Graphic Novel TK
41 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 63 ratingsYour podcast guide to comic book publishing, hosted by Alison Wilgus and Gina Gagliano, brought to you by The Beat.
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Episodes
Backmatter - Publishing During Covid, with Shannon Wright
February 08, 2022 03:45 - 1 hour - 62.1 MB2020 and 2021 have been a very strange time in publishing -- a time when the way that publishing a book works has changed rapidly and in unexpected ways. At the start of 2020, the expectation was the year would proceed as usual -- and then only months later, as covid spread, authors and publishers scrambled to adjust plans as everything that would've been in-person shut down. In this interview, we talked to Shannon Wright about her experience with publishing a book during covid. Shannon's fi...
Episode 38 - After Publication, with Julia Pohl-Miranda
April 20, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBSo your book has been published! It is now in out in the world for everyone to read. And now . . . what happens? Do people mostly come to find your book organically? How do you make sure people are still reading your book in a year . . . and what can you do to make sure that they're still reading your book in five years? We talk to Julia Pohl-Miranda, Director of Marketing at renowned Canadian comics publisher Drawn and Quarterly, about the long-term view on publishing graphic novels. Inte...
Episode 37 - Approaching Publication, with Jacq Cohen
March 02, 2021 13:00 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBYour publisher has called you to tell you that your book has a publication date! It's coming out! In the future! What . . . do you do in the meantime? You want everyone you know -- and also everyone you don't know -- to be the most excited and to buy your book when it appears in stores. How do you work with your publisher to make that happen? What does your publisher want you to do? What does your publisher want you NOT to do? Today we talk about all these questions with Jacq Cohen, the Exe...
Episode 36 - Working with a Publisher, with Nilah Magruder
January 24, 2020 01:53 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBPublishers! If you've got one, they're involved in all the parts of making a book -- from negotiating a book deal to contracts, editing, design, marketing, publicity, sales, and all the bits where you work to get the book out to readers. How do you make sure that your relationship with your publisher goes well -- and that they're on the same page about what you want to happen with your book that you are? Today we talk to Dwayne McDuffie Award-winning comics creator Nilah Magruder about just...
Episode 35 - Media Outlets, with Petra Mayer
November 25, 2019 16:48 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBHeadlines! Radio segments! Feature pieces! Your comic might be in one of those spaces one day. But . . . how? Today we're talking to Petra Mayer, the editor at NPR Books, about consumer-facing media outlets. What do they do? How do you work with them? And how much are national media outlets interested in comics and graphic novels? For more about Petra, you can follow her on Twitter (https://twitter.com/petramatic) -- and NPR Books has a website (https://www.npr.org/books/) and a Twitter (ht...
Episode 34 - Conventions, with Christopher Butcher
November 07, 2019 18:24 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBConferences, conventions, and festivals! As a comics creator, should you go to them? What should you do there? What's the best way for you to work with all the very different public event spaces there are to promote and support your comics and your career? Today, we talk to the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Toronto Comics Art Festival, Christopher Butcher, about how conferences, conventions, and festivals work, and how best to plan to interact with them as an author. For more info...
Episode 33 - Social Media, with Ngozi Ukazu
October 22, 2019 16:31 - 52 minutes - 47.6 MBSocial media! Authors are there, talking about themselves and their books, all the time. What goes into thinking about how to do that in a successful way and manageable way? That's what we explore in this episode of Graphic Novel TK. We're delighted to be discussing the ins and outs of having an online presence with Ngozi Ukazu, the author of webcomic sensation Check, Please! Want to learn more about Ngozi Ukazu? You can find her on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/ngoziu ) or on her website (...
Backmatter - Short Form to Long, with Sarah Winifred Searle
August 27, 2019 17:19 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBWe interrupt our regular arc of Graphic Novel TK posting to bring you a new feature: Graphic Novel TK Backmatter. Where Graphic Novel TK follows a book through its publication life from book deal to post-publication, Graphic Novel TK Backmatter focuses on specific topics in comics publishing. We'll be sporadically bringing you featured episodes on these special topics in the months to come. Some comics are short -- like mini-comics, contributions to anthologies, and some webcomics. And other...
