Wednesday, July 23, 2008

UPDATE: Because Some Are Privately Prodding Me To...

Valerie D'Orazio? On Cloak & Dagger, possibly?

If I had known networking via friendship with Dan Slott was so effective, I'd have...I might have...what I would have done is...ah, hell, I'd have done exactly the same as I wound up doing in my disagreements with Slott.

Update: For the love of...

Look, it IS true that a lot of people break into the industry via friendships with people already established. I didn't say it wasn't true. Like I said in the blog title, I had a few friends giving me a hard time about not having posted some sort of reaction.

Read what I wrote, again: it's less a crack at Valerie than it is a joke that knowing Slott could help get you in wouldn't have changed how I handled my disagreement with him. And, really, who'd have thought a writer who has gotten called out by his editor for being serially late with scripts would really be an in? ;)

Posted by Kevin Huxford at 11:38 PM
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11 comments:

  1. **pats Kev on back**

    You showed a lot of restraint here. Good work. ;)

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  2. Val's a well-known woman in comics with a fan following and previous industry experience. A popular woman in comics getting a gig on a mainstream book with a female character? Not too farfetched. People read her blog regularly. She can bring buzz to a book.

    I think her ability to get a good buzz (the non-alcoholic kind) going is what makes her look good to Marvel. I don't think anyone at Marvel cares who Val has dinner with. Not enough to take a financial risk anyway. Do people know who you are? Can you line up interviews and get people talking about the work you produce? Can you give a company access to a previously untapped market? Do you know enough about comics to not bungle a series? Being able to answer yes to those questions means more than having Slott in your Five.

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  3. Answering YES to all of those questions means dick without having someone of note in your networking, though, especially when you don't have a proven record of work published elsewhere first these days.

    Whenever this sort of thing comes up, people get a little confused about what I'm saying. I'm not saying that no other factors (including talent) exist in the person who is getting a chance. I'm saying that, if they didn't know someone already in, none of that would have mattered because they wouldn't have gotten a chance to show those factors to the powers that be.

    If someone gets you an interview at your dream job, you ultimately get the job based on how you handle the interview...but it doesn't change that you'd not have gotten the job without the interview.

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  4. Doesn't every person who recently landed a gig in the comics industry know someone who made it easier to land an interview though? Mentioning Val's connection to an industry professional is like pointing out that she has a nose. All of her peers have one. It's not really noteworthy.

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  5. It used to be that you had to bust your balls to get to write for Marvel.

    Now, apparently, you have to bust your twat.

    Alan Coil

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  6. Alan Coil wins!!!! Cue the Price is Right theme song!

    That does seem to be the way though, now.

    Also, being friends with someone at Marvel also mean editors won't stop you from creating shit stories, like Uncanny X-Men #500.

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  7. For the record, I plan on buying it and giving it a shot. I'll probably only review it if I like it, because I won't be a good judge of whether I dislike it due to bias or not.

    Joe Casey broke into the industry because James Robinson helped him get in. Sterling Gates broke into the industry because Geoff Johns helped him get in. They both obviously had the talent to make the networking payoff. They might have both found a way into the industry eventually without such networking...but there's no guarantee.

    Oh...and I don't know about any of them (including Val) bringing a previously untapped market. And I'm pretty sure Marvel doesn't need someone to line up their own interviews. If Marvel wants interviews on any of their books done, guarantee they'll appear on CBR & Newsarama, regardless of who she could line up on her own. Of course, she'll be getting TONS of free pub on The Beat, too.

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  8. I have no idea if knowing anyone helped in her getting this gig or the interview for the gig... however I will agree with Digital-Femme in that Val's blog has become a well know place of interest (there is a TREMENDOUS amount of people who were alerted to her thanks to her "Goodbye to Comics" blog and just stayed there afterwards).

    Her being the President of a well known Comic Book Organization (Friends of Lulu) also helped up her "It" factor.

    Plus, I think she showed with GBTC that she can flat out write.

    I can see where Val would likely have caught Marvel's eye even without any connection she may have with Slott or anyone else there.

    And the fact she once worked for DC when a lot of lousy crap happened top her most likely caught Joey Q's eye also.

    In the end... this is a situation where I think the appointment was well merited. I'm glad for her.

    ReplyDelete

  9. Lord, people...

    1. No, not everyone breaks in because of who they're friends with. Many only make friends within the industry because they broke in with their work at smaller publishers and started rubbing elbows. They actually had published comic books to demonstrate to the bigger publishers that they actually know the craft and can apparently hit deadlines.

    2. Writing a blog memoir is entirely different from writing a script. It's, also, entirely different from writing super-heroes. Also, I'd suggest that writing a tell-all can make you less attractive to getting work at a company.

    3. No offense, because I dearly respect the two people championing the reason, but using the popularity of a blog as the reason why a company would use someone on a book rates of higher importance than having a writer at the company give them entry into the pitch process? Really?

    4. For God's sake, I pointed out that I was prodded into having a response about Val getting the gig. Pointing out the friendship with Slott helping her get a pitch seen was probably the most innocuous thing I could come up with. It doesn't make a judgment on her talent and doesn't suggest that she'll fail before even a page hits the press. Sheesh. ;)

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  10. I believe the book is something with both Black Widows not cloak and dagger.

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  11. digital-femme said...
    "Mentioning Val's connection to an industry professional is like pointing out that she has a nose. All of her peers have one."

    Are we sure all of her peers have noses?

    ;) CM

    ReplyDelete

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