We recently connected with Wes Molebash and have shared our conversation below.

Wes, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?

Back in 2017, I put together a pitch for a picture book series and sent it to literary agents. The story was about this kid, Travis Daventhorpe, who finds out he’s a legendary hero, and in each book he would have to fight some strange monster that is attacking his small, rural town. The book series was soundly rejected by every agent I pitched it to, but there was one agent who gave me some actionable advice. She told me that the problem with my idea was that I had a “middle-grade concept in a children’s picture book format.” She advised me to read 100 middle grade books and resubmit an “aged-up” version when it was ready

So, I did just that. I read a bunch of middle grade books (not quite 100), and I reimagined my picture book series as an illustrated chapter book series (think “Captain Underpants” and its ilk). Again, I pitched the book to literary agents. And, again, it received a multitude of rejections (including one from the agent who advised me to age it up to middle grade). However, I *was* able to get the attention of a young agent with a small client list, and I signed with her agency in 2018.

Together with my new agent, we tightened up the manuscript and the pitch, and we sent it to the various publishing houses. After two rounds of submissions with no offers, we decided to take the plunge and reimagine the concept as a graphic novel series instead of illustrated chapter books. I had been avoiding making graphic novels because I knew they would be a lot of work. But after drawing up a few test pages, I realized that was my wheelhouse and opted to go all-in with the long form comics format.

When the pitch for the graphic novel was ready in late 2019, we submitted it to several publishers. But while we were waiting for responses, my agent decided to refocus her priorities and close her literary agency. She released all of her clients from their contracts, and we were free to shop our ideas elsewhere.

It was now March of 202o, and while I wasn’t upset with my agent for closing her business, I was reeling a little bit creatively. My idea for Travis Daventhorpe had been pitched to publishers in two different formats, and there hadn’t been any positive response yet. I didn’t know what to do. Should I keep trying to get Travis Daventhorpe placed with a publisher? Or do I cook up a brand new idea?

A few of my friends encouraged me to keep pursuing the Travis Daventhorpe pitch. All the doors hadn’t shut quite yet, and the pitch packet was not only *done*, but it *looked good!* So I pitched the graphic novel version of Travis to a slew of literary agents, and by April of 2020 I had offers from SIX AGENTS to represent the series!

I signed with my current agent, Jennifer Azantian, in May of 2020, and in July of that same year I signed a 4-book deal with 01:First Second Books! The first book, Travis Daventhorpe for the Win!, released in March of 2023. The second book, Travis Daventhorpe Powers Up!, will be in stores in March of 2024. And the third book, Travis Daventhorpe Gets a Life! (which I am currently drawing), will come out in 2025.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, and I’ve always had a fascination with animation and comics. When I was young, I wanted to be an animator at Disney. But, in middle school, I discovered Calvin & Hobbes in my local newspaper and I decided I wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist. Since then, I’ve been pursuing the dream of making my living drawing fun, imaginative comics!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My experience getting an agent is a pretty good illustration of my resilience, I think. Prior to that, I had been drawing comics and posting them online for several years. While I’ve been fortunate to gain some really awesome and supportive readers, I also had my faire share of detractors. And I think that helped me develop a thick skin and learn how to take criticism (especially unsolicited criticism). So when the rejection emails from agents started pouring in, it didn’t deter me. Yeah, it stung. Rejection is never fun. But I had learned it’s a part of the game. And so I pressed on.

There were also moments during that process where I would be wracked with self-doubt, and this voice in my head would pipe up and say, “This book is GOOD. Keep going! There’s something special here!” And that helped.

I also had a small group of folks who—over the course of several months—helped me develop the initial manuscript for the first book, and they were constantly asking for updates while I was pitching the book to agents and publishers. So whenever I felt like quitting, I reminded myself that doing so would’ve wasted their time and let them down. That was good accountability.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My creative career has been full of pivots. After high school, I learned as much as I could about the business of newspaper comics. But by the late 90s/early 00s, the newspaper industry was already starting to shrink and it was getting harder and harder to break into newspapers. So I pivoted to webcomics.

In 2004, I signed with a small comic book company to produce a daily comic strip for their website. It was an amazing experience. And over the next several years, I took what I learned and applied it to the various webcomics I would launch. There were several. While I was good at generating page views and engaging with the audience, I had a difficult time figuring out how to monetize my comics. The various webcomics I created during that 10+ year period would generate a little money here and there, but nothing substantial.

That lack of financial success, coupled with my growing commitments as a husband and father, led me to pivot again. This time to traditional publishing. So I started brainstorming ideas for children’s books in early 2017, and the rest is history from there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wesmolebash.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewesmolebash
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewesmolebash
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thewesmolebash