I normally would hold on to this till later on. But, after looking through it, it’s pretty clear that the pitch and the final book have almost nothing to do with each other. Aside from the core concept, and our lead character, the story, tone, and art are all completely different.

As a pitch, this was a very different experience from my usual pitch. In a general packet, I’ll include a one sheet (which this has), a complete synopsis running three to ten pages, and as much art as I can get together. Generally, ten pages of art is thought of as appropriate. I wrote an early version of the book without doing much research into the medical side of things and with a much inferior knowledge of the city of Los Angeles and it’s history, which are major pieces of how the book functions.

But, what this pitch did right, I think, was it presented the concept and voice of the book in a strong, confident way that caught Stephen Christy’s attention. Interestingly, I’d been dissuaded from working on the book by a few people, and had put it on the shelf. I was meeting with Stephen about some other projects, and as he was flipping through my binder of in progress work, he saw it, read that first paragraph and was instantly hooked. I’m hoping to have Stephen contribute here on the site about his role as acquiring editor, and what drew him to the project.

It was sort of a perfect confluence of events, including my then new agent falling head over heels in love with the project, and making it a personal mission to see it come to life. Along with the kindness of the good folks of Archaia, as well as the exciting deal with Amazon, all of the conditions were right for Noel and I to reteam and create what I think is our very best work.

Here’s the pitch as a PDF document, feel free to post any questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer them!