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Scott Snyder says most DC Comics pitches from writers fail for the same three reasons, and he wants to help everyone get better
Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder says these are the biggest mistakes writers make when pitching for DC Comics
NewsbyJoshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer
Published on Thu Aug 06 2026
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Scott Snyder has plenty to be proud of. Absolute Batman, a title he launched in 2024 alongside Nick Dragotta, was the best-selling direct market comic book of the year. His work on American Vampire earned him an Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2011, and Absolute Batman just won book earlier this month. He’s also one of the architects behind the DC All In publishing initiative, which has been a critical and commercial success.
In other words, Scott Snyder knows how to write a successful DC Comic, so if you’re looking to do the same thing, you should probably follow his advice. If you ever find yourself in the fortunate position to be pitching work for DC, Scott Snyder says there are three things you need to avoid.
“I have two jobs at DC now. I’m a writer, and then I have this consulting gig,” Scott Snyder says during a recent appearance on AIPT Comics Podcast. “I’m sort of figuring out that aspect of my role there now. We have a lot of big stuff coming and we’re trying to figure out how that evolves. But ultimately, that is the job, you see a ton of pitches. And the three things that are the most common problems are, one, they’re not new reader friendly. They read as though it’s a continuation of things before. Where it’s referencing things before. So, it doesn’t embrace the idea that this is someone’s first comic and that you need to earn their readership every issue.”
“Two, there’s very soft cliffhangers. And three is decompression. It’s not moving fast enough. Issue three should be issue one. And again, what I always do is I always say to the writer, this is my advice objectively given the story you’re telling. Your story feels like it’s moving. You’re getting to this big bombastic stuff, but you’re waiting here. You could put it here. And if they go, that’s not the way I want to tell it, I promise we’ll go out and support it just the same. And I’m not trying to turn every story into a bombastic super-fast thing. What I’m saying is a lot of the time they’re going for that, but they’re not thinking about the medium quite to the degree that they could.”
Consider this a free lesson from one of DC’s greatest storytellers. And if you aren’t sure about what he’s saying, take a look at the Absolute Batman sales numbers and then reconsider his advice.
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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.
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