Transcription of interview conducted by email on 16 December 2014. Parts of this interview were used in Farthing, A. & Priego, E., (2016). ŌGraphic MedicineÕ as a Mental Health Information Resource: Insights from Comics Producers. The Comics Grid. 6(0), p.3. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16995/cg.74


CORINNE PEARLMAN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT MYRIAD EDITIONS, ART DIRECTOR AND PARTNER AT COMIC COMPANY AND CO-ORGANISER OF CARTOON COUNTY

COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ROLES AT MYRIAD EDITIONS, COMIC COMPANY AND CARTOON COUNTY?
As Creative Director at Myriad Editions, I have a responsibility for overseeing the design needs of the company and how they are met, and a separate role as commissioning editor for our series of graphic books. We publish three new books a year, and also have a commitment to supporting new graphic artists by running a biennial First Graphic Novel Competition. 

As a partner in Comic Company, I am Art Director and responsible for the design needs of the company. We work with graphic artists to produce highly illustrated health education resources, supplying an online mail order business to schools, health promotion companies, the NHS and other organisations with a remit to promote healthy living.

Cartoon County is a network of cartoonists based in East and West Sussex. It is an informal, voluntary group that I co-run with the cartoonist David Lloyd. We meet once a month in Brighton, usually with a guest artist, and occasionally organise exhibitions and special events.

COULD YOU GIVE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESSES FOR GRAPHIC WORKS AT MYRIAD AND WHAT YOU USUALLY NEED TO CONTRIBUTE? ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN PROCESSES BETWEEN MEMOIRS SUCH AS BILLY, ME & YOU AND FICTIONAL WORKS LIKE THE BAD DOCTOR?
Unlike fiction, where we would only consider a complete manuscript, a graphic book will typically come to me as a work in progress, maybe with not many pages completed, although an established author such as Darryl Cunningham may just tell us what he wants to be working on, and weÕll contract him to get on with it. Entrants to the First Graphic Novel Competition are asked for 15-30 pages of their work in progress, and the winner gets the prize of a contract to publish their book. Each author has very different ways of working and the editorial process has to fit in with that. So for those who script out everything and thumbnail the pages before doing the final artwork, I will get to look at and comment on various drafts. Others rough out sections or episodes, and there may be a stage of structural editing, to find the form for what sometimes can appear a fascinating but pointless journey. The author or I myself may put together the book page by page in Indesign, depending on the authorÕs way of working. Some artists get as far as scanning in their complete pages, and supply high-res jpegs that then have to be imported into the page layout.

Nicola StreetenÕs graphic memoir, Billy Me & You, was a different thing altogether: she published it in serial form in a family journal ŌLiquoriceÕ, and it was only when I caught up with the first four chapters that I thought: Ōthis is amazing, we must publish itÕ. So it was only when she had completed it that we began to edit: and that was mostly structural: to group some pages towards the end as an Afterword, and to select and rearrange the pages, and the images on the page, to suit a larger, book format. 

The Bad Doctor, a work of fiction (although based on the authorÕs experiences as a doctor in a small country practice), went through many, many drafts before we found the form of interspersing the patientsÕ stories with those of the doctorÕs past, and with episodes from the cycling trips he takes with his friend to let off steam! Each of these three strands has a distinct style. And it was only when we were very near the deadline of the book that the ending was sorted - thanks in no small part to the copy editor who of course is the crucial next stage in a bookÕs production, once the author and editor have done their business. 

The copy editor reads the book for continuity and red herrings, picks up grammatical errors and inconsistencies, and is able to pick up on anything that doesnÕt quite hang together! After amendments have been made by the author, or by the designer (if different), then the book goes for proofing by a proof reader; final corrections are made and then print ready files are prepared for the printer.

HAS MYRIAD HAD ANY INTERACTION WITH UNIVERSITIES OR OTHER TEACHING INSTITUTIONS OVER USING ANY OF ITS GRAPHIC NOVELS IN AN EDUCATIONAL SETTING?
Not as much as weÕd like, although we do try and promote specifically to relevant academics. For instance, we prepared a flyer advertising Darryl CunninghamÕs Supercrash about the global economy, and have sent that to economics lecturers and departments, suggesting that he would be a good speaker to students, as well as the book being an excellent addition to any course material. Nicola StreetenÕs Billy, Me & You has been used for courses on memoir and trauma, and Ian Williams, author of The Bad Doctor, is invited all round the world to talk about graphic medicine to medical students.

