Graphic Novels: Finding an Agent

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KAMielke

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Greetings, all. Welcome to my first real post after years of lurking. It is a great big over-sharing wall of text. Let's begin.

So...

A year ago, a friend of mine contacted me hoping I would write something for him to draw. Because I don't write anything I won't try to get out in the world, I immediately began thinking about ways to publish our new comic.

Webcomic seemed the most obvious route, and we tried it out for a while, but the story was awful, the art was awful, and we lost faith that we could produce new pages every so often. We both obviously needed room to improve, but the only way to improve is to keep going, so we pulled the webcomic and continued working.

Because the artist is a cinematographer by trade, he suggested we do something live action, too. We got everything together and made a really awesome trailer for a potential series, while I worked on six short screenplays.

Back to the comic, we doubled down on a miniature issue to show off and garner some interest in the project. It was much better than our first go around, but admittedly not good enough to expect much. We submitted to Image with a series proposal but didn't hear anything back. Instead, a small publisher in a city near ours contacted us. We had a series of meetings and made a game plan, but at the last minute my artist got cold feet; he explained that the deal and the exposure wasn't really enough to justify choosing it over self-publishing, and also wasn't sure he could operate under the proposed deadline. I agreed to him letting the publisher know we would no longer be going ahead with them.

While all of that happened, an associate of my illustrator's showed off our live action trailer to some connections he had. The executives at some major companies showed interest in the series, and the associate was set to become our show runner. I very quickly grew uncomfortable with the idea of someone else being in charge, and creative differences combined with hearing nothing back from the companies put all of this on hold.

I waited for months without doing anything for the project, worried that if we continued on the comic the show runner would be angry. Finally, I decided if my illustrator friend didn't want to continue doing the comic, I'd just take it all back and start over again with a different artist. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for reasons I'll get to, my artist agreed we should go ahead with the comic, only this time we'll treat it like a book. Take our time, perfect everything, and then find an agent.

That seemed like a brilliant plan (bravo, me), but everything I've read on the internet suggest that agents only take writers without agents, that publishers prefer to team them up with artists they've already got working for them. Now that my illustrator is on board and we're excited about doing this again, I certainly can't replace him, nor would I really want to. I also don't have any hope of self-publishing, because my marketing skills are shite.

For a project that's never fully gotten off the ground, a lot has happened to it, with it, and about it. I remain hopeful, especially as there's already been interest in it.

TL;DR or the version of this post I'd have started with if I didn't feel I needed to fill the void with a wall of text: I'm making a comic, but I already have an illustrator for it. I want to release it in volumes as graphic novels, instead of as a series, and I want to do it professionally instead of self-published. Are there agents that will represent the project as a whole? Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Lissibith

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A quick Google gives me this as the first hit: http://niki-smith.com/about/graphic-novel-agents/

So clearly there are agents out there who do this sort of thing.

And I'm guessing they must be willing to work on full projects, since some places (I know the previously mentioned Image and Archaia both seem to work this way) won't usually consider a project unless it has a full team.
 

KAMielke

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Thanks for the link!

A LitReactor interview with Bree Ogden is where I got the impression agents don't usually work with full teams, though upon digging up the interview again I see she mentions that she's just more likely to accept the project if there's no artist attached. Places like Image prefer full teams, but I'd feel way more comfortable with an agent negotiating on my behalf. I also figure Image is more likely to release regular, continuing series over graphic novel bursts.

(For those interested, the link is here: http://litreactor.com/columns/ask-the-agent-a-look-at-graphic-novel-submissions)
 

Lissibith

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Absolutely. Wasn't suggesting they were right for you, just saying that since many houses prefer or require teams, it seems unlikely that serious agents for comics would be unwilling to shop a package deal. And I can definitely feel you on wanting to have the aid of an agent in shopping it around.

Good luck!
 

snafu1056

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Comics, at least when you're just starting out, is very much a DIY business. All most publishers do is physically print and distribute the book. Everything else is on you, even advertising. An agent isn't really necessary until you've actually established yourself and are making big deals with major publishers like Marvel & DC. At the indie level the publishers deal directly with the talent. Agents don't impress them one way or another. And since there aren't huge sums of money flying around, there usually isn't much incentive for the agents.

Some major prose publishers do dabble in graphic novels, and to talk to them you will need an agent. But those publishers are usually more interested in literary "auteur" style graphic novels done by one person, not so much the genre stuff.
 

Kfu3000

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Hi KAM,

So I host a podcast and have interviewed dozens of comic book creators and lit agents and managers.

Comic book writers do not have agents representing them for comic book work. Writers procure work directly from editors. There simply isn't enough money, in terms of commission, for an agent to want to represent a comic book writer for comic book work.

The only reason a comic book creator would need an agent or manager would be to represent them (and their projects) for possible development/sale as a film/TV, video game or other medium product. But know that, as a new writer (i.e. if you don't have any published work), you likely won't find many reps interested in representing you or your project. They aren't looking to develop your project and/or find financing, publishing, etc for you. It's simply too much work for too little (if any) reward.

That being said, if you can get published (via Image, Dark Horse, Oni, BOOM/Archaia or as a web comic, etc.) then you stand a chance of landing an agent or manager depending on the quality and popularity of your work. But if you haven't published anything, an agent or manager won't help you get published -- at least not in the comic book world. Unless you're an established writer in some field (i.e. well known comic book creator, best selling author, A-list screenwriter, etc.) then you would need a completed product for an agent to be interested as they need something to sell -- not develop.

If you're interested, a couple reps that I have interviewed that talk about developing film/TV projects from various IP's including books and comics are Markus Goerg from Heroes & Villains and Eddie Gamarra from the Gotham Group.

http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/markus-goerg/

http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/eddie-gamarra/

Good luck!
 
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Erik Thurman

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Finally got approved to make posts, so if I can chime in for moment...

My name is Erik Thurman, and I'm a comic writer/artist that is currently represented by Ella Kennen of the Corvisiero Literary Agency, and I've found the help of an agent to be extremely valuable in the development of my work and career.

For making a decision on signing with an agent, it really depends on the type of publisher that you're looking to work with and the type of comics that you're producing. I know if you want to go to the whole DC/Marvel route, then it's a lot less necessary to get an agent, since these publishers are a whole different thing of their own. But if you're going the more literary graphic novel route and submitting to more traditional publishers, an agent will help tremendously, especially since many of them still don't take unsolicited submissions.

Bear in mind, I work as a writer that is capable of illustrating their own comics professionally. I also produce full-length "literary" graphic novels, and not a regularly released series. So my situation is a bit different from yours. While I might be wrong, I don't know of any agents that take on a collaborative grouping of artists/writers to represent. If you haven't checked out Niki Smith's list of agents that represent this type of work, I highly recommend it.
 
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Treehouseman

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My agent suggested I try my hand at graphic novels.

Now in a million years I never thought this agency repped GNs, (Fine Literature! Right On The Website!) But it turns out thier marquee name adapted his stories to GNs, and the agency still has the contacts. You could always inquire with a proposal, if someone else on their roster has ever done GN's. The worst is that they could say no. The best is if they wanted to have a look.
 

zblock

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My agent suggested I try my hand at graphic novels.

Now in a million years I never thought this agency repped GNs, (Fine Literature! Right On The Website!) But it turns out thier marquee name adapted his stories to GNs, and the agency still has the contacts. You could always inquire with a proposal, if someone else on their roster has ever done GN's. The worst is that they could say no. The best is if they wanted to have a look.

That's good advice.
 
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