Free, Online Kids through YA Graphic Novel Pitch Event Happening this October

KidLitGN hosts the only free, online graphic novel pitch event for agented and un-agented creators of kids through young adult graphic novels. Agents, editors, and publishers can view the pitches on KidLitGN’s website at 8 a.m. EDT on the first Wednesday of October, which for this year is October 1. However, graphic novel creators can begin loading their pitches three days earlier.

In 2024, KidLitGN had nearly 200 pitches on its site that resulted in 80 requests by agents, editors and publishers. In the past, the pitch event ran for one week, but last year, KidLitGN’s pitch event ran the entire month of October, which was the most successful pitch event since their very first pitch event in 2020. This year, the pitch event will again be open until the end of October.

“Each year, we’re surprised by how much our audience continues to grow,” said Johnell DeWitt, a member of KidLitGN’s team. We advertise the event on BlueSky, Instagram and Twitter, we have an active Facebook forum, and a mailing list of agents, editors and publishers, but we see new people showing up for the event every year, which is really exciting.”

The pitch event isn’t, however, the main reason KidLitGN was founded.

“The pitch event was an offshoot of a Facebook group Johnell and I started in 2019 as a way to help children’s writers and illustrators break into the graphic novel market,” said Tim Canny, the founder of KidLitGN. “There were a lot of great pitch events on Twitter at the time, but none specifically for graphic novels, so it was a natural step to begin hosting one.”

The first pitch event in 2020 was held on Twitter, but like many other former Twitter-pitch events, migrated to other platforms once X’s changes eliminated the previous ease of use. Since 2023, the pitch event has been hosted solely on KidLitGN’s website at kidlitgn.com, a move that has added to its success.

“Hosting on the website allows for longer pitches, though we do cap them at 600 characters. It also allows illustrators to post higher quality graphics and, unlike most pitch events, we can allow a space for agented authors and illustrators to pitch their projects to the editors and publishers visiting the site. This is a win for agents and their clients who might not have these editors or publishers on their radar,” said Ken Lamug, another member of KidLitGN’s team.

Of course, un-agented graphic novel creators can post pitches to the website as well. Up to three different pitches are allowed per person across the four different age categories: graphic novel-style picture books, early graphic novels, middle grade, and young adult.

Illustrators who don’t have a project to pitch can pitch illustrations from their portfolio on the pages for agented and un-agented illustrators.

“I found my agent through KidLitGN’s first pitch event,” said Annette Hashitate, who joined the KidLitGN team shortly after signing with her agent. “I’d tried other pitch events, but none specific to the graphic novels, so KidLitGN’s event was the right event at the right time for me.”

“Since we’ve been doing this, several graphic novel creators have connected with agents and editors that they may not have found any other way,” said Urania Smith, one of the founding members of the event, “for those who have found their agents or editors with us, it’s the breakthrough they’ve needed in a industry that is saturated, which makes it hard to connect with the right advocate for their work.”

Vania Stoyanova, KidLitGN’s YA rep, found benefits to the pitch that went beyond finding agents. “I found a community and have seen opportunities for authors to be matched with not only agents, but critique partners, readers and illustrators.”

KidLitGN’s pitch event will open for agents, editors, and publishers to view on October 1 at 8 a.m. EDT. Writers and illustrators can begin loading their pitches as early as September 28 at 8 a.m. EDT until 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 1, at which time the pitch window will close and no more new pitches will be accepted. Agents, editors, and publishers have until 11:59 p.m. on October 31 to view and reply to any pitches they are interested in. For more information, please visit kidlitgn.com.

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Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!