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Graphic novels are books that have a lot of pictures and fewer words, but are aimed at older readers: namely, middle-graders (ages 7 to 10), tweens (ages 9 to 12), young adult readers (12 and up), and even adults (see Figure 2-8). Not surprisingly, every page of a graphic novel boasts graphics, which can come in the form of black-and-white illustrations, color illustrations, comics, or captured video/TV/movie photos. Most often, the illustrations look more comic-book-like than full-page picture book illustrations.

From Jeremy Kreep: Fang Fairy reprinted courtesy of Stone Arch Books. © 2007 by Andy J. Smith.

FIGURE 2-8: Jeremy Kreep: Fang Fairy, a graphic novel.

Graphic novels are, strictly speaking, novels in comic form. But they have evolved way beyond comic books. These novel-length stories feature

 A plethora of illustrations: Including styles such as fine art, cartoon-like, pencil and ink, and more.

 Cover all sorts of topics: From history, to memoir, to fiction, to biography, to nonfiction and anthologized works.

 Relatively few words: Graphic novels have plenty of words, but nothing near the word count of a novel that doesn’t have pictures.

 Aspects of style: Bold, italic, underline, a lot of exclamation points, and a ton of question marks often dramatize the text. You often see word balloons and sound effects.

Graphic novels are often digest sized (5½ inches wide x 8½ inches high — about the size of a piece of paper folded in half. In the past, becoming a graphic novel writer generally required the ability to illustrate in the style of graphic novels or comics; but today, many graphic novels originate with the story and text, and the publisher hires the artist separately. If you’re a graphic novel author, you can also independently pair up with someone who has the artistic talent you’re looking for. (For information on illustrating your work, see Chapter 15.)

Manga is a heavily illustrated format similar to graphic novels. In fact, manga often overlaps with graphic novels. But many manga are comic books — some shorter, like traditional comic books, some longer, more like graphic novels. We talk more about manga and anime in Chapter 3, when we discuss genres.