A Kids & YA Graphic Novel Pitch
Competition and Gallery

Thanks to everyone who submitted to the competition! If you want to attend the live event, purchase a ticket below. Winners will be announced in our live event on Saturday, 12/3/22 at 12pm EST.

*Note: Submissions are closed! You are welcome to attend the Pitchfest event without submitting a pitch.

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What is KCU Pitchfest?

KCU Pitchfest 2022 is packed full of amazing opportunities to get your graphic novel noticed by industry pros. It includes a pitch competition, an online gallery of all submissions, and a half-day online event!
Distinguished agents and editors will vote on pitches submitted to the gallery. The pitches with the most votes will be featured at the top of the gallery and during the critique session by guest judges. All submissions will be displayed on the KCU Pitchfest Gallery and promoted across the industry.

KCU Pitchfest Event Details

Jurors

Speakers & Judges

  • Host: Janna Morishima, Literary Agent and founder of Kids Comics Unite
  • Colleen AF Venable is the associate Director of Original Content for Epic! Kids; author of Kiss Number 8, the Katie the Catsitter series with Stephanie Yue, Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in The World with Ruth Chan, The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, and the Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye series, also with Stephanie Yue.
  • Rivkah LaFille is the instructor/fearless leader of Kids Comics Intensive; author-artist of the forthcoming Five Wishes (Candlewick Press), illustrator of forthcoming graphic novel with First Second, and author-artist of Steady Beat (Tokyopop).
  • Whitney Leopard is the senior editor at RH Graphic. She works on award-winning books like Trung Le Nguyen’s THE MAGIC FISH, or best sellers like Sophie Escabasse’s The Witches of Brooklyn series. Before RH Graphic, she was an editor for KaBOOM! and worked on titles like LUMBERJANES and ADVENTURE TIME. She gets to work with super talented creators on helping them bring their beautiful stories to life. Whitney is thrilled to be part of the process and below are the books that she’s been a part of.

Key Dates

10/19/22 — Registration opens.

11/6/22 — Deadline for submitting pitches to the Competition + Gallery.

12/2/22 — Registration for the main event closes.

12/3/22 — KCU Pitchfest Event will take place on Zoom. Gallery goes live and be on display through March 2023.

Event Schedule

12pm EST Introduction

12:15pm EST “You Got an Offer, Now What?” presentation by Janna Morishima

1pm EST Mini Presentations with Colleen Venable, Whitney Leopard, and Rivkah LaFille

2pm EST Graphic Novel Pitch Panel

3pm EST Critique of selected submissions

4-4:30pm EST Wrap Up

KCU Pitchfest Ticket Prices

*PITCH SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED*

General Public 

  • Event Only: $50
  • Event + Competition + Gallery: $95

KC Studio Members

  • Event Only: FREE. No need to sign up – you’ll be sent the Zoom link for the event.
  • Competition + Gallery: $15. You will receive a discount code or link (emailed to you) that can be used to register for the Competition + Gallery.

Past KC Intensive Students

  • Event Only: $50
  • Competition + Gallery: $15. You will receive a discount code or link (emailed to you) that can be used to register for the Competition + Gallery.

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Competition + Gallery
Submission Instructions

You will submit your work to the Showcase through a Google form that you’ll receive once you register for the gallery. Registration opens on October 19th and the last day to submit your work is November 6th, 2022. Submissions received after 11:59 PM EST on November 6th will not be eligible for the Showcase.

*PITCH SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED*

Here is our mockup of what the Gallery will look like:

Your submission must include the following:

  • A short synopsis of your graphic novel (750 characters max)
  • A cover image or cover page (see more detail below)
  • Two sample spreads or four pages of script (see more detail below)
  • A short bio (500-characters max)
  • Headshot (photo or drawing)
  • A description of why you created this specific graphic novel project and/or what it means to you (750 characters max)

For Author/Illustrators:

  • One (1) 800x800px 72 dpi thumbnail image of your cover art to be placed in the Gallery view.
  • Two (2) complete, full color spreads (4 pages) of your graphic novel. No larger than 1800px wide at 72 dpi. Sequential pages are strongly recommended. They will be placed on your Project Details Page.

Here is a mock-up of the Project Details Page:

For Writers:

  • One (1) 800x800px 72 dpi thumbnail image of your title to be placed in the Gallery view.
  • Four (4) pages of your graphic novel script corresponding to four (4) pages of the graphic novel (each page should be one page of the graphic novel). They will be placed on your Project Details Page.

Here is a mock-up of the Project Details Page:

Note: If you submit more than the amount specified above, we will post the first four (4) pages only. 

*PITCH SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED and will REOPEN IN NOV 2023*

The judges will select a minimum of three (3) submissions to live critique during the event. You do not need to be present at the event to be eligible for a live critique. 

Please check our FAQ below or contact Lisa Lowry at hello@kidscomicsunite.com with any questions related to the submission guidelines.

 

Purchase Tickets

Note: When you register for Pitchfest you will need to create an account on the KCU website. For current KCU and Studio members — this is separate from your KCU account on Mighty Network. We are slowly moving more of our paid options over to WooCommerce on our website. Creating this new account will not affect your Mighty Network account.

Tickets

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Frequently Asked Questions

No, we will only accept one (1) pitch per person this year.  (In future years we may open this up to multiple submissions).

YES all graphic novels for children up to and including YA graphic novels are welcomed.

We would strongly recommend they be sequential but they don't have to be from the start of the book.

If your picture book is in comics format, yes, you can submit a hybrid picture book.

No, we are only accepting pitches in graphic novel format for this competition.

The synopsis is limited to 750 characters. Here's an example of a 714-character synopsis of Gene Luen Yang's AMERICAN BORN CHINESE:

"American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. These three interweaving stories, spanning from the 16th century to the present and seemingly unrelated, come together at the end with a wholly unexpected twist. An action-packed modern fable which explores issues of Chinese American identity, anti-Asian racism, and assimilation.”

Teams should submit together. For example, a writer and illustrator working together on a pitch, should submit ONE complete submission. You will have extra space to submit an additional bio in the google form.

When you register for Pitchfest you will need to create an account on the KCU website. For current KCU and Studio members — this is separate from your KCU account on Mighty Network. We are slowly moving more of our paid options over to WooCommerce on our website. Creating this new account will not affect your Mighty Network account.

The information you enter when you create this account will NOT be used for your Pitchfest submission. Your Pitchfest submission will be through a Google form which will be emailed to all registrants. That is where you can add all your info as you want it to appear in the competition and gallery.

Please contact Lisa Lowry at hello@kidscomicsunite.com with any questions related to the submission guidelines or registration.

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