Project Goals

To create a Christian comic anthology magazine for Francophone Africa

To have this comic magazine be written and drawn by Bible-believing, evangelical Christians from Francophone Africa

To reach an audience of unbelieving African readers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through this comic magazine

To provide encouragement and income for existing and up-coming Christian comics creators in Africa

To publish the first edition of Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine before October 2010.

Technical Specifications for the Printed Magazine

24 pages in length, black & white interior with a full-color front cover

Dimensions are A4 - 21.0 x 29.7 cm (8.27 x 11.69 inches)

Technical Specifications for Submitted Comics

Black & white, multiple panel comics stories, from one (1) to four (4) pages maximum in length

Maximum artwork page size is A4 - 21.0 x 29.7 cm (8.27 x 11.69 inches)

Electronic submissions in high resolution files (200 pixels/inch minimum @ 100%) scanned in Grayscale mode

Editorial Specifications for Submitted Comics

Comics material will be accepted from French-speaking Africans only.

Comics stories submitted to Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine should be aimed at an audience of young people (12 to 21 years) and focus on one of the following themes:

• music
• issues that affect girls
• personal testimony
• sexuality
• science
• African societal question (or young person's question)
• a Bible passage illustrated
• sports
• evangelism

Stories should point the reader toward Jesus Christ as the answer to their problems without becoming too "preachy" or using too much Christian terminology that the unbelieving reader may not understand.

Previously published comics and cartoons are allowed if they contain one of the above themes and meet all technical specifications.

Single-panel cartoon submissions will be accepted if they contain one or more of the above themes and if submitted in groupings of 4 or more cartoons per page.

All entries may be edited by PJA or their representatives.

Publishing Plan

African Christian comics creators ("Contributors") will submit their own finished comics of 1- 4 pages (the story, black & white artwork, and lettering) to COMIX35 and PJA, either in hard copy form by postal mail or electronically by e-mail. Contributors will retain all rights to their own comics at all times.

PJA will assemble Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine in France and will include photos and information about the Contributors if they are supplied.

An African artist will be chosen by COMIX35 and PJA to provide the color cover artwork.

COMIX35 and PJA will print Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine and ship the appropriate number of copies to each Contributor. COMIX35 will pay for printing and shipping costs.

Each contributor will receive at least 60 copies of Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine for every complete page they submit which is subsequently published in the magazine. The cover artist will receive 75 copies for that artwork, in addition to copies received for any interior pages the artist has submitted that are printed.

Contributors will determine and set their own cover price for the comic magazines, sell them in their area, and keep all funds collected as payment for the comic story they have submitted.

Contributors will submit brief reports back to COMIX35 and PJA detailing the number of copies they have sold at the time of the reporting and any good reports on audience reactions. (Photos of people reading the comics will also be very valuable, when and where it is possible to take such photos, even low-resolution mobile phone photos.)

Publication of additional issues of Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine will be dependent upon the successful completion of this Publishing Plan for the first edition. Contributors who file their reports will be eligible to submit additional comics for any future editions.

Other Distribution

In addition to the free copies given to Contributors to sell, PJA will distribute copies of the magazine through the same outlets as their publication Jouv'Afrique: Magazine de la Jeunesse Africaine.

Some African Christian publishers may receive copies in exchange for running promotional information or advertising Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine in their own publications. (Publishers and COMIX35 will agree in advance on the number of copies to be received, and the Publisher will submit scans or photocopies of the adverts or promotions by e-mail or postal mail before receiving their copies.)

Any project sponsors or advertisers will receive copies in exchange for their support of the project.

Some African mission agencies (and other groups in Africa) may be eligible to receive a ready-to-print PDF file of the comic so that they can reprint the magazine in their area. Permission to reprint will be granted only under the condition that the Contributors whose work appears in that edition will receive a minimum of ten (10) free copies of the reprinted magazine for every page they have contributed.

(PDFs for additional printing will only become available 6 months after their original publication to avoid any possibility that free copies might become available in a Contributor's market area before the Contributor has time to sell their own copies.)

Financial Information

Please note that no money will ever be changing hands at any time during the execution of this project.

No contributor will receive funding from COMIX35 or PJA, and neither COMIX35 nor PJA will request or receive funds collected from the sales of magazines by any contributor.

No Publisher will receive funds for advertising or promotion, and no Publisher will send funds to COMIX35 or PJA for copies. COMIX35 or PJA will not fund any additional print runs of the magazine from the supplied PDF files.

COMIX35 is a small ministry with only a small amount of "seed money" to invest in this project. If we are successful with the Publishing Plan for the first edition of Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine, and if contributors are faithful in supplying the requested good reports and photos, we are trusting that the Lord will provide financial partners who will help us perpetuate this publishing project onward into the future.

Long-term Project Goals

To perpetuate Les BD de Jouv'Afrique as a regularly published magazine; or

To "spin off" other new comic magazine titles in various Francophone African countries where this first comic magazine is most successful

To involve readers of the magazine by allowing them to submit their own story ideas for the cartoonists to illustrate

To produce translated editions of Les BD de Jouv'Afrique magazine in African languages such as Swahili and Lingala

To increase the page-count and to print some or all interior pages in color.