Shawn Sends a Submission to Dynamite Comics

I recently sent a query to Dynamite Comics. With my extensive background writing strong heroines in fantasy like the Isis series and YA novels like Spellbound I thought I’d be a great fit to work with their catalog of strong sexy heroines like Red Sonja and Vampirella.

I’d like to think I meet the basic qualifications to be a writer at Dynamite. I’ve read essential books on comics like Origins of Marvel Comics, Son of Origins and Bring on The Bad Guys and The Superhero women by Stan Lee in addition to thousands of comics over the last 30 years. I’ve read extensively about pulp magazines, the historical predecessor of Comic books that featured characters like Doc Savage, and The Shadow, the grandfather of Superman and Batman. And I’ve read books like Syd Field’s Screenplay and Robert McKee’s Story to further develop my writing craft.

Over the last decade I’ve honed my writing skills writing novels and novelettes featuring strong Black heroines. And in the five years I’ve been writing the books in the Isis series and the E’steem series I’ve learned how to work writing on a tight publishing schedule producing multiple titles in a year. Many of my readers say Isis and E’steem read like comic books, and they’re actually designed to be just like 2-3 issue story arcs in comics. Many people say I have a strong visual style to my writing and I’d love to actually see what a story I wrote would look like as a comic.

What would I contribute to Dynamite Comics as a writer? As a writer I’d like to think I could write comics with the same multidimensionality and depth that I put into the Isis series and the E’steem series and in my YA novels like Spellbound and The Thetas. One of the big problems I’ve noticed with superheroines is they aren’t usually written with any sort of depth and multidimesnonality and that’s why their characters never build a following and stories don’t resonate with a larger audience of readers. Many superheroines have a flashy look, but oftentimes their stories usually don’t have any substance. So most readers don’t relate to their characters or identifies with their experiences in a way that makes them care about them. I’d like to write those stories that gave the ladies the same depth and substance that the guys have, and hopefully reach a new audience of readers with my approach to storytelling.

And that approach to storytelling has had some success for me at SJS DIRECT. From my experience writing Isis and E’steem and books like The Thetas, Spinsterella and Spellbound I’ve been able to reach larger audiences of women and casual readers in America and in foreign markets on digital platforms. So I know with the right stories a series can not only get comic fans to take a look, but get new readers and casual readers to pick up a title and become regular readers. When readers pick up a story from SJS DIRECT like the recent Isis: Samurai Goddess or E’steem Little Girl Lost they often go back and pick up the previous titles in the series.

I really think I can build a following of readers in comics. Currently many people look for my comic book related videos on YouTube and many readers have been y comic book related blogs for years. So there’s an established audience of potential readers for Dynamite to capitalize on. If I announced I was writing for Dynamite it could possibly build some anticipation from a marketing perspective and might even lead to strong sales for any series of comics I worked on.  

Will I get a response from the editors at Dynamite? I don’t know. But if I got the opportunity to submit a sample to them I’d make an effort to give them my best work. And if I got a chance to work for them I’d try to submit stories on the same high level of quality I establish for my SJS DIRECT Universe titles. I’ve always wanted to work in comics, and I’m hoping for the opportunity to show a publisher what I have to offer as a storyteller one day.