Quirky Questions for Kidlit Authors: Guest Post #3 by Laura Segal Stegman - Amar Shah

Middle Grade Sports Author/Graphic Novelist Amar Shah: FOURSQUARE

 

"You don't have to be the best athlete to be able to tell a sports story. My advice is to find what's emotionally at your core and expand on that. What's personal to you is going to be universal to everybody else."

 

By Laura Segal Stegman

 

Click Here to Watch

 

Check Out All Four Posts in July!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

 

LAURA SEGAL STEGMAN

Hi, everybody. I'm Laura Segal Stegman, author of the Summer of L.U.C.K. trilogy, and I'm presenting four author conversations on SCBWI's blog in July.

My guest this week is Amar Shah, middle grade author of the Play the Game basketball trilogy and the graphic memoir, Wish I Was a Baller. He's also a multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer in key roles at ESPN, Fox Sports, NFL Network, and the Orlando Magic. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, among others. And he still dreams of playing in the NBA one day. Watch for Wish I Was a Baller with a blurb from Newberry Medal winner and New Kid author Jerry Craft, and Time to Win, third in the Play the Game trilogy. They're both coming out in August.

Hello!

AMAR SHAH

Hi, Laura. How are you? It's a pleasure to meet you and see you again.

LS

Thank you. Same here. Thanks for joining me today. We're going to do four quick questions. Let's start with, what book do you wish you'd written and why?

AS

That's a fantastic question. I have to say Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie is the book that I really wish I had written or had the imagination to conjure up. As a South Asian, as an Indian American, Rushdie is in that sort of that halo of Mount Rushmore of writers that I've always looked up to. And that book, which is about the history of India and Pakistan, has got magical realism. It's got this really embedded storytelling, and what he does is both epic in its scale, and it's also intimate in its scope too. And for any writer to be able to do what he did on those pages is incredible. And I still go back to that book for inspiration in everything that I write.

LS

Wow, that sounds fantastic! Along those same lines, if you could have coffee with any author, dead or alive, who would it be?

AS

You know, it's funny. I have a photo of the writer that I've always wanted to meet and unfortunately will never get the chance to. That's going to be F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don't think any other writer has had the impact that Fitzgerald has had on me since I was in high school. In his life, and in his prose, but more importantly in the work that he put together. I mean, to write Gatsby at age twenty-seven, twenty-eight, the way he did, is amazing. I feel very lucky to have read that book at the right time. To get a chance to sit down with Fitzgerald and to pick his brain [and ask] what was inspiration to write these books. How he was inspired by so many other writers, like John Keats. Just to be able to sit down with someone like that and get his philosophy on writing – I would've been very lucky to have had                          that opportunity. But I do have his books to look back to for that inspiration for whenever I'm caught looking at that blank space on the screen.

Amar Shah

LS

I totally get that. I read Gatsby when I was young. And then I read it in the last maybe ten years, and I felt that same love for his words. The way he writes is just beautiful.

AS

With [Gatsby], I don't think there's a single book in American history that is as word-for-word perfect. I don't think there's a wasted opportunity in such succinct prose. It's still beautiful, and it still has resonance today.

LS

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, I have two more questions. The first one, do you have a story about a time when someone who read your work got in touch? Tell us what it meant to you.

AS

It was really fantastic when Play the Game–The Hoop Con was in the Scholastic Book Fair. Getting that sort of reach in terms of the book being in all of these different classrooms across the country, and having all of my friends who I grew up with [telling their kids], “Oh. I knew [him] growing up.” And [their kids] being able to pick up that book, and not just take a photo [with it] and send it to me, but to actually read it. For that book to resonate with them, and [for them] to see themselves in those characters – that was a terrific thrill.

I did get a message from a dad whose daughter was at a school where I spoke. My story resonated so much with her that she wanted to become a full-time writer. In high school, she was wavering. And then, all of a sudden, I helped inspire that.

Being able to be able to talk to students, being able to engage with teachers and have that impact, has been amazing. You never know who you're going to be able to touch with your story, especially people that don't necessarily see themselves on the page all the time.

