how to become a manga-ka without ..

@Dave in Saitama: About the health-thing... It�Ls true that if you are not cautious you can get sick (in the my first two years of being in the field I fell seriously ill twice - because of stress, sleepless nights, months of working without a break...) but when one finds his pace things get easier.

@finally: I asked this question myself every time I was stressed out but then again when I finish a project and see my stuff printed I answer with "YES!". After drawing 7-18 hours nearly every day for the past 8 years I just can�Lt live without it. I�Lm not a teen anymore, I even wasn�Lt one when I took up drawing - I was 18 back then. And I really want to do it! Drawing manga has enabled me to pay my rent, food , traveling and everything else. As well as my studying. I have seen many things and meet many people. Even Japanese mangaka, like Arina Tanemura, Kaori Yuki, Katsura Hoshino and many more. I think in the end it�Ls worth the stress. Or maybe I�Lm just being masochistic...

Hello,

I was just wondering if anyone know the phone number to the company Shueisha? The reason I'm writing this is is because I created my very own manga and I need to know something in the company. If you do know the phone number can you please give it to me. Thank you all very much.

Manga

this life is hard enough ,but then when people don't believe in your dream it's nearly unbarable. my parents don't support mu dream =(. but somehow i've managed to keep going. .. so to all you people who have been made fun of 4 likeing or writ ing / illustrating manga and anime keep going !!!!! do not give up!!!!!! your life depends on it.......Also path of the iga isn't doing so well.... *sobbs* i got locked out of my computer............*im so stupid*

Also Shueisha's Phone # is ... i believe (415)-546-7073...there u go, ;3

Bear in mind that it's possible no-one at the company speaks English...

I work for a Japanese publishing company in Osaka. You do not need to know Japanese or live in Japan. Just think of a good story and write it alongside well drawn pictures. Avoid the English habit of placing alot of text in and bang you're good. All you need is talent, once you've obtained that you need a good agent. Don't bother studying Japanese.

That is all.

hey there guys. i bet being a a mangaka is kinda troublesome. I'm a Filipino, and like all of you, my dream is to be a famous mangaka just like my idol Yuu Watase. After reading this thread, i then realized that.. AaAh. its so hard to be one! Way back before, all i know was to have a good drawing skills and then i can make my own manga. guess it was not easy.. would u give some tips how?

well.............start leaning Japanese

I reckon that if a non japanese aspiring comic book artist who wanted to draw with the japanese style and feel to it, what they need is a solid and interesting storyline coupled with quality artwork. forget learning japanese and the japanese culture, I've read plenty of 'authentic' manga that had weak plots and poor art. People will recognise quality whether its from Japan or not.

for all the people who wants to be a manga artist. DON'T GIVE UP. THERE AREN'T ANY DREAMS THAT WON'T COM TRUE!!!!

thier are places outside japan that will publish you but it is best if you do go to japan and maybe be an assistent for a bit if you don't want to then start studying jspanese and get a native japanese speaking person to edit your work's dialoge

Try http://www.wirepop.com/ You get published, it's fast and easy and you have only have a minimum to update once every week without a good excuse. You sell it too and make profit. Sorry if somebody posted this already...but try WIREPOP! Not to like advertise it...if you want GIANT promotion, Digital Manga Publishing or Tokyopop or giants like that are your best bet.If you ARE in Japan, Hop Step! contest's your best bet.

well im only 12 years old going on 13 and ive been practicing hard since i was 11. my answer is WORK HARD and TRY UR BEST!!! ive look at my art work from the past and i notice ive inproved because i worked hard and im so determined.so like i said work hard.ja matta ^_^

a new website I found on the web will help everyone on this forum
http://becomeamangaka.wordpress.com

oh and has anyone helped masami tsuda and how can i get published by hakusensha

ok yes there are English manga because i make one though there not as c amen as mangas like naruto or naruto shippuden

I wanna become a mangaka as well. I'm getting better in my drawings and I have a great idea for a Shonen manga (aomething huge, belive me). I'm triyang my best to learn japanese, but it's just impossible to speak it like a japanese person. I know I can start with something simple as Smackjeeves, then I could try Tokyopop. My dream is to make manga for Shonen Jump, and meet Akira Toriyama-sensei. But that's impossible for a non-japanese person like me.
I wont create a manga in my own country, that would be stupid, I'm portuguese and most of Portugal's people dont like comics.

I believe in everyone that posted, just do your best and fight for your mangas survival! I started a manga and am currently working on the script and I've got it good! Three siblings who refuse to say you've gotten better! They pushed me and critizied the life out of me, if and when I get published it will be because of them...my sugoi nakama

I don't know any of you, and none of you know me. I don't know if You all and me will be able to become successful manga-ka or not. All I know is that I have an obsessive passion to write manga, draw manga, and think about plots for manga every 5 seconds. I know the chances are low, and maybe I will never be good enough, or have the right resources. But there is really nothing and i mean NOTHING that drives me and motivates me more than the thought of having my own manga published in a magazine. This is my dream, and I don't care about anything that might make my dream fail. If it fails, so be it.... I will try my very best and you all should too. Life is short (so they tell me) and I don't want to spend the last days of my life thinking about what i could have done.



Okay now that i let u know how freakishly obsessed i am. There are many publishers looking for young talent. One of these is Del Rey, I'm not sure about the details but seeing as they have very sucessful manga, give it a shot with them. I'm going to be turning in manuscripts when I get to the right level as T.K explained. Another is Antarctic Press. There are quite many actually.... do a google search and you will find them all. Anyway t.k is the best answer In my opinion. Work hard guys, never give up I have a very strong feeling that things are gonna change soon. Did u guys see Felipe Smith lately? He's working in japan and has a series running in a magazine... he did it. That's enough to be 100% sure that I will not quit until I reach that goal!!!!

Now I had up's and downs about being a manga artist in Japan due to the language barrier and all those other talented Japanese artists.And Obtaining correct information about this indistury is almost impossible.First off...stop beleiveing everything people are saying about it being impossible (because its not).They second their information from 4chan or some random site as troll bait.There will be people who say go ahead and publish stuff in your own country first...but why would you do that if a) nobody is going to pick up a "comic" b) you want your REALLY good idea to be picked up by a Japanese company and C) you want "asistance" helpers who know what the hell they are doing rather than some random american who doesnt know heads/tails about manga's. Think about it.It's bad enough that not that many people actually by manga/comics now a days from bookstores, and your "comic" isnt considered a manga if its not on a scanlation site like mangafox for example.
So here's my own plan: Study every element of manga and how it changes as years goes by,what makes those popular manga that everybody likes just sparkel in their country rather than an american comic.Watch as much anime as possible and you'll see.Study Japanese ASAP and make sure I take the JPTL test.Once I learn Japanese Join every possible online Japanese community website that deals with art under a memorable pen name (a name that you will use to publish your work).And set up a webcomic site and portfollio to gain a fan base.Let the years go by as that sinks in and before you know it your "name" would appear on the internet like crazy.
You will only get lot's of respect if your work is mentioned on sites like Kotaku.If it is,you know your going places.Also,being a mangaka is only good if you know the right people.(well thats my plan in a nutshell,there is more but that's just giving stuff away).
Just remember its not all about just draw,draw,draw and learn Japanese.Because...if you remove learn Japanese your in the same boat as a "Japanese".

I just googled this thread up by typeing in (how to become a mangaka) and completly forgot about it...glad its still alive from the looks of it.

Keep the post's coming! :)