(Note: Our deadline of August 7 is the deadline for guaranteed consideration. We consider this deadline to be flexible on a discretionary basis. Contact us with an extension request if need be.)

You’re invited to participate in the biggest event this year in the small, small world of mini-comics!

BAM!: The Big-Ass Mini!

What is it?:

BAM! is going to be a giant anthology of mini-comics and other independent comics collected into a 300-500 page, professionally printed, on-demand trade paperback with black white interior pages and a full color cover.
The idea is simple, all you have to do is donate anywhere from 1-50 pages of one of your mini-comics, or even create something new, and it will likely be included in BAM! Your compensation will be in the form of increased exposure, at-cost wholesale access to as many copies of BAM! as you please, and of course all the fun that comes with participation in a runaway train project like BAM!.

How are we going to pull this off?
BAM! will be printed on demand, which means no overhead, no mandatory investments, no money changing hands, basically no worries. On-demand printing can be very expensive due to set-up fees, but as the page count increases, the more cost effectivity comes into play. Basically, if you’re going to do it, do it big! That’s why all we need is tons and tons of great mini-comic content.

All rights will be retained by the original artists, so there are no worries about your creations being abused by greedy publishers. The editors of BAM! are putting this project together as a service to the self-publishing community. BAM!, the publication itself, will actually be owned by you, the contributors. All of the conditions will be spelled out in a “Terms of Agreement,” which every participant (including the editors) will adhere to.

Because we are eager to accomadate your concerns, we will be posting a rough draft of the “Terms of Agreement” for this project in hopes that you will help us mold it into an airtight agreement to protect everyone’s butts. The final draft, however, will be penned by our legal help (David Recine’s lawyer!)

As a contributor to BAM!, you will receive at-cost access to the book (projected between $10-$15), which you are free to sell, distribute, or just enjoy at your liberty. Our goal is to increase the exposure of our comics as much as possible to not only readers but particularly the press. At this point, the projected release date of BAM! is for Small Press Expo 2006 in October, so hold onto your hats!

Who’s idea was this?
The editors include Ian Harker, David Recine, Ray Frenden, and maybe even you! Your help is more than appreciated; this is going to be a team effort, so the more the merrier. If you are interested in participating on the editorial staff of BAM!, just ask.

OK, I’m in! Now what do I do?
Due to time constraints, we strongly encourage you to submit works that are already completed and have been published or that you plan to publish. However, there will be a separate process for those who wish to submit original, never-been-seen-before comics. The only content restrictions are no copyright infringement and no hardcore pornography. The book can be rated R or even NC-17, just not XXX. We also ask that you remove any advertisements from your comics (besides those that advertise your own publications) before submitting, otherwise we will remove them for you.
Before we get to the comics itself, we need a cover and a logo. So please feel free to post any full-color artwork you have laying around, or even cook up something new. The logo for BAM! will be designed separately, so post some logo ideas as well. When the time comes to select the cover art and logo, everybody will vote on which ones will be used in the final printed version of BAM!

For comics pages, what we need you to do at this point is post a page count or projected page count, the title (if possible), genre, and short description of your story, as well as a sample page of art. This will give everyone, including the editors, an idea of what to expect from BAM!

After that, you may submit your pages to David Recine at davidrecine(at)gmail(dot)com, in a ZIP folder if possible. If your e-mail has issues with the size of your attachment, you might want to use this site: http(colon)//www(dot)yousendit(dot)com/. (Sorry, these boards won't let me post actual URLs til my 15th post, I guess.) If you don't have scanner access or would prefer to have the editor take care of scanning, send a hard copy of your submission to: David Recine, 1440 Badger Ave. Eau Claire, WI 54701. Disks of your digital files may also be sent to that address. CDs ONLY. NO FLOPPYS, PLEASE!

Submissions can range from a fraction of a page to 50 pages. For layout purposes (and to increase one’s chances of inclusion), try to make submissions that are less than one page take up exactly half of a page.
If your submission has been printed elsewhere before, please make note of the time, date, and original venue it was published in, if possible.
Those who are contributing longer pieces are encouraged to include a cover page. Everyone is encouraged to provide some autobiographical information. If you give us the basics, we can write a short bio. If you want to write your own auto-bio blurb, that’s cool too.

For best results, greyscale digital submissions should be formatted as JPEGS, scanned between 200 DPI and 300 DPI. Black and white/bitmap submissions should be formatted as GIFS, scanned between 400 DPI and 600 DPI. If you can’t quite get the formatting right, the editors will work with the images. You will be notified of any reformatting. If the resolution or look of the image is changed, it will be run by you again for your approval.

We will begin to compile this material into a first draft that will be available for review by the contributors before the final printing. Although we will be handling your pages, we hold no right to do anything with them until the “Terms of Agreement” are signed by you prior to printing. Not everything submitted will be included in the final printed version of BAM! We are looking to be as fair and inclusive with the selection process as possible. The contributors themselves will be ultimately responsible for the final cut of BAM! and will be involved in the editorial process throughout the development.
The due date for previously published comics is August 7th. This will give you a couple of weeks to scan any stuff that you do not have readily available as digital files. For those who wish to submit original materials, we ask that you at least submit sample pages by the August 7th deadline in order for us to hold a spot in the final book. You will have until September 15th to submit the final pages for inclusion into the first draft of BAM! (All deadlines can, of course, be worked with; just contact an editor if you have any concerns.)

