Today we have the final installment of the MG Escapades series with Graphic Novelists Stan Yan and Angela Hsieh. And we’re also chatting with the group’s founder, Sara Shacter about how the group got started in case you’ve been thinking about putting together a marketing group. Previous MG Escapades posts included Contemporary Novelists and Fantasy/Horror Novelists.
Stan Yan
What did you discover about yourself while writing this book–for better or worse?
I found out that I can both draw faster than I thought, but I can’t draw as long per day as I hoped.
What obstacles did you overcome related to this book?
All of them. Seriously, I feel like getting a book deal is such a war of attrition of making a story worthy of querying agents, being lucky enough to sign with one (or two in my case), revising my story based on my agent’s editorial recommendations before going on sub, going on sub, getting revise and resubmits (r&rs) from editors, and revising my story once (or three times) again, before getting a book deal. My journey to that point had been seven years and 75 agent queries (which I’m finding is actually really low nowadays). I feel like this journey is no place for someone who isn’t passionate about their creation.
Really, the biggest obstacle to making this book was coming to terms with my past. Originally, my protagonist wasn’t Chinese like I am, and when I created my first self-published picture book, There’s A Zombie In The Basement, I reflexively never even considered making my protagonist anything but a white, freckled, ginger-headed kid.
Somewhere along the way, I started binge reading books by Andrea Wang, Grace Lin, Lisa Yee, and Kelly Yang, and discovering books I wish I had as a kid—that made me feel seen. That was the point where I knew this book needed to represent me and my life experiences. I didn’t want to be part of the lack-of-representation problem that caused a 40-something author to make books for kids who wouldn’t see themselves in my books either.
How are you holding space for joy during your debut experience?
I am holding space for joy, but if I’m to be completely honest, the process is so long, wins get stretched out, and the jubilant glee I expected to feel at various milestones I’ve found to be very muted. I suppose that’s a good thing so I don’t get too high or low. So, maybe the answer to that question is really no. I’m not sure. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel like I’m very satisfied and living the dream.
What do you love most about middle grade?
As an novelist, I often tell people that my job is to torture my protagonist, and if most people think back to when they most felt tortured in their lives, it’s very often in middle school. So, maybe I’m cheating by writing middle grade because it’s so much easier to make my protagonist conflicted and uncomfortable at that age. I find that I do love to write for this age group. I also love to read middle grade.
As a whole, I find kidlit protagonists tend to have purer and more hopeful motivations than protagonists in adult fiction, which are overly jaded. But, maybe I’m just need to stop reading post horor, apocalyptic, and dystopian adult fiction.
Angela Hsieh
What did you discover about yourself while writing this book–for better or worse?
Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology (Quill Tree, 2025) is my first ever graphic novel, so I discovered that I can, indeed, make an entire graphic novel! One of the biggest accomplishments of making a graphic novel is just having made it in the first place. For someone who’s only ever done short comics and zines, writing and drawing a full 256 pages felt like an impossible task. Even after finishing the script, facing the mountain of pages that had to be drawn was daunting, to say the least. But finish it I did, and it’s something I’m proud to have made.
I also found out that I enjoy editing scripts, especially developmental edits. It felt like putting the pieces of a logic puzzle together. Because Geozoology is a travel narrative, I had to figure out how to make the logistics of Lu and Ren’s physical journey intertwine with their emotional journeys in a satisfying way. Every time something clicked into place, it gave me a little buzz of satisfaction.
What obstacles did you overcome related to this book?
Learning how to budget my time was one major challenge of making Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology. I have Carey Pietsch’s comic deadline planner to thank for providing a much-needed roadmap for planning my graphic novel schedule. It’s a godsend for someone who has never had to estimate their workload for a large project. I generally know my pace for a single illustration, but a comic page—much less maintaining a sustained pace for hundreds of pages—is a different beast. Even with the planner in hand, it took a good deal of self-awareness, honesty, and experience to use it effectively. The book took four years from signing to release. I had to ask for deadline extensions three times.
The post-launch obstacle at the forefront of my mind right now is the oft-dreaded marketing and publicity. I’m not sure if I can say I’ve overcome it, as I’m still in the thick of it. I don’t yet have the clarity of hindsight. It’s exhausting!
I’d heard from fellow authors about the amount of publisher support to expect unless you’re lucky enough to be a lead title (which my book is decidedly not), but I still wasn’t fully prepared for the amount of work I would have to do after I finished making my book. I’m so drained right now that I don’t have the energy to work on my next book, which is immensely frustrating. I know that I’m going to need a long break to recharge after this year.
How are you holding space for joy during your debut experience?
As I’m sure many of us are aware, debuting is a stressful experience, and I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. It’s easy for me to get bogged down by expectations not aligning with reality. However, there are so many bright spots in the midst of everything. Some of those bright spots, in no particular order:
• So many of my friends showed up to my book launch that it was standing-room-only in the store.
