Graphic Novel Tk

Paper + ink = book! But how does that paper combine with the ink to make a book? What dread machine combines the two -- and how does it get them to look like a comic in all the right colors in the correct trim size and with a cover that has spot gloss in the right place? Today we take a trip inside the printer to find out the answer to all these questions (and so many more). Joining us on Graphic Novel TK to explore these mysteries is Linda Palladino, the Vice President and Director of Production at Random House Children's Books. For more information about Linda Palladino and the books she works on, you can check out the Random House Children's Books website.

Sometimes when you pick up a book, you'll find a quote from an author (not the one who wrote the book) on the cover saying how great they thought the book was. That's a book blurb! And in this episode of Graphic Novel TK, book blurbs are the focus: we talk about how to get them, who to get them from, when to get them, and why (and if) they're important. We're so pleased to have Tor Editor Diana Pho join us to talk about book blurbs, outlining in great detail her whole process and philosophy in finding and acquiring them. Besides editing science fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels for Tor, Diana also runs a blog called Beyond Victoriana, which gives a multicultural perspective on steampunk. You can find her on Twitter at @writersyndrome.

Making comics full time is the dream for a lot of people in the comics industry! But what does being a full-time cartoonist mean practically? What do you do every day? And can you make enough to live on? We're excited to talk to Jen Wang, the creator of the graphic novels Koko Be Good, In Real Life, and The Prince and the Dressmaker, about exactly those things (and all the questions in between). And in addition to her graphic novel work, Jen also does freelance illustration and co-founded and co-runs Comics Arts LA -- she has a unique perspective on the industry. Find more about Jen and her work online at http://www.jenwang.net/ or on Twitter at @alooghobi.

Can you judge a book by its cover? That's what cover designers aim for -- creating a cover so amazing that the people who would want to read the book are drawn to pick it up. And covers are probably the most-seen parts of books -- the book's visual identity. Today, we talk to Colleen AF Venable, Art Director at Odd Dot, about why cover design is important, and about how the process works for her and for the author (which as an author herself, she has a lot of experience with). Find out more about Colleen online (and share in some of her cover design adventures) on Twitter at @colleenaf

How do books get made? You might think that's a comprehensive statement about the theme of our podcast -- but for this episode, we're focusing specifically on how physical books actually get made: the process of working with a printer to produce physical book objects. Turns out: it's fascinating! And also complicated. Today we talk to First Second's Production Manager, Alexa Villanueva, about how she works with the team at First Second and the printer and a shipping company and a warehouse and a whole lot of other people to get books to turn from files to physical things on bookshelves. So how does that all happen? Tune in to find out! Want to see more of Alexa's work at First Second? You can always find pictures of their books on the First Second twitter, @01FirstSecond.

Comics and graphic novel publishing! It can be a strange and confusing landscape if you're not someone who has spent a lot of time working closely with the industry. (It can be a strange and confusing landscape even then!) For this episode, we asked GN TK listeners to send us any questions that you have about how publishing works -- anything that we haven't covered yet or is particularly topical, involved, or that we didn't get into enough depth about when we talked about it previously. So tune in for all the crazy things about publishing that you all wanted to know! This podcast is structured to approach the publishing process chronologically -- from pitching to editing to design to marketing to sales. So there are many more topics to come in the future that we'll be getting to soon. As always -- more TK! Thank you to all our listeners who follow us on Twitter who sent questions -- we appreciate it.

Designers have one of the most visible jobs in comics -- someone puts the covers and the page layouts and the lettering and the page numbers and the files from the artist and the colorist all together on the page, right? But how does a designer's job work? What do they do on a day-to-day basis? In this episode, we talk to Hilary Thompson from Oni Press about all of these things. Hilary takes us through the process and timeline of creating graphic novels and pamphlet comics at Oni -- and we're excited to share this look behind the scenes. For more information about Hilary, you can check out her @hilaryfamiliar -- or check out Oni Press online at https://onipress.com

There are a number of jobs in publishing that happen behind the scenes -- and one of them is the Managing Editor. In this episode, we talk to Jill Freshney about what's involved in being a Managing Editor (spoiler: it includes scheduling, data management, copy-editing, and a whole lot of other administrative management and process development/maintenance). Jill shares some information about how authors and Managing Editorial staff interact, how to deal with copy-edit changes, and thoughts on how to pursue a career in Managing Editorial. We're excited to share this look behind the scenes! Jill Freshney is the Senior Executive Managing Editor at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group -- a company that includes the graphic novel publisher First Second Books.

So you're making your graphic novel -- and you're coming to the end. The final page/final panel is in sight. Yay! It is an exciting milestone you are approaching: soon you will be entirely done with your book. But is that really the end? When you put your pen down after inking that last panel, are you done with the process of making a graphic novel? Is there more to do after that? To answer those questions, we talk with best-selling, award-winning author Jenni Holm about what happens around when you're done with the creative part of making your graphic novel. (It turns out that there's still some stuff left to do.) For more about Jenni Holm, you can check out her website: http://www.jenniferholm.com/. Or find her on Twitter @jenniholm!

