The Original First Scene From My Pitch For Adamsville & A Word On Failure

I was looking through my old rejection letters from the first time I pitched Adamsville, (then just called THE UNKNOWNS) and it was surprising how I felt after looking at those rejections. I wasn’t saddened by them or upset, or discouraged. I enjoy this book series for myself and have enjoyed making it for myself completely. I will not find this experience to have been a waste. But what was even more encouraging was just the nice things said by the editors. I walked away from those letters excited about the reception I hope this version will find. We shall see.  The point being though that we all go through failures.  I don’t know if this book will find the success I would like for it to find, but I do know I won’t let the previous experience keep me from trying again.

What I thought would be fun is to post the original version of the opening scene of Adamsville. If you haven’t see this yet, I did this in 2008. Much has changed since then. It’s exciting! Enjoy.

Now go check out the current version and see the difference.

2 thoughts on “The Original First Scene From My Pitch For Adamsville & A Word On Failure”

  1. So, what sort of feedback did you get from the publishers/agents? How did it affect your re-work?

  2. That’s a great question. You remember going through this experience with me since we were going through it together. After shunning reworking the project for some time, I mostly rethought the artwork. The primary concern was that my art wasnt strong enough or it looked too similar to Kazu Kibuishi’s (which he was a HUGE influence on my art at time. Still is). So I just sort of restarted the book trying to be “me.” Which sounds odd, but made sense to me. Publishers really thought the concept was strong so I didn’t want to change that at all, but I did completely rewrite my script. I trimmed all of the fat out and tried to make it more a streamlined story. I tried to introduce my characters in a more impactful manner. I also tried to make it a more contained story, so that it worked better on its own. But the biggest decision was to make the entire book before I pitch it again. I got feedback over and over again that the book should be done before I pitch, especially for nonpublished creators. Some get lucky, but it appears to be a thing in the industry where publishers just aren’t taking chances on things as much, but if the book is done it gives them a ready product. I want them to see the whole idea without wondering what it is I am up to, or if I can complete it. I also decided to keep it entirely offline (other than the first chapter) to allow myself to ability to really just make the book in a way I want without too much external pressure. We’ll see how these things change agents and editors opinions this go around. But so far I’m very encouraged by other’s feedback.

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