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ALAKAZAM NEEDS YOUR HELP!

HELP US CREATE A GRAPHIC NOVEL

September 1, 2009

We've whittled the book down to about 134 pages.

I think it's an amazing book! It has a lot of remembrances, writings, drawings, photos, etc. A lot of very talented people have contributed to our book, and I can't wait for everybody to see it. I think you will all be pleased!

At this point, Holly and Marco are the main editors, although we have asked a few friends to help us edit the book as well. We are busy editing pdfs of the book, but have also sent a request to our printer for a proof - so that we can see what it looks like in real life.

Hopefully, we are going to get all the revisions done by September 9th and then send the book to our printer on the 10th and have the copies ready to sell on October 1st.

Keep your fingers crossed!

August 10, 2009

Here is the scoop so far.

First of all, I wanted to thank everybody who submitted something already! You guys are awesome!

We are almost ready to go to print. We have about 140 pages done, from about 60 different contributors. We also extended the final deadline one more time to allow some very talented writers and artists to finish up their entries. The final deadline is now August 21st. So if you still want to submit something, please email it today or bring it to the store.

We're planning on printing the book in September and starting to sell it on October 1. The price will be $14.99 with 20% of the proceeds to go to the Echo Park Film Center - a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles that teaches kids how to make films.

If you've already submitted something (either through email or in person) rest assured that we have received your entry and it is being considered for publication. Some time after August 21 (the final dealine) we will attempt to email everybody who submitted something to let them know whether or not their submission will make it into the graphic novel.

Right now it appears that everyone's entry will be published in some form. The majority of entries are being published "as is". Some entries had to be edited for two reasons. (the entry needed to be a little more "family friendly" or the the entry was just too long and needed to be shortened a little).

Anybody who gets printed will be able to buy as many copies as they want at a discounted price. We're not sure what that price is going to be yet - however we expect the discount will be between 30% to 50% off the cover price.

If you have any questions, please email Marco.

June 2, 2009

We are creating a section in the graphic novel for short stories. Short stories have to be 250 words or less. We are offering prizes to the best short stories ($75, $20, $10 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place). The submission could be fiction or non-fiction and should be about Alakazam, anything that we sell here, or something unique and interesting that happened to you during the last 10 years. Submissions can be emailed to alakazamcomics@aol.com.

April 14, 2009

Hi Everyone! We've had a good response to our request for submissions to our Graphic Novel. However, we haven't yet received enough entries to create an entire graphic novel. We still need more entries!

For those that don't know, this year is Alakazam's 10th anniversary year, and as part of our celebration we are publishing a commemorative Graphic Novel/Scrapbook. (See Guidelines).

We are extending our deadline for submissions! Deadline is now May 31st. We still plan to publish the graphic novel this year - but probably during the summer.

We are also broadening our topic. Before, the submission had to be about Alakazam Comics or something that we sell here. Now it can also be about something interesting or peculiar that happened to you during the last 10 years. Basically if we like it, our readers will probably like it as well.

These stories can be in the format of a comic page, a drawing, a short story, a poem - basically anything that is creative and highlights our store, anything we sell in our store, or anything that you think our readers would be interested in. MUST BE FAMILY FRIENDLY!

if you've been dying to get something in print or want to share what Alakazam has meant to you or have something witty to say about Yu-Gi-Oh, Batman, or Magic the Gathering, please submit something.

We will be giving prizes to the most creative and interesting submissions for our graphic novel. We have two different categories (Youth - 16 and under and Adult - 17 and over). There will be a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place award for each category. ($75, $20, and $10.00 gift certficates).

 

Click on the page numbers to see some of our submissions.

GUIDELINES

  1. We're planning on using lulu.com as our publisher.
  2. Graphic Novel will be approximately 150 pages.
  3. Interior pages will be in black and white. Cover will be in color.
  4. The graphic novel will sell at a price of $15.00 to $20.00.
  5. 20% of the profits will be donated to our favorite non-profit - The Echo Park Film Center.
  6. All submissions must be submitted by June 30th, 2009.
  7. You will be recognized/credited in the book but will not get paid for your submission.
  8. If you are a published artist/author (in print or on the internet) and you give us a short bio, we'll include it in the book.
  9. We will be publishing anywhere from 100 to 500 copies of this graphic novel.
  10. Graphic Novel will be 6.625" by 10.25". With a .5 margin all around and a 1.125" gutter.
  11. This means that what you submit should fit 5.5" by 9.25"formatting hints
  12. We'd prefer that you submit a PDF. Please email the PDF to alakazamcomics@aol.com
  13. If you can't submit a PDF, please bring the artwork to our store - Alakazam - 4237 Campus Dr., Ste. B162, Irvine, CA 92612.
  14. We will not be returning artwork so if you'd like to keep your artwork, please either send us a PDF or give us a high quality color copy.