What it's Like to Edit A Comic

My first experience editing comics with a sci-fi anthology

*Please note that this post contains a link to volume zero of the comic I editefiliate link. If you have Kindle Unlimited, the comic is free!

All comics have to start somewhere. The origin story of Cosmic Journeys began when I created a group of Comics Experience alumni on Slack. We were all in talks about our our projects and frustrated about how difficult it was to get our work out there in the world. We started throwing around the idea that we should just do our own anthology and not have to answer to anyone but ourselves. After many polls and discussions, we decided to start with a sci-fi theme.

I was unanimously voted as the editor and “Overlord.” My nickname was out of love and respect and it always made me laugh. Everyone trusted me to make decisions as well as edit and project manage. So what what the first step? Meetings. Lots and lots and meetings. I wanted to keep everything as diplomatic as possible since this was everyone’s baby. And that is exactly what we did. Everyone had a say, and we came up with guidelines such as all scripts needed to be 5-10 pages and the like. After we got the ball rolling, the real editing began.

I received at least 10 scripts for this project. I was in charge of keeping deadlines and providing feedback. The cool thing was, everyone was providing feedback so it was a real community effort. Looking back, I would opt for a more streamlined approach and just have my coeditor and I providing feedback. I say this because when there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, deadlines can be easily missed and sometimes too much feedback for writers can confuse them. Imagine if you had four different kinds of feedback and you didn’t know which one to choose. None are wrong, it’s just a lot for a writer.

I eventually hit a point where I had to decide which pieces made it into the anthology. It’s hard not to feel bad rejecting a piece, but as the editor, you have to make tough calls. I come from a place of support and kindness in everything I do, so I broke it gently to the writers whose pieces weren’t a good fit. There was so much work to be done on a few pieces, and we just were not going to get there. That’s one thing as a writer and editor you have to understand: sometimes pieces just can’t be saved. My coeditor and I put in hours of work with some writers and it just wasn’t going to happen. Sometimes editors and writers clash, and in the end, you have to do what’s best for everyone. And that can be rejecting a piece.

The next steps were getting creators to keep deadlines, copyediting, artwork development, and production as a whole. i had so much help with the production piece, I can’t even say I did any of it. We had some real experts that got things into the right file format and ready for Amazon.

All in all, I learned so much. There were organizational processes I would have done differently and details I would have added into contracts about meeting deadlines. We did all the work for free too (there’s no way we could have produced it without doing this), and moving forward, I am going to charge for my writing and editing. I had a great time with my group and am so proud of what we created.

If you want to check out our comic, you can find volume zero below!