LS

Wow, that's very impactful. I love that story. Thank you for sharing that. Okay, to wrap things up, do you have any suggestions for people who are interested in writing middle grade novels or graphic novels or any kind of books for young readers?

AS

I've been very lucky that I've been able to write in both the prose format and also in the graphic novel format, and I think both are incredibly accessible for young readers. My niche is in sports, and what I love about sports is that it's never about sports. It's about everything else. And sports is simply a metaphor for what's going on.

For writers, if they're looking to get into the world of sports, there's so much now at their disposal and so many different sports, so many things in life and in middle school. You don't have to be the best athlete to be able to tell a sports story. So, my advice is to find what's emotionally at your core and expand on that. What's personal to you is going to be universal to everybody else.

LS

Wonderful! Thank you so much for being here. Amar's website has all kinds of information about his incredibly rich background. It has pieces he's written and lots more. Look for links to his site and socials in the show notes. Thanks again.

AS

Laura, thanks again. I appreciate it.

  

WEBSITE: amarshahwrites.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/amarshahism/

X/Twitter: https://x.com/amarshahism

 

Amar Shah is the author of the Play the Game basketball trilogy and the graphic memoir Wish I Was a Baller. A multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer, Amar has held key roles at ESPN, Fox Sports, NFL Network, and the Orlando Magic. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Orlando Sentinel, SLAM, and the Washington Post. Amar lives with his family in Orlando, Florida, where he still dreams of playing in the NBA one day. Visit him online at amarshahwrites.com.

Laura Segal Stegman is the author of Summer of L.U.C.K., Ready or Not, and The Chambered Nautilus, a middle-grade trilogy from Young Dragons Press, all with Readers' Favorite Five Star reviews. She has been a presenter/panelist at literary events including NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), Orange County Children’s Book Festival, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) SoCal Harvest Day, San Diego Writers Festival, and LitFest in the Dena. She also does school visits and such events as the STEM Teacher Summit and serves as a judge for writing competitions sponsored by Society of Young Inklings, among others. As a long-time publicity consultant, she created PR Tips for Authors, which has been presented by The Writing Barn, SCBWI, and elsewhere. Non-fiction writing credits include work in Los Angeles Times and School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox, among others. www.LauraStegman.com

Laura Segal Stegman

 

Quirky Questions for Kidlit Authors: Guest Post #2 by Laura Segal Stegman - Jonathan Roth

Author/Illustrator Jonathan Roth: TRIPLE PLAY

 

“Just follow your heart and write the story that comes out of you.”

 

By Laura Segal Stegman

 Click Here to Watch

 

Check Out All Four Posts in July!

 

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

This interview and the transcript have been edited for length and clarity.

 

LAURA SEGAL STEGMAN

Hi, everybody. I'm Laura Segal Stegman, author of the Summer of Luck trilogy, and I'm presenting four author conversations on SCBWI's blog in July.

My guest this week is incredibly talented author and illustrator Jonathan Roth, whose STEAM-themed works for kids include chapter books, graphic novels, and the true story, Almost Underwear, How a Piece of Cloth Travelled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars, which I just loved. It's a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2024. He also teaches art to elementary school students, and he's working on Book 4 of Rover and Speck, his graphic novel series.

Hi Jonathan. So this is really an opportunity to get to know you a little. We're going to do a triple play of questions, and the first one is: what book do you wish you'd written and why?”

JONATHAN ROTH

It’s a hard question, because there's so many great books! But I was thinking of influences. My first series, Beep and Bob, has a little kid who goes to space school, and he's scared. In the back of my mind when I was writing it, I was thinking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which imprinted on me when I was in high school. And it was meaningful that way. So of course I was thinking that I wanted to do a kid’s version. I wanted something irreverent, and funny, and strange, and space-based, and all that. I mean, not exactly. It's not at all like that, but that was my thinking at the time.

Then, after it came out, I realized that what had really imprinted on me came from further back, and that Beep, my little alien, was actually Snoopy. And that Bob, the little boy with a lot of anxiety, was kind of like Charlie Brown. So Peanuts -- that's what I started reading before I could probably even read. And for a long time, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I do graphic novels, but I'd say that if I could have anything like Peanuts, it’s probably the apex of the kind of things I'm trying to create.

