Graphic Novel TK

Latest Episodes:

Episode 30 - Teachers, with Cathy G. Johnson Jun 06, 2019

Show notes

More 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 her website (https://www.cathygjohn.net). She also has a website entirely dedicated to her work in education, Comics Art Ed! (https://comicarted.com/) as well as a podcast about comics and education, Drawing a Dialogue (https://comicarted.com/drawing-a-dialogue/).

Episode 29 - Libraries, with Robin Brenner May 23, 2019

Show notes

Libraries! 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 -- about the ins and outs of comics librarianship. Want to know more about Robin Brenner? She runs the graphic novel reviews website No Flying, No Tights (https://www.noflyingnotights.com) and is on the board of the ALA Graphic Novel and Comics Roundtable (http://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt)

Episode 28 - Distribution, with Julie Schaper May 07, 2019

Show notes

Distribution! 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 make sure that their graphic novels are in as many of the appropriate places as possible. What goes into making that happen? We talk today to Julie Schaper, the publisher of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, an independent distributor that works with multiple graphic novel publishers. She discusses her career in sales and distribution, and talks about Consortium's process for getting books out there. Want to learn more about Consortium? You can check out their website (which includes their extensive client list)at https://www.cbsd.com -- and follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/ConsortiumBooks

Episode 27 - Sales, with Jess Brigman Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

One 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 are coming, when they're coming, and how excited that they should be about them. Today on Graphic Novel TK, we talk to Macmillan Children's National Accounts Manager Jess Brigman about all of those things -- and get a behind-the-scenes look into how she does her job. Want to know more about Jess and Macmillan Children's? You can find MacKids online at their website (https://us.macmillan.com/mackids/); Jess is on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jessbrigman/)

Episode 26 - Bookstores and Comics Stores, with Jake Shapiro Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

We'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 what exactly goes on behind the scenes in bookstores and comics stores. How are the comics organized? How are displays made? How do they attract people in the door? How do events get put together? How do they do social media? You can find all the answers in this episode. You can find more about The Strand (https://www.strandbooks.com) and about Fantom Comics (https://www.fantomcomics.com) at the links. And Jake is on Twitter as @jake_shapiro

Episode 25 - Bookstores, with Jessica Stockton Bagnulo Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

Bookstores! 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 out! Want to know more about Greenlight Bookstore? You can find them online at their website (https://www.greenlightbookstore.com) or on Twitter at @greenlightbklyn. Or visit them in Brooklyn in one of their two locations!

Episode 24 - Comic Stores, with Patrick Brower and W. Dal Bush Feb 07, 2019

Show notes

You'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 + Conversation, in Chicago IL, about what comics stores do, how they work, and how authors can work with them. Author events, staff features, building relationships, newsletter promotion -- Patrick Brower and W. Dal Bush talk about how it all unfolds in their store. You can visit Challengers Comics + Conversation yourself -- or check them out on Twitter at @challengers -- or listen to their podcast about retailing, Contest of Challengers.

Episode 23 - Publicity, with Maya Bradford Jan 23, 2019

Show notes

Media! 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 ComicArts, Maya Bradford, about what being a publicist is, how it works, and what authors should know about publicity. For more about the books Maya works on, check out the Abrams ComicArts website - https://www.abramsbooks.com/imprints/abramscomicarts/

Episode 22 - Marketing, with Tucker Stone Jan 11, 2019

Show notes

Marketing 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 into the world for readers -- and what things are useful for authors to do. For more about Tucker Stone and Consortium Books, you check out his website (https://www.factualopinion.com) or Consortium's (https://www.cbsd.com)

Episode 21 - Advocating for a Book, with Connie Hsu Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

Your 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 -- what's involved, and when does it happen? And how important is it for editors to be on top of what other people at the company are planning with the books they work on? To learn more about how editors advocate for their books with other people at their publishing house, we talk to Connie Hsu, the Executive Editor at Roaring Brook Press. In addition to working at Roaring Brook Press, Connie also edits graphic novels for Roaring Brook's sister company, First Second Books, where she works with many graphic novelists, including Tillie Walden, Jason Walz, Marcus Emerson, Dan Santat, and Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Want to know more about Connie Hsu? You can follow her on Twitter at @MissConnieH

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