Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: roaring brook press, Sydney Chavan

Sydney Chavan Sells Rights To Her 'Out Of The Woods' Graphic Novel

Sydney Chavan sells publishing rights to her previously self-published Out Of The Woods graphic novel to Roaring Brook Press

Published Sat, 05 Jul 2025 05:57:04 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Out Of The Woods is a new graphic novel by Sydney Chavan described as a "ghostly queer romance" in which " a grieving girl visits a haunted forest in an attempt to speak with her dead father, but instead finds a cute girl with secrets." A version was previously self-published in 2019 under Cold Cube Press as a 140-page black-and-white graphic novella.

: Sydney Chavan's Out Of The Woods

: Sydney Chavan's Out Of The Woods

: Sydney Chavan's Out Of The Woods

"Laney Alvarez doesn't believe in ghosts. She believes in her dad, hard work, and camping to escape the crippling reality of life after college. After arriving at a supposedly haunted forest, she regrettably comes to realize the world as she knows it is about to change."

Nicolás Ore-Giron at Roaring Brook Press has bought world English rights to Out Of The Woods and publication is planned for the autumn of 2028. Sydney Chavan's agent Kate Rogers at KO Media Management negotiated the deal.

Sydney Chavan's work being described as combining "horror with cuteness, reality with whimsy, and activism with empathy", after graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design from Cornish College of the Arts in 2018, Sydney worked as a designer while drawing comics on the side. In 2023, she earned her MFA in Visual Narrative from the School of Visual Arts and was gifted the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Excellence. Her work has been shown at numerous festivals across America, including Short Run, SPX, and Pride in Panels. She also has sold some of her work in bookstores on wholesale and consignment, most recently in Silver Sprocket's storefront in San Francisco. In 2023, she became a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York City. Her interests are mainly illustrating children's books or writing and illustrating middle-grade, high school, YA, and adult graphic novels. As a queer woman, she mainly writes femme and nonbinary characters and likes to sprinkle sapphic romance within her work. She enjoys utilising horror as a mechanism for tackling important issues like toxic relationships and mental health.

Roaring Brook Press is part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, distributed by Macmillan, and already has a graphic novel imprint First: Second, but now is increasing its own central graphic novel list for children.

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