Prism Comics welcomes submissions from both professional and amateur writers for its four main feature areas: Queer Eye on Comics, Color Commentary, Prism Webcomics and Spectrum.

Please note that—as Prism is a nonprofit charity—all work is unpaid. However, you will retain the copyright to your article or review for reprint purposes. You will also gain the benefit of exposing your writing skills to a wide and diverse audience—many visitors to our website and readers of our annual guide are not necessarily LGBT themselves or even ordinarily readers of comic books. Before submitting any work, please first e-mail the designated contact person with a brief description of your proposed article/review to ensure one of our other volunteers isn't already working on something similar.

Queer Eye on Comics

Contact David Stanley, editor, david@prismcomics.org

Queer Eye is an irreverently humorous look from an LGBT perspective at a comic book (from all eras—not just current releases) that lacks any overt LGBT content. Most members of the Queer Eye Review Crew have committed to writing a minimum number of reviews for the year and are on a recurring deadline schedule. However, guest reviewers can usually be plugged into the weekly rotation. Each reviewer is encouraged to have his or her own writing style, but the general guidelines for each review would be to:

• make it funny (this is paramount!)
• include a cover scan (many can already be found on the internet) and a sample panel or panels (if possible)
• review a single issue or collected storyline (i.e., no Archives and Masterworks type publications)
• have a length of 800-1000 words, plus creator credits and publication info
• comment on any possibly gay subtext

Contact Paige & Kevin Alexis, editors, pka@prismcomics.org

Color Commentary features a serious analysis of any comic book (from all eras—not just current releases) that has overt LGBT content. Unlike Queer Eye, these reviews are not posted on any set schedule, so the number of reviews featured each week will depend on the number of submissions. Please note that—while we want to promote quality comics with LGBT content—these reviews are not required to be favorable ones (even the best cook sometimes has a soufflé that flops). Each reviewer is encouraged to have his or her own writing style, but the general guidelines for each review would be to:

• include a cover scan (many can already be found on the internet) and a sample panel or panels (if possible).
• review a single issue or collected storyline (i.e., no Archives and Masterworks type publications)
• have a length of 800-1000 words, plus creator credits and publication info
• comment on the following areas: plot, writing, art, accessibility to new readers, gay themes or characters, overall appeal to gay audiences

Contact Scott Anderson, editor, scott@prismcomics.org

Prism Webcomics is a weekly showcase for original stories featuring LGBT characters or themes. Please note that we are NOT interested in stories with explicit sex, nudity, or foul language -- a good rule of thumb is to follow broadcast television standards. PrismComics.org is a website visited by kids as well as adults, and we don't want our Webcomics to be restricted to adults only. Contributors may choose to provide a completed story, script-only, or art-only. If you are a writer looking for an artist to collaborate with (or vice versa), you can check out our Creators section for possible leads. We also have contact information for other interested volunteer writers and artists who might not have published creator profiles that we can provide to you.

We suggest that contributors follow the submission process below when proposing webcomics:

CONTRIBUTION LEVEL: you intend to provide a complete story (either alone or with someone you've already lined up), script-only, or art-only. Copyright is shared by all contributors to a particular story, so approval of all parties must be obtained if that story is to be used for another website or in a print publication. Contributors who wish to provide art for a completed script should submit a sample of their work.

PLOT: synopsis, character descriptions, and the story length. From one to six pages is acceptable, although--since only one page is posted each week--each page should have enough content to grab the interest of a casual reader who might not have seen the previous installment. Please do not submit a finished story without first getting approval for the plot from the editor, as the contribution may be rejected if it includes nudity, graphic sexual situations or strong language, or otherwise is deemed unsuitable for publication on the Prism Comics website.

SCRIPT: format should be "full script" with panel-by-panel descriptions of actions and scenery on each page. Even if you are a writer teaming with an artist, or if you are writing and drawing a story yourself, you MUST submit a copy of the script for approval before proceeding to the art stage (otherwise, if we need to make changes, you might have to re-do parts of your art).

ART: web-ready art should be JPGs or GIFs at 72 dpi. This is the finished product and must include coloring (if any) and lettering. Width and height of the webcomic page may vary. If you plan to publish the story in printed form at some point, though, you should keep that size in mind; print comics are typically 6.5" x 10", give or take a quarter-inch. Also bear in mind that 72 dpi will be insufficient for print quality; work in a higher resolution (300 or higher), make a copy when you're finished, and reduce it to 72 dpi to publish as a webcomic.

Contact Charles "zan" Christensen, editor, zan@prismcomics.org

Feature articles for the Spectrum area and for Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics run the gamut from short commentaries on super-hero costumes to opinion pieces to in-depth interviews with LGBT creators. Word count will obviously vary, but you should include a target length in your proposal. The key characteristic of these articles--beyond having an LGBT theme or subject--is that they are exclusive, original works that can't be found elsewhere.