Process Blog: Pitching "The Gulf"

Hey all,

Sorry it's been a quiet week on here. It's been a crazy time personally but I'd love to make a habit of posting more behind-the-scenes stuff while on Blind Alley hiatus. I am absolutely chomping at the bit to get started on Blind Alley strips though.

Anyways - I thought it would be cool to show some process for my current graphic novel project "The Gulf". I'll do a series of posts talking about the process of pitching, roughing, writing, and then inking it if all goes well. Unfortunately, I think I can't show too much but I'll see what I can swing. This post will be interspersed with drawings from my 2020 pitch for "The Gulf". 

It's hard to believe I first pitched this project to my publisher almost two years ago in the summer of 2020. I don't remember when and how specifically the idea for the story came to me but once the seed was there the characters and story quickly grew. That seed was born from recollecting the feeling of being "lost" as a teenager while peers seemed to be comfortable leaving high school and locking into the track of a career. Coming of age in the long shadow of 9/11, then a recession, made it clear that things in the adult world were an absolute unfair and cruel mess. I remember longing for some sort of foundational truth but it felt like no one could offer any satisfying answers. To me, at the time, committing to university was just "giving up" and buying into some adult lie of stability. As consequence, I found it incredibly hard to do anything that I didn't see the value in so I was a horrible high school student. I felt so trapped by my poor grades - I'd never amount to anything in this system that I was expected to thrive in. At the time, I wouldn't of been able to characterize and pinpoint the root cause of that ennui but looking back I see it as a resistance against the dehumanizing and unfair qualities of capitalism. How should a teenager respond when they're asked to choose "what to do with their life" within a cruel system? How can we expect anyone to choose only one thing?  What a horrible and huge question if that teenager also recognizes the unfairness of the world around them!

"The Gulf" came from those questions. It's a story about three friends, in their last week of high school, who run away to join a commune. 

With my previous projects, like A Gleaming, I didn't have to loop anyone into my process. I kept a spelling-error-laden note on my phone of random dialogue, specific moments, and gags that I wanted to happen in the story and fleshed it out as I thumbnailed the book one scene at a time. I'd rough out a scene, "ink" it, and then start the thumbnails for the next scene. It was a malleable process that informed itself (much like Blind Alley). 

With "The Gulf", I had to write a formal pitch document which I immediately found intimidating. I was worried the process of laying out an entire narrative would stifle my engagement with drawing comics and would make the whole thing a lot more daunting. 

I spent a month writing out the pitch document. It included an outline of the story, a description of the characters, its theme, the intended audience, and the scope of the project. I also drew some "finished" character drawings and included some rough sketches of them as well as a supplementary "portfolio" pdf. I nervously sent the package off and patiently awaited a response. Maybe four months later, in October, I heard they really liked my pitch but would want to get more details and see some samples before making an offer. I was put into contact with an editor who was specifically enthusiastic about my pitch and they mentioned that a more thorough outline that laid out the beats of the story would be necessary. 

Hearing that I'd need something akin to a script scared the shit out of me. To me, comics must be visual - it's not just illustration; it's about writing with an image! I had intentionally left my process vague in order to cater to keeping the writing of it fresh, visual, and intuitive. Again, the idea of having to write out and explain everything made me feel like I'd end out with something utterly lifeless and dull for both readers and myself. 

In the end, I took the time to write an outline but, in fear of being misinterpreted, I also roughed out the first chapter of the story. I opted to write something more akin to the notes I keep for stories in my phone; a script that was mainly dialogue and brief descriptions of the action and setting of each scene. I also included some sample pages of what the final book would look like. The final inclusion was a folder of reference photos I had taken of the setting of the story. 

It's a blur as to when this all happened but I think I first knew they were interested in "The Gulf" in November of 2020, after pitching in April of that same year. I had to send the revised pitch in April of 2021 due to working on "The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers". In my experience, publishing moves at a glacial pace haha.

I finally heard back from the publisher in June of 2021: they were excited to make an offer to publish "The Gulf". I couldn't believe it. I was elated but I quickly turned to anxiety; what if they make me change it into something unrecognizable? 

Anyways, that's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions about the pitching process below. I'll be back soon with a post about writing out an even more thorough script.

Thanks,

Adam