Both Catalan authors have signed 10,000 books in four days for their Chinese readers.

BarcelonaIt's the story of a woman who draws and a woman who writes—they like to call themselves that. He discovered her online. He looked up her contact information, wrote to her, and they met. He explained his project to her. She listened. When they said goodbye, he thought he'd never see her again. Now, more than ten years later, they're close friends, almost family, and I'm telling you about it because they're also one of the most beloved duos in our children's literature.

Liliana Fortuny, a cartoonist, didn't disappear after Jaume Copons told her the story he had about a boy and a monster who reads. On the contrary, Fifteen days later, he appeared at her door with a folder full of ideas and they got to work.Jaume likes to say that one draws and the other writes, but that they both think. It is, in fact, from their boss that the universe of the series emerged. Agus and the monsters (Combel), a publishing phenomenon that has just celebrated ten years since its first publication, and has done so by reaching one million books sold nationally, in Catalan and Spanish alone. It has also been translated into 22 languages and has enjoyed extraordinary success in some countries. "We signed 10,000 books in four days!" They told me, still amazed, after having been in China. Before the trip, they had an online session with a bookinfluencer Chinese that they make of their books. When they finished, the director of the Chinese publishing house thanked them for doing it on a Saturday; he knew it was a holiday here. He also told them that, during the two hours that the broadcast had lasted, more than 60,000 copies of the book had been sold.Agus and the monsters"I'll come to work every Saturday I want!" Copons thought. It was a good preview of the promotional trip they made to the Asian country, which was a success. While they were flying back, the editorial director called the Barcelona offices: "What could 10,000 books be signed?" They were for special boxes they would sell for the Chinese New Year. Each box would contain the 28 copies of the collection. Agus and the monsters, plus one of those who signed: it meant a sale of 290,000 copies! They accepted the proposal, of course.

While they were inventing new adventures for Agus, his friend Lidia, and Señor Flat, a rather adorable monster who always wants books because he needs stories, in Combel they also created the series Bitmax&co, for slightly younger readers. They already have 13 volumes and have just released a new collection for beginning readers, RobotIf you can, go to one of their presentations. They make everyone, young and old, have a great time, because they're enthusiasts as fun as their books. They love what they do and they never stop working. This isn't always synonymous with success, and maybe, as Jaume says, they've been lucky, but I think he's right when he tells me that he believes the secret to Agus's success is having created a graphic novel that makes it easy for children who have reading difficulties to get into it, but without pushing away those who are good readers, who are also good readers. It's incredible what these two have done for the promotion of reading. They've just launched a pack with an unpublished book from the collection and the final volume in the series: Agus and company say goodbye, oh! They've written a short but emotional prologue to bid farewell to the readers, and I ask Jaume how they're handling the farewell. The answer isn't so kid-friendly: "We finished months ago and we were kind of clueless: what now? But, damn, we've been with these people for ten years!"