Has anyone submitted to Tokyopop?

I'm in the process of putting together a pitch, but I haven't submitted it yet. If you ask on the Tokyopop forums, you might find someone there: www.tokyopop.com

Hello,
For the Rising Stars of Manga competition I know that they do send mass email rejections. However for general submissions, it states very clearly that if they are not interested they will not contact you---you are also not to ask them about the status of your sub. Basically, they function like most publishers out there.

Most subs focus on pitching a 3-volume manga series which means writers have to team up with a competent artist to provide samples to the company to consider.

Recently I did mail in a fiction submission (for a novel) and followed all the guidelines. I included a self-addressed stamped postcard which would confirm that they received the package but I haven't received the card either---so I know they didn't open the package yet. It's only been 2 weeks so I wont' start whining until it's been 2 months (^_^).

Example of someone who did receive a rejection:

"About two to three months ago I've mailed my manga in to Tokyopop inc. (the California office) but haven't recieved any reply. When I sent a previous pilot volume during the summer the people in charge of reviewing submissions sent a reply of decline, with in two weeks I've sent it."

Source: http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showthread.php?p=322061#post322061

Overall, Tokyopop is considered by many to be a strong company with an international reach, and because they are the top of their field (in the USA) they are never in desperate need for subs. The talent comes to them.

Some of their original English language stuff is not consistently good though and there are only a handful of "hits" in the OEL category.

I recomment you join the TP forum and do some searches before posting questions.

You might try catching them on the convention trail. I spoke to one of their reps at Wizard World a couple years ago regarding a submission and then corresponded with them not long afterwards. The project ended up falling apart due to several factors (not the least of which was the lack of a stable artist), but I still think if you can get something into their arms that interests them enough to a) keep and b) take another look at, you might be able to seal the deal - assuming you don't fall into my particular pitfall.

rdpulfer said:

You might try catching them on the convention trail. I spoke to one of their reps at Wizard World a couple years ago regarding a submission and then corresponded with them not long afterwards. The project ended up falling apart due to several factors (not the least of which was the lack of a stable artist), but I still think if you can get something into their arms that interests them enough to a) keep and b) take another look at, you might be able to seal the deal - assuming you don't fall into my particular pitfall.

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I second that suggestion. I've spoken to their reps at conventions twice so far, and they've always been EXTREMELY helpful. Though there's no real promise that meeting them in person will help a submission in the end, using the opurtunity to speak with them face to face and get immediate feedback on anything you're considering sending in to them is worth the trouble of signing up fo a tim to see them and such.

Of course, I've only seen them at Anime Expo, where they usually have a booth in Artist Alley to look through peoples portfolio and answer any concerns you might have about submitting and make suggestions on how to improve your chances of submitting works that can be published. I'm not sure how they do things at other cons.