LS

Well, that's cool. That's really great. Now, since you're a teacher, I'd love to hear your suggestions for people who are interested in writing chapter books or graphic novels or any kind other books for young readers. Do you have any thoughts on that?

JR

Of course, how long do we have? [chuckles] If I just had to give a couple of quick suggestions, number one is, “Go read.” Go to your bookstore, Barnes and Noble or your local indie. Read as many current kids’ books as you can, especially in your genre. If you're into picture books, read one hundred picture books. And the reason why I say “current” is there are a lot of people I've met who want to write picture books. They remember all their favorites and the classics and everything. And that's okay, but you really need a sense of what's going on today to see what's happening. Not so you can copy anything, or write to a trend, but because it's just good to know. Let's say you want to write a TV show, and the most recent TV shows you saw were “ER” and “MASH” and “I Love Lucy.” They're all classics, and I can't tell you that's not going to work, but if you haven't seen a TV show in the last twenty years, could you write and sell one to Netflix now? It's the same with kids’ books. Read a lot of current stuff. 

Jonathan Roth

The other thing I'd say is don't write to any trends. Just follow your heart and write the story that comes out of you, or the subject, or whatever you're interested in. Because they can tell if you're faking it. Just give yourself permission to write what you want to write. And that's the best we can do.

LS

Yeah, that's really great advice. When I started writing middle grade books, I was remembering my middle grade books from childhood, and I had to be given that advice too, to read current books. And now I love reading [kidlit]. There's so much in middle grade, picture books, and young adult, all kinds of things. There weren't those kinds of subjects when I was growing up. So it's really [helpful] to hear that advice.

JR

Yeah, I talk to kids about not only Peanuts but reading comic books. That's how I learned to read. But what kids have now, like graphic novels – the range is so much greater than when we were kids.

LS

Yeah, I read [one of your Rover and Speck graphic novels], and I read Pearl [by Sherri L. Smith, author, Christine Norrie, illustrator]. I never thought I would be into graphic novels, just like I thought I wouldn't be into novels in verse. But once I started reading them, I was amazed at how much good stuff there is out there.

To wrap things up, I'm going to ask you to tell us about one of the times that someone who read your work got in touch and what that meant to you.

JR

One really meaningful thing happened with my book Almost Underwear, which is a true story about how the Wright brothers went to a Dayton department store in 1903 and bought some muslin, which became the wing cloth that covered their airplane. Years later [1969], Neil Armstrong took a piece of the original Wright brothers’ [muslin] to the moon. And then, just a few years ago, another little piece went up to Mars on Ingenuity.

One of my early readers, a teacher I know, told me she’d teared up a little. (That's happened to a few other people too.) Her father was an aviator, and her son is a commercial pilot, and she let me know that people like her father and son may act very stoic, but they have big hearts, and that [they understood that] this book is essentially about commemoration. How Neil Armstrong was such a good steward of being the first person to walk on the moon that he carefully chose a part of the first airplane to show that he stood on the Wright brother's shoulders. Like we all stand on each other's shoulders, no matter what we're trying to accomplish. This teacher said my book really got to the spirit of that kind of commemoration. She said you can have a big ego, or you can just recognize what came before you. So I was kind of touched to hear that she was touched.

LS

That's lovely. I felt the same way reading that book, and I highly recommend it. Almost Underwear. It’s a provocative title!

JR

I found in my research that the kind of muslin [the Wright brothers used], just one little throwaway sentence, was commonly used to make ladies’ undergarments at the time. There's my hook! This could have been underwear, and instead it went to Mars. So there we go.

LS

That's awesome. Thank you so much. Jonathan's website has activity kits, interviews with authors, and a lot more, and you can look for links to his site and socials in the show notes. Thank you again, Jonathan.

JR

Thank you so much for interviewing me. Bye-bye.

