Raina Telgemeier‘s graphic novels are very popular. And they have the full confidence of her publisher Scholastic/Graphix. Raina’s forthcoming graphic novel Guts, which will continue her memoirs of grade school, will get a first edition print run of 1 million copies.
Before the September 2019 publication of Guts, Scholastic and Raina will release a half million copies of Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story, a how-to guide to creating comics.
“Raina Telgemeier has changed the face of middle-grade reading and has galvanized kids to embrace comics in a way the industry has never seen before, Scholastic is honored to be Raina’s publishing home, and we know fans have been eagerly awaiting her next Graphix book. We are beyond thrilled to announce that we’re launching not one, but two incredible new projects in 2019!”
Scholastic’s press release announcing the two new Raina books on the schedule.
Last weekend, at the New York Comic Con, Abraham Riesman interviewed Raina.
Abraham: Tell me about the origins of Share Your Smile.
Raina: I get a lot of correspondence from kids telling me, “Can you give me tips on how to make comics?” I’ve done workshops, I’ve done school visits, I’ve done a lot of work with kids where I’ve spent maybe an hour guiding them how to tell a story. That’s never enough.
While Raina’s print numbers are still behind Jeff (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) Kinney’s, I believe Raina’s are unmatched by any pure graphic novel. (Jeff’s books are illustrated prose as opposed to sequential art.)
Comics Are For Kids
Graphic novels for middle grade readers are the hottest category in books right now, but the category was almost nonexistent 15 years ago.
From earlier this year is a Publishers Weekly article on the evolution and booming success of graphic novels for middle graders.
Raina Telgemeier holds the Eisner Award she won in 2015 for Sisters.