Author Trading Cards to Make Your Fellow Book Lovers Cheer

If you’ve ever swooned over baseball cards or Pokémon packs and thought, “Where are the Octavia Butler rookie cards?!”, McSweeney’s has heard you.

An illustrated trading card featuring Octavia E. Butler, displaying her portrait and the text 'OCTAVIA E. BUTLER 303 NOVELIST FIRST SCIENCE FICTION WRITER TO RECEIVE A MACARTHUR FELLOWSHIP'.

Now, they’re back with Series 3 of the Author Trading Cards is here to fulfill that absurdly specific yet deeply charming desire.

Novel Lovers, Time to Build Your Collection

Each pack includes 15 beautifully illustrated cards featuring author portraits, quirky trivia, bios, and fun publishing stats, all printed on high-quality cardstock.

So yes, your favorite sci-fi or horror author can finally take their place in your wallet like the literary all-star they are (minus the chewing gum, sorry).

Three packages of McSweeney's Author Cards featuring illustrated portraits of different authors, with text highlighting '15 Full-Color Cards' and 'Complete with Publishing Stats'.

Athletes, comic characters, even mythical creatures, everyone’s got trading cards except authors.

These cards say, “Yes, your favorite writer belongs in the pantheon of collectibles.”

We love the author stats, showcasing publishing numbers, awards, and other accolades.

Illustration of a man with curly hair and round glasses, wearing a maroon sweater, with a yellow background and text identifying him as a writer, Roberto Bolaño, along with a note about a literary award.

After all, why should pro athletes get all the attention?

Illustration of Kaveh Akbar, a writer with curly hair and a beard, featured in a card design stating he is the winner of the Levis Reading Prize.

Three packs of McSweeney's Author Cards: one labeled 'Author Cards' featuring an illustration of a woman, one labeled 'Horror Author Cards' with an illustration of a woman with glasses, and one labeled 'Sci-Fi Author Cards' showcasing an older man with glasses.

Each pack comes with beautifully illustrated portraits and “stats.”

Illustration of Stephen King featured on a trading card, with his name and the title 'WRITER' at the top.

Sure, Stephen King probably can’t outrun that linebacker, but can your quarterback write Carrie in a trailer on a typewriter while eating nothing but mac and cheese? Didn’t think so.