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Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud Only Get A 750,000 Printing

Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud Only Get A 750,000 Printing For The Cartoonists Club Graphic Novel from Scholastic Graphix in 2025

Scholastic, the biggest comic book publisher in the English language, announced the publication of The Cartoonists Club, a new graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud, for the 1st of April 2025. The Cartoonists Club intends to teach readers how to create their own comic books and cartoon strips. It has a first printing of 750,000 copies.

For those who have followed Raina Telgemeier's career, this seems a bit on the low side. Raina has been used to print runs of two to three million recently for graphic novels such as Smile, Drama, Sisters, and Guts. Maybe they reckon the subject matter may not be as strong an interest, but the Cat Kid Comic Club comics, which do similar from Dav Pilkey—also published by Scholastic—have three million print runs.

Either way, that still makes it one of the higher print runs of any book published in 2025 and will play a strong role in establishing comic book literacy among the young and maybe inspiring a new generation of comic book creations. Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is still a major storytelling tex book in all media, though it can be heavy going for some. This is likely to be the opposite.

"Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn't know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but can't help but focus on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form The Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures! So, if you are in need of a little comics magic or have ever yearned to tell your own story…welcome to The Cartoonists Club, where friendship is a work of art!"

Who will write, who will draw, and how the creative duties will be divided, has not been specified. World rights were acquired by Cassandra Pelham Fulton and David Saylor at Scholastic in a deal with agent Judy Hansen of Hansen Literary Management and Fulton will edit the book.

"The Cartoonists Club, at its heart, is a story of friendship, so it's only right that it came about from the real-life friendship of two titans of the comics world. The result of this collaboration is a story that will at once be instantly familiar to readers of their previous work yet something wholly original," says Pelham Fulton, Editorial Director of Graphix.

"With more than 26 million books in print, in 34 languages, and 639 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list, Telgemeier's legion of fans have been eagerly waiting since 2019 for her next book. So to pair her with comics powerhouse, Scott McCloud, the man who literally wrote the book on comics, is a marriage made in comics heaven. Fans will eat up this dynamic collaboration written from both of their hearts," adds Saylor, Vice President and Publisher of Graphix.

On putting together the book, Telgemeier states, "Whenever I speak to kids, they ask me what advice I have for budding cartoonists. I hope this book serves as a good answer, or at least a great jumping-off point! I have wanted a book like this to exist for a long time, and collaborating on it with Scott has truly been a dream come true. I'm ecstatic for younger readers to discover Scott's insights into how comics work, what makes them special, and how to think about them!"

"Collaborating with Raina on The Cartoonists Club has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I've had in all my decades of making comics. She understands the power of comics in her readers' lives like no one else. I hope that the love we have for these kids and their journeys shines through on every page," concluded McCloud.

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