Visual Storyteller Contest
Are you the artist who will create the next great graphic novel? This is your opportunity to get published and bring your vision to life!
Submissions Are Now Closed For The 2025 Visual Storyteller Contest!
The Visual Storyteller Contest will return May 4, 2026.
Interested in joining next time?
About the Contest
Imaginary Friends is excited to host the 2025 Visual Storyteller Contest:
An opportunity for aspiring graphic novelists to refine their skills, receive professional feedback, and have their work published. Each entry is judged by a panel of experienced visual storytellers, and contestants receive constructive feedback to help them grow as artists.
The Grand Prize:
- Winners will have their book professionally printed (50 copies for adult categories, 25 for Junior category).
- They will work with our sister company, Print Zoom, to select paper, finishing options, and finalize pricing.
- The books will be available for purchase on our online store, hypeif.com, with capped stock.
- Winners will receive special discounts and offers on future projects.
Important Dates
- Entries Due: September 1, 2025
- Finalists Announced: September 15, 2025
- Final Submissions Due: September 29, 2025
- Winners Announced: October 13, 2025
Contest Categories
Each category will have a top three selection, and those finalists will receive additional feedback and two weeks to polish or edit their piece before the final review. Contestants entering for the Junior, Expert, and Collaborator must be located in the Yuma Metropolitan area. All contestants must have access to consistent and reliable forms of communication.
Junior (17 and Under)
- Open to creators aged 17 and under with a signed parental waiver.
- Minimum 24 pages, maximum 100 pages.
- A parent or guardian must be present for all meetings if selected as a winner.
- [Download Waiver]
Expert (18 and Over)
- For individual creators writing and illustrating a 40-100 page graphic novel.
- Can be a single story or an anthology (max of 3 stories).
Collaborator (18 and Over, Team)
- Open to writer/artist teams creating a 40-100 page graphic novel.
- Can be a single story or an anthology (max of 3 stories).
Out-Of-Town (18 and Over, Non-Local)
- For individuals or teams outside the Yuma Metropolitan area.
- Must be based in America.
- Same requirements as Expert and Collaborator categories.
The Process
1. Submission & Initial Review
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- Entries must be submitted by 9.1.25
- Submissions can be emailed to hello@neversee.me or dropped off in-person at 2511 E. 24th Street Suite A, Yuma, AZ 85365
- All qualified entries will be reviewed by our panel of judges.
- Top 3 finalists from each category will be announced on September 15, 2025, with feedback provided.
2. Final Revision Period
- Finalists have two weeks to apply any optional edits before resubmitting.
- Final versions are due September 29, 2025.
3. Winner Selection & Publishing Prep
- Winners are announced October 13, 2025.
- Winners will schedule a meeting with Imaginary Friends to discuss:
- Final edits and formatting
- Publishing goals and paper options
- ISBN purchase (optional, deducted from future sales earnings)
- Author bio and story description (if ISBN is purchased)
4. Production & Printing
- Winners have up to 1 month for any final content revisions.
- Contestants must prep their files for print (guidance provided, but self-prepared).
- A proof copy will be created for approval (which the creator keeps if approved).
- Full print run (50 or 25 copies) will be produced.
5. Sales & Earnings
- Books will be listed on hypeif.com with a capped stock.
- Final sale price will be confirmed before listing.
- Earnings (minus processing fees, shipping, and tax) can be:
- Used as credit with our sister company, Print Zoom.
- Paid out via check, $100 minimum.
Important Dates
- Entries Due: September 1, 2025
- Finalists Announced: September 15, 2025
- Final Submissions Due: September 29, 2025
- Winners Announced: October 13, 2025
Submission Requirements
- Submissions must be original, unpublished work (both print and web).
- Industry professionals and previous contest winners are not eligible.
- Stories must meet the minimum page requirements of their category.
- Entries can be submitted in digital format (PDF) or physical format.
- Blank physical books are available for purchase at Imaginary Friends HQ for those submitting by mail.
- Submissions can be emailed to hello@neversee.me or dropped off in-person at 2511 E. 24th Street Suite A, Yuma, AZ 85365
Formatting Requirements
Stories will need to meet necessary print formatting. Files will need to be submitted as PDF files. If submitting a physical copy, please make sure your artwork is still consistent with print formatting, as it will need to be scanned and digitized for replication.
Bleed & Safety Margins:
- Bleed (extra space outside the final size) ensures there are no unwanted white edges when the book is trimmed. This means the color needs to go to the edge of the document to ensure no white is left when it’s trimmed. A good amount of bleed would be to extend your document 0.5 inches beyond the final size.
- Safe Zone (or Safety Gutter) is where important text and elements should be placed inside the trim area to avoid accidental cuts or misalignment. Generally, all critical elements should be at least 0.25 inches inside the trim line.
