So, I never intended to write Lion’s Game. At the time I had like 3 or 4 other WIPs in my backlog, duking it out for the top spot as the story I was going use as my first attempt at getting published. Much like I was with my parents, the creation of Lion’s Game was completely unexpected.
A popular indie publisher I follow was hosting a writing competition where people could pitch their story ideas for a chance to win $500 and a publishing deal with the company. I decided to give it a shot because well, 500 bucks was 500 bucks. I had never entered a competition like this before, so I had no idea what to expect going in. Three weeks of anxious research and meticulous plot development later and I had my submission. Fast forward another month and the results came in and I lost. Yeah, I was so far off the mark that my submission didn’t even get an honorable mention. I promise this has relevance later.
I’m not gonna hold you, I was pretty upset but not upset enough to give up. Honestly, the competition only lit a fire under me to keep pushing toward my dream of getting my work out there. When the publisher’s next competition came around, I entered again. The high I got when Lion’s Game was announced as the winner, oh you couldn’t tell me nothing!
I tell this story with both competitions because I don’t see the first competition as a failure. It validated my desire to be a writer. Rather than discourage me, it just made me want to write a better story. I know there are a lot of writers, artists, and other creatives struggling out there to get their work seen. If this reaches any of them, I hope this helps keep the dream alive. I had no experience or training in creating comics or publishing before Lion’s Game and now I’m two years in and 4 issues deep. Keep polishing your work, querying and putting yourself out there.
In the meantime, grab a copy of the first volume of Lion’s Game – Master’s of Mali <link>, a story about legacy, revenge, and badass fighters set in 15th century Mali Empire.
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