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$120 To Pitch Your Kids & YA Graphic Novel To Big Publishers & Agents

$120 To Pitch Your Kids & YA Graphic Novel To Big Publishers & Agents... it could be the best $120 you spend to get your comic book published

Published Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:57:06 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Submit your Kids & YA graphic novel pitch to top agents and editors at KCU Pitchfest for a $120 fee.
Participate in a 15-minute one-on-one review with a jury agent or editor for an extra $100.
Top projects get showcased widely in the industry; submissions due by March 7th, 2025.
Discounts offered for students, financially challenged, and international entries from poorer countries.

The KCU Pitchfest is a gallery showcase of unpublished kids and YA-intended graphic novel projects that are reviewed by a panel of top agents and editors. And will cost $120 to take part. Participants can submit their pitch to be considered over the next few weeks. Participants can also have the opportunity to sign up for a 15-minute, one-on-one pitch review with an agent or editor from the jury. The jury of agents and editors then review and vote on the projects, to be revealed at a live event on March 29th. The Pitchfest Showcase will be shared widely with agents, editors, and art directors across the industry.

A Kids & YA Graphic Novel Pitch — KCU Pitchfest

Bleeding Cool has reported on the rise in graphic novel sales to middle-grade and YA audiences in the USA, rapidly outselling comic book direct market superhero and manga titles in America. Through bookstores, book fairs, and Amazon, dozens of titles have been getting million-plus print runs, hundreds have been getting six-figure print runs, and thousands have been getting high five-figure print runs. But getting noticed is hard, getting an agent is harder, and getting a publisher is harder still. Normally I would be dead set against anyone asking for payment to review your work, but the people involved make this a very different matter. This is a lot of people doing a lot of work and a service that will see your work displayed for many publishers actively looking for new projects to publish, and that is what you are paying for. The current list of judges isnclude big names from across the industry, including Mike Marts, who used to be the Marvel X-Men Group Editor, founded Aftershock Comics, and is now EIC at Mad Cave. They also have 50% off deals for the financially challenged or students, hardship appeals and, if you really don't want to participate in this, a list of people who you might be able to contact after the competition is over.

Alex Lu, Editor, Random House Graphic
Aliza R Hoover, Literary Agent, Cat Agency
Andrea Cascardi, Literary Agent, Transatlantic Agency
Andrew Arnold, Editorial Director, Harper Alley/Harper Collins
Angelica Busanet, Assistant Editor, Abrams Books
Chelsea Eberly, Director and Literary Agent, Greenhouse Literary Agency
Erinn Pascal, Senior Editor, Andrews McMeel Kids
Jasmine Richards, Editorial Director and Founder, Storymix, United Kingdom
Jenniea Carter, Literary Associate, New Leaf Literary and Media
Kimmy Tejasindhu, Associate Editor, Ten Speed Press
Lauren Kisare, Assistant Editor, Little, Brown Ink
Maria Vicente, Senior Literary Agent, P.S. Literary Agency
Mike Marts, EVP, Editor-in-chief, Mad Cave Studios
Rachel Diebel, Editor, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan
Samia Garcia-Fakih, Editor, First Second/Macmillan
Sean McCarthy, Literary Agent, McCarthy Lit
Shannon Gallagher, Associate Agent, Wernick & Pratt Agency
Sophie Splatt, Senior Editor, Allen and Unwin, Australia

The fifteen-minute one-on-one events will be with:

Alex Lu, Editor, Random House Graphic
Aliza R Hoover, Literary Agent, Cat Agency
Erinn Pascal, Senior Editor, Andrews McMeel Kids
Jenniea Carter, Literary Associate, New Leaf Literary and Media
Kimmy Tejasindhu, Associate Editor, Ten Speed Press
Maria Vicente, Senior Literary Agent, P.S. Literary Agency
Samia Garcia-Fakih, Editor, First Second/Macmillan
Angelica Busanet, Assistant Editor, Abrams Books
Rachel Diebel, Editor, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan
Shannon Gallagher, Associate Agent, Wernick & Pratt Agency
Lauren Kisare, Assistant Editor, Little, Brown Ink

Booking the one-ones will be available from February 21st to the 3rd of March, and the deadline for submitting pitches to the Pitchfest Showcase is the 7th of March. Basically, you have four weeks. Run. The cost for the gallery submission and the industry panel event is $120. The 15-minute one-on-one with an agent or editor is an additional $100. Studio Members get a 20% discount on the submissions, with 50% discounts for the hard-up and students. There are also discounts for international entries from poorer countries and for other hardship cases, to those who contact hello@kidscomicsunite.com.

Participants must be eighteen years or older, submissions must be in English, the pitch must be unpublished and not acquired by a publisher at the time of submission, AI-created art is not permitted, Kids-YA graphic novel projects of any length and hybrid-picture books in comic format are eligible, author-illustrator partnerships and teams are accepted but not script-only. In March, a jury of agents and publishers will look through the submitted projects and vote. The projects which receive the most votes will go into the showcase in the order of vote count. On March 29th, 2025, the Pitchfest Showcase will be revealed, and the top 5 voted projects will be presented with prizes. The top 50 submitted pitches will be displayed in the final gallery. Your submission will include the following:

A short synopsis of your graphic novel (750 characters max)
A cover image or cover page (see more detail below)
Two to four spreads (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) Note: the character count includes spaces.
One 800x800px at 72 dpi (.jpg or .jpeg) thumbnail image of your cover art to be placed in the Gallery view. Your name and book title are required to be on the cover thumbnail.
A minimum of two spreads and a maximum of four spreads (.jpg or .jpeg). A spread is composed of two pages side by side, like looking at an open book. Each spread must be a complete piece of work and no larger than 1800px wide at 72-96 dpi. Sequential pages are strongly recommended. Each file size should not exceed 5 mb.
No concept art, alternative cover art, spotlight illustrations, scripts, or other pitch-related material is allowed. Only comic pages are allowed. The showcase is intended as a quick, to-the-point pitch teaser.

Here is an example by Brigitta Blair:

Here is a synopsis example: "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, seemingly unrelated and spanning from the 16th century to the present, 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."

And when you are asked about how you found out about Pitchfest, remember to say Bleeding Cool! Good luck out there. Honestly, I think the $120 is worth is, given the exposure this will give your work to some very important people, is cheaper than attending a comic convention, and a lot quicker and easier than sending work to agents hoping to catch their eye, so that they will then send your work to publishers and editors, hoping to catch their eye. And remember, only one pitch per creative team…

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