• My friends collaborated to make a mind-blowingly beautiful animated trailer for Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology. I get chills every time I watch it.
• A fellow author told me about how I sowed chaos in her house because her kids were fighting over who got to read my book. I’m only a little bit apologetic about that.
• My neighbors’ grandkid talked to me for five minutes straight about my book and then, because he decided I was cool, asked me to join him catching fireflies in his backyard.
• A friend hand-sewed Lu’s jacket for me as a launch day gift.
It always comes down to the people around me and the readers who connect with the story I’m trying to tell.
What do you love most about middle grade?
Graphic novels are such a special format, and one of the wonderful things about them is the ability to use a page turn to evoke emotion. It makes their pacing unique. I love the immediacy of the surprise and awe of a full-page spread. I try to make use of this in Geozoology to conjure the feeling of wonder at the unexpected vastness of nature. And when the reader is ready, they can linger and marvel at the details.
As for fantasy, I love it because it allows us to explore possibilities and to imagine realities beyond the one we live in—all while exploring real and present emotions. You can make things more real in fantasy by making tangible the characters’ fears, regrets, and hopes. You can send characters on a physical journey that parallels their emotional ones. With fantasy, we can step beyond the confines of our world as a way to consider our relationship to our own.
Combine the two and you have the potential for something truly magical.
Sara Shacter on Marketing Groups
When did you start forming the group?
September of 2023, so about two years before my publication date and right after I signed my contract.
How did you get the word out to let those with 2025 books know about MG Escapades?
I started with my SCBWI-Illinois community. But only one other person responded who had a 2025 middle grade novel: Nicole Hewitt. She suggested posting in a Discord group she enjoyed. That opened the floodgates. It was a little risky, as these were mostly people neither of us knew. But the results were amazing. I am in awe of my fellow MGEs, in terms of both their talent and their kindness.
What have been the benefits of being part of MG Escapades?
A lot of it is about support. We’re all new to publishing a middle grade novel, so we can compare notes, bounce ideas off of each other, etc. We also read and review each other’s books and seek out PR/marketing opportunities for the group – such as being featured on Cynsations! It’s easier to make sense of publishing when you have a posse.
Do you have guidelines about what each participant will contribute?
Yes, but they’re fairly general. We have a list of things everyone should try to do for everyone else’s books: review, post, etc. We also expect folks to reach out to any contacts they have for podcasts, blogs, etc. However, we recognize that everyone’s life is different and participation will not be even-steven. It works out fine. Those that want to be heavily involved get a lot out of the group.
Did you use any specific tools or platforms to communicate?
We have a Discord group.
Did you have a limit on the group size?
Once we hit 16, and were well into the planning for our group, we stopped taking new people. Then one person’s book got moved to 2026. So we ended up at 15. If groups get too big, it becomes hard to support everyone and planning gets complicated.
Anything else you’d like to add that I didn’t ask?
You can’t have too many writing friends! Our group Zooms from time to time, to share ideas and make plans. But we’re also planning to have a Zoom holiday party! There are truly no better people than children’s book creators. (Well, props to teachers and librarians!)
Cynsational Notes
Stan Yan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor. He is currently the co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (RMC-SCBWI), a professor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and co-founding professor of the CuddlefishAcademy.com kidlit art school. His late middle-grade graphic novel debut is the 2025 JLG Selection, The Many Misfortunes Of Eugenia Wang (Atheneum (S&S), September 30, 2025). His work was the grand prize recipient of the 2022 SCBWI-FL Conference Portfolio Excellence Award!
Angela Hsieh is a Taiwanese American author and illustrator whose choices are mostly explained by her love of goofy animals. Her life experiences include firefighter-carrying a sedated bear cub and catching a belligerent wallaby. She has 1.5 cats.
She illustrated Antarctica: The Melting Continent, a critically acclaimed nonfiction book about real-life scientists and explorers. Lu and Ren’s Guide to Geozoology is her first graphic novel.
Sara F. Schacter‘s debut middle grade novel, Georgia Watson and the 99 Percent Campaign (Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books, October 2025), is everything Sara loves—a heartfelt friendship tale, a scientific exploration, and a call for compassion. Sara also writes picture books, as well as magazine articles and educational nonfiction for kids. A former classroom teacher, she currently tutors kindergarteners through high schoolers. Sara is a passionate volunteer and works to turn the tide on climate change and political polarization.
Gayleen Rabakukk holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is currently a student in the Library Science Master’s program at the University of North Texas. She also has an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma. She has published numerous newspaper and magazine articles, and two regional interest books for adults. She is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
She works part-time as a Library Assistant at the Lago Vista Public Library, where she leads a book club for young readers. She teaches creative writing workshops and is a bookseller at Paper Bark Birch Books in Cedar Park, Texas. She loves inspiring curiosity in young readers through stories of hope and adventure. Follow her on Instagram and Bluesky.