Enrollment opens on January 28th and closes on January 31st. Registration for the 2023 Intensive is through the KCU website. Click here to enroll.

To register:

• Click one of the "Select Option" buttons above
• Select Intensive: Full OR Intensive: Writing Only
• Select “Pay in Full” or “Pay Deposit” (to pay in installments)
• Add to cart
• You will be prompted to create an account on the website to complete the registration process. Note: This is a separate account from your KCU Mighty Network account. Don't try to log in using your Mighty Network credentials. If you registered for Pitchfest, you have an account on the KCU website, and can log into that account to register for the Intensive.

If you have any issues registering, please contact Lisa at hello@kidscomicsunite.com.

There will be a live lesson every Thursday at 12:00 pm EST, starting on Thursday Feb. 2nd. The group coaching call will be every Tuesday with alternating times between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm EST.

The full Intensive runs from February 2nd–April 27th. If you take only the writing portion of the Intensive, that portion runs from February 2nd–February 28th.

Thursday lessons are 2 hours and the Tuesday Coaching Calls are anywhere from 1.5-2 hours, depending how many participants are involved.

Both classes and coaching calls will be done via Zoom. You can submit your questions for the group coaching call in advance, if you can't attend in person, and we will answer your questions on the call so you can listen to the replay to get the answers. You can also type questions in the Zoom chat while the class is live, both during lessons as well as coaching calls.

The coaching calls will be recorded and accessible afterwards.

The great thing about building this program as part of the Kids Comics Unite community is that it will still be easy for you to connect with fellow program participants after the program has ended. Also, the program lessons (Zoom recordings, pdfs, templates, etc) will be archived in the Course and you’ll have access to it even after the program ends.

Kids Comics Intensive costs $1950 and can be paid in four payments of $487.50.

Kids Comics Intensive [Writing only] costs $650 and can be paid in two payments of $325.

Kids Comics Studio members can enroll in the course at the discounted rate of $1500, paid in four payments of $375. We will give you a link to register at the discount price.

We have had MANY writers take the full course and benefit from it because it taught them how to think visually about their work, which is something that isn't covered in-depth in the writing portion of the Intensive.

Certain portions may not be as relevant for writers-only (especially the technical lessons), but we cover pacing, timing, page turns, and paneling...all things that writers should know if they want to make their absolute best graphic novel script! And because we cover the publishing/marketing/business of graphic novels in the last few lessons of the Intensive, you can benefit from that, too!!!

This is a very common and critical question that many creators wrestle with. Our own firm belief is that you must write the book of your heart. But you must also look for peers and mentors who can look at your work with an outsiders’ perspective and help you see its strengths and weaknesses; who its audience is; and where it fits in the market.

It’s a constant dance between listening to what your heart is telling you, then sharing that with trusted people who can help guide you forward. It’s important to keep an open mind and be willing to listen. Sometimes you start in one place, with one specific expectation of where you’re going with your creative work, but in the end -- if you are open to feedback and being flexible -- you end up somewhere completely unexpected.

We specifically designed the program so that you’ll be making concrete progress on your creative work. Another key element of the program is helping you develop strong relationships with kindred spirits (ie, your peers) who can read your work with an experienced eye, give you fresh ideas, and renew your enthusiasm and motivation on a regular basis (even long after the course is over!).

Absolutely. There are many successful creators who create work aimed at widely varying audiences. One example is Jenni Holm, whom we interviewed for Kids Comics Studio on July 15th, 2020. She creates everything from the silly Squish graphic novel series aimed at early elementary school kids, to Sunny Side Up, an emotional graphic novel series aimed at middle school readers, to prose novels like the Newbery Honor winning Our Only May Amelia. Another example is Craig Thompson -- he’s done many highly influential graphic novels for adults (Blankets, Habibi), but has also published graphic novels for kids (Space Dumplins for Scholastic Graphix, and numerous one-shots for the now defunct Nickelodeon magazine).

There are also many, many successful artists and writers who split their work between adult and kid audiences. It is totally possible to work in different genres and for different types of readers.

For Kids Comics Intensive, though, you will pick one project to focus on, so you make significant progress on that specific project over the duration of the course.

All the fundamental principles we’ll be teaching in Kids Comics Intensive apply to almost any type of book creator. At its heart, what we’ll be working on is: how to constantly improve your work; how to be clear and confident about who you are as a writer/artist; and how to connect with your readers. These principles apply whether you’re making kids’ graphic novels, or something related but different (for example, hybrid illustrated chapter books, or picture books with comics elements).

Most of the specific examples we’ll use in the program will be from the children’s and YA graphic novel world, and the majority of the participants will be working in those areas. But this will be a very inclusive and welcoming community and we are happy to have you join us if you are a picture book creator, a graphic novelist working on content for teens or “new” adults, or something else. We can all learn from each other.

This program will be a fantastic place to make friends, build connections, and network with future allies. You might not meet the exact person you end up collaborating with, but you might meet the person who knows the right collaborator for you!

There will be a nice mix of people in the group: some who are exclusively writers; some who are exclusively artists; and many who do both.

We’re designing the program to work for both “pre-published” and “already published” creators. We’ll be covering a lot of fundamentals that will help beginning creators get started. But we’ll also be able to go deeper on those fundamentals to discuss how more advanced participants can move to the next level.

Yes, if you are specifically interested in learning about kids and YA graphic novel writing. We will talk about what authors need to know about writing for sequential art. We’ll show examples of different graphic novel manuscripts so you can see different ways they can be formatted. You have the option of signing up just for the “Writing” portion of the course (the first four weeks), if you don’t want to continue for the visual storytelling part of it.

We have to be honest, though, that it is definitely harder to break into traditional children’s book publishing as a writer-only focusing on graphic novels. It’s easier if you’re an established author with a successful track record. One route we recommend for writers-only is to focus at first on hybrid books: ie, picture book manuscripts with comics elements incorporated, or illustrated chapter books with short comics sequences.

Another possibility is self-publishing. One of the top-selling illustrated middle grade books on Amazon right now, Legend of the Star Runner, is self-published by an author who found his own illustrator.