Wayward Kindred submissions are now closed.

TO Comix Press is starting up an exciting new anthology, and we want you to be a part of it!

From the publisher of Wayward Sisters and Shout Out comes a monstrous new anthology! Wayward Kindred will use monster and human characters to explore the ways that our differences bring us closer to, or divide us from, our families.

These stories will explore aspects of ourselves that feel rejected or ignored by the people who should be the most important in our lives, or, in contrast, differences that can bring our families closer together. We’re looking for stories of strange and gruesome family traditions, custody court for undead children, and families who stand together against pitchfork-wielding mobs.

The anthology will be led by Allison O'Toole (Wayward Sisters, Called into Being: A Celebration of Frankenstein), Ashanti Fortson (Galanthus, Heartwood, The Nib) and Kat Vendetti (Rolled & Told, Catalyst Prime).

The book will be a beautiful 200-page full-colour 6.625" × 10.25" book with 160 pages of artwork. It’ll be funded on Kickstarter in Winter 2019, and launch in May 2020.

While Wayward Sisters was restricted to women and non-binary creators, Kindred is open to creators of all identities.

What we’re looking for

We're interested in stories of monstrous families, but most interested in stories that feature a mix of human and monster characters. Siblings, cousins, parents and children, adoptive and foster families, long-term married couples, all are fair game!

Don’t feel constrained to the horror genre - send us a light-hearted romance, a Western, or a crime caper! We’d love to see some dramas exploring ways we can feel isolated or different from our families, but also warm stories that celebrate close-knit family units.

If your story is part of a larger series, make sure that a new reader can still follow the action. Stories should be aimed at as wide an audience as possible. We’re looking for pitches, and not comics that have already been completed or previously published.

Stories should be between 2 and 12 pages long, but the sweet spot is 6-8 pages. We also want a handful of short single-page comics and pin-ups.

What we’re NOT looking for

We’re looking to aim this at a Teen+ audience. Some violence and dark themes are expected, but please avoid excessive gore. We’re not looking for erotica.

Our definition of “monster” extends to any creature (preferably of supernatural rather than technological origin) that isn’t human. “Monster” is not intended as a reflection of values, so we are not looking for stories where the monster characters are merely human serial killers, cannibals, abusers, etc.

We’d like the story to show some sympathy for the monster - monsters can be mean and scary but, like in Wayward Sisters, we want to use monsters to celebrate many of the wonderful qualities that social norms would have us repress. Monsters can be bad guys, sometimes they are, but in general we’d prefer stories where we’re rooting for the monsters anyway - not rooting for their slayers.

Stories should not be pastiche, parody, or rely on existing IP. While we’d love to read your reimagining of Frankenstein featuring Victor’s biological children alongside his monster, we’re only looking for original stories and characters.

We love monster smooching as much as anyone, but monster romances are not the focus of this book. Stories that feature romance in a larger family setting are a-okay.

Inspirational Reading and Viewing list

Wolf Children (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
Ginger Snaps (dir. John Fawcett)
The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw
The Girl From the Other Side, Siúil, a Rún by Nagabe
In the Flesh (BBC, dir Dominic Mitchell)
“Skin Deep” by Elodie Chen from Wayward Sisters
The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya by Reimena Yee
Mushi-shi by Yuki Urushibara - particularly “In the Cage”
The Lost Boys (dir. Joel Schumacher)
Cronos (dir. Guillermo del Toro)
“Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler

Submitting a Story Pitch Submit your pitches via Google Forms Submissions will be open until June 9, 2019. Pitches should be 1-3 paragraphs describing what happens. Stories should have a beginning, middle, and end (please spoil the ending!). Please include at least a point-form summary of the sequence of events, as well as an estimated page count for the finished comic. Only a certain number of spaces are available, so we may decline stories for reasons of overlapping theme rather than quality. You can submit up to 2 story pitches.

Applying as an artist Submit your portfolio via Google Forms Artist Application will be open until June 9, 2019. If you pitched us a story as a writer but are also open to drawing someone else’s, you can indicate that in the “Writer Details” section of the artist submission form. Having sequential samples in your portfolio is a big plus!

We’ll pair unattached writers and artists, so you can submit without having a full creative team.

Payment

Creative teams will be paid $51 USD per page for a maximum of 12 pages. Half is paid up front, and the remainder a month after the Kickstarter completes. Creators will still be paid in the unlikely event the Kickstarter fails.

You can find more information about how that $51 is split between the creative team in the contract.

Comp Copies

All contributors will receive three free copies, and will be able to order additional books at a reduced cost. If the comic is completed before the Early Bird deadline, each member of the creative team will receive an extra ten copies for a total of thirteen each.

Rights and ownership

Artists and writers retain all rights to their work, and give us indefinite reprint license to include it in this anthology and reprints, as well as for use in digital copies and marketing materials.

You’ll grant us the right of exclusive first publication until Jan 1st, 2021. After that, you can submit the piece to other anthologies, display it in your website, or distribute it however you please. If you need a special exemption, just give us a shout and we can work something out.

You can find the full details of the contract at:
Preview Contract

Who we are

Allison O’Toole - Editor
https://www.allisonotoole.com
Allison is a Canadian editor who’s worked on comics including The Pitiful Human-Lizard, Seeress, and Called into Being: A Celebration of Frankenstein. As a kid, she dreamed of growing up and becoming a werewolf. Now she’s mostly given up on that dream, but hopes that the next best thing is helping invent the monsters she always wanted to read about. One of Rue Morgue’s Wicked Women to Watch in 2019!

Ashanti Fortson - Assistant Editor
https://ashantifortson.com
Ashanti Fortson is a cartoonist and illustrator with a deep love for kind stories and fantastical settings. They're interested in thoughtful storytelling, emotional reflection, and the many nuances of being human. They live with their partner and perfect gourdcat Pumpkin, and they hope to one day see the Milky Way.

Kat Vendetti - Assistant Editor
https://katvendetti1.wixsite.com/portfolio
Kat Vendetti is a freelance comics editor currently based in St. Louis. She previously worked on Lion Forge’s Rolled & Told and Catalyst Prime titles and is a former Head Editor of ComicsVerse.com, where you can also catch some of her writing credits!

TO Comix Press - Publisher
A Canadian micro-press with a history of releasing great books on schedule, and paying creators on time. Since our founding in 2014, we’ve sold over 10k books and raised over $140k on Kickstarter. We’ve been nominated for the Gene Day Award for excellence in self-publishing in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and were also nominated for the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Associations Aurora Award in 2016.

More info

If you have questions not answered here, you can reach Allison at allison [at] tocomix [dot] com.