How I Make Pitches for Graphic Novels

One of the hardest things about comics that I’m glad to have finally gotten the hang of is writing pitches. It’s not elevator-pitch style (don’t ask me to do that), but it’s concise and has the goldilocks ratio of information needed. (3 pages divided into 6 sections).

Note: This is a mixture of general advice and personal knowledge. A lot of these I learned through trial and error. I’ve both the experience of a creator making pitches, and an editor reading through the slush pile for Hiveworks. In the end, it’s still personal. You do you.

Note for educators: I also have a Powerpoint version of this and once ran a workshop teaching comics creators how to write pitches; it comes with a group activity that simulates being an editor in a publishing house so they know what the experience of reading through the slush pile is like.

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Composition of a GN pitch

A graphic novel pitch is comprised of 4 parts:

1. The cover letter
2. The pitch
3. A sample script or preferably, a sample comic
4. THE STRUCTURE OF THE EMAIL, which is the damb most important part of the pitch. Listen! Pay attention! DO NOT MESS THIS UP!

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Introducing yourself

THE COVER LETTER is a small piece introducing who you are as a comics person, your previous work/accomplishments and the pitch. This is the longer version of the pinned tweet. Can be written as separate PDF, but I usually put it in the email body.

I only write cover letters if I’m approaching a publisher, agent, or editor who I’m not familiar with. Like, obviously you can’t just come crashing through a stranger’s door like some kinda rando. Let them know who you are first. It’s courtesy.

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Pitching your work

THE PITCH is the PDF proposal of your GN.

My pitches are average 3 pages long of text. If I include artwork, obviously it’ll be longer. But the vital textual information is 3 pages, divided into 6 sections.

1. Logline
2. About
3. Audience
4. Genre
5. Length/style
6. Comps

LOGLINE:

The most succinct explanation of your GN. The TL;DR. It’s the 6 sections distilled into 2-3 sentences.

I understand how hard it is to boil down your GN cos you’re so excited and bursting to tell everyone all the lil details that make it awesome. It took me 7 years to create a logline for my webcomic, and 3 years for my debut GN.

I find it helps that I repeat the summary of my GN multiple times, cutting out words, trying on different ways of retelling it, etc. It’s trial and error. You’ll find it eventually.

ABOUT:

The full version of your GN. This is where you tell the editor what the story is about. Its plot, its themes, and its ideas. Comics in publishing are sold on proposal, unlike novels which are written in full before submission.

Meaning that if your pitch goes to acquisition, the editor is putting a lot of faith in you to make something cool, and if it gets accepted, the publisher is putting a lot of faith investing in you and your book. SO YOU GOTTA MAKE THEIR JOB EASIER AND KINDER FOR THEM!!

When writing ABOUT

1. Please talk about the ENTIRE PLOT. BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END.

2. In the most concise way possible. Remember your editor is a person with limited time. Also, reading 10+ worth of text is hell.

3. Imagine you’re writing a Wikipedia article about your book

3a. Read the Wikis of well-known books and movies to give you an idea.

4. GIVE SPOILERS. DO NOT ATTACH MYSTERY. I know it seems cute to tease your editor but your editor needs to know as much as possible because they have to make INFORMED BUSINESS DECISIONS.

5. Mention your concepts, themes and ideas. You want to depict this in a black and white gothic style? Say it.

6. Be empathetic. Structure your ABOUT section empathetically. This is the contributing factor that’s made my ABOUT 1.5 pages long (out of 3 pages).

Artwork to attach to ABOUT (any or all)

– character designs/model sheet (important for fiction)

– worldbuilding

Can be its separate PDF.

AUDIENCE:

The targeted audience for your GN.

1. Age: all-ages, MG, YA, adult, etc

2. Mention specific niches if any: librarians, educators, the knitting community, etc

GENRE :

What you think your GN might be categorised in the library or bookstore. Is it historical, romance, fantasy or all of it? You can go more specific too. For example, a self-help book which deals with productivity for creative types. Or urban fantasy.

LENGTH/STYLE :

The approximate size of your GN. I usually give a ballpark (less than 300 pages, for example).

STYLE is the hard details. Is it in black and white? Full colour?

LENGTH/STYLE are important to calculate your advance and the budget required to print the book.

COMPS :

Short for ‘comparisons’, these are titles for books that are similar to the GN you’re proposing, in terms of genre, style and theme. It can be fiction, non-fiction, comics, or prose, or even movies!

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These 6 sections are meant to represent information required in an acquisitions meeting.

Logline is for publisher.

About is for editor and their colleagues.

Audience/Genre/Comps are for sales, distribution and marketing.

Length/Style are for accounts aka your advance and budget.

LIKE SERIOUSLY! The general advice is to write your pitch to help a group of strangers make the book for you. Give them as much info for them to make the appropriate business decision for yourself and everyone. IT’LL MAKE YOUR LIFE AND EVERYONE’S EASIER. BE EMPATHETIC!!

And now, the most important part of the pitch.

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THE STRUCTURE OF THE EMAIL ITSELF.

The subject line, the email body, the email attachments.

This is relevant to people who are cold-submitting to publishers, editors and agents: PLEASE FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES TO THE LETTER

So many creators get this part wrong! You know what happens if you get it wrong? Your pitch is way less likely to be read. You know why? Cos it shows that you DON’T read, follow instructions, and/or respect the person who set those guidelines. Sorry man, it’s real facts.

In this kind of situation (or in general really), you’ve to show that you’re a kind, empathetic, respectful, not-bonkers person who is able to cooperate in a team setting. Cos publishing your GN is a team effort. If you don’t show up at the start, what guarantee you will later?

Samples

A sample is about 15-30 pages worth of comics that preview the voice, artwork and potential of the GN. Due to the unusual process of publishing comics, providing the sample is recommended.

However I sold Seance Tea Party without a sample. Just on pitch alone. Probably cos the story/concept was strong enough. And the publisher really loved it! Also I had the strength of my agent AND my previous debut GN to back me up.

But generally I’d do samples.

My artist and I had to make samples for our latest pitch. Me for the script (only two chapters), and the artist illustrating a portion of that script.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s my pitch for Seance Tea Party, for reference.

Obviously the look of your pitch will be different, not just on an individual person basis, but for every project you do. A lot of it is trial and error. You’ll figure it out eventually. Go forth and make good GNs!!