To whom it may concern,

Years ago when I was deciding a career, I was a Marvel Comics junkie. I was invested in every character, storyline and concept. This immersion led me to a series of columns by Mark Gruenwald, a long-time editor at Marvel. In these "Mark's Remarks" columns, Mr. Gruenwald wrote about what it took to make it in the comic-book industry. He wrote that wannabes were a dime a dozen. In his eye, they lacked one key thing — patience. They weren't willing to pay their dues. They weren't willing to hone their talents. They wanted to dive in and take over the X-Men.
Instead, he suggested a slow, measured path to Marvel Comics. He said go to college, take some journalism classes and work at a newspaper for a while. There you could learn how the publishing business works. From writing to editing to understanding the intricacies of pre-press techniques, you'd learn a lot, he wrote.
That's just what I've done. For the past 10 years, I've worked as a journalist in a variety of newspapers. I started out as a copy editor and became a writer, a designer and illustrator.
(Readers: I've snipped out a few details here.)
Outside of the newspaper business, I've also worked for some of the biggest publishers in the role-playing game field. For Paizo Publishing, I've been the author of three highly-rated Dungeons & Dragons adventures. At West End Games, I was a contributing writer for their book exploring alien races.
So what's my next step? Marvel Comics. I've been waiting and working my way toward  your company, and I hope you'll give me a shot as your next Associate Editor.
Sincerely,
Your ComicsOnTheBrain.com blogger