Popverse's top stories

• Say Anything star John Cusack is headed out on a cosmic road trip for Jackie Gleason in his next big project - and it's a comic
• NYCC 2025, George R.R. Martin, Absolute Batman, and more: Popverse plans for October 2025
• Yeah, we made it: Post Malone is coming to New York Comic Con 2025

Talk to book lovers and they’ll tell you, we love merch as much as anyone else. Maybe more, since quality shirts, prints, or stickers based on your favorite fantasy series can be tough to come by. Fortunately, a group of book lovers just like you heeded the call. Set up all four days of New York Comic Con at booth #3352, Kingdom of Threads is a fantasy-inspired merch maker where the people behind the booth table are just as much fans of books as the people who will no doubt stop in their tracks when they see what's on display.

They've read the books. They are also in the Discords. And depending on where you live, you might've bumped into Kingdom of Threads staff at author signings as fans just like you.

Like a good book, the products at Kingdom of Threads are a labor of love. As they told us, each design is crafted with fans of the books in mind from start to finish - because at Kingdom of Threads, the fans are making it all. They'll be set up at NYCC 2025 with a booth stocked with pins, stickers, bookmarks, and puzzles, all inspired by some of the biggest book series out there. Among the numerous collections at Kingdom of Threads' NYCC booth #3352 will be new products inspired by Dog Man by Dav Pilkey, Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry, Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent, and the recently announced Dungeon Crawler Carl collection based on Matt Dinniman’s hit LitRPG series, and more.

So.

Much.

More.

Authors are rockstars

The thing we love about books is that they allow us to picture everything in our heads, giving everyone a unique vision of what the worlds and characters look like. However, creating, say, a sticker with a character from Fourth Wing on it means not just keeping the design true to their story but also finding all the little details of their looks in the text. 

“When we develop a new collection, at least three team members (often more) dive into reading, or rereading, the book,” Kingdom of Threads co-owner Chelsea Brennan tells us. “One person takes detailed annotations, capturing everything from physical details like hair and eye color to the subtle touches that make a character feel alive. It might be the specific way Violet’s hair fades to silver starting just above her shoulders in Fourth Wing, or the way the grimoire’s glow in Lore of the Wilds seeps into the character’s fingers. We even note personalities, quirks, and facial expressions so our art reflects not just how characters look but who they are.”

After they’ve devoured all the reference materials comes the fun bit: coming up with ways to include all their favorite quotes, characters, and settings in a product line for that book. Brennan described it as “part brainstorming, part fandom hangout” and said that things get more energetic than you might imagine. 

“If you were a fly on the wall, you’d see us mimicking sword swings to get elbow placement right, or googling proper bow techniques so a master archer looks authentic.”

All of this is in service to pleasing the author, first and foremost. 

“Authors are our rockstars,” Brennan tells us. 

Kingdom of Threads makes sure that authors are as excited for the products as their readers will be. “We encourage authors to give us all their thoughts. We don’t stop tweaking until they are over the moon. Their excitement is our greenlight.”

A company born of a happy accident

Chelsea Brennan and Lauren Garafalo didn’t set out to start a new business when they founded Kingdom of Threads back in 2021; it just sort of worked out that way. Brennan was running an online education brand to help women “heal their relationships with money and build wealth aligned with their values,” and Lauren had come on as her right hand. When planning a course on launching a business, Lauren suggested that they should develop their own new business to give everyone an example to follow. Their shared love of books and desire to do something more creative led them to start Kingdom of Threads.

It was just meant to be a side business; something to use as an example of how to get a business off the ground. Within a few months of launching, their products were already stocked in over 100 indie bookstores nationwide. Then, in July 2022, they had a breakthrough with Kingdom of Threads. After a mailout campaign to convince bookstores to stock their products, which included handwritten notes from Brennan and Garafalo, resulted in over 100 new stores buying from them, they knew they had something special on their hands. And now, the whole country knows.

“Kingdom of Threads is stocked in over 1000 indie bookstores and game shops nationwide, as well as major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Target,” Brennan informs us. Indie bookstores remain at the heart of Kingdom of Threads. “Today, we’re proud to work with indie bookstores across the country, and we do our best to support their businesses in every way we can… Supporting indies isn’t just part of our growth story – it’s at the core of who we are.”

The future of Kingdom of Threads

Part of business is looking to the future and trying to figure out the best way to move forward. That’s why Kingdom of Threads isn’t just sticking to the things that brought them success so far. “Books will always be the cornerstone of Kingdom of Threads, but we’re expanding into tabletop and RPG gaming because the overlap between these communities is undeniable – and exciting,” Brennan explained about the new venture. “Many of the same fans who fall in love with fantasy novels are also passionate gamers and storytellers, and that includes our own team.”

To really cement that expansion into the tabletop scene, Kingdom of Threads recently acquired Storymakers, a small RPG-focused brand with a line of enamel pins, washi tape, greeting cards, and stickers. Many of these new products will be available for the first time at Kingdom of Threads’ NYCC booth.

Just like any fans, book lovers have a healthy appetite for the kind of merch that New York Comic Con is known for. Kingdom of Threads might have been born of a misunderstanding, but its ability to tap into indie bookstores and the fantasy community has made it a fantastic success in a relatively short amount of time. With their recent expansion into the tabletop space, their future is looking bright.

Popverse was paid for our time in creating this article.