A Literary Agent’s Guide to Querying Your Graphic Novel

Oct 25

You may have noticed that trade book publishing is finally catching on to what so many of us have known for a very long time: comics are amazing. Imprints are actively acquiring graphic novel projects like never before, and the influence of illustrated books can be seen in every category and genre under the publishing sun.

Trade publishing works different than the comics industry, and you typically need to have literary representation in order to get your work seen by most of the big publishers. Since there is so little information available for querying literary agents specifically with graphic novels, this post will help those of you hoping to find representation for your graphic works.

Step One: Write a Query Letter

The first thing you need is a query letter, a short email that introduces you and your book. Your query letter should include a pitch of your project, an author bio, the titles of any previous publications, and a link to your portfolio (if you are an illustrator).

Now, let’s take a look at topics specific to graphic novel projects:

Does my graphic novel need to be 100% complete before I look for literary representation?

No, but the amount of finished work depends on your specific situation.

If you are the writer of a graphic novel (you’re not an illustrator, and you don’t have an illustrator attached to the project and sample pages to share), you will be most successful finding representation with a complete script. Why? Your words need to sell the entire story. Since graphic novels are a visual medium, agents need to know that you understand the format and can write a script that guides the illustrator through the story in panel format. A complete script is especially important for debut writers without prior comics experience.

At the very least, you should have two or three sample chapters of the script complete, as well as a full synopsis (written in paragraph format) that covers the entire book.

If you are querying a graphic novel as an author/illustrator (or you have a separate illustrator attached to the project), then you probably don’t need a complete script. Why? You can rely on the art to sell some of the story. In this case, fully illustrated sample pages are a must. I still think it’s a good idea to have a longer, script-only sample to share. And that full synopsis I mentioned in the previous paragraph? Also helpful.

What material should I have ready to send to literary agents?

If I read a pitch (query letter) I love for a graphic novel project, I will ask the creator(s) to send me a full pitch package in PDF format. You can read my guide to creating graphic novel proposals here.

Do literary agents represent creative teams or individual writers?

While it’s common in the comics industry to have multiple creators signed on to a project from the beginning (tasks like writing, illustrating, lettering, coloring, etc. are often tackled by different people), this practice is not as common in traditional publishing.

Literary agents generally sign individual creators for representation. Some might require all members of a creative team have representation before submitting a book to publishers; others might choose to represent team members for a specific project.

Publishers do source illustrators for projects they acquire (if they fall in love with a script and know they need to be the one to publish it)—if you’re a writer, you don’t need to worry about finding an illustrator for your graphic novel. However, I will say that it is much easier to sell a graphic novel when an illustrator is attached. Including art in a graphic novel proposal definitely helps catch the eye of editors and agents.

If you are an author/illustrator and know you will need help with certain parts of the process (like lettering, for example), it’s best to be upfront about that with your agent and publishing team from the very beginning.

Traditional publishing hasn’t sorted out a standard way to incorporate creative teams into graphic novel projects, so the makeup of creators on any given project varies widely. If you already have a team assembled for your project, you can definitely query the project that way—just be aware that the responses will vary, and one literary agent may not want to offer representation to the entire team.

Is there a standard format for graphic novel scripts?

There isn’t a script format universally agreed upon in traditional publishing, so choose a structure you’re comfortable with and stick with it. Consistency is important. However you arrange the script, make sure it has a very clear breakdown of pages and panels. The reader needs to visualize the project as an actual comic! If you’re looking for a guideline, start with the Standard Comic Script created by Camilla Zhang and Steenz Stewart.

How many pages should my graphic novel be?

The page count of graphic novels are all over the place. My advice? Find published comparison titles (based on the target age range, category, genre, content, etc. of your graphic novel) and take note of how long they are. Keep in mind that if you’re querying a graphic novel project for representation in the trade book market, it needs to be a full-length book, not a serialized comic.

What file formats are acceptable for submissions?

Sample pages and pitch packages work well as PDFs. Your script should be in Word format. Sample illustrations could be in any image file format, like .jpg or .png, keeping the file sizes manageable for email. There’s no need to send high-res files as submissions material.

What about illustrated books that aren’t graphic “novels”?

All of the advice in this post is applicable to graphic nonfiction, graphic memoir, etc. Think of “graphic novel” as an umbrella term for many fully illustrated books. Whether it’s an illustrated gift book or a hybrid prose/art novel, most of the information you’ll find about querying a graphic novel is applicable.

Keep in mind that nonfiction is typically pitched and sold based on a proposal, whereas fiction is typically pitched and sold with a full manuscript attached.

If you are a writer with a project that includes select illustrations (but it isn’t a full graphic novel) and you’re not creating the art yourself, you might want/need to include illustration notes in the manuscript. This is similar to picture book manuscripts, so researching how to format those art notes will help you out.