Episode 32 - Trade Publicity, with Calvin Reid
August 08, 2019 23:49 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBOn the last few episodes of Graphic Novel TK, we've been talking to booksellers, comic book sellers, teachers, and librarians about how they work with graphic novels in their spaces. But how do those industry professionals hear about graphic novels? How do they know what to buy, what to get excited about, or even what's coming soon? One of the first ways that an industry professional might hear about graphic novels is through a trade publication -- a publication that is specifically designe...
Episode 31 - Comics Academia, with Margaret Galvan
July 11, 2019 02:47 - 1 hour - 60 MBComics can help young kids learn! But what about after those kids go to college? How are comics used in an academic space? Today we're delighted to talk to Professor Margaret Galvan, from the University of Florida, to explore college courses, academic research, and how comics and graphic novels enter into and interact with students and teachers in these classrooms. Want to know more about Margaret Galvan? You can find more about her and her academic work on her website, including some fanta...
Episode 30 - Teachers, with Cathy G. Johnson
June 06, 2019 19:17 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBMore and move all over America, comics are being used in schools -- in classes, in school libraries, in book reports and reading requirements. How are teachers working to bring comics into their classrooms? We talk to educator and graphic novelist Cathy G. Johnson about her work teaching comics to elementary, middle, and secondary school kids and teens in this episode. Want to know more about Cathy G. Johnson? You can find her on Twitter at @cathygjohn (https://twitter.com/cathygjohn) or at...
Episode 29 - Libraries, with Robin Brenner
May 23, 2019 04:53 - 1 hour - 70.8 MBLibraries! They're in every town in the United States -- and many of them have comics and graphic novels in them. How did that state of affairs come to pass? And how do librarians support graphic novels, both with buying them and adding them to their collections, and with promoting them to their patrons? In this episode, we talk with Robin Brenner, Teen Librarian at the Public Library of Brookline -- and one of the first librarians to begin advocating for comics in libraries in the US -- ab...
Episode 28 - Distribution, with Julie Schaper
May 07, 2019 04:11 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBDistribution! What stores is your graphic novel in, and where is it displayed? Is it reaching the school and library market? Is it featured in museum stores and gift shops? Those questions are in part answered by what kind of graphic novel you've created, and what kind of critical acclaim it's receiving. But there's another major factor that goes into the mix, and that's distribution. Major publishers have their own distribution; smaller publishers will work with a larger distribution to ma...
Episode 27 - Sales, with Jess Brigman
April 18, 2019 13:30 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBOne of the jobs most shrouded in mystery at a publisher (at least for an author) is that of a sales rep. Who are they? What do they do? Despite the fact that editors, marketing, and publicity people spend a lot of time talking to sales reps, often those reps don't interact at all with authors directly. Sales reps are responsible for being the intermediary between the publisher and the retail outlets the publisher sells books to. They're responsible for making sure that stores know that books...
Episode 26 - Bookstores and Comics Stores, with Jake Shapiro
April 03, 2019 20:40 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBWe've talked about bookstores and comics stores before on Graphic Novel TK -- in fact, in our two episodes immediately prior to this! But how are bookstores and comics stores different? Are all their differences encompassed by the fact that one has books and comics and the other just comics? Or are there things that are different about the way they're structured and the way they operate? We talked today to Jake Shapiro, who has worked at both NYC's The Strand and DC's Fantom Comics, about wh...
Episode 25 - Bookstores, with Jessica Stockton Bagnulo
March 05, 2019 05:08 - 1 hour - 58 MBBookstores! They're so full of . . . books. But what about comics? What's their place there? How can people who make comics work to try to find their work a home in a physical space that mostly reaches book readers? What is the audience like? Today we talk to Greenlight Bookstore co-owner Jessica Stockton Bagnulo about how she thinks about comics in bookstores, and how she and her staff to feature authors and books that they like. How big a part of her job is comics-related? Listen to find ...
Episode 24 - Comic Stores, with Patrick Brower and W. Dal Bush
February 07, 2019 00:05 - 1 hour - 71 MBYou're going to be an author! But how do you get your books to actually sell? After you've told your friends and family that your book exists, you still have to convince the rest of the people in the world that they should buy it. And your best allies on that front can be bookstores and comics stores, who spend all day every day talking to people about how they should buy graphic novels from them. Today, we talk to the co-owners of Eisner Award-winning comics store Challengers Comics + Con...
