KidLitGN opened its pitch window back up from now until 8 pm October 17, so if you didn’t get a chance to pitch your kids-YA graphic novel pitches (including comics-style PBs), head to this article for details. People who got their pitches in during the official pitch window got a bonus of an extra pitch, so I put another one up.
I have four pitches total now, and one thing I’ve been noticing is that not every writer is taking the opportunity to attach a bio art file, so I’ve added a couple of mine below as an example of what you can do with your bio. (Another tip: save your bios as an image file. Uploading them as a PDF won’t create a an eye-catching thumbnail.)
I think it’s safe to say that most everyone is frustrated with the state of publishing these days, including the people in the industry. But what if we creators could do something to change that, even a bit?
This question has been pinging around the usually overcrowded thought-scape that is my brain for months, especially in light of my involvement with KidLitGN. As stated in a previous post, we thought we’d have to stop the pitch event because the resources and time to manage it were just getting too much for our small but mighty volunteer group, then we connected with Orange Country School of the Arts (OCSA) and opened up a new direction for KidLitGN, with student interns doing interviews and helping with the pitch event. (BTW, the students are going to be picking their favorite pitches from KidLitGN’s pitch event and sharing those results in an article on KidLitGN’s website in November. Subscribe to the website to be among the first to read about their choices.)
I don’t think I realized how big this merger was. At that moment, it was a way to keep the pitch event going, but as time passed, it became clear that we had the opportunity to do something much bigger. How many platforms bring industry pros, creatives, and students–the audience for our books–together?
Let’s face it, most books on the market are top-down driven. Publishers decide what they will publish and the market can choose whether to buy it or not. Kickstarter, and the like, has democratized that process a bit, but by and large, the people buying the books aren’t the ones making the decisions of what books are published. What if we flipped that a bit? What if we gave the book readers a voice in the market? What if we, as creatives, could hear what they were thinking about the books they liked and what stories they wished they could find? What if graphic novel readers could chime in on the pitches that connect with them?
Well, KidLitGN now has the chance to do just that, with our student interns infusing their thoughts and ideas into the graphic novel community. I don’t know how it will all shake out, but I am excited to see if these students’ involvement will enhance the industry, even in some small way. If you want to hear more about our plans, check out this interview by Barney Smith on his fabulous StoryComic channel.
And if you have any thoughts on what you’d like to learn from the students, add it in the comments section. Good luck to those who are pitching in KidLitGN’s pitch event this year. Remember that the pitch window opens up this Saturday, October 3, and closes at 11:59 pm. on October 7. Agents, editors, and publishers can view pitches October 7-31.
Next week, you can enter to win an Inspiroy 2 L pen tablet from HUION, and the week after, you can enter to win a license to Scrivener.
I’ve used Scrivener for years and love it, especially the snapshot feature, which I use liberally to keep a copy of all my drafts. All this will pop up on KidLitGN’s blog: https://kidlitgn.com/articles/
And if you’re a GN creator, Oct. 3 is the day the pitch window opens. Find out more at KidLitGN.com
I’ll be posting three pitches: two comics-style PB pitches and a humorous MG pitch. I’m looking forward to the option to connect with collaborators as much as anything, but of course, we all hope our pitch will be “liked” by an agent or editor.
If you’re entering a pitch or pitches this year, may the pitch fairies shower you with luck. And please pass on the word about the pitch event. The bigger it gets, the better the chance for everyone to make a connection.
KidLitGN is hosting its 6th, annual pitch event on its website: kidlitgn.com. Agented and unagented graphic novel creators can load pitches October 3-7, with editors, agents, and publishers being invited to view pitches beginning October 7 through October 31.
Unagented and agented GN creators have their own sections and can pitch in the following categories: comics-style picture books, early/chapter, middle grade, and young adult. If you’re an illustrator and don’t have a project to pitch, you can post a portfolio sample in the unagented or agented illustrator sections.
Something new this year: after the pitch event is over, KidLitGN will archive the pitches behind password protected pages. Agents, editors & publishers can request a password and view the pitches throughout the year. Anyone who pitches can request to have their pitch removed at any time.
And the change I’m most excited about: writers-only can upload up to 4 pages of their script along with a bio attached as an art file. And, they can use their pitches to seek out collaborators. See here for more details: https://kidlitgn.com/blog/
Some of you may know that I’ve been involved with KidLitGN since its beginning, and this year was likely going to be our volunteer team’s last year of being able to pull it off. The costs were mounting, and each member of the team was finding successes that were pulling us in other directions.
Hollie Michaels is a Literary Manager, Author, Illustrator, Playwright. She grew up in South Florida, but now calls New England her home.
