TRYING YOUR HAND AT A GRAPHIC NOVEL by Mary E. Cronin

As graphic novels become more and more well known, many writers want to learn more about this dynamic sector of children's/teen publishing.

If you're interested in trying your hand at a graphic novel project, here are some tips and resources.

Author Stacy Nyikos takes us through her exploration process as she sought to learn as much as she could about graphic novels. She leaves us a wonderful trail of breadcrumbs to follow in this post from the blog Through the Tollbooth.

If you want to get a handle on terminology and classifications within graphic novel formats, this article by Ally Watkins from School Library Journal is helpful:

"An important thing to remember at the start: comics are not a genre, they’re a format. There are many genres of comic books and graphic novels, but they’re all written in the comic format." See more here.

Diving into graphic novels, and reading a ton of them is a great way to begin figuring out how you might construct a narrative. Read about some current graphic novels here:

Visionary Graphic Narratives: Celebrate Black History Month and Beyond with These Essential Comics

And here:

Spring 2018 Announcements: Comics & Graphic Novels

Ready to tackle a project or put together a graphic novel proposal? Here are four resources that will help you figure out how to structure your proposal/manuscript:

 Getting a Graphic Novel Published, Part II (How Cathy G. Johnson landed her agent, Jen Linnan) (the pitch)

What's in a Graphic Novel Proposal?  Blog post by Faith Erin Hicks

An Inside Look at the Submission Process, by Gina Gagliano at First Second Books.

Graphic Novel Terminology, podcast featuring Gina Gagliano and Alison Wilgus.

Jessica Abel/Wikimedia Commons

Interested in diving deeper?  Check out these twitter accounts:

Cathy J, Johnson, cartoonist, educator, podcaster:  @cathygjohn

Flame Con, the LGBTQ Comic Con:  @FlameCon

First Second Books, "All Graphic Novels, all the time":    @01FirstSecond ‏

Brittney Williams, comic artist, animator: @AnotherBrittney ‏

Jen Bartel, illustrator, comic artist:      @heyjenbartel ‏

Melanie Gillman, cartoonist:         @melgillman ‏

Kat Fajardo, artist, illustrator, anthology editor:       @katfcomix ‏

Faith Erin Hicks, cartoonist:   @FaithErinHicks ‏

Good luck and have fun!