Want to Sell Your Kids or YA Graphic Novel? 9 Pitching Tips from a Top Editor

In our first Feedback with a Pro, Kids Comics Studio members submitted short pitches for their graphic novel works-in-progress, and we asked Union Square & Co graphic novel editor Chris Duffy to give them feedback. For his critiques, we asked him to start with one question:

If you received this pitch in your inbox, what would be your first reaction?

Then follow that with this question:

Would you ask to see more, or pass on this submission?

And finally, the most simple, yet important question of them all:

Why?

With these questions guiding the critiques, Chris guided us through a thoughtful discussion about audience, visual storytelling, and so much more!  Here are some of the key takeaways from his feedback: 

The Hook is Critical

It only takes a few seconds for an editor to make a decision on your pitch, so make those seconds count by grabbing their attention right away. Not only should your short synopsis describe your story, but it should also confidently show WHY an editor should be interested in it. 

Does your story appeal to a specific audience?  Does it fill a gap in the market?  Does it have an important message? 

Make sure you convey what makes your pitch so compelling as quickly as possible.

Know Your Market Angle

Related to your hook, editors will be thinking about how well your story aligns with current trends or how it fills a gap in the market. 

Make sure you research your age group and genre and use that knowledge to communicate where your book fits.  Don’t forget to include comparison titles somewhere in your pitch.

Know Your Target Audience

With books for each age group, there are different typical storytelling conventions, themes, character behaviors, and art direction. These aspects can vary significantly between the early reader, chapter book, middle grade, and young adult categories, and it’s essential to keep your storytelling on target for the intended age level.  

Be very conversant with other books aimed at your target age level. Read a ton of them, and make sure your project feels like it fits in terms of vocabulary, page count, character types, panel layouts, etc.

Ask yourself if your story makes sense for the age group you are writing for, and why it has to be written for them.  It doesn’t hurt to explore crafting your story for different age groups – just make sure the version you ultimately decide to pitch is consistent with your final decision.

Don’t Write with Multiple Ages in Mind

Within the film & TV world, it’s common to develop stories for a “Four Quadrant Audience.” On the other hand, within book publishing, taking that approach will often doom your proposal.

Books are typically read by one person at a time (with the exception of picture books that are read aloud), and children’s books are marketed and sold in specific categories like “early reader” or “middle grade.” 

Don’t try to appeal to multiple age levels – focus your efforts on writing the best possible story for your target age group.

Make your Visual Narrative as Dynamic as Possible

Sample pages are the main material an editor will use to judge what the final look and feel of your graphic novel will be like.  The last thing you want your sample pages to be is boring. 

Avoid using repetitive angles, such as front-facing characters or ground level shots, unless you are aiming for very young readers or have a specific reason for it.  Include varied perspectives and backgrounds to help make your pages fun to read.

Start With the Action

Sample pages are crucial to proving your storytelling skills to an editor, so don’t hold back on showing off the best parts of your graphic novel. 

When picking a scene to depict, prioritize one with dynamic storytelling and action. It might make sense to pick the beginning of your story, but it might not. If you don’t think the beginning will give an editor a good sense of your story as a whole, pick a different scene that best conveys the overall voice. 

If you’re writing an action-adventure, pick a scene that sells the excitement.  For comedies, pick the funniest scene.  If your story is more dramatic, pick a scene with vivid emotion and strong characters.  

Character Types and Relationships Matter

Stories depicting friendship and exploring character relationships are especially important for middle grade and young adult readers, who need a reason to care about your characters and to feel like the story is relatable to them.

It’s a truism within book publishing that kids want to read books featuring other kids around their age (or perhaps slightly older than them). Consider including these dynamics in your sample pages, especially showing your protagonists interacting with other characters their age.

Editors Look for Evidence of Your Experience

If you are a debut author, editors will look for evidence that you are capable of completing a full-length graphic novel. 

Link to your portfolio or website from your pitch, and make sure it shows off your skills and has evidence that you can complete long term projects. 

Final Words

Chris closed out our session with one last piece of advice,

“Talk to a lot of other people too. I am just one peon in the publishing world.”

So go forth and get as much feedback on your work as you can!  

We’d like to extend a huge high five to all of the KCU Studio members who submitted their work for our first Feedback with a Pro session.  It takes a lot of courage to put your work out there, especially when it’s getting publicly critiqued.  But thanks to them, we were able to compile these nuggets of advice to share with all of you!