I read journalista this morning and discovered this little gem about rejections and writers and slush piles. Now, this may not be immediately apparent to those checking in here for the latest AiT news, but allow me to shock you: although we don't exactly make a secret of the fact that we don't accept submissions, ol' Ryan and I still get a whole lot of packages, manuscripts, proposals, and query emails during the day.

And I get that, I really do; honestly, I know the fact that Bill Harms' Abel showed up on the doorstep one day and I didn't know Bill or Mark or had seen any of their work before and we published it still fans the embers of dying hope across the country in comic shop and dorm room and cloistered... well, cloister. I know. And I sympathize.

But I really urge folks who pitch us stuff to read that link, above, first, and take away this from it: the unspoken message of that page is that yes, while those of us who get submitted to understand that you are offering us your sweat and blood and toil, it really is incumbent upon you to realize that you are not offering your babies to Ogre Generals in the Armies of Might.

We're dudes, just like you. Us telling you we're not going to publish your comic doesn't mean you are a bad person, that you suck, that you're crazy, or drunk on your own issues, or not fit to walk the same Earth as us. Nor does it mean that we are bad people, or that we suck, or that we are crazy, or drunk on our own issues, or not fit to walk the same Earth as you.

It just means we aren't going to publish your comic.