I’m going to take you through the process of a graphic novel in a series of posts. This is from my perspective, as a writer and artist who makes fantasy books for middle grade and young adult readers - but hopefully it will be helpful even if you’re interested in making a different kind of book!
This timing of this class is perfect! In some ways I feel like I'm coming at this backwards -- I already have a literary agent and I've done an informal, high-level pitch to her about my hybrid project. But now I'm applying for grants and residencies, and I had NO idea how to conceptualize the project for these proposals. (Particularly with regards to how much art I should be preparing upfront.) This class has given me a good framework, and I really appreciate you sharing it! Honestly, I can't stop thinking about how lucky we are that you're sharing all of this incredibly valuable information with us, Molly. I feel like I've learned more from your newsletters than I have from months of independent research. Thanks for being so rad!
Thanks so much for writing up and sharing this and your other guide pieces about creating and publishing a graphic novel, Molly. You mentioned when you were starting out you would sell your mini-comics (and give them to editors) at comic conventions. How did you go about doing that? Did you apply to be an exhibitor and table?
This series is so interesting!!! I'm barely even a hobby artist lol but it's really cool to see inside the process like this. Makes me want to try drawing little comics just fun! :)
From my very limited experience with the publishing industry, I have always been told that anything above 90K (or 100K) words for a novel is going to be a tough sell to a publisher- for a first-time author that is. It is interesting that ‘blue’ covers were ‘in’ when you published Witch Boy, are there any other constraints that would hinder a first-time comic author? Like the number of illustrations, pages, words that might hinder interest?
This timing of this class is perfect! In some ways I feel like I'm coming at this backwards -- I already have a literary agent and I've done an informal, high-level pitch to her about my hybrid project. But now I'm applying for grants and residencies, and I had NO idea how to conceptualize the project for these proposals. (Particularly with regards to how much art I should be preparing upfront.) This class has given me a good framework, and I really appreciate you sharing it! Honestly, I can't stop thinking about how lucky we are that you're sharing all of this incredibly valuable information with us, Molly. I feel like I've learned more from your newsletters than I have from months of independent research. Thanks for being so rad!
Thanks so much for writing up and sharing this and your other guide pieces about creating and publishing a graphic novel, Molly. You mentioned when you were starting out you would sell your mini-comics (and give them to editors) at comic conventions. How did you go about doing that? Did you apply to be an exhibitor and table?
This series is so interesting!!! I'm barely even a hobby artist lol but it's really cool to see inside the process like this. Makes me want to try drawing little comics just fun! :)
I really appreciate you speaking about privilege, both in the individual creator's journey and with advances.
From my very limited experience with the publishing industry, I have always been told that anything above 90K (or 100K) words for a novel is going to be a tough sell to a publisher- for a first-time author that is. It is interesting that ‘blue’ covers were ‘in’ when you published Witch Boy, are there any other constraints that would hinder a first-time comic author? Like the number of illustrations, pages, words that might hinder interest?