The Winter Slump
Hello!
Today, we're taking a peek inside the editorial side of things and talking about what I affectionately refer to as the "winter slump."
What is the Winter Slump?
The winter slump is the period between the week of American Thanksgiving and the first week of January when things get slow in the world of comics publishing. Something I talk about a lot on this blog is just how many people go into making every single comic. I work on a lot of licensed comics, so in addition to the writer, the artist/art team (pencillers, inkers, colorists, etc), letterers, designers, and any other editors I might be working with for creation of the comic, I'm also working with accounting folks and licensors who review the material and sales and marketing folks and printers and distributors and whoever else--all before it gets to the shop who gets it to you. A copy of Sonic the Hedgehog or Batman or whatever passes though a lot of hands.
But that also means that when we reach the extended holiday season in the U.S., there are more opportunities for one or more of the people in the chain to not be around. People take vacations, offices close, etc. Combined with the inherent nature of how long it takes for comics to be printed and distributed, it means any comics that are still in production this time of year are actually for release in the following year. So, editors like me find ourselves looking at a desk with no more books for this calendar year, various people we work with taking off, and hopefully, a tight hold on what's left to do as the clock on 2022 runs out. Work slows down a bit. What that opens up is more time for things that've been delayed and future planning, and that's why this time should matter to you, even if you aren't in editorial.
How does it help you?
Now is a good time to touch base with someone you've been wanting to work with editorially. They might not have anything at the exact moment, but they might be planning for late '23-2024 and know that in January or February they're going to be looking for folks and this is a chance to get back on their radar early. If you're hoping to hear back on a portfolio, now might be a good time to bump it back up their inbox. For example, I made my plans for the next work week at the end of this week and the majority of what I'm doing is getting back to people who have been very patiently waiting for a longer response and getting my future planning done. It's not a bad thing to touch base at a time when you expect editors and other hiring folks might have more flexibility than usual.
The caveat to all of that is editors are people too. They may be out of office for whatever reason around this time period. And if something's on fire, because they may be suffering from reduced support along the chain, they might have even less time than usual. There's the risk that you might still not get what you're hoping for, but the risk isn't any worse than at any other time you're emailing an editor, but the chances of a faster and more thorough response are higher.
What should you say?
So, editors might have more time because things are slower on their end. You wanna take advantage of that. What do you say to them? There are three main tactics.
1. The holiday check-in! Simple and easy, if you're just looking to touch base briefly, you can always drop them a line saying you hope they have a good holiday season. Maybe you can include a digital holiday card you drew, which usually goes over well.
2. The helping hand! If you genuinely have time in your schedule, reaching out to an editor and saying "hey, I'm still around and free through the end of the year if you need help on X" might be the solution to a problem they have. Since remaining deadlines tend to be tight this time of year, you might manage to offer your assistance at just the right time to get something done, which the editor will remember.
3. The portfolio follow-up! It doesn't necessarily have to be for your portfolio, but if you emailed an editor previously and haven't heard back yet, sending a follow-up specific to whatever you had originally contacted them about is not a bad idea. If it is related to a portfolio--including a writing portfolio--sending an "end-of-year" update can be really nice. Take it as a chance to brag about what you've done in 2022.
Whatever you do, just remember to be polite and understanding as it's a hope this editor's actually got a winter slump.
And just to get ahead of things: I'm only sending out two more updates this year! Not sure what next week's will be, but 12/17 I've got some goodbyes to say to something important to me. We'll be off the last two weeks of the year and back in January after that!
Things I've been enjoying this week:
Getting the first gifts wrapped and under the tree. The Tick (TV show). Candy canes. Honkai Impact (Video game). Sonic Frontiers (Video game). Chainsaw Man (Anime & Manga). Spy x Family (Anime). My Hero Academia (Anime). Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang-Out (Anime). My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer (Manga). A couple of WIPs I've got going. Our Pokemon card advent calendar. My friend Zac Boone who I got to see yesterday for a bit. The Simpsons (TV show). According to Spotify and adding in my non-Spotify listening, I listened to Lizzo for over 24 hours this year! That's pretty good! And the Rise of the Beasts trailer looked alright, as did the new Indiana Jones one!
New Releases this week (11/30/2022):
Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Gigan (I didn't actually work on this, but the team that did is awesome and you should check it out)
New releases next week (12/7/2022):
Sonic the Hedgehog #55 (Editor)
Transformers: Best of Windblade (Editor--our penultimate TF book)
Godzilla Monsters & Protectors: All Hail the King #3 (Editor! My first Godzilla book!)
Final Order Cutoff--Last chance for your store to guarantee release day copies for you (12/5/2022):
Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island #4
Pic of the Week:
I got new glasses and I think they look pretty sharp. I like the frames on my face.
Also, speaking of Rise of the Beasts, just a reminder that Beast Wars Volume 3 is available in my shop now!
- David