Want an illustrator for a "light novel" web project.

[EricTheFred]

I need an artist for a semi-professional web-publishing project. The commitment would be one or two high quality panels per month. I would prefer full-color, but inked and toned might be workable also.

The plan is for a 'Rainobe' or 'Light Novel', to be pitched to one of the web-publishers of comics or manga. I have multiple story concepts in mind, with plotting and some writing already complete. They include a Sci-Fi adventure, a modern fantasy / light romance involving a couple half-alien teenagers, and a more serious modern fantasy involving a group of kids on their own in a struggle against a dangerous enemy. I don't write particularly evangelical stories, but my protagonists generally either have grounding in Christian morals or at least a positive moral code. Sexual content is held to a minimum, and completely avoided when children are involved.

If you are not familiar with the concept, this is the format that is used in many Japanese Manga magazines for prose fiction. They serialize the story over several issues, just like a comic or TV show, and include an illustration or two with each issue, often in 'Manga' style.

Typically a 'book' is around fifty thousand words (that's the length of a typical 'young adult' book in the US market, or half the length of a medium-sized novel.)

A very good example can currently be found in English translation in the Manga section of your book store. ".Hack//: Another Birth" is a Rainobe, with illustrations every two thousand words or so (which was probably one per issue in the magazine.)

Other Anime and Manga titles have actually started out as Rainobe:
Full Metal Panic
Haruhi Suzumiya
Crest of the Stars / Banner of the Stars
Boogiepop
Inukami
Familiar of Zero

[Esoteric]

Huh, I didn't know such a thing existed in the current market. I'll have to look into rainobes.

By semi-professional, are you saying you want someone who's already making some money as an artist, or are you simply referring to skill level?

[EricTheFred]

I mean that the project is to be pitched to a subscription web-publisher of comics. Whether the artist has previously earned money as an artist isn't a requirement, but whether he or she has that level of skill is. Note that nobody is going to get rich quick on this. I'm fairly certain nobody is making much more than spare change there.

I should mention up front, that although I'm looking for other possible publishers, the one that I've spoken to is only considering branching into serial fiction. We could well be simply creating a demonstrator for the editor to look at, and potentially a non-paying pilot project going on their free pages, to gauge whether such a product will create interest.

So basically, I need someone who has that skill level, but is willing to take a gamble on a new angle. I gamble my writing time, they gamble their drawing time. I will send links to samples of my work to anyone interested.

As mentioned, a few rainobes can be found on the manga shelves in the US market. The only one I know of that includes the illustrations in the English translation is the .hack title I mentioned (plus the one volume released so far of Twelve Kingdoms included a small number of them).

[Fish and Chips]

Other Anime and Manga titles have actually started out as Rainobe:
Full Metal Panic
Haruhi Suzumiya
Crest of the Stars / Banner of the Stars
Boogiepop
Inukami
Familiar of Zero

Also Read or Die and Baccano!

I actually kind of like the concept of light novels, complete with character and/or scene illustration. Certainly strikes a balance for people who enjoy the style but cannot draw it.