ARE YOU AWARE OF MYRIAD GRAPHIC NOVELS GETTING REVIEWS OR INTEREST FROM ACADEMIC JOURNALS, OTHER THAN THOSE JOURNALS PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH COMICS AS A FIELD OF STUDY? DOES THE COMPANY APPROACH JOURNALS TO GET COVERAGE?
We do get some reviews in academic journals, particularly if the author has specific connections, of course; but also where the journal is well-known enough that we would be aware of it and send them a copy! ItÕs an area of marketing that we would like to do more of: something that we are working on for CunninghamÕs Supercrash, for instance. And a good job for interns to research for us too.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT COMICS PUBLISHERS AND CREATORS CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMICS AND WIDER ACADEMIA?
Academic marketing is something that definitely needs to be worked on within our own organisation, and authors who arenÕt part of the academic circuit need to be introduced to the academic departments that would be interested in their work. For instance, Hannah EatonÕs Naming Monsters would appeal to academics who run folk studies courses or consider aspects of folklore in other disciplines.

WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF THE FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL COMPETITION ON MYRIAD, THE PARTICIPATING AUTHORS AND THE WIDER COMICS MARKET?
It has certainly been influential in publicising our commitment to first-time authors, and to those who may have had several years in other careers, who are coming to graphic novels for the first time. We are out to encourage the expansion of the form in all its variety, and we are committed to working with first-time authors to make the best possible books. The competition has the support of the comics press and information about it is circulated widely; we hope to get an eclectic a range of submissions as is possible. We have been very proud of the shortlisted authors as well as the winners, and have gone on to contract at least one or more of the shortlist. And we are delighted to see that others have been rewarded with a contract by other publishers. It is a real way of getting noticed and we have also received good feedback from authors on the long list, who benefit from having their work read and comments back from the judges.

HOW WILL ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING FEATURE IN MYRIADÕS GRAPHIC NOVEL PRODUCTION IN THE FUTURE?
It already does: nearly all of our graphic titles are available on Sequential, a free app for the iPad, and several of them are available in iBooks and for the Kindle, through our digital distribution agreement with Faber Factory. Special promotions by each of these retailers help to raise the bookÕs profile, so while sales remain modest in these formats, we feel digital is an important part of the bookÕs outreach. The important thing is to keep conversion costs down so they are affordable to produce in as many digital formats as we can make available.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT PROMPTED YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH COMIC COMPANY, AND WHAT YOUR AMBITIONS ARE FOR THE COMPANY?
Comic Company is a partnership that has its origins in The Comic Book of First Love, edited by Philip Boys and myself, and published by Virago in 1986! Philip had edited a documentary comic book on broadcasting, Media & Power, which I had illustrated, and we enjoyed working together, along with other cartoonists involved in the series. So Philip had the idea of stories about first loveÉ and we subsequently worked together on The Comic Book of the Facts of Life. One result of that was our creation of a series of booklets on sex education for the Family Planning Association - these began to appear in the early 90s, have sold millions of copies, and several editions later are still in print. We also began to work on health education resources as a spin-off from commissioned research projects on healthy eating, sun safety and cancer awareness. We set up a website and made available our resources online; we later formed an official partnership with PhilipÕs wife Maggie Jee, and the three of us continue to develop, sell and promote comics-illustrated booklets and publicity materials on all aspects of health. I have my hands pretty full with my role at Myriad so I am primarily concerned with design issues keeping our resources updated and in print.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT ROLE/ROLES EVENTS SUCH AS CARTOON COUNTY, FAIRS AND CONVENTIONS PLAY IN COMICS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION?
Absolutely vital. The independent comics industry is a family, and an essential factor in promoting an authorÕs work and providing a background of support and collaboration for what can sometimes be a very lonely business for a creator. So the more an author - and a publisher Ź- is involved with these events, the better. Events are obvious places to sell books: author-signed copies with a chat are much better than failing to find a copy of the desired graphic novel in some of the larger book chain stores! And you can keep abreast of what people are making and doing, essential stuff, and so much fun, as anyone who has attended the Lakes Festival, or Thought Bubble, will tell you.

ENDS