We know, as writers and artists, that the really resonating work lets us see a shared feeling expressed. In this comic, we wanted to speak, in a down-to-earth, casual way, to creative types like us who have felt the hopeful euphoria of submitting something the editor is bound to love … as well as the stabbing panic that sometimes (usually) follows. We wanted to give them something that whispers, “It’s OK, we’ve all done that.”
This comic was the natural result of the submission process—and it’s also a response to it. Finding a mistake after submitting a piece is every writer or artist’s worst nightmare, but this is a way of making light of the situation. We also especially liked the symbolism of collaboration itself when we were making this comic, and idea that even though we’re usually working all alone, making creative things and trying to get them out there, we’re all kind of in it together, too.
Alabama native Sarah Bates is a writer, writing instructor, and literacy advocate.
Arkansas-born Dustin Michael teaches writing and draws comics.