You've got a book deal! Or a self-publishing plan! A graphic novel is your next project. Yay you! But how do you go from a book deal, or a plot idea, to a final finished book? What does your day-to-day work look like? How do you plan for the process that takes you from the blank paged to a comic? In this episode, we talk to Carey Pietsch about the creative and logistical process she embarks upon when she's creating a comics project. From scheduling to strategy, she has some amazing advice! For more about Carey, you can check out her website, www.careydraws.com, or find her on Twitter at @careydraws.

So you've got a book deal! And an agent, and an editor, and a publisher -- you're doing amazing.  Or you've got a pitch that you're just finishing up, and you're ready to start the process of finding all of those people to work with you, people you hope you'll work with your whole career. Or you've got a book! Or a webcomic! Or a mini-comic! And you're ready to start that Twitter account, go to a comics festival, put yourself out there and make the connections to build your career. How do you go from being a private person to having a professional public presence, in person at meetings, talking on email, calling people on the phone, interacting online, and in public at conventions? What does it mean to be professional? And how do you determine what the right amount of professionalism in each situation is? Basically the secret answer to this is that we all make it up as we go along, but we try to be nice and considerate and thoughtful and think twice about all our actions while we're proceeding. And today

In our last episode we talked all about contracts -- what part of the creative process you get one in and how to look at them to figure out if you have a deal that you want. In this episode, we talk about rights -- both how they work in contracts themselves, and what a publisher does with the rights that you sign over to them after you finalize your contract. We're excited to talk to Miriam Miller from the publisher Holiday House about being a Subsidiary Rights Manager, what that job is like, and what's involved in selling rights for things like translation and media (like selling a book -- often only the beginning of the process).

It's contracts time! But what does that mean? What's involved in the process of coming to an agreement with a publisher? What more should you be looking at than the dollar amount you're offered? In this episode, we talk with lawyer and contracts expert Katie Lane, from Work Made for Hire, about the ins and outs of the contract process -- from the moment of getting a book offer through to dealing with any problems you might have fulfilling things you agreed on in your contract. Want to know even more about contracts after listening to this episode? (Of course you do.) Katie has you covered! Here's a series of emails she provides about the basics of contracts demystification: bit.ly/understandcontracts.

What happens once an editor at a publishing house has a book on submission that they want to buy? What are the steps that they need to take between that and making an offer? At many publishing houses, the procedure is to present the book at an Acquisition Meeting -- a meeting with a lot of different people from the publisher so they can all put their heads together and figure out if the book will work for the publishing house. Today, we take an extensive look into this infrequently-discussed part of the publishing process with Andrew Eliopulos, a Senior Editor from Harper Collins Children's Books. Who comes to these meetings? How hard is it to get them to get excited about comics? What sort of things do make people at these meetings enthusiastic about graphic novels? Listen on and find out!

How do you get from a proposal to a book deal? What do you need for a proposal? What's the process of talking to agents and publishers to get a contract? Today, we talk to Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary Management about all of these questions -- and more! As an agent who runs her own agency and deals exclusively with comics, Jen has the inside scoop.

In this episode of Graphic Novel TK, we're delighted to talk to the amazing Annie Koyama, the publisher of Koyama Press. If you don't know Koyama Press, you'll get to hear about just how cool they (and their publisher) are as you listen. And if you've always been a little bit mystified about what a publisher actually does, this is the episode for you! You'll get to hear about Annie Koyama's process of becoming a publisher, what she does in her day-to-day job, and more.

This week! Agents -- who are they? What do they do? What are their jobs like, and how helpful is it for authors and artists to work with them? We talk with Bernadette Baker-Baughman from Victoria Sanders & Associates about the ins and outs of her work representing cartoonists.

From an Idea to a Pitch for a Publisher So you have an idea for a graphic novel! That’s great. But when is it time to pitch that idea to a publisher? Right away? When you have concept art? When you have a full script? When you’ve written and drawn the whole story? When you’ve serialized your comic online and built up a following? Figuring out the best route to publication can be complicated! We talk to First Second Editorial Director Calista Brill about how she thinks about book pitches when she’s looking for new projects for :01. Happy listening! Find Calista Brill online at @CalistaBrill and her books @01FirstSecond.

What do all of these publishing words mean? This week we’re bringing you part two of our conversation with long-time comics professional George Rohac about the wild world of publishing terminology. In this half, we cover everything from ARCs to ISBNs to paper stock to options to what exactly an indicia is. Our lingo rundown builds on itself, so maybe give part one a listen before you move on to this installment. You can find out more about George’s work at grohac.com, or follow George on Twitter @grohac

Words! As comics people, we all love them — but there are so many mysterious terms in publishing that it sometimes makes your head spin. In this episode (the first of a two-parter), we decode publishing’s secret terminology, with amazing manager and long-time comics professional George Rohac. Lucky for us, George is just as much of a nerd about this stuff as we are.