Introduction: Help Wanted

There's an old joke about a janitor who works at the circus, sweeping up elephant dung. When someone asks him why he won't quit his job, the janitor replies, "what, and give up show business?" If anyone ever starts a reality TV show about writing, that punch line would make a great title.

When trying to start a career as a writer, you face a lot of frustrating catch-22s. One of the biggest is you can't get your stuff read without an agent, and you can't get an agent if no one's reading your stuff. To get your writing out into the world, it's got to be as perfect as possible, so all anyone has to do is make a few changes. But how can you get to that level as a writer without any feedback, advice or help?

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In the ruthless piranha pond known as Hollywood, mentoring and helping people is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Thankfully, the people at Atlantis Studios aren't from Hollywood, which may explain why they're so helpful. Not only can they help you create your comic vision inexpensively, but they also let you keep the rights to your work. Are these people insane? Not exactly, it turns out.

James Watson has always believed that comics are a powerful medium to tell a story. "Everyone who works for Atlantis Studios really believes that the medium of telling stories was born back when cave men started drawing on cave walls. That's why we believe that comics, graphic novels, and that kind of storytelling is going to last a long, long time."

It was out of Watson's love of comics that he ultimately created Atlantis Studios. "I worked in freelance art," he recalls. "I also worked in animation, layout and publishing. In my free time, I loved to draw original comics for some clients." By 1994, Watson had created a network of likeminded, talented artists who also wanted to create their own comics. That year, they also began publishing an anthology of sci-fi, fantasy and action adventure stories - the three genres that are the specialty of Atlantis - in a black and white format.

But by the late 1990s, the comic industry was going through a tough time, and Watson found that it had to keep an independent monthly publication alive. Watson still had his gang of talented illustrators, and wanted to make sure they kept working. He formed Atlantis Studios, with the company's focus on work for hire, primarily to keep everyone working steadily.

"We wanted to focus on licensed properties," Watson says. "Clients came to us with their own ideas, and we could create the visuals, the art they needed, to tell their stories their way." The company also wanted to make sure the artwork they created was very affordable for the creators who knocked on their door. "A lot of people in the industry will produce art for you," Watson continues. "But they'll want a piece of the action in terms of royalties and percentages. We basically just keep it straightforward: for a flat fee, we'll produce whatever you want."

In exchange for the creator keeping the rights to their work, Atlantis insists on their standard page rate, because without it coming in, they can't keep their writers paid and working. "We pretty much have flat pricing," Watson says. "People can budget for the project, but we don't heavily discount that. The price is the price, and we'll produce it for that."