Manga Jiman Competition Announced!

In case you haven’t heard yet, the Japanese Embassy is once again running the Manga Jiman contest for manga artists in the UK.

To enter the contest, you draw a 6 – 8 page manga. This year’s theme is “the sun”, so your manga will have to make reference to that somehow. For rules and full details, visit http://bit.ly/Jiman.

The embassy sets up an exhibition with the winning entries, probably some time early next year. They don’t publish the entries in book form though, and this is where ITCH gets involved.

Last year, I gathered Jiman entries, both winning and not-winning, and published them together as Leek and Sushi’s Manga Show. The anthology was very well received, so I will try to do a similar thing again this year.

It will probably look nothing like this…

…but Leek and Sushi are likely to return.

Important thing to note: the competition and the anthology are organised separately. Entering the competition does not mean you automatically submit your manga for the anthology.

If you want to be in the anthology, you’ll have to e-mail me (Willie at itchpublishing dot com) to let me know you’re interested. Once the competition deadline passes, I’ll ask you to send me your entry, make a selection of the ones that will go into the book, and let you know how it goes from there.

Good luck if you’re entering! You may find my article on writing short comics useful, or my post on editing your script so it’s shorter.

If you’re interested in being in the book, check out some Q&A on it below the fold.

Can I be in the book if I win/don’t win?

Yes. Winning the competition and being in the book have nothing to do with each other. Whether you win a prize or not, entries sent to the Manga Jiman competition remain your property. You have the copyright and can publish it yourself, sell it, or do whatever you want with it (you can only publish it AFTER the competition is over though!)

One of the things you can do with your manga is submit it to ITCH so I can consider it for inclusion in the Leek & Sushi book, which will come out early next year.

Will you take my copyright if I submit my entry to you?

Nope. You keep the copyright and can publish it yourself in any way you like (online, or as part of a collection of your own short comics, for instance.) You only extend the right to me to publish your story as part of this anthology.

Will I get paid if my story is included?

Sadly, no. ITCH is a very small scale operation, and doesn’t currently make any money (I’m in it for the comics, not the money.) Because the book will contain the work of so many people, any percentage of profits would be divided up into such tiny sums that it really isn’t worth your trouble.

By submitting your story to the anthology, you will allow it to reach a wider audience than it otherwise would. You, the creator(s) will also be introduced in the book and have an opportunity to talk about other work you have in print or promote your website or other work.

If you have any other questions or misgivings, let me know by leaving a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Tagged as: Jiman, Leek and Sushi