Episode 23 - Publicity, with Maya Bradford
January 23, 2019 02:45 - 1 hour - 67.8 MBMedia! Reviews! It's amazing when you make a book, and then people start talking about it -- online, in print, on the radio, and sometimes even on television. It can seem like that happens spontaneously -- a book gathering praise like a snowball rolling down a hill and accumulating snow -- and that can sometimes be the case. But there's also someone whose job it is to build that snowball and give it a push: a publicist. Today we talk to the woman who coordinates the publicity for Abrams Co...
Episode 22 - Marketing, with Tucker Stone
January 11, 2019 16:03 - 1 hour - 81.1 MBMarketing is making sure that the people who would be excited for a particular book know about it, and about how great it is. How does a publisher makes sure that happens? Generally they employ someone whose job is to figure it out. Today we talk to Tucker Stone all about marketing. Until recently, Tucker ran the marketing, publicity, and sales at Nobrow, and now he works for the books and comics distributor Consortium. In today's episode, we discuss his experiences with how to get books out...
Episode 21 - Advocating for a Book, with Connie Hsu
December 19, 2018 18:51 - 1 hour - 71.9 MBYour editor will edit your book! But what else does an editor at a publishing house do? They're the first person at a publishing house to get excited about a book and how amazing it is. How do they work with all the rest of the people at the publishing house -- their boss, the other editorial and design staff, and the marketing, publicity, and sales staff -- to make sure that everyone realizes just how great a book they have on their hands? How much of their job is managing that conversation...
Episode 20 - Graphic Novel Printing, with Linda Palladino
December 04, 2018 18:10 - 1 hour - 61.9 MBPaper + 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 Prod...
Episode 19 - Book Blurbs, with Diana Pho
November 21, 2018 16:48 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBSometimes 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...
Episode 18 - Comics as a Full-Time Career, with Jen Wang
November 07, 2018 06:26 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MBMaking 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 a...
Episode 17 - Cover Design, with Colleen AF Venable
October 16, 2018 16:38 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBCan 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 mor...
Episode 16 - Production, with Alexa Villanueva
October 01, 2018 22:31 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBHow 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 ...
Episode 15 - Listener Q&A, with Alison and Gina
September 18, 2018 01:17 - 1 hour - 98.7 MBComics 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 ...
Episode 14 - Comics Design, with Hilary Thompson
September 04, 2018 15:14 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBDesigners 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'r...
Episode 13 - Managing Editorial, with Jill Freshney
August 21, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 62.8 MBThere 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...
Episode 12 - Finishing a Graphic Novel, with Jenni Holm
July 31, 2018 00:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBSo 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 aroun...
Episode 11 - How to Make a Graphic Novel, with Carey Pietsch
July 17, 2018 01:34 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBYou'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!...
Episode 10 - Being Professional, with Lucy Knisley
July 03, 2018 22:04 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MBSo 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 ...
Episode 09 - Rights, with Miriam Miller
June 19, 2018 17:03 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBIn 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...
Episode 08 - The Contract, with Katie Lane
June 05, 2018 04:09 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBIt'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...
Episode 07 - The Acquisitions Meeting, with Andrew Eliopulos
May 22, 2018 15:54 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBWhat 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...
Episode 06 - The Book Deal, with Jen Linnan
May 09, 2018 20:09 - 1 hour - 62.7 MBHow 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.
Episode 05 - Publishers, with Annie Koyama
April 26, 2018 01:29 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MBIn 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.
Episode 04 - Agents, with Bernadette Baker-Baughman
April 10, 2018 03:26 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBThis 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.
Episode 03 - Pitching, with Calista Brill
March 27, 2018 22:31 - 44 minutes - 41 MBFrom 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 wh...
Episode 02b - Lingo Part Two, with George Rohac
March 13, 2018 21:35 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBWhat 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 T...
Episode 02a - Lingo Part One, with George Rohac
February 27, 2018 06:56 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBWords! 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.
Episode 01 - Origin Stories, with Ryan North
February 13, 2018 05:02 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBIn the debut episode of GNTK we talk about why we’re all so fired up to explain the nuts and bolts of graphic novel publishing -- with guest bestselling author Ryan North, who talks about how he got his start in comics, what he’s learned since, and how understanding the inner workings of the business can help your career.