  

WEBSITE: www.jonathan-roth.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jonrothbooks

FB: Jonathan Roth Facebook

 

Jonathan Roth is an Earth-bound but space loving author-illustrator of fun, STEAM-themed books for kids including the chapter book series Beep and Bob (Aladdin/S&S), the graphic novel series Rover and Speck (Kids Can Press), and the amazing true story Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars (Christy Ottaviano Books/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), which is a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2024. He also teaches art to elementary students in Maryland.

Laura Segal Stegman is the author of Summer of L.U.C.K., Ready or Not, and The Chambered Nautilus, a middle-grade trilogy from Young Dragons Press, all with Readers' Favorite Five Star reviews. She has been a presenter/panelist at literary events including NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), Orange County Children’s Book Festival, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) SoCal Harvest Day, San Diego Writers Festival, and LitFest in the Dena. She also does school visits and such events as the STEM Teacher Summit and serves as a judge for writing competitions sponsored by Society of Young Inklings, among others. As a long-time publicity consultant, she created PR Tips for Authors, which has been presented by The Writing Barn, SCBWI, and elsewhere. Non-fiction writing credits include work in Los Angeles Times and School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox, among others. www.LauraStegman.com

Laura Segal Stegman 

 

World Kid Lit Month 2023 - September is such a full month!

For our fourth and final post celebrating World Kid Lit Month 2023, translator and global reading activist Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp shares what’s been happening this week on the World Kid Lit blog, on social media and in the real world, and leaves with some tips for how to carry on your global reading journey this year…

On the #WorldKidLit blog this week…

21 Sept:  3, 2, 1… Lift off! Non-fiction adventures

Zosia Krasodomska-Jones takes a look at two new illustrated non-fiction books for younger readers. She writes: "We'll be getting off the ground with Sky High! before soaring to the end of the universe with Big Bangs and Black Holes. Both books bring science and technology to life with their brilliant illustrations, introducing children and teenagers to aviation and cosmology in an inspiring and captivating way. And not only are they bursting with fascinating facts, they also demonstrate why in some parts of the world, comic books are known as the ninth art.”

22 Sept: Award-Nominated Graphic Novels in Translation for Young Readers

SCBWI member Nanette McGuinness writes “You’ve probably heard about the Caldecott Award (picture books), Newbery Medal (children’s literature), and the Prinz Award (books for teens). But did you know that there are also awards just for graphic novels? The best known are arguably the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, sometimes considered the Academy Awards of the comics world, and there are many others, such as the prestigious Harvey Awards, the Ignatz and Excellence in Graphic Literature.”

26 Sept: Young Reader Review: Oskar and the Things

E who is nearly ten tells us about her favourite book of the moment, Oskar and the Things from Estonia. “It made me think of Captain Underpants (by Dav Pilkey) because Melvin Sneedly can draw anything and it comes to life.”

27 Sept: Great Colombian Kid Lit Author 

Claire Gaunt: “This year I was really lucky. I got to visit Colombia. And our trip coincided with the Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo). Which gave me the opportunity to meet some incredible, and incredibly dedicated publishers (Babel Libros, Cataplum Libros, Ediciones SM) and to get a feel for some of the amazing Colombian Kid Lit authors to watch.”

 

World Kid Lit Month around the world…

World Kid Lit Month was started six years ago by translators and children’s/YA publishing experts Marcia Lynx Qualey, Lawrence Schimel and Alexandra Büchler as a way of encouraging educators, librarians and readers in general to explore books first published outside the USA, particularly ones translated into English from other languages. Since then, the hashtag #WorldKidLitMonth has been gaining momentum, moving beyond the translator and children’s book blogging community into libraries, schools and organizations worldwide. It's fantastic to see people joining in and creating their own events and activities. Here are a few that we heard about thanks to the #WorldKidLitMonth hashtag… 

 ArabLit: 10 Arabic children’s publishers to know: Over at community literature journal ArabLit, Marcia profiled 10 publishers that have a focus on children's literature in Arabic. While some have been around since the 1980s and 90s, such as the Tamer Institute and Al Salwa Books, most are more recent. Indeed, it has been in the last 20+ years, since around the turn of the century, that the landscape of Arabic children's literature has  burst into flower....

