Open to Underrepresented Creators
Accepting 20-24 Page Original Comic Book Scripts
April 21 – June 30

Elevating marginalized voices in comic books!

Our Spaces Comic Book Writing Competition gives diverse and underrepresented creators, with stories focusing on diverse characters, an opportunity to grow their professional connections and learn what it takes to thrive in the comic book industry.

We welcome creators from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to people of color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and all those who have been historically marginalized. Your unique stories and perspectives enrich our community, and we eagerly invite you to share your voices and experiences with us.

Our grand prize winner receives mentorship from three industry professionals. Learn how to pitch to publishers, work with editors, create the career of your dreams, and tell the stories the world needs most!

Submission Windows & Cost

  • SUBMISSION COST: $35

  • SUBMISSION w/ NOTES: $85

  • SUBMIT NOW

Announcements

  • July 2025

Benefits

1 Grand Prize Winner

  • Three 1-hour mentoring sessions

  • Featured on the Negative Space website

2 Runner-Ups

  • 1-hour mentoring sessions with Negative Space

  • Featured on the Negative Space website

Submission Windows & Cost

  • SUBMISSION COST: $35

  • SUBMISSION w/ NOTES: $85

  • SUBMIT NOW

1 Grand Prize Winner

  • Three 1-hour mentoring sessions

  • Bio & script synopsis featured on website

2 Runner-Ups

  • 1-hour mentoring sessions with Negative Space

  • Script synopsis featured on website

2025 Mentors

Omar Morales
Comic Book Writer

Omar is a storyteller and writer originally from Oakland, Calif. Omar has a deep love of comic books — the medium that helped him learn English as a young, first-generation American born of Mexican immigrants. His original stories include The Lunar Ladies (Scout Comics), California Love for the LA Strong anthology (Mad Cave Studios), and Major Thomás (Amazon / Comixology Originals).

Justin Richards
Comic Book Writer

Justin Richards is a writer who mostly hides away in the mountains of the PNW and creates comic books when they’re not busy being a parent and dog dad, working at their local comic shop, and occasionally gaming. They created and wrote the hit series Finger Guns from Vault Comics, have appeared in many anthologies including Lower Your Sights and Sharp Wit & the Company of Women, and have self-published A Silent Night and Everything is Different Now with the help of crowdfunding. Their work is usually full of horror, satire, music and emotional devastation. When they’re not writing they can be found playing video games, re-watching Sonic 3, or playing with their dogs.

Sarah Cooke
Comic Book Writer

Sarah Cooke is a comics writer living in Columbus, OH. She won Mad Cave’s 2023 Talent Search and the 2023 Negative Space Women’s Comic Book Writing Competition. She is the co-creator of the award-winning sci-fi web series My Human Experience and the modern fantasy series No Spell Lasts Forever. She has written for Mad Cave’s Flash Gordon Quarterly and two middle-grade anthologies from Papercutz. Sarah edited both volumes of the sci-fi anthology Faster Than Light. As a comics journalist, Sarah has written for Marvel, DC Comics, Women Write About Comics, CBR, WTAP Television, and more.

Competition Rules

Rules

  • This comic book writing competition is open to any-and-all diverse or underrepresented creators.

    What do we mean by diverse or underrepresented creators? We want stories from those who have been historically marginalized, those who don’t see themselves in the comics they read — women, people of color, people with disabilities, people who are LGBTQ+ and/or people of a non-dominant religion. We want the voices that have been unrepresented, oftentimes silenced, in comics (and society) for way too long.

    If you have questions, additions, concerns, etc., please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo, Co-Founder of Negative Space Comics.

  • Applicants will submit an original 20-24 page comic book long-form script — can be first issue of a series, a one-shot, or pages from a longer graphic novel.

  • Scripts must be the original work of the author and cannot be adapted from existing property. You must have rights to the work, characters, and story.

  • You can submit multiple scripts. Each new submission requires a new application and fee.

  • Writers from all over the world can enter the competition, but scripts must be submitted in English.

  • Please include a title page with your submission. This page should have your full name, your email address, the title of your script, and a short synopsis/summary of your comic book (like the logline).

  • Scripts that have been picked up by a publisher, produced for a profit, or are currently under option are not eligible.

  • Writing teams can submit, but they should submit under one name and only submit once (you will be able to specify if the project is co-written within the submission form). The writers are responsible for the distribution of the competition prizes.