From now through the end of submissions, we’ll be unveiling the pre-selected contributors already confirmed for the anthology, starting with the amazing and multi-talented cartoonist/director POLLY GUO.
HEARTWOOD: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy is the first ever non-binary comics anthology, made entirely by cartoonists who identify as a non-binary gender! The book is 250+ pages long, B&W interior, and features 21 young-adult stories.
Across time and cultures, humanity has spun tales about the forest: tales of caution, adventure, rites of passage, and discovery. Some of those stories persist as the folklore and fairy tales that delight our imaginations today, and the forest remains a symbol for facing the unknown and emerging transformed.
This anthology is for everyone who’s walked through the undergrowth, in the silence of nature, and longed for an adventure of their own to unfold. These stories of modern-day sylvan fantasy showcase some of the best non-binary cartoonists of our day, guiding characters like us into the woods and back again.
The first ever all non-binary comics anthology,HEARTWOOD: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy, is open for submissions through November 13th! Meanwhile, we’ll be unveiling the pre-selected contributors already confirmed for the anthology.
Now say hello to ASHANTI FORTSON, the brilliant cartoonist behind the queer space fantasy webcomic Galanthus!
Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS is a comics anthology about queer witches for teens and adults ages 14-and-up. The book is over 110 pages long, black and white, and contains 10 original stories by women and non-binary creators of color. In this special installment of the POWER & MAGIC SERIES, queer witches of color delve into the darker sides of magic: astral planes, necromancy, visions of death, and communion with the spirits of our world… and the beyond.
This book is the immediate follow-up to POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology, an award-winning collection of fantasy stories exalting the witch as an archetype of feminine power. With IMMORTAL SOULS, we are cementing a series tradition: stories told by women and non-binary creators of color, all starring queer witches of color.
P&M Press is now taking submissions for POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics AnthologyVolume 2.
First, there was the award-winning POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology… then, our “spirit”-ed interstitial volume, Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS… and now,POWER & MAGIC returns with a full-length Volume 2, bigger and better than ever before!
The POWER & MAGIC SERIES is all about queer witches of coloras icons of female power. Witches represent rebellion, transcendence, healing, feminine monstrosity, so-called “deviance,” and interconnectedness – with the cosmos, with their bodies, and with each other. These anthologies exist as a space for women of color to explore gender, power, struggle, selfhood and community, all in the context of compelling fantasy comics for young adult readers (and up)!
Submission Period
Submissions will be open to the public from February 11th - March 10th (11:59 PM Pacific Time).
Who Can Participate
To submit to POWER & MAGIC Volume 2, both of the following must apply to you:
You are a person of color.
You identify – whether fully or partially or complicatedly – as a woman. This can include cis women, trans women, bigender people, two-spirit people, demi-girls, questioning-but-leaning-woman-aligned, etc. Sex assigned at birth is irrelevant. We’re looking to represent womanhood as a spectrum rather than a fixed point.
For team submissions: At least the writer must meet the above criteria.
If you’re a member of a long-standing comics partnership that includes a white writer and an artist of color, you may pitch together so long as the partner of color plays an equal-or-greater role in determining the story.
If two submissions are equally matched, the team whose members all meet the criteria will be prioritized.
Use #CovenSearch on social media to find teammates!
Age Restrictions
All contributors must be 18 years or older. All content must be suitable for readers as young as 14 years old.
Specifications
Comics from 2 - 10 pages long (must be an even number)
6” x 9” trim size (template will be provided)
Bleed? Yes.
Black & White or Grayscale (no screentones, please)
600 dpi
.PSD final files
Timeline
Selection Process (Feb 2019 - Apr 2019)
Open Submissions: 2/11 - 3/10 (4 weeks)
Selection Period: 3/11 - 3/24 (2 weeks)
Acceptance Emails/Pitch Feedback: 3/25
Paperwork: 3/25 - 4/1 (1 week)
Creation Period (Apr 2019 - Sep 2019)
Script: 4/1 - 4/21 (3 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 4/22 - 4/28 (1 week)
Thumbnails: 4/29 - 5/12 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 5/13 - 5/19 (1 week)
Pencils: 5/20 - 6/23 (5 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 6/24 - 6/30 (1 week)
Inks: 7/1 - 7/21 (3 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 7/22 - 7/28 (1 week)
Toning & Shading: 7/29 - 8/11 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 8/12 - 8/18 (1 week)
Lettering: 8/19 - 9/1 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 9/2 - 9/8 (1 week)
Final Files Due: 9/15
Kickstarter (October 2019)
Payment (November 2019)
Compensation
Contributors will be compensated at $106/page plus any Kickstarter bonuses unlocked through stretch goals. Contributors also receive a minimum of 10 complimentary copies of the anthology, royalties on all digital sales, and royalties on any future print runs of the anthology after the first printing sells out.
Rights
Creators will cede exclusive first worldwide print and digital rights to their stories for a full calendar year from the date of publication, and non-exclusive worldwide print and digital rights in perpetuity. Ownership remains with the creators.
What We *WANT*
Previously unpublished stories.
At least one protagonist must be a queer woman of color (or woman-aligned).
At least one character must be a witch, and at least one witch character must be a queer woman of color (or woman-aligned).
