Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: graphic novel, Michelle Jing Chan, Somewhere in the Gray

Michelle Jing Chan Auctions First Graphic Novel Rights For Six Figures

Michelle Jing Chan's debut graphic novel, Somewhere in the Gray, has sold world rights at auction, in a six-figure publishing deal.

Published Sun, 05 Nov 2023 13:57:08 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Michelle Jing Chan's debut graphic novel, Somewhere in the Gray, sells for a six-figure sum.
The comic explores themes of asexuality and coming of age in high school.
Grace Kendall at FSG gained global rights to Somewhere in the Gray, set to launch in 2026.

Michelle Jing Chan's debut graphic novel, Somewhere in the Gray, will follow a girl who is "dating the most popular girl at school, and what seems easy for her friends—being intimate in any way with their partners—doesn't feel quite right to her as she learns it's more than okay to live somewhere in the grey of asexuality".

Michelle Jing Chan Auctions Rights to First Graphic Novel For Six Figures — Michelle Jing Chan

Grace Kendall at FSG has acquired world rights to Somewhere in the Gray at auction, in a six-figure deal. Publication of Somewhere in the Gray is scheduled for the autumn of 2026. Michelle Jing Chan's agent Jemiscoe Chambers-Black at Andrea Brown Literary Agency negotiated the deal.

Michelle Jing Chan is a queer Chinese American illustrator from the Pacific Northwest. Works such as My Grandpa's Suits were featured on Buzzfeed, Upworthy, created as her final project for Lee Dean's Intro to Graphic Storytelling class on Warrior Art Camp. And Jade was a short comic made in 2021 amidst the post-pandemic rise of anti-Asian hate crimes— a story about love, fear, and my relationship with her grandparents, featured in Fête Chinoise Magazine – Edition No. 8.

She posts to Instagram, saying "I still can't believe that I'm going to be a YA author-illustrator!!! SOMEWHERE IN THE GRAY is the project of my dreams and the story I wish my younger closeted bi/ace self would have had. It honestly still doesn't feel real, but I am so so excited and grateful to be working on a project so personal to me. Thank you to @gracekendallbooks @fsgyoungreaders for championing more ace stories, I can't wait to make another book with you! As always, thank you to my amazing agent @jemiscoe who believed in this story and my ability to create it. And thank you to @witchmarina (the first person who believed I could do this!!!) and the rest of my beta readers and friends who gave feedback on my pitch!! @craftbynicole @koalasinparis @lucaselliottart @ariadelsole @_courtney_luv @werideth @lillyluwrites @heylauragao @phoebekchua @oneblursotong @cshigaya"

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