- [Download Template]
Standard Recommended Size:
If comic is long enough to need perfect binding, spine width will be calculated once inside pages are ready for test print. At that point Cover & Inside Cover will need to have the spine added into the final artwork. Other custom sizes are available: please contact IF for more information on size guidelines and restrictions for works of a different size.
- Safe Content & Text Space: 6.5″x9.9″
- Final Page Size: 7″x10.4″
- Print Ready Size (With Bleed): 8″x11.4″
- Full Cover/Flat Size (Not Including Spine Width): 14.5″(+Spine)x10.9″
Submission Window Closed.
The deadline for submitting a story to the contest was September 1, 2025. Thank you for your submissions and interest in our contest. The Visual Storyteller Contest will return May 4, 2026.
Greg Harms
Greg Harms is the publisher and owner of Third Empire.Greg has worked as an advertising sales representative, newspaper editor and publisher, graphic artist for Hastings Entertainment, freelance work and has done extensive work in the comic industry (ModernPulp, Bluewater Productions, CCP, Big Dog Ink, Robot Cowboy Studios, 7th Wave Comics, Deadzone Comics, Arcana, EGA Productions and more).Third Empire is a federation of comic publishers/studios that have gathered together under a unified banner, to better pool resources, further comic publishing careers, develop intellectual properties and push the members to make the best comics possible and deliver them into the hands of supporters who prefer physical media, digital media or both.Greg joined Roman Morales III, former publisher and owner of Third Empire Studios, in 2006 and worked with him until his untimely passing in 2018. In 2020, with Roman’s family blessing, Greg stepped into the publisher role and is carrying on with the legacy of what Roman started.
Blake Wilde
Blake T. Wilde is the 2020 winner of the Imaginary Friends’ Visual Storyteller Contest. Born and raised in Yuma, Arizona, he developed a fascination with the power of stories early on—first through film, then through the immediacy and strange magic of comic books.
He’s the creator of the five-issue series DESTRUCTO BOY and the six-issue series THE CUSTODIANS: Agents of C.R.O.S.S. Blake’s work is fueled by a lifelong passion of storytelling and its uniquely transformative power.
Lar DeSouza
Lar DeSouza (Left) is an award-winning Canadian cartoonist best known for his work on the long-running webcomics Looking For Group and Least I Could Do. His expressive, energetic style has earned him accolades including the Shuster Award and multiple Prix Aurora Awards for Artistic Achievement in Canadian Science Fiction. A graduate of Sheridan College in Illustration and Computer Graphics, Lar has also been a beloved figure in fan communities for his quick wit, caricature skills, and signature flair.
Jon Perry
Lover, learner, leader. These are the 3 pillars of Jon’s life. He loves the creative world he works in, loves the complex simplicity of pop culture and loves to solve problems for those around him in unique and clever ways. Jon is a constant learner. Using all tools at his disposal, from books to people, online sources to work shops, when he wants to learn something, nothing can stop him. He understands life is a constant evolution of behaviors and mindsets and is surging to optimize both of his. Jon is a low key leader. He does prefer to lead by action primarily. When he gets in front of a crowd his words can sway and persuade those to his cause with his trademark empathy. Jon is the founder of Imaginary Friends design studios in 2002 and Print Zoom in 2015 and both entities help serve his drive to aesthetically build up Yuma and beyond one entity at a time.
Personal Tidbit: Jon proudly owns/wears Malcom Reynold’s dog tags and brown coat.
Past Winners
The Expert Category
Two Tiny Tales
Julie Pilkington, author of “1, 2, 3 What Do You See? A Book About Clouds”, and “Mo-Mo Finds His Rainbow” won with her new book “Two Tiny Tales”. “Two Tiny Tales” is a children’s book by, Julie Pilkington, a finalist in this year’s Visual Storyteller Contest. The book’s cover is 10pt. C2S and the inner pages are on beautiful Eggshell 80# Text paper. The book has 47 pages and is 8.6 x 11.25 inches in size. This is a limited edition printing of only 50 copies.
Lumberjack Nun
The Collaborator Category
Power House Comics
Power House Comics wins the Collaborator Category with “Bible / Bloodspill: Blood Soaked Sunday” is a graphic novel by Ray Whitacre, Brandon Williams, and Adrian Gutierrez. The comic is a finalist in this year’s Visual Storyteller Contest. The book’s cover is 10pt. C2S and the inner pages are on beautiful 80# Gloss paper. The book has 46 pages and is 8.6 x 11.25 inches in size. This is a limited edition printing of only 50 copies.
Clapper Verse
Clapper Verse was written and illustrated by Alfred “Zeke” Moreno and Jojo “Vash” Copp. They were the collaborative winners of the visual storyteller contest in 2024.
The Out of Town Category
Roots, Shoots, & Cotton
It’s been one month at the Thristlewood Plantation and our seven characters have changed dramatically. Some have become delusional, paranoid, or dissociative. Do they shatter under the pressure or will this be their finest hour?
“What punishments of God are not gifts?”-Stephen Colbert