Jill! World Kid Lit Month readings: The translated literature reading series Jill! continued their festivities with two more great readings: a picture book from Iran that deals with death and grief and a LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age graphic novel from Portugal. SCBWI member Lyn Miller-Lachman reads from her translation (from Portuguese) of Pardalita by Joana Estrela. Parisa Saranj reads from her translation (from Farsi) of Empty and Me by Azam Mahdavi (illustrated by Maryam Tahmasebi). Earlier in the month, the reading series featured Kelly Zhang, inaugural Translator Coordinator for SCBWI Canada East, reading from her translation from Chinese of Tilted Sky by Yao Emei.

Global literature aficionado, and librarian in Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Anne (@madhmstr) took the World Kid Lit Month bingo to another level by finding a book for every single category on the 25-topic grid! 

(You can download the bingo chart here - you can do it as an individual challenge, or with friends - lots of info on the blog)

Publishers Weekly: Passports to Diversity: Educators and Students Travel the World Through Translated Texts : “Sweden’s Pippi Longstocking, Italy’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and France’s The Little Prince and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, plus most of the world’s beloved fairy and folk tales—and a growing number of picture books sold around the globe—are translated texts. It seems that the more you look for them, the more you will find. In celebration of books in translation and World Kit Lit Month, we spoke with three educators who are infusing their classrooms and libraries with translated texts of all kinds. With each title, they’re introducing students to diverse global perspectives and cultures, and helping promote empathy.”  

We were thrilled to see the Publishers Weekly article featuring Lori Sieling who is a K–1 special education teacher, and global picture book explorer at My Kids Read the World, where she reviews the picture books they read from around the world with the aim of helping other teachers and students read beyond borders.

Over at the Children's Lit Association, Michaela Wipond published Places Where Dreams Grow: Toward an Ecofeminist Analysis of L.M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon -- Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), where Montgomery was born and set most of her novels, is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People.  

At CLA, Hiroko Kawatani discusses climate literacy in connection with Japanese animated film and its novelization, Tenki no Ko / Weathering with You (2019) by Makoto Shinkai (1973-), one of the most popular animation directors in Japan.

Retired teacher Chris Lovegrove reviewed Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono, translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri.

An AI program in charge of the school? What or who is Anyahita? Hungarian Literature Online celebrated 

#WorldKidLitMonth with an excerpt from Hungarian author Tibor Benjámin Szabó's YA novel EPIC 2: In a Labyrinth of Minds, translated by Richard Robinson.

Translator David Warriner shared his unboxing photo of Lost Inside My Head: “a stunning little gem of a book about growing up with ADHD”. David’s translation of Vigg’s autobiographical picture book is published by Orca Books this October.

The Readers Club at GGGDSD College, Chandigarh, India, organised a reading circle to celebrate #WorldKidLitMonth, where they discussed the importance of children's literature in developing reading habits as well as nostalgia for children’s books read in their youth.

What next? Ready for a year of reading the world?

This is just a taster of some of the many ways children’s literature lovers (of all ages) have been exploring books for young people from beyond their borders this month. So, what if one month isn’t enough? The world is a big place to explore, after all…

If you’re inspired to keep on reading, then take a look at these resources for reading ideas:

• World Kid Lit blog - we have book reviews every month, often combining books from multiple countries under one thematic umbrella, like many of our blog posts this month
• Outside in World: search for translated books by country of origin
• Global Literature in Libraries Initiative: children’s book reviews every #WorldKidLitWednesday
• Search by book prize, including GLLI Translated YA Book Prize, ALA’s Mildred Batchelder Award, and the UK’s Yoto Carnegie awards
• Kids Read the World: join Lori and her young children as they read their way around the world, one picture book at a time
• Planet Picture Book: Laura Taylor and her family explore the world through picture books

Our underlying aim at World Kid Lit is to bring diverse, inclusive world literature into classrooms and libraries, and onto kids’ bookshelves. So if you have the time to volunteer in your local school, and feel inspired to talk to students about books from another country, or your reading journey, please do suggest a short talk! We have a Resources for Schools page and one for Libraries. Do check back as we’re sharing new resources all the time, including ideas for global literacy workshops and short talks about translation.

