If you’ve been toiling away on your own manga project with little hope of getting it seen by anybody, don’t toss it in a drawer just yet. Manga publisher TOKYOPOP Inc. today launched the fifth annual Rising Stars of Manga, a competition that invites aspiring artists and writers to submit their 15-to-20-page comics for the chance to join the next generation of nationally published creators. The contest runs through February 15, 2005.
Due to overwhelming demand, this year’s competition will introduce a brand-new People’s Choice on-line component where the top-20 finalists will have their entire entries judged by the fans on the TOKYOPOP website. “We are really pleased to open up the Rising Stars judging to the fans," comments TOKYOPOP editor Rob Valois. "Since so many people have been vocal on the message boards and at industry conventions, we’re offering them all a chance to shape the future of manga. I’m personally excited to see how the fans’ favorite will compare to our own."
TOKYOPOP says it is on a mission to identify and nurture the artists and writers who will define American manga in the years ahead. The company’s expanded competition invites creators living in America and working in English to submit their work. The top seven entries, as selected by TOKYOPOP’s editorial staff and the online People’s Choice selection, will receive monetary prizes and inclusion in the fifth Rising Stars of Manga anthology, to be published in summer 2005. In addition, all the winners will have an exclusive opportunity to pitch a full-length manga story idea to TOKYOPOP execs.
Entrants are encouraged to submit content from all genres–comedy, drama, horror, science fiction, action, fantasy, romance, political, historical or instructional. Complete details for the fifth Rising Stars of Manga competition are available on TOKYOPOP’s website at: www.tokyopop.com/news/mangatalent/index.php.