While working toward her M.A. in Creative Writing (Scripts) from City University of London, Hollie worked for the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency as a reader. When she returned to NYC, she joined the Gersh Agency as an assistant in the Theatrical Department. While working in indie theater as a director and producer, Hollie taught theater from grades K-12 and continued teaching when she moved to CT and had kids. During that time, Hollie ventured deeper into publishing, expanding her background from playwright to writing books for kids.
Hollie lives in commuting distance to NYC, with her husband, two kids and two fur babies. In her free time, Hollie works on building a green thumb, camping, baking sugar free treats, exploring indie bookstores and seeing Broadway shows.
Congratulations on your new role as an agent at Martin-Newens Literary Management. How did that all come about? What drew you to agenting?
Agenting has always been at the back of my mind as I enjoy connecting people and giving feedback on work. As someone who has worked as a teacher, producer and director, agenting felt like a natural next step for me. I see the work that people do and right away I’m thinking, you know who would be a great fit for this story. I naturally begin connecting the dots. I love to help writers and illustrators create their best work.
As an author-only, I’m keeping my sites on finding a collaborator for some graphic novel scripts I’ve been working on, so I would love to hear any further tips in the comments on how you’ve created a successful collaboration.
And in other graphic novel news, KidLitGN just announced changes to their upcoming pitch event along with this informative article by agent Andrea Colvin:
Greetings everyone. The year passed so quickly, but I’ve got some great info to share. KidLitGN is hosting its annual pitch event this October. We’ve had an editor give us some suggestions on how to enhance the event for industry pros, so we’re looking forward to some possible changes.
This event is open to agented and unagented graphic novel creators in categories that range from comics-style picture books to YA.
GN creators can load pitches from 8 a.m. (EDT) Oct. 3 until 11:59 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 7
Pitches open to agents and editors at 8 a.m. (EDT) Oct. 7 and close at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 31
And some other awesome GN resources you might enjoy. Janna Morishima from Kids Comics Unite recently posted an informative article about her time at MOCCA. She gave really great tips about how to successfully table and draw in a crowd, so check it out.
And theLet’s Go!: A Kids Comics Studio Anthology is available to purchase on Amazon! I forgot to update everyone with this news. I must say, it was very fulfilling to create an author’s page. The anthology was a ton of work, but all worth it in the end.
Finally, I’ve been working hard to clean up a list of graphic novel agents. As you know, the industry changes a lot so double check the websites to confirm if the agent is still with the agency and that they do in fact, want graphic novel submissions. I’ve done my best, but I’m sure there are errors I haven’t uncovered yet. (If you see any, let me know.)
First, a big thank you to all those who opted into my newsletter through the Let’s Go!: A Kids Comics Studio Anthology. And a thank you to those of you who’ve been following me for a while.
This isn’t the post I intended to write, but I have two time sensitive opportunities I wanted to share.
Second: The KidLitGN pitch event opens to agents, editors, and publishers in five days (Oct. 1). However, unagented and agented creators who have comics-style picture books, early/chapter, middle grade, or YA graphic novel projects can begin loading their pitches as soon as Sept. 28 at 8 a.m. The pitch window closes at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 1.
Most of my original followers came from my picture book connections, so I want highlight the opportunity to pitch comics-style picture books (listed as Graphic PBs on the website) in the KidLitGN pitch event (think picture books with sequential art like Mr. Particular or Toys in Space).
Exhibit A: Evidence that I am NOT an illustrator, and a fun challenge I did through KCU. A “paneling” exercise with my chickens as inspiration. I wanted to test the flow of panels without the rigidity of them.
I fished a rat snake out of my hens’ nesting box before locking them up for the night. A day in the life of a pretend homesteader I guess. To top it off, said snake chose to invade my chicken coop during one of our famous, spontaneous thunder-with-dumping-rain-storms.
Meet Scooby. When we got him as a chick, we didn’t know if he was a rooster or a hen for the longest time, so we named him Scooby–our mystery chick. He’s now much older, much bigger, but still a mystery.
With one hand holding the umbrella, I couldn’t get the snake and hold the lid up, so I trucked into the house to fetch a glove, boots, and a poncho, the latter of which, I remembered too late, was with my daughter at camp. Sigh…
So, not-very-water-proof-hoodie draped over my head and back instead, work glove on, back out to the coop to fetch the snake, boots sloshing in the mini-river shooting down the drive, snake relocated and slithering angrily away, chickens accounted for and locked up for the night, I plowed inside and plopped down to write this post…that I’m just now finding time to edit and publish.
