@Mimi-Simon Hey Mimi! Wow! I'm so glad that Invisible Ink was helpful to you! and I am really impressed with your artwork! I especially love the design of Witch Sorrel and I love love love the full-page concept art you have there at the end!! I am definitely on board to see this thing finished because it will be stunning!
Some questions that come to mind when I thought about how you would be using this to pitch your story to someone who has an attention span of 30 seconds, and if they decide to keep reading after that they probably only have 2-5 minutes :
On the first page (after the cover) can the reader know everything that is most important about my story in the first 30 seconds of opening my proposal?
This would be like putting your elevator pitch first, assuming this is your one chance to sell them on the story.
If they like what they see, but only have 2 minutes to be really convinced, what are the 3 most important things they need to see to be convinced? how can I show them these things with the most economy of time?
This would be like being careful not to repeat information in character introductions that is explored and explained in larger synopsis.
How can I instill them with maximum confidence in my ability to do this project well?
this might be integrating the finished artwork into the sketchy/refined sample of the story like you would in a book dummy.
I got to submit my children's book story and dummy to an editor and some agents as a part of an scbwi event, and from the feedback I got, I realized that as an illustrator who has never published a project before, anyone I approach needs extra convincing that I can do the project--they always want the sure thing after all.
Another thought--I have read several children's books that are formatted like comic books or short graphic novels, (like Dan Santat's book Lift) so there is an in-between option, you don't have to go all in on a 200-page project, you could tell your whole story in a slightly longer than usual children's book that is formatted more like a comic/graphic novel, but doesn't have the 200-page commitment.
Another mindset thing about graphic novels is an idea I heard from Brian McDonald's podcast "You are a storyteller." He said that the graphic novel experience is a lot closer to the movies experience than to the book experience--he has actually published several graphic novels that were originally screenplays. So, If you feel daunted by the format, just ask yourself how whatever problem might be solved in your favorite movie, and see if a similar thing might work in your book.
And if you want to check out the pitch artwork of a graphic novel that is going to be released next year, this is inside the graphic novel pitch from my art hero, Gus Gordon (Into the Bewilderness)
I'm really excited to see where this project takes you! it is already beautiful
I am working on a graphic novel project myself in preparation for Graphic Novel Pro (supposed to happen in March) and I am using the "You are a Storyteller" podcast like a mentor-- I am doing story homework and analyzing movies and story stuff based on the podcast in these two threads (my journey) (our journey together) If you want to join me in that journey!
Cheers 🙂
