Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: graphic novel, mark crilley

YouTube Star Mark Crilley Auctions Rights To Gwen Benny Graphic Novels

YouTube cartooning star and comic book creator Mark Crilley auctions the world rights to the first of his new Gwen Benny graphic novel series

YouTube video and comic book creator Mark Crilley has auctioned world rights to the first two of his new debut Gwen Benny middle-grade graphic novels. The first book in the series, Gwen Benny and the Shopping List of Destiny, introduces "an ordinary girl with an extraordinary imagination, who periodically slips into a vivid fantasy world where adventures await at every turn. When a shopping list miraculously drops into her lap, she cajoles her friends into joining her on an epic quest that will lead to the door of the town's most mysterious recluse."

Kaylan Adair at Candlewick won the auction, and publication is planned for the autumn of 2027. Mark Crilley's agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, while at Erin Murphy Literary Agency, negotiated the auction sale.

Mark Crilley is a comic creator, artist and children's book author and illustrator, who also taught English in schools in Taiwan and Japan. He is the creator of the Akiko series of comic books from Sirius back in the day, then a line of children's novels from Random House, the OEL manga Miki Falls from HarperTeen and Brody's Ghost from Dark Horse Comics. Of late, he has also produced instructional videos on drawing on YouTube in various styles. These run alongside his three Mastering Manga instruction books, The Realism Challenge on drawing hyper-realistic drawings of everyday objects, and The Drawing Lesson, a graphic novel that aims to teach readers how to draw through the adventures of David and his mentor. Ten Speed Press published his The Comic Book Lesson, a graphic novel that teaches readers how to create comics, in 2022.

Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is an independent children's publisher and remains an independent publisher today. As part of Walker Books Group, Candlewick Press enjoys a unique ownership structure which includes more than 75 employees in their US office, staff in their UK and Australian offices, as well as more than 150 authors and illustrators. Founded by Sebastian Walker, who also launched Walker Books from his spare bedroom in his London home in 1978, Candlewick Press opened with only six employees and now has one hundred.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!