The Tim’rous Beastie anthology project is now open for submissions. We’ll be accepting them between Dec 1st, 2016 and Jan 1st, 2017. The full list of anthology participants will be announced Jan 15th, except in the instance we receive more submissions than expected, in which case this may be extended 1 week to accommodate volume.
WHAT IS IT?
Tim’rous Beastie is a black-and-white comic anthology about small lives in a big, big world.
This is an anthology by and for those of us who grew up inspired by Redwall, The Deptford Mice, Rats of NIMH, and other tales of brave and imperiled critters defying their size and place in the natural order. We want to not only channel that inspiration into the medium of comics, but to approach familiar themes with fresh eyes.
Featuring fantasy, urban fantasy, and sci-fi, Tim’rous Beastie aims to explore the potential of stories told from a scale that, while still very human, makes even the mundane aspects of human life seem gigantic.
The anthology’s title is Scots for “timid little beast,” and from a line the 1785 Robert Burns poem, “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough (link),” which is also where the phrase “the best laid plans of mice and men” originates.
Tim’rous Beastie will be a joint venture, with Amanda Lafrenais as Managing Editor and Iron Circus Comics publishing and distributing.
PARTICIPANTS
The following creators are currently slated to appear in Tim’rous Beastie.
Stories of all genres – adventure, romance, horror, etc – about the lives of anthropomorphic intelligent animals. The acceptable level of anthropomorphism ranges from giving voices to realistic animals in their natural habitats to “civilized” creatures who wear pants, build homes, cook meals, and soforth. However, all the animals featured in creator submissions should be depicted in realistic scale with one another. Mice should be mouse-sized, cats cat-sized, and so on.
Think Mouse Guard, not Mickey Mouse.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT
Pin-ups and prose submissions.
This anthology will exclusively feature comics.
Excessively graphic content.
Like the books that inspired this anthology, we welcome darker themes, however they must be equivalent to a PG-13 movie rating. No profanity, nudity, erotica, or gore.
Proposals from incomplete creative teams.
If you’re an artist without a writer, or a writer without an artist, please find a partner before submitting your proposal.
Fanfic, fan art, or pastiche.
Please don’t submit stories using intellectual property you don’t own, or stories that are clearly referential of such work/take place in the same universe or reality.
Racist/xenophobic allegory.
Tim’rous Beastie will not accept stories that generalize or caricature entire species of animals as the equivalents of or stand-ins for human races or ethnic groups. We would also prefer it if submitted stories avoided the cliche of rats, weasels, snakes, and similar animals being inherently evil by design, and mice or bunnies as inherently good.
Cute mice vs. The World.
We won’t reject submissions with mice as protagonists, but we urge you to put more thought and originality into your stories than Cute Mouse Protagonist vs. Irredeemably Evil Whatever.
Examples
Some existing media that inspired or captures the spirit of Tim’rous Beastie:
Tim’rous Beastie will pay a $50 page rate, plus ten contributor’s copies per creator and the perpetual right to buy copies of the anthology for 50% off the cover price for as long as the comic is in print. There will also be a bonus for all contributors if the Kickstarter campaign does well.
Creators’ Rights
Creators submit stories to Tim’rous Beastie with the understanding that, if accepted, they are ceding exclusive first worldwide rights to the story for a full calendar year from the date of publication, and non-exclusive worldwide reprint rights in perpetuity. Intellectual property rights will remain in the hands of the creator. We don’t want your characters or concepts, just your comics.
Production Size
If your proposal is accepted, the final art must be designed to fit standard American graphic novel dimensions: 6.625″ × 10.25″. What this means for your production process depends on your choice of medium, but the following guides may be useful.
If you have any questions about this project which have not been addressed here, you can contact us at [email protected] or send a tumblr ask. Please read this page, including the FAQ, in its entirety before emailing us or sending a Tumblr ask. Thank you!
FAQ
Can my submission be grayscale? Or does “black and white” MEAN black and white?
Grayscale is just fine!
Can people outside the United States submit to this anthology?
Absolutely!
I am under 18 and/or will be turning 18 when the book comes out, can I submit?
No. For legal reasons we are only accepting submissions from people who are 18+ at the time of submission.
Can I submit more than one story proposal?
Yes, but please, try to keep the total number of stories you submit low, maybe to a maximum of three. We want your best ideas, not every single idea you have!
When will you need the finished pages by?
TBA.
Can my story have humans?
Humans may be alluded to or depicted as part of the world building, as in they can have an impact on the world the characters live in, but they themselves cannot be characters. This means small Beasties can have things like sardine can beds, teacup bathtubs, and framed postage stamps on their walls. Humans can also have an impact on the plot, much like in “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” wherein the events of the story are necessitated by the actions of the human farmers. But submitted stories cannot star these humans.
Can I make my submission about a non-existent fantasy creature?
No. While fantasy elements are allowed (magic, sorcery, the occult, etc), animals must represent real-world counterparts.
The latest Iron Circus Comics anthology is now accepting submissions! Please read the post above and click the links provided there for more information.
Conceived of and edited by ICC alum @littlefroggies, Tim’rous Beastie is a collection for those of us who grew up on Redwall, Watership Down and other sagas of tiny critters on thrilling adventures in a big and dangerous world. But this time, Iron Circus is in charge. So expect the strange and amazing.
Fascinated? Curious? Wanna submit something? The Tim’rous Beastie tumblr has all details! But if you still have questions after reading? Direct any inquiries directly to that tumblr’s Ask box, where we’ll be sure to see them; it’ll help us build the FAQ.
And expect the invitee list soon!
Thanks for reading, everybody! Amanda and I are excited to see what you come up with!