The queer woman of color protagonist(s) must be human or human-appearing.
Any era, any location, any type of witch – real or folkloric or invented.
Fantasy elements! How fantastical or understated is up to you.
Peaceful stories, sad stories, triumphant stories, funny stories, failure stories, action stories, love stories – the full spectrum of humanity is welcome. The catch: it must end “positively.” Everything doesn’t have to work out, but we’d prefer for stories to end on a note of hope or new understanding or resilience, etc, even if things go wrong.
What We *DON’T* Want
No fan works. No auto-bio. No prose. No one-off illustrations.
Comics that are already finished or that you’ve already started drawing.
Meet-cutes (“Two people meet and crush at first sight, the end”). A meet-cute may occur within the story, but it can’t be the whole story.
Horror: Your story can use fear and danger as plot elements, but if instilling fear/existential dread in the reader is the overarching goal, this is the wrong anthology.
Tolkienian fantasy: no elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. We won’t freak out if you make something up that’s very loosely(!) inspired by any of these (unless it replicates the problematic elements of Tolkien’s work, in which case your work will not be accepted).
Cursing is permitted as long as words aren’t used literally (i.e. “Shit, you scared me!” as opposed to “Let’s go shit in the woods!”) and are used very sparingly when used at all. In general, we’d prefer not.
No porn. No references to specific sexual acts. No explicit nudity whether sexual or non-sexual (sorry, folks). “Consensual fade-to-black sex between legal adults” is fine.
No depictions of abuse (sexual, physical, psychological) whether pictorial or written. Characters may vaguely reference (in non-graphic language) abuse that they have suffered in the past if doing so serves the story or is integral to the character.
No gore. People can get hurt, bleed, die, etc, but not in a grossly over-the-top way that fetishizes violence.
No slurs, no racism (not even “gnomes hate all faeries” fantasy racism), no misogyny, no transphobia, no ableism, no xenophobia, and no white supremacist nonsense in general. (And please, no stories whose sole purpose is to teach that these things are bad.)
Here’s what you’ll need to complete your submission:
A working title and page count for your comic (doesn’t have to be exact).
A synopsis of your story, including a beginning, middle, and end. Spoil everything, but try to keep it under 500 words.
Preliminary sketches associated with your pitch: character ideas, important creature designs, environment concepts (the latter is especially important if your portfolio lacks strong examples of background art), etc. These don’t need to be final or polished pieces! Just detailed enough to give us an idea.
Links to any relevant publishing credits (whether you’re writing the comic, drawing it, lettering it, or doing everything yourself). Self-published works and webcomics count as credits! Choose examples that best reflect the style you intend to use for this comic. You may simply include a link to your portfolio if you have no pre-existing credits, but please note that folks with sequential storytelling examples will receive preference.
Tell us about yourself and anyone else working with you, your cultural and artistic background(s), and why you want to be in POWER & MAGIC Volume 2. Short and sweet is best!
More Questions?
Check out the FAQ. If your answer isn’t there, Ask away!
Missed the Kickstarter? Help us try something new!
U.S. folks can now pre-order ★POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology Volumes 2 and 1★ through our shop directly, now through January 15th, 2020!
That includes both the above Power and Magic comics anthologies as well as the gorgeous hardcover edition of Heartwood: Nonbinary Tales of Sylvian Fantasy. Go check it out! ✨🌈🧙🏿♀️🌕🔥
Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS is the immediate follow-up to POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology, an award-winning collection of fantasy stories exalting the witch as an archetype of feminine power.
InIMMORTAL SOULS,queer witches of color delve deep into the darker sides of magic: astral planes, necromancy, visions of death, and communion with the spirits of our world… and the beyond.
This DRM-free PDF edition is black-and-white, 120 pages long, and contains 10 original stories created entirely by women of color and non-binary people of color.
From the euphoria of holding the stars in your grasp, to the sacrifices we make to reach them, the POWER & MAGIC ANTHOLOGY SERIES explores what it means to be a person of power in all its complexity.
The Kickstarter for POWER & MAGIC Volume 2 ends TOMORROW AFTERNOON (11/9)!
They’re almoooost there at $44,733 of their $52,900 goal - if they meet it
20 new comics by queer creators of color get to see print:
The witch is a symbol of power for women across the world. She
represents defiance, transcendence, healing, feminine monstrosity, and
connection with the natural and supernatural worlds. From her wands and
flora, to her bonds of kinship, POWER & MAGIC VOLUME 2
explores what gives each witch her power and how she’ll choose to use
it. Whether you’ve been longing for the new volume, or just discovering
the series for the first time, we can’t think of a better way to
celebrate the witchiest month of the year than backing POWER & MAGIC and supporting queer witches of color!
Who Is The Silhouette? is a paid comics anthology that asks the question “What makes a Superhero?” and explores a diverse range of possibilities. Each comic in the collection will explore a unique possible story based on the intro prompt. We want aliens, robots, mutants. We want queer heroes, straight heroes, trans and non-binary heroes. We want heroes of every color, background, age and ability. We want super strength, speedsters, telepaths, cyborgs, gadget users, martial artist and everything in between. We want your stories about what a hero can be. Check out our submissions guidelines! We’d love to hear from you!
