Dunno if this belongs here, but to all of you who wanna be published in Jump

[Rio]

Also, I guess Dark Horse. Though Mark Crilley already had a bit of a following.

That's the thing. If you make work and build up a following, the chances of you getting picked up by a publisher is higher than if you just came off of the street and asked for a deal. So your best bet is to just start making manga, get your stuff out there, improve, hustle, and be persistent about getting your work out to those publishers.

[AudriCantDance]

Number 4: You'll be competing with native aspiring manga-ka's and considering all of the above, you're going to have it even harder.

completely agree with this. They are probably better at it as they know what the local crowd of readers like to read, they probably have better resources/connections and hell, its japan! there are too many great mangakas to compete with! stick to your home turf.

[Delphinus]

Also a mangaka is just an artist who happens to draw in manga style. Why not draw western comics; why does it have to be manga?

[jubeh]

Maybe if you're an artist. The standard of writing in american comics is about a million times higher than it is for manga.

[Delphinus]

Granted, but, in both cases, most people seem to be artists first and writers second.

[ClockHand]

Mostly in comics (more in USA comics), the writers are writers first than anything else. If you see the works and projects of most comic books writers (not artists), you are going to see that they have worked in movies, tv series and some in their own books.

[Rio]

That's why you should do slice of life or kid-aimed mangas if you aren't that great with writing a story. I'm kind of surprised there isn't more smart children's manga out there. :\

[ClockHand]

That's why you should do slice of life or kid-aimed mangas if you aren't that great with writing a story.

I don't find those genres "easy" to write; the big deal with those is that there is a common belief that those are weak in story, so are easy to approach/write, but sadly this belief come with the repercussion of many sad and poor executed mangas. And this doesn't happen only in those, both shounen, shoujo and others genres have been raped plenty of time, reason why we see so few good mangas per year (do a insight of mangas released in 2011).

[T1B3R1U5]

Is it just me or does every one sound condecending? O.o It could just be me...I don't know. Anyways, to stay on topic. It depends on the quality of your work, the publishers themselves, and the audience you are trying to reach out to. Yeah, sure you can be fucked over by Japanese people, but who cares. Screw them. They can be the best publishers for awesome stuff, but still I don't trust 'em. So, it's really up to you for one. Secondly, who knows where you can take your manga or comic. And third...oh wait thats all I had to say.

[jubeh]

Is it just me or does every one sound condecending?

You are not imagining this but it's not because because we're trying to break the OP's heart. There's nothing wrong with reaching for your goals, but it doesn't hurt to know that your goal is nigh impossible.