Wherever your reading takes you, happy travels!

This is the last of four posts by the World Kid Lit team this September!  Read all four posts:

It’s September! Welcome to World Kid Lit Month!

We're Almost Halfway Through World Kid Lit Month 2023!

A World of Ways to Explore World Literature for Young Readers

World Kid Lit Month 2023 - September is such a full month!

Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is a literary translator working from Arabic, German and Russian in English. A passionate advocate of world literature for young people and diversity in children's publishing and education, she is co-editor of ArabKidLitNow! and Russophone Kid Lit blogs, and writes about global reading for young people at World Kid Lit, Words Without Borders, and World Literature Today. She also promotes language learning and creative translation for young people through her workshops in schools.

Helen Wang is a UK-based translator of children's literature from Chinese to English. Her best known translation is the novel Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2016. She runs the blog Chinese Books for Young Readers.

 

The Goals of Lettering in Comics

 Mentors have told me that the best lettering in comics is the lettering that you don’t notice. It’s the pages where the lettering blends seamlessly into the art, where the reader is immersed into the story by the lettering. Lettering is, however, often noticed when a reader is confused on the reading order, or if it’s difficult to read. 

For those unaware, lettering is the name of the process of adding in the written dialogue, the speech bubbles, and sound effects. Sometimes the artist letters their own work, sometimes they draw in the bubbles and have someone else letter, or hand draw sound effects, and sometimes a letterer adds all of these parts on top of the final art file themself. It depends on the project, the team, and their process. 

The goals of lettering should be to be accessible and legible and to elevate the art and the story without distracting from it. Colors used, font choice, bubbling, and placement all contribute to the success of lettering. 

An example here I love is from Mamo by Sas Milledge. This page shows a conversation between characters, and the lettering guides the reader between each speaker in an S shape that also takes the reader throughout the page. When lettering, or planning for lettering as an artist, it’s good to think of ways you can use the bubbles to lead readers’ gaze, as well as the way readers would naturally read a page. For example, for English readers, one would naturally try to read left to right, top to bottom. While exceptions can be made, it’s important to do those intentionally, and to make sure that the page is clear with that in mind.

When it comes to accessibility, font and size can come into play here. Here I have a test panel I did as a student. While I loved the font (and still do!), I learned later that this style of ‘E,’ where it looks like a backwards 3, is particularly difficult for people with dyslexia. Most comic fonts are already dyslexia-friendly, most famously Comics Sans, but it’s important to check before putting out a book that could cause frustration, especially in children’s books. 

Lettering is often a quiet part of making comics and graphic novels (if the number of times I’ve had to explain to friends and family what lettering is or how it works is anything go by, anyways), but it’s a critical part of each book production. It’s often what makes a comic, well, a comic, and is what binds the writer’s words to the visual storytelling. 

Cindy Harris (she/they) is a Mexican American comics artist and illustrator that works in the publishing industry. She has worked as a letterer, editor, illustrator, and writer, and loves stories about identity, relationships, and growth.

www.cyngharris.com

Graphic Novel Manuscript Formatting

Graphic novels are seeing increased readership, recognition, and editorial interest - which is wonderful! Check out all the graphic novels honored in the 2021 ALA Youth Media Awards.

For author/illustrators who are writing and drawing their own works, they have the opportunity to craft as they go, using whatever format suits their style best.

But for authors who want to submit a manuscript for someone else to illustrate, formatting the manuscript still seems to be a question with no definitive answer. Having said that, these resources for formatting a graphic novel manuscript might be helpful:

1) Dark Horse Comics offers a free "script guide" PDF here.

A screen shot of the first page of Dark Horse Comics' script guide

2) Check out this post from author/illustrator Matthew Holm (who with his sister Jenni does the Baby Mouse graphic novels), Graphic novel manuscript formatting

3) Scrivener has a "comic script format" - developed by Anthony Johnston, who writes about it here. Thanks to Maria for the heads-up on this one!

Do you have a graphic novel manuscript format resource to share? Add in in comments. 

Thanks!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee