INKSHOT is not [i reapeat, NOT] taking in any more script or art submissions. we already have around 50 comics - most are done and some still in production - so we can’t deal with editing new ones for the time being. we still don’t know if there will be a volume 2 yet [we’re trying to find a home for vol. 1] but all of the good names that have come after we shut the door are being put on a list to be invited to submit next year. also, all of the artist positions have been taken; any new artist will only be called in case one of the current ones drop out [this has already happened - see previous posts]. thank you very much to all who have submitted stuff.

Portão das propostas de HQ: fechado

a INKSHOT não está mais [repito: NÃO] aceitando propostas de roteiro ou arte. já temos cerca de 50 HQs - a maioria já pronta e algumas em produção - então não temos mais como lidar com a edição de novas histórias por hora. ainda não sabemos se vai haver um volume 2 [estamos tentando achar uma casa pro vol. 1] mas todos os nomes legais que chegaram depois de fecharmos as portas estão sendo colocados em uma lista para serem convidados a propor material ano que vem. além disso, todas as vagas de desenhista foram preenchidas; qualquer desenhista novo só vai ser chamado no caso de algum dos que estão trabalhando agora ter de sair [isso já aconteceu antes - olha os posts anteriores]. muito obrigado a todos que mandaram material.

temos 3 roteiros sem desenhistas p\ ilustrá-los… e um deles é o meu. cada história requer um estilo específico. essas são provavelmente as últimas HQs novas a serem produzidas para a INKSHOT - para esse volume, pelo menos. se você é brasileiro e quer fazer parte desse projeto que logo vai ser publicado e tem chances de espalhar seu nome por aí, mande um link para seu portfólio online pro email hectorlima@gmail.com.

ATUALIZAÇÃO: JÁ ENCONTRAMOS OS DESENHISTAS! OBRIGADO A QUEM ENVIOU MATERIAL.

we have 3 scripts with no artists attached to them… one of said scripts being my own. each story requires a specific style. these are the possibly the last new comics to be produced for INKSHOT - for this volume, at least. if you are from Brazil and want to be part of this project that is soon to be published and likely to put your name out there, send a link to your online portfolio to hectorlima@gmail.com.

UPDATE: WE’VE FOUND THE ARTISTS! THANKS TO ALL WHO SUBMITTED.

Pablo and Felipe have been to FIQ [in Belo Horizonte] and put the INKSHOT doll in good hands. they got some pretty good reactions from it; authors and editors from both hemispheres of the globe had good things to say about it.

same from the people I talked to at Festcomix, a small comic fest in São Paulo. everybody is impressed by the project’s quality and can’t wait to see it in print. we don’t have a publisher yet, but that’s soon to change, from what we gather.

all brazilian and north-american comic publishers that put out similar books to INKSHOT have now a pdf in their inboxes that contains all the comics that are ready to run. if you are a publisher and wants to take a peek, let me know: hectorlima@gmail.com

so, Pablo and Felipe are heading to FIQ [Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos - International Comics Fest] this week, where they’ll show INKSHOT to some brazilian and american editors that will be attending, so look for them and bribe those guys with food and drinks if you want to take a peek.

I won’t be able to go, so I’ll stay in Headquarters shooting the pitch around to a very selected group of editors. if you want to see it and don’t get and email from me until the end of the day, drop a message to hectorlima@gmail.com.

[FIQ’s mascot - you have to be a little crazy to survive Comics; that’s what Seal’s song was about]

if you’re an INKSHOT creator.

emails are being sent and the whip is cracking. lots of comics have reached the finishing line of what i’ve got used to calling “The Rat Race” - which happens to be the informal name of the production spreadsheet for the anthology.

but there are some stories still in various stages of development which need to catch up. cue me putting on the ‘bad cop’ jacket.

if you don’t get a message from me until Friday drop me a line. let’s do some comics.

what’s up with Inkshot?

contrary to some assumptions, the anthology is alive and kicking. the Blogsome blogging service had some problems this week and the blog was down for a few days.

i had to stay away from Inkshot’s activities also because Goma [the Pop Culture blog i edit] was moved to a paid server and signed a partnership with a news portal. I apologise for lack of news here.

but starting this Monday i’ll try to post a story preview a day, and everybody who’s producing an approved comic for the project will have an update on the status of their project. stay tuned.

a post-in progress:

- any brazilian comic author can submit material;

- copyrights remain with authors of each comic;

- stories must be told in 3 to 5 B&W pages, nothing more, nothing less;

- final files must be delivered in high-res 300 dpi Tiffs.

- format is standard “american” comic-size;

- lettering guidelines are being provided by those who reach this step;

- there’s no common theme to the stories, or a preferred genre;

- we’re going after good stories in good scripts, first and foremost;

- editors reserve the right to refuse a script they don’t feel is working;

- production of all comics is being supervised from storyline to lettering;

- we do pair writers and artists, but with time this gets harder to do;

- we do provide translation from Portuguse to English for approved dialogue;

- first deadline was July 1, next one to be announced;

- main goal is to get publication through an American or European publisher;

- brazilian publishers will be contacted as well - so we need two set of files;

- financial compensation will come from back-end sales revenue.

Most of INKSHOT’s scripts have been written in Brazilian Portuguese. since our primary - but not only - goal is to get this anthology published in English, we must have all dialog and caption lines presented in the language of Ye Old Country.

I am translating them with the authors, but i needed more eyes and an extra brain to catch tiny mistakes and better contextualize the text. this the most difficult thing to do when you think in your mother language and not in the one the story is going to be published in.

this is why i’ve welcomed the help of a friend who offered his services to our project. Rodolfo S. Filho is a freelance journalist with articles published in magazines like BRAVO, VEJA AND VIDA SIMPLES; is one of Brazil’s first bloggers, a writer and a professional translator whose most recent gig was doing the Brazilian Portuguese version of the late Heath Ledger’s biography. an avid reader, in 2008 he moderated a panel called “For a Brazilian Science Fiction Critique” in the Invisibilities literary event at Itaú Cultural.

Rodolfo has been a friend since we met online and he - along with Pablo and Sobreiro - was a regular in my [now closed] message board; and, who would have known, we’re almost neighbours now in the Big City of São Paulo. ah, the internet… bringing nerds together.

these are some of the published comic anthologies that have inspired us for doing INKSHOT. in the “Links” section at the sidebar you can learn more about them. if you get an error message, please click the link provided with it.

We’ve recently been joined by two girls debuting in Comics with INKSHOT [if I not mistaken] and coming from a background in professional prose writing:

Simone Campos is the author of 3 novels. her fist book - NO SHOPPING [AT THE MALL] was published in 2000 when she was only 17. her latest work is AMOSTRAGEM COMPLEXA [COMPLEX SAMPLING], a collection of short stories released in February 09. follow Simone on Twitter here.

Ana Cris Rodrigues has had shorts published in two anthologies and a collection of her own SF and Fantastic tales appeared in ANACRÔNICAS [ANACHRONICALS]. Ana is President of the SciFi Readers Club and can be followed on Twitter here.