ANY WAY?
No, and no. This is an open submission call. My goal is to find (if I can) some artists to hire to do various sorts of art for my series in general; the first priority being website art. You are under no obligation whatever in posting art to this (or any similar) thread. Neither am I under any obligation, though, to use your work. I _am_ under obligation to respect your copyright, though, and posting to a public board should help you protect those rights in a dispute.
It may, however, screw up your chances to sell _that particular_ art for other purposes (since it will already be 'published', i.e. made publicly accessible). But in many cases, unless you're doing general landscapes or something, you shouldn't be trying to sell this art for other purposes anyway! I reserve copyrights to concepts specifically associated with my book, such as the Tower of Qarfax or various characters. Of course if I say "That isn't much like the Tower of Qarfax!", then by tautology I can hardly complain later if you sell the work for some other purpose, eh? {g}
IS THERE A COPY OF THE BOOK WE CAN WORK FROM? A SYNOPSIS? A SUMMARY?
Yes, yes and yes. As the summary and synopsis both contain major spoilers, I won't put them up here. (If I talk about something openly here in the forums, though, you can be sure I don't consider the topic to be immediately spoilerish.)
I will, however, give some promo descriptions below, for sake of first interest; and naturally I will have to go into some detail later about characters and situations which may reasonably be expected to feature in the art.
HOW CAN WE GET THOSE OTHER THREE THINGS FROM YOU?
Ask me here in the thread (or in related ones later) to email one or more of them to you. Or drop me a private line. If you email me outside the forum, be sure to include a description in the mail title that will help me clearly distinguish it from spam. If you don't hear back in a couple of days, please feel free to try again; I probably just missed it somehow. You aren't imposing--I want people to have the material for this purpose.
You are of course completely forbidden to pass any of these three things along in any format to anyone else, whether you make copies of it or not. Not that I can strictly stop you {wry g}, but it's the principle of the thing: technically that would be stealing. If you have a friend you want to send the novel material to, because you'd like her to have a chance to submit the art, then have her participate _herself_. That's what these threads are for. Besides, she may decide she likes the CAA! {beam!} And registration for the boards is free, after all. Speaking of...
DO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR ANYTHING?
Heck no. (And I'm tempted to upgrade the strength of that answer. {wry g}) I just want to keep the amount of copy-spawning and plot-spoilerage down. It would be nice if you actually _bought_ the first book once it becomes available, but seeing as how it's kind of expensive as a hardback, then it would be silly of me to ask that of you if all you're interested in is looking to do the art. (Whether for future editions of Book 1, or for whatever.) Consequently, I don't mind sending out (electronic) copies of Book 1 for free, to people who ask for it.
Don't expect me to hand out any kind of copies of Book 2, though, by email or otherwise. In fact, I would prefer to avoid synopses and things of that sort, too, in Book 2's case. When we get to that point, I'll discuss characters and _maybe_ situations here in a thread. That'll be all you need to know to get started, really, insofar as Book 2 characters/situations go.
WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY YOU FOR THE ART, EITHER?
_No!_ Go read the business-detail thread. (I mention it here again because there _are_ scams of this sort around. I pay _you_, assuming I decide to use your work. Period.)
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A SUMMARY?
(Publishers kind of vary on what they mean by a synopsis and a summary.)
A one-page, um, summary {g} of the plot of the novel. It doesn't go into anything like major detail, but it does cover the plot of the book from beginning to end, and accounts for the major protags and antags. (i.e. heroes and villains, but one of the protagonists is often more like a villain than not.) Despite being only one page, it's highly spoilerish, so I won't post it up here and I ask you please not to do either.
WHAT WAS THE BOOK'S TITLE AGAIN?
_Cry of Justice_. Sorry. {g} Book 2 will be _Edge of Justice_. Not to be confused with _The Edge of Justice_, released a year or two ago, which I understand to be a rockclimbing lawyer story. _Not_ at all the same thing. {g}
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A SYNOPSIS?
A paragraph's worth of summary for each chapter. Some paragraphs are longer than others. {lopsided g} It runs about 22 pages I think--there are 74 chapters plus a preface and introduction (both part of the plot.)
DANG!--HOW LONG _IS_ THIS BOOK ANYWAY!?
Only about 450 pages standard text. Not quite as large as some hardback fantasy tomes. And even that is misleadingly long, as I use lots of brief paragraphs along with occasional instances of what I call metaparagraphing (where paragraphs are set apart by an extra return.) Some chapters only run a page or two. Wordcount clocks in just over 154 thousand words. Again, about normal (or even less than) for most epic fantasy novels. It probably takes about 13 hours to read through. That's about half a season of hour-long dramas, including commercials. {g}
WHAT FORMATS CAN YOU SEND PLOT MATERIAL IN?
The two shorter things (summary and synopsis) can be sent in various forms of text file; but any of the three (including Book 1's text) can be sent as a .doc file or a .pdf.
WHAT IF WE WANT TO READ SOMETHING MORE DETAILED THAN THE SYNOPSIS, BUT NOT THE WHOLE BOOK (BECAUSE WE THINK WE'LL GET A BETTER FEEL FOR DECIDING TO TRY WORKING WITH THE MATERIAL THAT WAY?)
I can also send the first section of chapters (plus preface and intro), as a .doc or .pdf. It's practically a self-contained novella in itself, and introduces all the characters most likely to be featured in cover and website art anyway. It also features two action sequences (or three, if you count a brief deer hunt in the introduction.) About 75 pages in publishing format, but the doc or pdf (which haven't been typeset yet) will seem to run longer.
Breaking here, so as not to overspam the posting system...
Jason Pratt
Bittersea Publications