We will also be reviewing any editorial articles you may wish to submit to BAM! throughout the process. We view BAM! as both an introduction and a celebration of the tradition of mini-comics and self publishing. If you have anything that you would like to write about this world, feel free to send it along; we are looking for as much content as we can handle.
Any questions at all feel free to contact Ian Harker at givemefreedom2001(at)yahoo(dot)com or for any technical question contact David Recine at davidrecine(at)gmail(dot)com.

Ain’t nothin to it but to do it! We’re exited to have you aboard, remember the first deadline is August 7th! Time’s a-wastin! What are you still reading this for? Get crackin!

- Ian Harker, David Recine 7/22/06

I am seriously interested in this, yet the only comic I might be able to include would be Happy Smiley Valley of Death, and I am nowhere near to completion with that, so that sorta puts me out of the game on this one, huh?

(EDIT) If this link doesnt work, use the one in my signature. I know that one does.

Your HVSOD link doesn't work.

In answer to your question—- if you wanted, you could give us a few teaser sample pages with the URL of the prject at the bottom of the last page of your submission. This book is intended to (in part) be a catalog for what's out there, so a preview or a compliation of what you've done so far, with info on where to see mroe is perfectly acceptable. If you're in the very early stages of it, a page of sketches with the URL to your site might be considered. If you're comfortable sending in an incomplete teaser/preview, fire away!

Sounds good, and i got the perfect short-story for it.

http://www.drunkduck.com/Fullmoon_Stories/index.php?p=47879

I just need to convert the pages to grayscale, but then im sending them over. :)

Kennedy— I think this is a pretty fun idea, which is why I signed on when they were looking for an editor. This particular model of publsihing and distribution is fairly experimental; I appreciate people likeyou being willing to sign on and see what happens.

Vegax— don't forget to also submit the images in print resolution rather than screen resolution. That means (ideally) at least 200 dpi. This may mean rescanning the images, even relettering them, but trust me, screen resolution images look pretty awful in print. If you absolutely can't get them to me at that resolution, I'll see if I can work with what I'm given, but definitely try to get ‘em to me high-res. (BTW: Good work. Your style is distinctive, yet somehow familiar. Have you done stuff elsewhere on the web or in print that I might’ve seen before? Or is it just deja vu?)

don't forget to also submit the images in print resolution rather than screen resolution

Oh, don't worry. The original pages are in VERY high quality. 3200x5300 and in 600dpi. ;)

Your style is distinctive, yet somehow familiar. Have you done stuff elsewhere on the web or in print that I might've seen before? Or is it just deja vu?)

I've done many comics thru the years, you might have seen one of those. The latest of them being “Warped up” and “Nightgate”

Jim Man looks nice (funny too). Remember, everyone— convert to greyscale and send the images in at print resolution.

I'm interested. I have a few things that I could submit, such as a ton of one page or small part of a page comics like these: Comic Debris
I also am working on comic called Successor, but its still very imcomplete at the moment. And there is a chance I could get most of the 10 pages of the first chapter done by August 7th. You can see the first page here: 1st page
Plus maybe a little 5 page unfinished comic I have

Phear— just checked out your site. Just so you know, we haven't had any short one panel or four panel gags submitted to us yet, so the extra variety would be welcome.

I'm also interested. I've drawn up a soft-core pornographic adventure that absolutely has to be published. Who do I call to get published?

marine
I'm also interested. I've drawn up a soft-core pornographic adventure that absolutely has to be published.

Yeah…. :roll:

That brings us to the question, I hope the book doesn't publish ANYTHING and that it has some kind of quality control?

VegaX— Our amount of quality control ultimately depends on the submissions we get. Our goal is 500 pages, we need at least 300. The submissions are pouring in, but if they somehow top off at near or around 300, we'll probably print everything we get. Assuming we get more than we need to print or can print (I'm optimistic), Harker and I will be rating each submission on a 1-to-3 scale and bumping stuff that's lower rated. We haven't ruled out sexual material or nudity. Having said that, most stuff of a purely pornographic nature tends to make for a kinda dull read and is more likely to get a lower rating.

Marine— if you think your story is exceptionally good, send it in. The fact that you characterize it as “pornographic” will not automatically rule it out.

VegaX— if you're worried about whehter or not you can show this book to your kids/mom/nieces and nephews/extremely religious friend/whatever, remember— this is print on demand, meaning the book can be customized. If enough contributors request an all-ages version of the book with the more adult stuff removed, it can potentially be arranged, and I'm going to place an inquiry about it with Harker and the other BAM assistants right away. I would actually like access to such an alternate version as well, as I plan to market this book to minors as well as adults.

Oi, the only thing I have up right now in my comic is what do you know? A short story of six pages since I'm currently rearranging the order of the chapters.

Title: Origin
Page #: 6
Short Summary: According to the legend of St. George, all the dragons were slain by him and his knights, saving maidens and taking all their riches – however, the short story is told throuhg the eyes of one of the survivors of the Dragon's Holocaust.

Sample Page:


Uh… does that mean I send it to you now via e-mail, or do I wait for the okay?

Loki: Good stuff, I look forward to seeing the whole thing.

Kennedy: Yes, we're defintiely still going. I've been srting though submissions like a mad fool; hundreds of pages have rolled in and continue to roll in. We have a blog now: http://bigassmini.blogspot.com .

Actually, I just ducked back in here to post an update thread. Look for it in a few minutes aaaand: THANK YOU ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR OVERWHELMING AND TALENTED RESPONSE THUS FAR!